Socal Remodeling

At first I hesitated to write this review, however I hope no one experiences what my family did with Gerson and SoCal remodeling. Fall of 2021 we had pinhole leaks in our copper piping that caused water damage in two of our bathrooms and a downstairs storage closet. We decided since it was time to replace all piping, we would go ahead and remodel 2.5 bathrooms and do the closet over. Obviously at that time it was not ideal remodeling time due to delays in product deliveries and the decreased availability of contractors. We researched different general contractors and met with 8-10 before settling on working with Gerson.
When Gerson submitted the bid, he did offer to redo our storage closet for free. However, as we discussed remodeling plans and things we were hoping to do with the bathrooms/closet, we told him several times we did not expect him to work for free and actually would be more than willing to pay more to have the projects done the way we wanted even if it meant spending more money than he initially quoted us.
During the remodeling process we tried to be respectful of Gerson’s time, as we understand for contractors time is money. If he told us he needed a decision, often times we would change our plans that day to go pick out various items or change our schedule around to be available to meet with him. Unfortunately, issues started to arise when this was not reciprocated. Several times Gerson would tell us he would meet with us at the house to not only not show up, but to fail to even call/text and notify us. This eventually became a problem, as we noted workers and other contracted individuals were failing to show up to complete the work in a manner discussed. This eventually lead to issues when things were ordered without discussing it with us or installed/delivered without us approving it s the style/coloring was off.
Eventually, five months into the project we noted no one had been around or working on the house for ~3 weeks. We reached out to Gerson, and again there was no response. Fearing he was leaving us with unfinished work, we eventually notified him we would “pursue other avenues” if he failed to contact us or complete the work. At this time, Gerson finally showed up and promised to have people at the house working that week. Gerson actually stood in front of me, looked me in the eye and told me, “I don’t leave, I would never leave” while laughing.
His crew did arrive to complete work on the final bathroom for the next few weeks. Ironically, during this time when they were here working was when another reviewer reported Gerson told him he was “sick and unable to work”. He was here at our house completing work at that time.
After the final bathroom was completed, there was minor adjustments to be made when things were not installed correctly. Additionally, in the downstairs storage closet items were installed incorrectly. Gerson arrived, asking us for payment for several items which he ordered to correct the erroneously installed ones which we had not problem giving him. However, in August we once again were told workers would arrive to complete the work.
It is now October, and we have never heard back from Gerson. Throughout our time or working with him we truly were nothing but respective of his time, when errors were made such as his workers breaking our bed, gouging our hardwood floor or pouring grout down our only functioning toilet requiring an emergent plumber to be called late at night we never expected him to reimburse us and understood sometimes that is just part of what happens.
However, to have someone leave your house unfinished and in a state ours was left is unprofessional and speaks large amounts of the character of this company. After promising me he would never leave a project, Gerson has been nowhere to be found. He did tell us he was sick several times during the project, however after three months of not being present in the home and failing to reply with even an update on his state of health or intentions for the completion of the project it is safe to say he has in fact left the project unfinished. My husband and myself have had to use a trusted contractor we knew previously to help us fix the house and to clean up the mess him and his men left our house/yard.
Do yourself a very big favor and do not use this company, as the character of the owner is one that will not hesitate to desert the project if necessary.