KZTV

Posted: Jul 30, 2010 8:12 PM
Updated: Jul 30, 2010 8:19 PM

CORPUS CHRISTI - A local family has struggled to live without a kitchen for the past six months.

They say the contractor they paid thousands to do the job hasn't shown up for months.

So this week, they called the Troubleshooters.

When Action 10 News showed up, the problems were obvious.

"As you can see, nothing has been done.  Ok?  No countertops, my cabinet hasn't been made," said Othelia Diaz.

She says this is how her kitchen has looked since February.

The floors are unfinished, her cabinets are exposed, and her sink is non-existent.

The Diaz family says they wanted to remodel their kitchen and extend the room over the back porch area.

So they hired Joe Morales of Portland to do the work for $5,000.

They have receipts that show payments up to $4,300.

They also showed us a signed contract in which Morales agreed to finish the job by May 20^th, but they say they haven't heard from him in more than a month.

"I'm very upset," said Diaz, "very upset."

"A lot of people are saying 'you do not pay anything upfront until the job is done.'  I've learned my lesson."

We spoke with Morales who confirmed that he had been paid the $4300 and that he signed the contract agreeing to finish in May.

But Morales told us the Diaz family changed their minds so much that they all agreed to push the finish date back.

Morales later said that the Diaz family owed him more money for construction materials and expected him to do more work than he agreed to, and that's why he hadn't finished the job.

After we spoke with Morales, he contacted the family and offered to put in a temporary sink.

But the family says a temporary solution isn't good enough, and they want to find someone else to finish the job.