Castillo Construction LLC

I hired them to put new roof on my rental property in uptown New Orleans and needed it completed within one month (by the end of July 2021). I was concerned it might not get done in time due to the non-relenting daily rainstorms, but we eventually caught a break from the rain and Wade got the job done in two day and came in on time and on budget. The roof looks great and the workmen did a very good job of cleaning up afterwards. I have also looked into having them replace all the old wiring in this old apartment duplex and the person they sent over to give me a quote seemed very knowledgeable on just how to get it done in just a few days and to consolidate electrical boxes and wire runs so that looks better after than it does now. DaveC

Beware of Castillo Construction now known as Castillo Builders. We terminated our contract with Alfonso 3 years ago for faulty work and delayed timelines. He went through multiple subcontractors for nonpayment to them. We brought a case against him which was eventually settled with a payment plan over 1 year. During this time he was usually late paying and stopped paying as of the second to last installment. We were told by our lawyer that his legal representation withdrew due to non-payment. In the midst of this he created a new LLC, presumably to avoid incurring any liens by us because Castillo Construction is now defunct. When we tried to serve him with lien papers, the address listed on all his business filings is a serviced PO Box at Royal Mail on Metairie Rd. If you know how to contact him, please let me know. In the meantime, I highly suggest avoiding his services.

I hired Castillo Construction to do emergency repairs to my home after my neighbor's tree fell on it and caused major damage to the house and completely destroyed my garage. Unfortunately, this was the second time that the same tree had fallen on my house causing major damage. The first time, about half of the tree fell and my whole house was gutted. My first contractor was a crook and wasn't even finished with the renovations a year later when the rest of the tree fell. Having had such a horrible experience with my first contractor, I was very picky about who I would hire for this round of renovations and repairs. Alfonso and his team were very responsive with my inquiries for a site visit, estimate, and references. He was also understanding of the trouble I had been through over the last year and was willing to jump through all the hoops I put up to make sure that he was an honest contractor who wasn't trying to make a quick buck without doing the work. As soon as my insurance company issued the first check, his crew got to work. They replaced my roof, laid new wood floors throughout the entire house, repaired the ceiling in two rooms where the tree had come through, painted the interior rooms that had been damaged, rebuilt damaged kitchen cabinet, demolished and rebuilt the two-car garage and patio roof, upgrade electrical box to garage, repainted the exterior of the house, installed new gutters and downspouts, and replaced air conditioning compressor. I'm probably forgetting so many details about what was done. I'll just say that it was a lot of work and they completed it quickly and beautifully. My former contractor had left several things inside the house unfinished such as no window sills on several windows and tile missing in the bathroom or incorrectly installed. I was going to have to pay out of pocket to get these things taken care of since I was fighting with my old contractor over what he owed me. When I asked Alfonso for an estimate to complete this work while they were doing all the other repairs, he told me not to worry about it. He finished all of the unfinished items in the house without asking for a dime. It wasn't a lot of work but he sympathized with my situation he saved me several hundred dollars instead of taking advantage. His crews were always extremely polite and answered any questions I had about what they were doing. They also kept a very clean work site, making sure that all materials and tools were put away and organized every day before they left for the day. Even when Alfonso and I had a disagreement about the air compressor that was installed, he was willing to bend to what I wanted, and what had originally been agreed upon, at a financial loss to himself in order to make things right with the customer. After having been through the ringer over the last year and a half, it was refreshing to have a contractor who was honest and didn't try to take advantage of a woman navigating in a largely male-dominated field.

Good. Knowledgeable and professional.

Giovanni of Castillo Construction, LLC did an excellent job. He pulled up my old driveway and sidewalk which were both sinking. He then filled in the area with dirt, framed the area with wood and then poured and leveled the cement. I am very pleased with the results and have had several neighbors comment on how nice the driveway and sidewalk look. Additionally, all of the workers were diligent in getting the job done in a timely manner. Marie, Metairie, LA

Everything went very good.

