Fine Home Renovations

We have had a wonderful experience with Sal Hernandez at Fine Home Renovations. First, he has provided fresh ideas for our bathroom and master bedroom remodel. He suggested things we hadn’t considered, which added character and additional functionality to the space. He also had great recommendations on places to go to pick out supplies. Second, Sal kept the inconveniences of a remodel to a minimum. Since we lived in the house during the remodel, the other areas of the house were blocked off to keep the dust out. He always cleaned up afterwards and covered the hardwood floors so that no damage occurred. Most importantly, he is trustworthy. He found errors that occurred with the house on a previous remodel (done before we owned the house). He was able to uncover them and fix them quickly while still staying on budget. He stayed late to ensure the project stayed within the timeframe he set for completion. His work is high quality and looks amazing!

Sal did a door adjustment repair and did a fine job. He was on time, and followed up periodically during the quote phase. He did a walk-​thru on other items needing repairs and was honest and sincere in his advice. I am going to use Sal again for other projects after his first job for us. Sal is licensed and I trust Sal’s advice and work.

Here is an update to my nightmare with Sal Hernandez and Fine Home Renovations.
This ordeal been going on since we hired Sal in January 19, 2014. Yes, it’s been 11 months now. We are out $ 28,801. This entire process has been so stressful and that is why I felt I had to share my situation so that others can avoid this problem.
We paid him $ 28,801 of a $ 56,000 project and he completely bailed on our project. Well, he told us that we need to cut him a check for an additional $ 26,500 to do work on things that he just recently noticed were wrong, and we must pay BEFORE he can even continue on with the project (And pay him the rest of the contract.) What the hell? We felt like he was trying to extort money from us.
Needless to say, we did not pay the $ 26,500 for items that were already included. I filed a complaint with
. CSLB has granted me a mandatory arbitration meeting, and that should take place in early 2015. They have already found that he has several violations on our case, such as accepting money prior to performing the work, and having unlicensed people on our property exposing us to potential lawsuits if they get hurt.
As soon as Sal was notified about my complaint, he placed a frivolous lien on our house for $ 10,000. Yes, now I know that contractors can simply place a lien on your home anytime they want to without any justification and without your knowledge. (Another reason to pick a contractor other than Sal!)
I will update this review after the mandatory arbitration.
Sal threatened the other reviewer, (Corryn M on 11÷4÷2013) that he would place a lien on her house too. They ended up having to pay Sal so he wouldn’t file a lien. Then they had to pay another contractor to do the work over again, but with the proper permits that Sal did not get.
Sal had a pretty lengthy, defensive response to Corryn’s review. So, obviously something happened there.
Like I said earlier, If you use Sal and get screwed, then blame yourself because you’ve been warned!

We purchased a renovated house in San Jose. It was already in great shape: we needed a few minor things to be done, like putting in a closet storage system, adjusting shelves and installing an antenna on the roof. Being new to the area, we didn’t have local go-​to guys, but we were very happy to meet Sal, who was one of the GC’s who had worked on the excellent craftsmanship and design of our house. He was very helpful, in giving us suggestions to improve our original thoughts. Sal is very capable with his tools, and was able to provide very competitive quotes, and get things done right the first time. The one time things ran over schedule, Sal worked weekends and late evening to get his job done. I’m very impressed with Sal and would definitely consider him for all jobs we may need that are beyond the casual homoweners’ capabilities. Sal’s also a funny guy, so I enjoyed my interactions with him very much.

We recently hired Sal to remove our old brick on the front of our home and install new stone. We weren’t exactly sure what We wanted so Sal provided us with ideas, options and samples to help form our decision. He made suggestions to better our project and they did just that. Sal did a fantastic job from start to finish. His attention to detail never fell short and our home looks beautiful and like a new home. We have neighbors stopping by to ask us who did our masonry work and how great it looks.
Sal is not only skilled, but he does the job as though the home is his own. He is honest, trustworthy and dependable. We had a least 5 different contractors bid our job and he was by far the most professional, knowledgeable and cost efficient.
He stayed late numerous days to ensure the job was done on time. He kept everything clean and made sure to tidy up at the end of each day.
I come from a background of contractors, as my father was a contractor so I am very picky and hard to please, but Sal hasn’t disappointed me yet. Anyone looking for a contractor should most certainly consider Sal and Fine Home Renovations.

