It would be difficult to imagine a worse experience than working with Rafael and NTX Development services. (Except that Rafael is a nice guy. But other than that...)
(1) Incompetent. All work done badly.
(2) Untrustworthy. A plumbing company threatened to put a lien on my property because Rafael did not pay them.
(3) Slow. Rafael was never able to look a step ahead and have the next part of the project ready to roll. He took over 5 months of work time on the "4-5 week "project before I let him go.
(4) Bad with money! Rafael is King of the Change Order. When we were down to $3k left on money not spent he wanted to come in with an additional $17k in charges to finish the project. That amounted to a 50% overage in the budget.
(5) Disrespectful of property. Floors scratched by demo when materials were placed in bedroom (!) rather than taken through the outside door. Trash left to pile up.
(6) Irresponsible. Rafael was never willing to take responsibility for errors or damage, always blaming everyone else and not paying for damage his project caused.
Things started well, with a nice idea of how to use our bathroom space. But, Rafael never made a scale drawing. The result: at nearly every step there was a contractor who did something wrong (framing, plumbing), and we had to revise several key features of the bathroom because there ended up not being space for them.
Things that were not done right:
Demo. Is it possible to screw up demo? Yes. In fact, it was never even completed. Plumbers were having to pull down drywall to plumb shower lines. Also, despite another contractor having a huge disposal container out front, the demo crew left trash everywhere, including a tub on the back porch that only got moved four months after multiple requests and finally threats to fire him. Also, if you're doing full demo, why not level the floors?
Framing. This had to be redone so many times I lost count. Each time there was an, "I told them," from Rafael. But without drawings and good notes the laborers just didn't know what to do.
Plumbing. Shower was put in the wrong place. Because bad communication. Sinks were plumbed incorrectly. Because no drawings, bad notes, etc.
Oh yeah, these are the guys Rafael didn't pay, leading to my receiving an intent to take out a lien on my property.
Drywall. I have never seen as sloppy work on drywall. Ever. There are goops, bald spots, uneven texturing. It looks horrible.
Tiling. Absolutely awful work on the floor and shower tile from someone who "does great work!" They did not correct problems. Tiles are literally pointing in the wrong direction on our floor. They did not have the appropriate tools for the shower tiles, so they ended up cutting outlets for the valves that left gash marks visible when the plumbing trim was added.
Oh yeah, somewhere in here the tile guys started working and leading to a flood below, causing over $2k in damage that Rafael refuses to take responsibility for.
Everything was done late, poorly, and over budget. I'm working on finishing the project myself. But save yourself headache and heartache when you're looking to redo your bathroom. Find a competent, reputable contractor. Somewhere else. But feel free to take Rafael out for a beer. He's a nice guy. Just expect to pick up the tab at the end! read more