SUMMARY. Strong bid and early performance degenerated into delays (over 18 months), failure to meet commitments, and shoddy workmanship, resulting in bringing in another contractor to complete project and remediate work not meeting City codes at a cost of over $35,000. DETAILS. Our experience with Castillo Construction was good, bad and ugly. In summary: • Castillo Construction is untrustworthy; not above lying (not just misleading); and concealing wrongdoing; • Castillo Construction is incompetent in supervising its subcontractors and unwilling to make things right; and • Castillo Construction’s business model combines low bids with failure to deliver. The Good: Bidding and sales process was friendly, competent, and intense — Sales Manager Wade Holden was communicative, responsive, and engaged. Castillo Construction’s early work was diligent and intensive after the contract was signed in February, 2014. The Bad: Work, however, essentially came to a halt after the mid/two-thirds point in payments had been reached, approximately 4 months into the job. After that, few workers showed up at the site, electricity was cut off and promises that work would resume/soon be finished sounded sincere, but showed few results. A promise to complete the job in October proved a lie; threats to sue produced a brief flurry of work. Castillo Construction failed to respond to us, and the owner Alfonso Castillo’s few communications showed little familiarity with conditions at the site and less interest in moving beyond empty promises. The Ugly: In November (more than one YEAR after the promised completion date), I brought in a new contractor to finish the job. The new contractor uncovered and confirmed work badly done; work done contrary to City building codes and industry practices; and deceitful practices. Castillo’s electrical contractor failed to upgrade the electrical service as code required, and the work had to be redone at an expense of $6000. The HVAC contractor failed to install the central air/heat correctly (for instance a thermostat was installed right next to an air outlet), and to zone the work as called for. Sloppy roof work resulted in leaks. The plumber failed to install a code-required isolation kit for a tank-less hot water heater, and couldn’t get hot water to the kitchen sink. A toilet was cracked during installation, and the crack concealed with epoxy and passed off as new work. We are suing Castillo for the extra expense (over $35,000) incurred in getting the work done properly, and for economic damages because the work was not completed in timely fashion. Throughout, Castillo has failed to reply to communications and concealed his whereabouts: the Metairie address is simply a mailbox shop and there is no sign of Castillo Construction at the Bridge City “domicile” address.

I love my new space. The workers were great. They were careful and trustworthy. Mr Alfonso was responsive to all our needs and requests.

I feel the pre-construction discussion of what was wanted, and the communication of that to the crew, could have been done better. The two guys they sent to do 90% of the job were nice, but their English was not fantastic, and they relied too heavily on my wife to help guide them and make decisions that she shouldn't have had to make on-the-fly. The old adage, "Proper planning prevents poor performance," applies. There were multiple bits of "re-work" due to less-than-stellar first attempts. I will gladly admit that the owner/foreman agreed to fix anything we pointed out, but great quality the first try would've been appreciated more. Part of the problem with lots of little and not-so-little mistakes is that when there are a whole lot - it's hard to catch them all. Now they are gone and I still find little things that I wish I'd found during the final walk-through. The price was not ridiculous, but I think we paid what we did because we live in Belle Chasse and the company seems to be located out of Metairie. Anyway, the price seemed a bit high, but out here you have to sometimes take what you can get. Luckily, the quality was good. The workmen seemed honest and polite. We got what we wanted pretty close to on-time.

Had the leveling done first, came out very good and stayed on budget. Other than a few days of rain it was done on time. The leveling caused cracks in the walls and ceilings inside so I hired them to do that and get it painted which was done very good as well. For the most part I was able to stay in touch with the contractor throughout the job, toward the end there were a couple of miscommunications that happened but the job came out pretty good. I'd hire them again.

unknown

The kitchen came out well, though I had to really be on the guys working to do the work properly. The craftsmanship was lacking and some things had to be redone. The owner who came out initially pays close attention to detail and is nice. His subcontractors however do not pay close attention to detail and lack craftsmanship skills. The owner is also impossible to get a hold of while the project is going on, which is a pain if you have any questions that need to be answered. The project went on for months longer than anticipated even though I had all of the materials (cabinets, sink, etc) ready before the job was to start. Some days no one would show up, and no one would call. They were often hard to get in touch with and a week would go by before I could get in touch with anyone to answer a question. They were also over budget because they didn't work in electrical, which felt like an intentional oversight. They knew before starting that the kitchen needed it's own breaker switch and that I wanted to install outlets as well as move around appliances. All of that required electrical. I was promised when I signed the contract that the quote was the quote and my budget would be respected. That wasn't the case. While the kitchen did come out great, it wasn't without a fight or daily oversight and even getting some things that should've been measured twice and done once, done over again 2x. It was such a pain in the end that I can not recommend them to anyone.

