G V S Construction

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• By Matthew L.

  March 4, 2021

  Bathroom Remodel

  $35,000

  Gilberto Vargus was hired as the General Contractor for what should have been a typical bathroom renovation which he managed to make a disaster in every way imaginable. Whether it was his lying, his ineptitude, or his complete lack of follow-through or responsibility after demolition the project was complete mess every step of the way. Aside from all of the problems he created, he repeatedly lied and defrauded me from the very beginning. Finally, after he ended up taking all of the money budgeted for the project based on his quote (including what was supposed to be paid to subcontractors but instead just went into his pocket) he did some gaslighting and finally ghosted me leaving behind a long list of problems that I later learned wasn't even a complete list.

  Firstly, he presented himself as being a licensed, insured, and bonded general contractor. He was none of these. According to the CA Contractors License Board his bond holder, and his insurance company, his license was revoked one year earlier due to excessive claims and complaints. From the very start he refused to provide any documentation for hours worked or receipt of payments after repeatedly asking him. In spite of promises to do so he never provided a shred of either. He did have a knack for asking for money when the bathroom was in some state of disassembly, essentially holding me hostage.

  Aside from the lies and the fraud, the real problems started when he did work he was not skilled or bonded to do. When we did have a subcontractor on site he was either unable or unwilling to cooperate with them with an air of contempt and/or passive aggressiveness and he wouldn't communicate with anyone. For example, instead of hiring a plumber or electrician he attempted to do the work himself. For example, be botched the installation of the shower valve so there was barely any pressure and he wouldn't even accept it was a problem. After weeks of haranguing him he finally came over to make a weak show of "fixing it" only to say after several weeks that "nothing could be done" and disappear for weeks. I ended up having to pay a plumber to do the work properly which required demolishing freshly laid tile and retiling it. He of course took no responsibility for any of those expenses. What should have taken 3 weeks to complete took 4 months.

  He also seemed incapable or unwilling to measure and plan anything. For example, we were supposed to use a prefabricated glass kit and the shower pan was to be maid to accommodate it. After ordering two prefab shower stall kits that didn't fit I discovered after measuring the custom shower pan (made without his supervision) was not to spec and none of these kits were going to work. That made 6 weeks of pointlessly buying and returning kits that would never fit, wasted effort, wasted money and wasted time. I ended up getting custom glass made which cost more than twice as much.

  The worst problem of course was that he took no real responsibility for anything he blamed everything on the designer somehow. The level of gaslighting was beyond belief. In the end I had effectively paid him for the full job since - on top of everything else - he took payment that was supposed to go to a subcontractor when in fact the money just went into his pocket and I had to pay them directly. In short, he used the trust I had from his recommendation to con me. Whether that was his plan all along or he just cowardly disappeared after he realized he was in over his head is hardly relevant at this point. He defrauded me and may be facing criminal charges as a result.

  But don't take my word for it. Do your homework as I wish I did and contact the CA State Contractor Board https://www2.cslb.ca.gov or his former bondholder Greenwood at 626-817-9100 and ask about Gilberto Vargus' license number 737184 and why it was revoked in 2019.

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• By Anonymous

  June 27, 2014

  2 Complete Bathroom Remodels

  20 days

  Excelent contractor at fair price

  Gilberto Vargas is a customercentric contractor, always looking for a better way to do things for his customer. We had two bathrooms completely remodeled-all the way to the studs. We used large 17”x25” tiles and had a linear drain in one of the bathrooms, which we thought would be quite a challenge. Josue, his tile guy is a consummate professional and recommended ideas we had not thought about. The tile work in both bathrooms is excellent. Victor is very experienced and was great at doing most of the other work in the bathroom. The plumbers were very experienced and thorough and took no short cuts to insure a perfect job. We are very pleased at how the bathrooms turned out and would recommend Gilberto and his team to anybody who is looking for excellent workmanship at a fair price.