Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/08/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I recently built a new home with S. Gerald ****** Builder in *******, **. We moved into our home on April 19, 2024. Two days later, we noticed that there was a large crack right through the middle of our brick accent wall (through brick, not just mortar). Crack is ceiling to floor. They told us they want to patch our brick wall... 3000 dollars for our brick wall, for a patch job?! The ***** told us 'I'll be blunt, it will be apparent with a patch job where the crack in the brick was.' We stated, we have a 1 year warranty on the home. We want the wall taken down and rebuilt correctly. A few days later, we noticed the flooring (LVP) by the brick was starting to buckle and lift. Wait 6 months we were told. With time, more cracks in the brick have appeared. The cracks are vertical and horizontal. On May 5, we noticed water was dripping through the subfloor and into the basement. (5/7) the plumber came out to the home. He drilled holes into the subfloor, put in a camera and saw that when the ***** installed the brick, he punctured the supply water line to the shower. (Our master BR is on the other side of the brick wall). We were told Water flowing in caused swelling to the studs and/or cement backing of the brick wall leading to cracking of the brick and lifting of the floor. We felt for sure they would have to take down the cracked and wet brick wall, pull up the wet subfloor and pull up the flooring. They still do not want to take down the brick wall. They still want to patch it. What about the risk of mold I asked? They feel fans will be adequate to dry the floor. I asked should we get a restoration company out to assess? No response. I am worried the potential for mold to grow, since nothing was removed. We reached out to the Township. We have to work it out with the builder because this is a residential build. The home was ~$550,000. The brick wall was 3k - this is supposed to be cosmetic. They simply want to patch it, which we do not want.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/17/2024

  Hello, Our plumber repaired the water leak on May 7th as noted in the complaint. Two access holes were cut into the drywall behind the shower (in the Closet) to aid in the repair. We were planning to use standard access panels but at customers request the drywall has been repaired.(See attached Photo). We also removed the buckled flooring and plan to have that repaired next week. A dehumidifier provided by customer was placed in the room affected by the leak. We placed a dehumidifier in the basement directly below the affected area. The customer also provided a Carpet fan blowing directly into the affected area. Upon observation this morning, the affected areas appear to be well dried out. The dehumidifier and fan continue to run and will likely be discontinued next week. 

  Also, attached are two photos showing the additional joists we added to the floor system directly below the wall with brick veneer. This was done to stiffen up the floor since the customer is putting in some heavier furniture.

  We have discussed our options for repairing  brick veneer and are currently looking at removing the brick panels that were installed and use a different brick product.