Congratulations to our January Contractor of the Month, Oscar Soltero! Oscar is the sole owner of his tile business, Artistic Stone and Tile # 807230, located in Manteca, California.
It was always a big goal to become an entrepreneur for Oscar, which is why being a contractor made so much sense. About contracting, he says, “I enjoy the remodeling industry and seeing the look on my clients faces when they see the transformation”.
Although Oscar was able to achieve his goal of becoming a contractor, there were some hard times along the way. He was put in a difficult position when he had trusted a former employee to deliver quality results on an installation job. Unfortunately, the job went downhill fast and Oscar ended up having to repay the client over 17,000 dollars. His license was suspended at the time for lack of repayment to the bond company. After this, it was hard for Oscar to get going again, but he has successfully done so by performing all the labor duties himself. He has learned an important lesson and feels truly blessed to be back on the right track.
Oscar also recalls a specifically difficult project that he worked on for some clients he attended church with. He had been warned that this couple was difficult to work with, but gladly took the job anyways. The clients ended up looking over Oscars shoulder the entire time and critiquing his work. He says, “not only did I go above and beyond the call of duty, they never seemed grateful for the massive transformation I had done to their home”.
There are laughs to be had on the job, too, though. Oscar says there was a job they were working on where there were no toilets or outhouses on site. One of the workers had to urgently use the restroom, so Oscar let the worker borrow the keys to his truck to drive to the closest public restroom. For some reason Oscar’s pickup wouldn’t start at the time, so he suggested the contractor run down to the closest place. When the worker returned to the jobsite, he told Oscar of the horror that happened along the way. While the contractor was running, his bowels started churning and the fast-paced movement had helped in the delivery process. You can only imagine what happened next.
As far as the biggest hurdle for licensed contractors, Oscar says, “code enforcement, laws, etc.”. His advice for new contractors starting out in the industry is to “always do above and beyond what is required by code to cover yourself in all situations. Integrity of workmanship is paramount!”.
CCIS would like to wish Oscar Soltero great luck in his future of contracting, and a give a big thank you for your service to our community!
If you are interested in becoming our next contractor of the month, please email sadie@ccisbonds.com for an application. If selected, your company will be highlighted in our blog and you will receive a free contractor of the month t-shirt!