We were referred to Ismael "The Marble Master" back in February of 2018 by "All Natural Stone." Of the two names we were given, Ismael was the most prompt to respond. We soon discovered he is truly knowledgeable and professional. We were renovating our master bathroom in San Jose and Ismael fabricated and installed our quartzite countertop and two sinks. We were extremely impressed with his work. So, when we began renovating our 2nd home in Copperopolis, we requested a bid from Ismael and two other companies closer to Copperopolis. Ismael bid was right in the middle about $750 more than the lowest bid. Considering he would be traveling close to 2 1/2 hours, we felt his bid was reasonable. We also had a tremendous amount of confidence in his work.
I texted Ismael at 4:30 p.m. on May 7th asking for a bid. He responded at 6:50 the next morning saying he'd get back to me with a quote. I followed up on May 18th and by Thursday, May 21st I had the quote. On the previous job he did for us, we didn't have any written contract. We were working with a cabinet contractor for our current renovation with only text and email messages. I was regretting not having a more formal written contract with the cabinet maker, so I didn't want to proceed again without a more formal agreement. I prepared a one-page letter detailing the scope and agreement of work which included kitchen, laundry room and hallway cabinets. With Ismael, after having him complete two jobs for us, I'm confident you really don't need a contract. He's a man of his word. He did exactly what he promised, just like the first time we worked with him. He also left two large leftover pieces that we will be using for our guest and master bathroom countertops. And, two smaller pieces that we can carry with us when shopping for our backsplash and bathroom floor tile.
On Friday morning, May 22nd, we spoke on the phone and I awarded him the job. He agreed to meet us on Memorial Day, Monday, May 25th to make the templates. A vacation day!!!!! That's commitment! He also said that once we come by his shop to show him how we want each countertop to be laid out on the granite that he would be ready to install in 10 days. On Friday, May 29th, Ismael spent at least an hour with us to laid out each countertop. He was very patient. Ismael continued to be responsive to text messages throughout. He is a busy man. He may not get back to you immediately, but at the times I really needed to talk to him, he called me back quickly. I have absolutely no complaints about his responsiveness. On the contrary, it's amazing how he juggles all his clients. I'm acting as my own general contractor on my renovation job. I have minimal experience and needed some hand holding along the way. Ismael was willing and qualified to provide the advice and direction I needed.
As promised, he contacted us almost exactly 10 days later to set-up the installation date. Although, something came up and he had to push it out one day to Thursday, June 11th (12 days, instead of 10 which didn't bother us at all). Our cabinet contractor is currently 3 months passed his promised completion date and we are still waiting for him to finish. So, two days is absolutely nothing!
My wife and I highly recommend Ismael "The Marble Master" with confidence. We will never do a natural stone countertop job without his expertise! The "Marble Master" is our go to man! read more