Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/22/2024

  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.

  MJ Services was hired to dig and pour my basement foundation for a new modular home to be set on. The project started in late September of 2023. The first issue that was noticed was the footers being poured at the wrong size. Instead of redoing them, they poured a concrete pad next to the existing ones. The second thing that was noticed was the window cut out for an egress window was not to code and it was cut out at the top of the concrete wall and not in the middle of the wall so, there is no support above the window and the house would sit directly on the opening. The third thing noticed was the basement floor and walls were curvy and not level. MJ Services also was supposed to dig for the lateral & and not only did they not dig for the lateral but they weren't in contact with the plumber at all so, the basement floor got poured without the lateral being identified. This cost me $4,000 extra because we had to put a boost pump in the floor and also because the house was dug too deep. Then when spring hit, my basement walls and floor cracked in several spots. Then the river stage rose and my basement was flooded with 8 inches of water and gallons of sand that pushed thru the cracks (no drain tile). Damaging my new furnace, boost pump, water heater, and water softener. Due to the flooding, this created a lot of mold. The house has settled so bad and so uneven, the doors don't shut and there are several cracks in the drywall and ceiling of my home. MJ Services won't fix the repairs and I now have to hire someone to come and lift the house off the foundation for it to be redone. Even after addressing the issues to MJ Services, I was told "It's fine" to everything I brought to their attention. It was also mentioned to me by the inspector, that he wasn't notified of the footer issue or the basement floor being poured. Also, I was being charged tax for this project. During this entire process, I have yet to actually live in the home and it has almost been a year.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/05/2024

  This is the daughter's property it's in daughter name but "her dad" was calling the shots on everything as the general contractor for as placement of foundation, depth, size, what to do and not to do. He hired all the other contractors like electrician, plumber, hvac, well driller, home setters. He was the one who reached out to me to do the project we were friends at the time or I thought. I told him to find another contractor but he said he didn't have time and needed the help. I helped her and him fill out the proper paper work for all the permits needed to do their project so all the permits are in their name and knew everything that they have to do. As we continued to do the project I had soil samples done to for drainage purpose and it is sand so the foundation doesn't need a drain system around it which I had advised to install. But it would be another expense and they didn't want to spend more money because of their budget. We tried to reach out the plumber to figure out where the sewer lateral is but he never answered after many attempts to contact. So we proceed to form the footer and called for an inspection. The inspectors looked at the footer and approved it and ask if we had the paper work for the soil sample which opted out of the drain system. Once the footer was poured and we received the drawing then realized he told us the wrong measurements so we had doweled in the footer put rebar down and move one side of footer to the right dimension. As the 10in footer cured we proceed to set the wall and called for another inspection but was told he didn't need to inspect until the final. The wall has all the proper amount of 1/2in rebar and mud mix for a 8' wall. We asked about the opening for the setters and where he wanted the the hole he told us where to put it and the height. The opening they say is wrong was only a opening of 36"x36" for the setters of home to get in and out while they were setting the home. That is what the he told us the setters needed. The basement wasn't in the plans or even permitted to be a finished basement.  When the wall was being poured the top of wall shifted and made it wavey about 3/4 inch. Once the wall was striped and we could really see the imperfection he brought it to my attention and we talked about it. I reached out to the setters to see if would be a problem and the said it would be with in the tolerance, meaning it wouldn't be a problem. So we had a conversation about it and everything was good with him and moved on with the project. I even took money off the invoice for the imperfection and he was happy about it. We put a couple of layers of role on sealer on after he was adamant about it and put 2 inch foam around the foundation which wasn't in the bid but we were friends so i didn't mind helping him out.  After a couple of weeks the plumbers finally showed up and did all the plumbing and i asked y there wasn't a pit installed in and was told they were not worried about it. i advised to put one in but they didn't want to spend more money. so we poured the floor with no pit. After couple weeks we back filled and stayed away from the foundation when doing there was a big pile of dirt still there and he was going to take care of it so we left where he told us to put the pile. When the home showed up and was set he told me that the setters had a hard time setting the home because of the wall but when i called the company and they said there wasn't any problems i started to wounder why he said that. When i called the inspector for the final he said they have to finish the steps and get everything else hooked up. I was acquiring about payment but was told no one getting paid ***** it passed the final. Come to find out i was the only one not getting paid so i called the bank for more information. When we talked he brought up on how the wall wasn't perfect and started to become very incorporative. Shortly after that i hear from a different source that the wall cracked and he wasn't happy about it but there's nothing to be done concrete gets hard and the cracks. This is over a couple of months. Then couple of more months go by and still no payment so i when to the bank again to get answers because at this point we are not communicating. Then i heard the plumbers broke out part of the floor to put a pump in if they would of communicated i would of been happy to put in for them but the had the plumbers do it and they didn't do a professional job. Then i hear she occupied the home and then shorty after that she signed off and i received the payment from the bank with a discounted price. As we had very wet spring i heard from a different source that they are having water problems and water in the basement. And the i received a letter from there lawyer saying i was going to pay for the damages and pay to have everything redone knowing i did what he wanted. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/09/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  We are here with an irreversible situation for our foundation because we hired an INEXPERIENCED contractor. We had several other contractors evaluate this and they all came up with at least five code violations to his work! As to his accusations as being the fault of me, the father, well all contractors said he as the contractor, should know the codes and follow them! but honestly, every situation was laughed at and he replied "It will be fine"! 