unknown

Castillo Construction did an exceptional job adding a bedroom to the rear of my home and completed the job within the 2 months estimated.  I'm very happy with the work they completed and appreciate that it was done timely and weeks before my daughter being born. Since they were so efficient with the construction, we are able to start organizing and decorating our baby's room with time to spare. They completed a solid foundation and seamlessly added the room to a my 130 year old home with matching wood siding and exterior paint.  Wade was professional during the preliminary construction phase in ensuring all concerns were addressed. Alfonso was professional during the construction process and made sure the contract was completed as agreed and stayed on schedule.  The foreman, Belter, was the star of the whole experience.  He was very personable during the day-to-day schedule, addressed all concerns immediately, and executed high quality craftsmanship.  The extra details done with the carpentry in the walk-in-closet and the wood floor tie-in between the addition and existing room were exclamation points for the quality work done by Belter and the other workers involved.  Everyone was very respectful during the whole process.  I recommend Castillo Construction for anyone looking for quality work done efficiently with no hassle. Thanks guys!

After nine months working with CC and many ups, downs, and moments of extreme frustration I can honestly say that we are extremely please with the end product provided by CC. In many areas the results were way beyond my expectations which are very high. We demo-ed a low ceiling sloped roof lean-to that contained our only bath and kitchen and replaced it with 2 story 10 foot ceiling camelback containing downstairs bath, kitchen, upstairs master en suite with a side balcony . They did great work on a custom open staircase hand cut from salvaged cypress and barge-board.Castillo took this staircase on at my request and it did not cost me extra. His carpenters did a great job and it has an awesome rustic look that really goes with the feel of the house. We have exposed bargeboard in a room that was not part of the reno. His tile guy did an exceptional job in both bathrooms and on the kitchen backsplash. We had 5 x 3/4 inch heart pine brought in from Georgia for flooring throughout and CC did a great job installing it. One bath has pine tongue and groove walls and ceiling to replicate the construction that was removed. We had to do some tricky maneuvering around the plumbing here and it all worked out nicely.The foundation was well built and the window framing to match the existing house its truly well done inside and out. we have a balcony off the master bedroom and here they built it out in manner that was above and beyond my expectations -- making the floor waterproof to protect the can lighting underneath.We also ended up with a fantastic floored and foamed attic for storage. <br /> <br /> All the problems we had with the work including an HDLC issue were eventually addressed to our satisfaction by CC with full approval by HDLC. We did wish the project had been completed in less time but it did include 2 baths and kitchen and some tricky framing. I reccomend CC whole heartedly but it is important with them as well as any contractor to take a strong interest in your job, know the details of you architectural drawings, and to set a firm time-frame in the contract. <br /> <br /> Let me stress this turned out awesome and we felt the cost was extremely fair.

The back part of my house was in bad shape -- rotting joists and crumbling piers. Castillo Construction came out and replaced the rotting wood, dug new footings and put in new piers. The job was well done and I now feel a lot more confident that my house won't fall down. It's always nice when a company exceeds expectations. <br />

Castillo Construction was quick to respond with an estimate, it took a bit longer to get the contract worked out.  We had wanted to start the project immediately, but our timing was bad so it took a few months to get the project going - especially with the weather delays to getting the foundation going (rain delays).  Once the foundation and initial plumbing passed inspection, the framing rough-ins went very quickly - after that it felt like it slowed down.  I will say that there was someone working on our property nearly every day. At the end, the  <strong><em>quality of the construction was good</em></strong>.  We felt the project and communication could have been a bit smoother - we thought that project delays could have been communicated more proactively.  However, Castillo completed the project and they have been responsive to any punch list items that came up afterward.   <em><strong>Overall, I would recommend them</strong> </em>- the completed project is very nice.  There are always areas to improve, so we included a list of what went well and would could be improved.   None of the comments below would prevent me from recommending them to anyone else or from contracting with them again!    <br /> <strong><br /> PROS/What Went Well:</strong> <br /> Good quality/good price <br /> Quick to provide estimate/quote <br /> Very knowledgeable of the construction/engineering industry <br /> Professional home construction <br /> Licensed/insured - pulled all permits and passed all inspections <br /> Trustworthy crews/subs <br /> Cleaned up work site <br /> Responds to punchlist follow-up <br /> <strong>CONS/Areas to Improve:</strong> <br /> Improve communication with project manager and customer <br /> Took longer than expected  <br /> Sometimes didn't show for scheduled meetings without cancelling/contacting us <br /> Could improve the materials selection/acquisition process for the items that Castillo purchases (we had to re-select materials on a few items) <br /> Some of the work arounds/issues that came up during the renovation were decided by the crew onsite and resulted in re-work when reviewed later <br />

