Inline Tile And Stone

Thankfully I listened to my neighbors who have used Duane of Inline Tile and Stone for their projects and were so pleased that they highly recommended him for my projects. I have to admit that it was hard ignoring the one very nasty hateful review but I did and I hired Duane for my fireplace remodel and masterbath tile floor replacement.

And I couldn't be happier!!! Duane and his crew were amazing. They were reasonably priced, very skilled, reliable, honest, clean, professional and clever too as they were able to solve a tile manufacturing problem that I was worried about without having to charge me extra. I'm so satisfied that next month I hope to hire them for my big outdoor hardscape project.

Please look at the below pictures to see the Inline transformation of my sad old red brick fireplace to my new beautiful stackstone fireplace. ;-)

Just got a call from a heating and air conditioning salesman to come out and "check" my system. I told him that I check it myself. He then offered "duct cleaning" for $65 extra. I told him my ducts were flexible and asked him to explain how they could possibly clean them. He said they don't use brushes, but instead use "negative pressure" to pull dust, etc. from the ducts. I asked him how that could possibly work. They close all the vents and suck the air backwards through the vent. I asked him, if there is dust, etc. in the vents why doesn't it simply come out when the heat/air conditioner comes on. He said it does, that's why they clean the vents. Well, if it comes out when the heat/air conditioner turns on then there is not much left in the ducts that can be pulled out, forward or backward.

Well, the problem is, short of taking the ducts apart and physically checking them, there is NO WAY to determine if the duct cleaning is effective or not.

I left the salesman with my thoughts on the matter: Duct cleaning is simply a means for these companies to get a little more money from their customers.

This comment is not intended to accuse any particular vendor of wrong-doing. It's simply a questionable service that most of them provide.

Well, I read the complaint about Inline and wanted to weigh in with a different point of view. I hired Inline/Borad to install around 2,000 square feet of travertine tile in my backyard patio.

His contract price was not the lowest of those I shopped but I liked his straightforward approach and honesty about the options I had given the need to install the tile over an existing concrete slab. He and his crew were impeccable, hard-working and quite skilled at the design and installation. They completed the project on time and for the budgeted amount. I have designed and built three of my own homes as an owner-builder, so have some experience in dealing with contractors and tradesmen.

My goal is to always work with those who know what they are doing, then do what they say they will do.

By that measure, Borad delivered as promised and I could not be happier with their work. I would recommend Inline to anyone requiring quality tile installation.

Inline Tile and Stone, license #789209, (aka Inline Kitchen and Bath), both owned by Duane Borad, charged me over $80,000 for shoddy work, incomplete work, and then abandoned the kitchen and bath remodel job after he screwed up the bath plumbing..

My very first clue as to what was forthcoming was the "light blue concrete" Borad ordered for the driveway. I now have a "two-tone" driveway. I should have cancelled the job right then.

The CSLB cited Borad for ten violations, including: didn't get permits; didn't have workmen's comp for workers; no 3-day notice to cancel; departed from building standards; no written contract; no written change orders, etc. Shoddy work includes kitchen window installed crooked, warped kitchen cabinet (Ikea) doors, no (required) GFCI outlets in kitchen; bath GFCI not installed properly and doesn't work; bathroom plumbing hot/cold water lines crossed in bath (and kitchen); water temperature control valve in bath shower failed, shower fixtures not sealed to tile, no water temp control, and no water shut-offs for the vanity sink.

I have three independent estimates at about $6,000 to get the bath plumbing repaired (it requires tearing out a wall in two places). Borad is offering less than $500, which I'm sure he thinks is very generous. (I gave him over three months, after I paid him, to fix the bath problems.)

Borad also charged for changes that don't exist, such as: repairing hall outlets (there are no outlets in the hall); charged for 4 "pot hangers" when there are no pot hangers.

This contractor also refused to correct the hot/cold water pipes in the bath and repair the water temp controller in the shower. He had OVER THREE MONTHS after I paid him in full, and then some. (His accounting was faulty.) This means he ABANDONED the job.

There was a weak un-signed contract for the bath but no written contract or change order for the kitchen, hence a lot of items that would normally be in a contract were "left out," such as window trim, floor transition strips, tile trim between the tile and the drywall in the bath, and baseboard. Since they weren't in the contract, and there was no written change order for the $56,000 kitchen, some of these items became unwritten and unapproved change orders. Other change orders, like the tile trim, window trim, and floor transition strips were simply refused by me because by then I'd had enough.

Because of the unwritten change orders the original cost of $68,700 for the bath and kitchen was over $80,000, some of which I refused to pay because of shoddy work, abandonment, and absolutely no formal accounting.

I must warn consumers that the California Contractors' State License Board (CSLB) is virtually useless when it comes to "admonishing" licensed contractors. They go out of their way to protect them and generally just "slap them on the wrist." Yes, they did cite and fine Borad but his fines were minimum, and, on my side they grossly underestimated the bath repair cost. The bonding company, SureTec, is even worse. The consumer must prove absolutely 100% that the contractor is at fault, yet, in my case, the contractor has absolutely NO PAPERWORK to show what he did, and my claim is being flushed down the toilet.

Borad has two favorite sayings: "You didn't pay for that" and "My computer crashed..."

Check this company's license (#789209) violations before you hire him. You should not have to endure the hassle and headaches that I have endured with the CSLB and SureTec bonding company for the past 18 months.