It might look pretty but if there’s an issue don’t ever think that the problem is a simple fix….take a look behind the walls and you’ll find that the entire job by Cantu was done incorrectly. We had a bathroom renovation done by Mimmo and his crew in March of ‘23. Although tile choices etc were made by me there was never a discussion on a curbless shower install, no mention of it ever. During install, even his tile guys were concerned about it but I was told it was too late to make changes and we would love it. From the minute the work was complete and the shower was in use, within seconds, the water not only accumulated in the shower due to lack of shower pitch, but it overflowed out of the shower and onto the main bathroom floor. This is a small single bathroom. Had the water remained on for the duration of a shower it would have run into the bedroom, carpeting and ultimately leak into the areas below. Mimmo returned twice and attempted to remove some floor pan tile and shave down the concrete to correct the pitch problem but also told me that this was to be expected and there was actually nothing wrong with it. And, I feel it’s important to mention that the pitch issue cannot be blamed on his workers doing an incorrect install, as Mimmo was the only one “allowed”to pour and pitch the shower pan/floor. To our horror, here are the findings of the new contractor. From what we thought was only a pitch problem (not 1/4 inch per linear foot) the whole shower was a complete screw up. Yes, the shower pitch was off but also the huge glass doors were hung on plastic anchors into the drywall instead of into a stud (meaning at some point these huge glass doors could pull out of the wall and perhaps kill someone). The drain of the shower was incorrectly placed, the waterproofing was not installed correctly or adequately and, in addition, the tile was adhered directly to the waterproofing material. From a professional standpoint, there was shadowing on all the tile (meaning it wasn’t placed smoothly in a professional manner), and the mudding on the walls was so excessive that there were huge curves on our originally straight walls. We hoped that would be it, but in addition, we found that two weight bearing studs had been cut through in order to place a niche! We had chosen a pre-made niche for install but Mimi’s guys told me he never used them as they were too expensive. Instead he custom makes each one to save money. The cut out he made for the niche through two study was not supported, meaning after use and time it would have sunk, leaked and needed to be redone. In other words the entire shower install was done incorrectly from beginning to end. Waterproofing, pan pitch, glass door install, tile work, drain, and niche build out!If you decide to move forward with Cantu, know your bathroom may look pretty …just hope and pray that you move out before the entire reno completely fails and you find out how the job was really done behind the walls!
Fran & Mimmo