Wade called me 'Babe" and "Hon" which I told him was not professional and I was not comfortable with. It is degrading to women to speak to them that way. If he continued I would not have hired him. Once we got that clear, his workers worked hard and were polite. <br />

Work was done very carefully my exact specifications.  Finished work in time estimated and it is incredible! Quality is lovely!

Castillo Construction was recommended to me by a friend.  I went to their job site and saw how many people were working and the high quality of the work.  All impressions were very good and proven true. The work was done in a timely manner and they explained everything to me before they did it, including warning me when potential complications might arise and what could be done to resolve them. <br /> The work was incredible and we are hiring them for more contracts. <br />

Like so many New Orleans homes, my 80 year old house was suffering from a general droopiness. There were a couple of noticeable dips in the floor, and the cracks in the walls were beginning to mirror the cracks in my sanity. So I began making calls. After four quotes from various companies, I decided that I felt most comfortable with Wade and Alfonso. And my instincts did not fail me. <br /> Wade made several trips to discuss the project with me. He explained exactly what his team was going to do, and he also made sure that I knew exactly what the end results would be. On top of all that, his price was perfectly reasonable. <br /> The crew showed up around 8 in the morning, and worked through the day until there was not enough natural light to continue. They needed access to the interior of the house only on the first and last day of the job. They built about 10 new support footings under the house, and added some reinforcement to the sections of the floor so that all the dips were gone.  <br /> All in all, these guys were a pure pleasure to work with. From the outset through completion, they made sure I knew exactly what was happening, and the crew was absolutely respectful and professional. (Strangely enough, my yard looked cleaner AFTER the job than it did before!) And then, a few days after the job was finished, the owner stopped by to make sure that the job was done both to his and my satisfaction. <br /> Having a job like this done on your house can be stressful. Thankfully, Castillo took most of the stress out of it. Very highly recommended company! <br />

The house looks amazing and mr. Castillo and his crew are too notch! If there was any questions or minor issues, it was handled in a timely fashion with the highest priority. I felt like the most important customer which is what everyone wants! <br />The finishes were marble and subway tile, which can be tough, but these guys did a great job and the house looks incredible! <br /> <br />Thanks to Alfonso, Belter and all his crew, you rock! <br />

<p>This is my third project with Castillo Construction.  As usual, quality work was done in a timely manner.  I feel like I've built relationships with these guys and will use them for future projects.  They are easily accessible and work well as a team.</p> <br />

