Hi y'all, I'm writing to all the Pavilion Park homeowners on this board, to warn you of a potential hazard. There's a guy named Tom Gonzales, who I had the unfortunate luck of doing business with about 5 years ago. He offers landscape construction services, and has screwed at least 6 homes in the Columbus Square neighborhood (that I know of), including mine. I just got a call from a Whistler homeowner this evening, and he was approached by Tom Gonzales to bid on his yard project. This has opened up a lot of old wounds (financial and emotional), and I feel compelled to notify those who might come into contact with him.
Tom Gonzales abandoned our project after I called him out on cutting corners on our construction. Some of these shortcuts included:
- mixing a significant amount of existing ground dirt with cement mix (it's cheaper than excavating and disposing...)
- no rebar in concrete
- concrete footings for walls were only 2" deep in some places
- no water barriers on planters
- extending off existing electrical circuits to power all outside electrical (not even close to sufficient)
- insufficient gas pressure to power appliances (city inspector said it fell short by 40%)
- improper grading
- ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WAS DONE TO CODE! (I have suspicions on how he was able to get signatures from city inspectors, but I have no proof...)
There were tons of other issues, but I'll spare you the details. Other homes in our neighborhood have had similar issues, and as I pass by some of those homes, I see:
- cracking tiles due to poorly poured concrete foundations
- flagstone cracking and/or separating due to poor masonry
- stone veneers falling off walls
- patio structures leaning
Tom Gonzales talks a big game, but fails to deliver on all points. Some other pieces of information I was able to dig up from public records:
- Tom had a landscaping license in Chula Vista, but it was revoked due to consumer complaints and lawsuits
- Tom used his daughter Vanessa to obtain a license in Orange County under the name "New Season Landscape Construction", but it was also revoked due to consumer complaints and lawsuits
- Tom's bond had no fewer than 6 claims against it prior to his last license being revoked
- Tom's current license is listed under "Coastal License & Maintenance", Lic #606446. This license was originally issued in 1990, and was REVOKED due to complaints & lawsuits. He got it re-issued somehow on April 2014.
What Tom Gonzales does is a CRIME!!!! We had to resort to lawsuits to recover some of our funds, but we still lost a ton of money. Others in our neighborhood fared a lot worse.
I will be writing to the Pavilion Park HOA to warn them of his history. Tom Gonzales has absolutely no business being in your neighborhood, and I ask that everyone do their due diligence when selecting a landscaper (or any contractor for that matter). There are a lot of trustworthy, hard-working professionals out there, and guys like Tom Gonzales do so much damage to the reputation of other professionals, and homeowners alike.
I don't make it a habit to do stuff like this, but nobody, NOBODY, should go through what we went through with Tom Gonzales. Please, PLEASE, be careful and don't fall victim to his criminal activities.
Sorry for the rant, and I apologize for imposing this on everyone on this board, but this was the only way I knew of reaching out to PP homeowners. I appreciate your time.
Tom Gonzales abandoned our project after I called him out on cutting corners on our construction. Some of these shortcuts included:
- mixing a significant amount of existing ground dirt with cement mix (it's cheaper than excavating and disposing...)
- no rebar in concrete
- concrete footings for walls were only 2" deep in some places
- no water barriers on planters
- extending off existing electrical circuits to power all outside electrical (not even close to sufficient)
- insufficient gas pressure to power appliances (city inspector said it fell short by 40%)
- improper grading
- ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WAS DONE TO CODE! (I have suspicions on how he was able to get signatures from city inspectors, but I have no proof...)
There were tons of other issues, but I'll spare you the details. Other homes in our neighborhood have had similar issues, and as I pass by some of those homes, I see:
- cracking tiles due to poorly poured concrete foundations
- flagstone cracking and/or separating due to poor masonry
- stone veneers falling off walls
- patio structures leaning
Tom Gonzales talks a big game, but fails to deliver on all points. Some other pieces of information I was able to dig up from public records:
- Tom had a landscaping license in Chula Vista, but it was revoked due to consumer complaints and lawsuits
- Tom used his daughter Vanessa to obtain a license in Orange County under the name "New Season Landscape Construction", but it was also revoked due to consumer complaints and lawsuits
- Tom's bond had no fewer than 6 claims against it prior to his last license being revoked
- Tom's current license is listed under "Coastal License & Maintenance", Lic #606446. This license was originally issued in 1990, and was REVOKED due to complaints & lawsuits. He got it re-issued somehow on April 2014.
What Tom Gonzales does is a CRIME!!!! We had to resort to lawsuits to recover some of our funds, but we still lost a ton of money. Others in our neighborhood fared a lot worse.
I will be writing to the Pavilion Park HOA to warn them of his history. Tom Gonzales has absolutely no business being in your neighborhood, and I ask that everyone do their due diligence when selecting a landscaper (or any contractor for that matter). There are a lot of trustworthy, hard-working professionals out there, and guys like Tom Gonzales do so much damage to the reputation of other professionals, and homeowners alike.
I don't make it a habit to do stuff like this, but nobody, NOBODY, should go through what we went through with Tom Gonzales. Please, PLEASE, be careful and don't fall victim to his criminal activities.
Sorry for the rant, and I apologize for imposing this on everyone on this board, but this was the only way I knew of reaching out to PP homeowners. I appreciate your time.