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Anybody have a referral for a skilled laborer? I am planning to replace the front of my building with cantera stone and change maybe 2 to 4 of the bathrooms. Need someone to take old stone off front and prep and install new stone and in the bathrooms take out old tile and install new tile on floor and walls. Prefer to hire someone locally who has been a long standing member of the community.

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I highly recommend Raymundo Blas 33-1141-5638. He is a general contractor with a crew of skilled laborers. He's built and remodeled homes in Ajijic and at the moment has a crew from Ajijic working on a major remodel of a house we bought on the beach.

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i would like to recommend my friend, Antonio Garcia, from Joco. He is an albanile, is related to an inordinate number of folks in Joco, has been working in construction since he was 12 or so, does great work and can provide references. His cell phone is 045-331-335-8855. If you contact him, tell him Barbara gave you his number.

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I highly recommend Miguel Ramirez - 331-068-3827

Born and raised in Ajijic so a long track record here. He and his brothers and nephews are extremely talented and 100% reliable. He has done quite a bit of truly outstanding work on our house over the last 8 years. Not the cheapest guy we talked to but 100% happy with his work and the price.

Feel free to PM for more information or to ask any questions.

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Spencer, if you do a drive by of the house on the northeast corner of Juan Alvarez and Constitución in Ajijic (Juan Alvarez is the street going down to the lake along the west side of Plaza Bugambilias), you will see stone work done halfway up on the property's walls by Joel Cardenas. Prior to last fall, the wall was plain and had a water problem. Joel wanted to individually choose the stone, so he went to the south side of the lake to obtain it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Our trade worker, Alejandro (Alex) Hernandez of Chapala is good. He's done lots of concrete repair work, paint, a complicated backsplash, installed a new entrance door handle/lock and will be installing a small new roof soon.

He's patient which is a must for me because I'm fussy. He's given me good options, has gone to the ferreterias with me, stayed late, even came on a Sunday.

I overpaid him one week and on Monday morning, he was right there with the extra money. I had forgotten I paid him part of the week on Tuesday and insisted I didn't overpay. I insisted I did. I told him to keep it. I remembered the next day about the Tuesday payment and decided he was worth the extra and never asked for it back.

He's very responsible and is eager. He's a father of 3 kids and is just trying to make ends meet. He's been working in construction for over 20 years.

Spencer, you can contact me directly for further details. I don't have his cell right here at 1 am.

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Another vote for Raymundo Blas. Does great work, speaks perfect English, and is an all around good guy. Have met is wife and kids at Walmart. Spencer, if you wamt an established member of the community he fills the bill.

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Many of us who live in Chapala have come to know and trust Trino ...for both big jobs and small. He is skilled, careful, and trustworthy. He put in a bathroom for us and built a whole house for a friend of ours. Trino and family have lived in Chapala for many, many years. His grandson, Martin, now works with him.

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  • 2 months later...

BEWARE, through my work as an attorney, I just had a case presented to me where one of the people on this thread who are being referred had a dispute with a client, the "contractor" prepared the contract and now is going to the labor board threatening the person claiming to be a simple worker and this apparently is not the first time. He appeared to knowingly prepare a weak contract to use against his clients being a worthless contract and the client would have full liabilities as an employer and he would not be deemed a contractor

You should never let an interested party prepare a contract, and especially one who is not an attorney. Also beware of referrals, some people really do not know who they are referring.

If you have work done on your home, safest bet is to get a contract called CONTRATO A PRECIO ALZADO and be careful how you make the payments and get receipts to not be tricked into having the contract negated by paying the other side as mere workers and not contractors.

I am glad I didn't hire the guy, he either had changed his number or flaked in the beginning, good for me.

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Spencer's point is well taken about people making referrals and not really knowing the contractor (or the pretend contractor) who comes with what appears to be a legit written estimate and 'contract.' And, although I fall for the same thing, 'perfect English' is not the best indicator for hiring someone.

In this kind of a forum, you get a few 'referrals' often for the same person and so it looks like 'lots' of people like the person. But, at the end of the day, it's just an expression of a few people.

What you don't get is any of the reality for others who may have used the same person, because it cannot be posted publicly.

So, the 'contract' issue mentioned above continues to be used by the "contractor" in his favor only and leaves the 'customer' wide open for problems and little, if any, recourse. The 'repeat' offense was verified by the "contractor's maestro" who was willing to share that this was a repeat practice .... but no one is willing or able to say anything for all of the obvious reasons.

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