<strong>MAY 2015  DO NOT TRUST CASTILLO'S WARRANTY: HE WILL NOT HONOR IT. COURT JUDGEMENT AGAINST HIM IS ONLY RECOURSE.<br /> <br /> Castillo has failed to answer phone calls, emails and certified letters asking him to correct the shoddy work he left behind. This included installing S-traps where P-traps were needed, installing *interior* flexible HVAC duct-work under the house (code requires exterior, hard ductwork for obvious reasons), and failing to install  working heating elements. The following letter has now gone to him.<br /> <br /> AN APPLICATION FOR A JUDGEMENT AGAINST CASTILLO FOR FAILURE TO HONOR WARRANTY IS BEING FILED; A COMPLAINT FILED WITH THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU AND A COMPLAINT TO THE STATE CONTRACTOR'S LICENSE REGULATORS.<br /> <br /> BE WARY OF THE MANY POSITIVE REVIEWS ON ANGIE'S LIST. CASTILLO PAYS INDIVIDUALS TO REMOVE OR ALTER NEGATIVE REVIEWS.<br /> <br /> ______________________________________________________________<br /> <br /> MARCH UPDATE ON CONTRACTOR'S FAILURE TO HONOR WARRANTY</strong> <br /> <br /> FURTHER TO MY REVIEW BELOW, I ADD THIS ADDENDUM REGARDING CASTILLO'S FAILURE TO HONOUR HIS WARRANTY. IT CAME TO LIGHT THAT THE COMPANY INSTALLED INADEQUATE AND DEFECTIVE HVAC IN BOTH THE UPPER AN LOWER UNITS. CORRECTION OF DEFECTS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE COVERED BY THE WARRANTY.   <br /> <br /> I WROTE AND TELEPHONED THE COMPANY REPEATEDLY,  TO NO AVAIL.  THEY  SENT THE HVAC SUBCONTRACTOR AROUND TWICE, BUT DID NOTHING AT ALL TO RECTIFY THE PROBLEMS (INCORRECT AMPERAGE FOR THE A/C AND INSUFFICIENT HEATING STRIPS FOR THE UNIT SIZES). <br /> <br /> <strong>NOTE</strong>: EARLIER IN THE PROCESS, CASTILLO AGREED TO COMPENSATE ME FOR CERTAIN DEFECTIVE ITEMS AND SHODDY WORK IF I REMOVED MY COMPLAINT ON ANGIE'S LIST; I DID SO, IN DESPERATION. THIS IS APPARENTLY HOW CASTILLO MAINTAINS HIS 'A' RATING ON THE LIST - BY NEGOTIATING FOR REVIEWS. I <strong>N THIS FURTHER ROUND OVER HONORING THE HVAC WARRANTY,  HOWEVER, CASTILLO HAS SIMPLY STOPPED REPLYING TO CALLS AND EMAILS. </strong> <br /> <br /> I  HAVE FINALLY HAD TO ENGAGE A LAWYER TO MAKE A COURT APPLICATION TO ENFORCE  CASTILLO'S WARRANTY.  THIS HAS BEEN, HANDS DOWN, THE VERY WORST EXPERIENCE I HAVE EVER HAD WITH ANY CONTRACTOR.   <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> This contractor presents as charming and smooth-talking.  The reality is appalling. He will fulfil all of your worst nightmares about dishonest and unreliable NOLA contractors: shoddy workmanship, padded invoices, charging client for premium professionals (e.g., decorators, floor refinishers and electricians) but then hiring unskilled day-labourers, substituting cheap paint for contracted quality, failing to respond to complaints, failing to show up for days and even weeks on end, damaging property and - the coup de grace - installing a completely dysfunctional HVAC system which is now not functioning.  <br /> 1.  The projected time-frame was 2 months. 5 months later it was not even half-finished, and the workmen weren't showing up. Because it was an FHA renovation I could not change contractors - and Castillo knew that. He ruthlessly exploited the fact that I was tied in:  7 months later ithe 8-week job was still in a mess.  The delays cost me thousands in lost rent, not a penny of which was compensated. <br /> 2.  I have had to call him out SEVENTEEN TIMES for the HVAC since November alone. As I write, the upper unit heating does not work and the unit is freezing. Castillo installed sub-adequate systems in both units.  He sends out his workman (now nine times) who does nothing and leaves.  The fact is that Castillo both installed a shoddy HVAC system  AND failed to wire it to appropriate amps.  <br /> 3. I had to have the floors completely refinished after his men made a dog's breakfast of them - and put on a finish that wore off in just 8 weeks.  The workmen did not have a clue what they were doing; they were clearly day-labourers with no training in the role at all. <br /> 4. Castillo's men would not show up at all for days and weeks at a time, leaving rubbish, half-done jobs and materials scattered everywhere.  I had to make ten calls for every message back - sometimes weeks after the event. <br /> 5. I am now waiting (two months of phone calls) for Castillo to get the heating working in one of the units. The lower unit was malfunctioning for two months, running the fan without producing heat. A man came out once and said there was nothing wrong with it, but there is something wrong when the heat is turned all the way up, windows and doors closed tight, and it is 47 degrees inside.   By the time Castillo's man actually fixed it, the tenant's 'heating' bill for eight weeks came to over $700.     <br /> I will update this report again.  I have had to refer the case to my lawyer to handle.  Castillo is truly unbelievable. My FHA manager and the local mortgage company both observed that they had *never* seen such shoddy work and dishonest performance in their many decades of performance. BEWARE!

They were a pleasure to work with. They showed up on time and executed the work quickly. They brought along a translator because most of the workers spoke Spanish. There was a slight error in executing the work instructions but I attributed it to language translation. I called them back for future work and they did that well as well. They hauled off all the debris and left the job site clean after every work day. I was very please and plan to use them on future projects <br />