If I could rate this business a zero star, I would. The business owner, Paul Berkshire did not inform us his contractor's license does not include plumbing, painting or cabinet refinishing. We had to repaint every wall he painted and had to remove all the paint spatters in both bathrooms. He installed tile in our home and poured the excess Thin-set and cement in our garden, and on our garden furniture. We now have a 4x4' cement pad we will have to pay someone to remove. He cut our den carpet short at the kitchen (which he re-tiled) and now we must pay to re-carpet the den as the carpet is too short to roll under. He stripped our kitchen cabinets with an orbital sander and dug divots into the wood and burned the wood, and gouged the bases. We could not get anyone else to fix the cabinets and were forced to have them resurfaced. He trimmed 14 doorways in our home, to allow space for the tile, where we previously had carpet. Unfortunately for us, he sawed all the door jambs without measuring and now each of the 14 doorways has a 1/2 inch gap on each side because the tile was not as thick as the cuts he made. Yes, it took him less than ten minutes to cut the doorways and damage each one.
Berkshire owes us $300.00 as we over-advanced him on the work and now he won't return our money. Avoid this company at all costs. Our next step is small-claims court, the BBB, and we will be reporting him to the CA Contractor's Bureau. BEWARE of Elite Tile and Paul Berkshire. I should also mention Paul brought along his brother, Doug, to "help out". Doug seemed to think it hilarious when he told me he had been urinating in my yard and garden. He had access to the bathrooms in my home as all work was indoors. Never have I known a contractor to so disrespect a customer, or their home.
We also have holes in the drywall in our home, caused by Berkshire. He originally installed a plastic sink in our kitchen, I guess thinking we wouldn't notice. He finally installed what we paid for, but we had to call a plumber to fix the leak Berkshire left in the sink drain. He didn't want Lowe's to "damage his tile work" around our new stovetop so he insisted on installing it. Many times I insisted there was a gas leak. He oh so helpfully sent his father to check, who also found no leak. I called Lowe's and they were kind enough to send an installer to check and guess what? He found the leak and repaired it. He said he could smell gas when he walked in the front door of our home.
I am medically retired due to permanently painful injuries sustained during a work-related accident. Berkshire and his brother made multiple jokes at my expense, about what pain "drugs" I might be taking for my "so-called" injuries. They ridiculed me for "being home all day and not cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner" for my husband. They often called me a "druggie" and wanted to "try" my medication.
A representative with Berkshire's bond company advised us that Berkshire ruined the tile work in another customer's home and damaged or didn't replace some of the dry wall in her home.Do not waste your money on Elite Tile. Elite they are not.
September, 2011: The update to this dilemma is that we filed a claim against Paul Berkshire's bond company. It is no simple matter to get a bond company to come to your home for an inspection/photographs and payment of the bond. As there was another customer whose home suffered damages at his hands, we had to split the bond. We each received $6,250.00 as the complete bond amount will only be paid out once each twelve month period. Though we have never communicated with the other customer, we are grateful they agreed to split the bond in half, rather than fight out that matter amongst ourselves. Berkshire is/was not bonded enough to pay for ONE claim, never mind two.
Someone wrote on Yelp that he feels because two of us wrote negative reports in relatively the same time period, that our reviews are "fake". I have now verified this person is personally affiliated with the company. Both claimants suffered damages at Berkshire's hands and we each had claims over $12,500.00. In fact the damages to our home were in excess of $14,000.00. We filed everything at the same time because we were his customers at the same time. He would leave one job (disappear) and go to the other. We didn't have the exact same damages, but the process for filing complaints and claims againt Berkshire is the same. If you don't believe our reviews, go ahead and hire Paul Berkshire/EliteTile, to work in your home/business. Just make certain you wait a year from now, or your claim against his bond company will be thrown out, due to lack of funds until next August, 2012. We JUST received our checks and the damages were caused July-August 2010. read more
