Edited Nov 14, 2025 (see note at end). I did not create the review until the project was completed with A DIFFERENT CONTRACTOR/BUILDER. TLDR- Do not let him waste your time and money.
January 2024: After interviewing several people, we decided to hire Mario Gonzalez/ Sure Built for a major kitchen remodel. His presentation was great, and his verbal estimate of $95-135K is similar to others we got.
March/April 2024: engineering and architectural work was done (paid separately), and we asked if there was anything about that that would alter the original estimate.
By June, he had charged us a total of $8500 in the retainer, and in 'administrative' fees, BEYOND the $5000 initial design fee. We knew that the retainer would be credited to the final project, so we remained patient. We asked again for a full written estimate, and he said he'd do it very soon. We agreed to an additional $1000 deposit to secure a fast start date.
Mario had a start date for us about 3 weeks later, BUT STILL NO WRITTEN BID. This was promised to us a few times, but then it was "I'll have it by the end of the week" or "I'll have it this weekend"
Finally, July 19, TEN DAYS from when we were scheduled to start, he provided a written bid, which would make the whole project cost over $250K.
We were shocked, incredulous, and felt completely taken advantage of. He made excuses about the "more complicated" exterior work (already accounted for in the verbal estimate for $135K), and the prep sink that we wanted (also in the plans from the start), and the "greater than midrange finishes", but those items had been IN THE PLANS since March/April. We had chosen very moderate options (Delta sinks and faucets, NO designer appliances, simple lighting, etc)
We had paid him over $14000 so far, and all we had for it was a $5000 design plan, with his added fees for working with the architect and engineer. We asked for, and received the design and building plans, and told him that we would seek other bids.
8/6/2024: he reached out to ask about other bids. We declined further involvement with him, and he replied that he would not be troubling us again, and that he regretted that things did not work out. That evening I sent an email asking for the $1000 deposit back, based on everything described above. This was a polite request simply for fair and considerate treatment from him, with no demands or threats. He responded that would refund $1000 IF his "final bill" was paid, which he would now send. There had NOT been any mention of any other "final bill" the day before when he said he'd not bother us again. We replied that if he would send a zero invoice, we would forgo any refunds.
He refused to send anything, or to even acknowledge our final two emails requesting a final zero invoice. We have still had no contact from him since then.
In the end, his excuses for why the final bid was so high became comical. After blaming it on an extra sink he went back to the more complicated engineering (again, this had been set in April). He said his costs became higher due to work we had done elsewhere in the house BEFORE moving in (this was not structural work- cosmetic only, and not even IN the kitchen). He said it was because of our addition of a tankless water heater. There WAS no addition of a tankless water heater. He claimed that he didn't know about it our new HVAC, but he had been IN OUR ATTIC after it was installed IN JANUARY, and it had been discussed. He claimed that we said we had no budgetary restraints.
To add insult to injury, once we were able to get the remodel completed our wonderful builder (also reviewed), errors were found in Sure Built's electrical plans, and even in the architectural diagrams. The errors that the architect made, and Mario NEVER found while reviewing the plans meant that we had to have new engineering calculations made DURING the build.
Having FINISHED the job with our new builder WITHIN their original expected cost, we became even more aware of how badly we had erred in trusting Sure Built.
Note: This review was edited on Nov. 14, 2025, after Mario sent us an email threatening us with a lawsuit for defamation if we did not remove this review. While everything that was written before and is written now is our honest review, what remains is what we have solid documentation on. read more