We hired Sal to tear out an old rusted tub and install a nice, modern walk-​in shower. He did a fantastic job, and patiently helped us design and coordinate the shower design elements to the rest of the bathroom. It turned out better than I ever imagined.
Sal is highly skilled and very knowledgeable, and helped us identify some pre-​existing drainage and plumbing issues, and repaired them at no additional cost to us. From tiling, to plumbing, to electrical, he tackled each phase of the remodel like an old pro.
My wife and I found him to be very honest and trustworthy, conscientious, and considerate. We can only fault him on one account, in that he took a bit longer to finish the job than he originally quoted. Taking everything else into consideration, the delay was a minor inconvenience and our experience working with Sal was overwhelmingly positive.

Sal assembled and attached my new weber grill to the gas line and did a superb job. Sal does professional work and he’s a good guy to boot. I would definitely like to work with him again on larger projects.

Sal Hernandez did all the moulding and trim in my house when it was built. He repaired our cabinets, after 3 years of shifting foundation pulled them away from the wall. He did a very complete and precise job. I think his specialty is full remodels, and I would trust him him implicitly.

This is a revision to an earlier review written regarding Fine Home Renovations and Sal.
My husband and I hired Sal to renovate our kitchen. This project required him to completely remove a wall and replace all cabinets, appliances, and backsplash– needless to say it was a large and expensive job for which we expected excellent customer service.
We were assured that the job would be completed in a timely manner and that he would be working solely on our job. That did not happen. From the beginning, Sal was inconsistent– would show up late, take long lunches, and/​or leave early. As mentioned in another customer review, he always had a «reason,» but somehow our job’s time frame was extended and extended and extended again.
Meanwhile, the bills began to pile up. Certain «issues» would arise that would require us to spend more out of pocket money and would take more time. Long story short — the job ended up costing us much more and took way too long.
That, in and of itself, was a disappointment; however, the work was completed well and we were happy to simply have it completed.
Here’s where everything went spiraling downhill —
Due to an unexpected job opportunity, we sold our house. In obtaining paperwork for our new buyers, we found out that Sal did not obtain permits for any of the work that was completed on our job. This was a huge surprise to us, as it was stated in the contract that the permits were to be obtained by Contractor. His response for not obtaining permits was that he accidentally left the language of the template in the contract for our job.
It gets worse.
Upon finding out about these missing permits, we had to pay out of pocket to have a city inspector come out to issue permits (this eventually required another contractor to remove and replace flooring, rework parts of the electrical that did not meet city code, and cost thousands of dollars). We asked Sal to come meet with the city inspector as it was his job in the first place to obtain these permits and call the city inspector out during the course of the job. He agreed to meet the inspector. However, after this meeting, he charged us for two hours of his time and stated that he would have to place a lien on the house if payment was not received which would hold up the sale of our house!

Sal was outstanding to work with and did a great job for us. We had extensive water damage in our condo and he did a fantastic job in replacing the floor, drywall, electrical and more. He went above and beyond to make sure we were satisfied with his work.
We chose Sal over several other bids because:
1. He shows up;
2. On time;
3. Provides detailed estimates;
4. High quality work;
5. Speaks English; and
6. Actually does the work himself! He is not the type of contractor that shows up to win the bid and sends a crew of unknowns to actually do the work.
He will absolutely be the first one on our list to call in the future.

Sal is careful, creative, dependable and thorough. Sal repaired a difficult dry rot problem on 2^nd floor window with stucco siding. Repaired interior doors without having to replace and installed threshold and weather stripping on an exterior door. Excellent craftsmanship. We recommend Fine Home Renovations to anyone that is in need of a professional, dependable and experienced contractor.

I have asked Sal to fixed the water pressure pipe due to some initial leaking. I am very satisfied with the outcome. Sal took time to help me buy the parts for the fixing and also patiently explain the parts that he bought. after that day I thought my pressure was good but apparently not good enough, so I asked him to return twice to readjust the pressure; he was very patient to return and fixed readjust the pressure. I have confident that I will contact him again if any renovation needed.