  
  FIRST off, I requested the top of the foundation to match my house which is next to her house, as in ********************************************* my basement. We live on *************, which if researched, you'd see water is a huge issue in basements if not elevated right. If he shot grade to mine, he would see he was over 3 feet too low!! When I questioned the height too low, he replied that he didn't want that much wall exposed! As a contractor, he should know the importance of this depth as he is way lower than the street and curb. 

  
  SECONDLY, he said I gave him the wrong dimensions for the footers. What I was asked was what the house dimensions were. I said the home is 28x54 ft. Now as a contractor, he should've looked at the blueprints we gave him to work off of so he set the footers apart at 28' and the blueprint said 26'4"! I questioned how I was at fault for him not reading the blueprint. His fix was just adding a few inches to each footer to bring it to the correct width. 

  
  THIRD. He never installed a ground rod from the rebar in the footers for our electrical service as per code. There was nothing. When asked about it, his reply was "How was I supposed to know"? Also that we didn't need it or that it wasn't code. 

  
  FOURTH. Being he dug the basement too deep, he never got with the plumber first to see the depth of the lateral for her sewer and when the plumber came he said they couldnt go up through the floor with a drain and had to go through the side wall to meet code for the pitch and that we had to add a boost pump system which added an extra $4,000 because of not matching the elevation on my house. Now when the plumbers cut out the new basement floor, they saw there was no rebar in the floor when removing a piece to install the pump system. Now if rebar was installed, it had to be just thrown in the form and sunk into the sand because it wasnt in the piece they removed. Maybe this is the reason there was no ground rod coming from the rebar in the footers. 

  
  FIFTH. There was no moisture barrier put down before the basement floor was poured and again was observed when they busted out the basement floor to install a boost pump system. As a contractor, he shouldve known this was code also!

  
  SIXTH. The walls were so crooked and leaning that when the house was set. The walls pushed the bottom row of siding out in spots and several feet away the siding was 2 away from the foundation!

  
  SEVENTH. We requested an egress window to be set for a future bedroom when the walls were poured. The window was flush with the top of the poured wall and the bottom of the opening left us with over 53  to the floor. As a contractor, he shouldve known that isnt code to be that high off the floor. Again, he blames me for this as he should have known! At this point with all the errors and screw-**** the contractor walks off the job. Then days later sends people to come get his equipment and materials that weren't used. 

  
  EIGHT. There was no drain tile or drain system at all. As code requires and again, as he should have known this as a contractor. Nothing under the floor or outside the poured walls. And another thing he blames me for. With the river stage being as high as it was this spring, we had from 8  to a foot of water in the basement with three sump pumps running nonstop. It pushed the floor up and busted it in several spots. It flooded the new furnace, water softener, hot water heater, brand new stand-up freezer, and all my daughter's furniture and personal property down there. 

  
  NINTH. The foam that he is talking about was already purchased by us prior to this project. We were going to install it ourselves but maybe he installed it so we couldnt see that there was no drain tile or drain system installed before backfilling. 

  
  TENTH. When the home was delivered on November 6, 2023, we asked the ******* in charge of setting the home, if MJ services reached out regarding making sure the basement foundation was square enough to set the home on. The ******* said he never got a phone call from anyone and had he known the condition of the basement, he wouldnt have set the home on the basement. But due to all the screw-**** delaying this entire process, the home was delivered and set simply because we ran out of time and they were there with the home, ready to place it. 
  Our lawyer requested the contractor's insurance come out and look at the situation before our lawsuit to see if we could come to a settlement. The insurance company came and took tons of pictures and got back to us stating they wouldnt cover anything because it was all related to terrible workmanship and improper procedures. And their policy states that doesnt hold them liable. And as an LLC, we cant sue his business either. 

  
  My daughter is 23 years old and this was her dream home. She worked hard to make this happen and our system doesnt protect her from fraudulent contractors like this! This mistake has cost over $50 thousand dollars in additional expenses and paying this ****** **** off so we could close the construction loan. Here we sit with a busted mess for a foundation and after the flood, we have mold taking over the basement everywhere. How has deed any fault in any of this situation saying it all passed inspection but after speaking to the inspector recently, he stated **** never once called I'm back to inspect anything which my understanding is he should have been called back 3 to 4 more times on his foundation work. 

  
  My estimated cost to fix and repair this mess has been said to be up to $100,000. The house has to be raised up and new concrete poured. Re-evaluate 4  to be out of the water threat, all utilities unhooked and re-done. The lateral also has to be reinstalled properly. Plus new furnace, water heater, and well installed. I would love an explanation of how someone could do this to a 23-year-old young lady who just wanted to have a dream home and start her life off right. She is now left with this nightmare of a situation. 

  
  Somehow I will have this house done properly and my daughter will have her dream home she has worked for. I just cant believe our system protects worthless crooks like this! I hope he sleeps well at night because I dont. His mistakes will financially wipe me out. But as a father, I will make it right. She will get her dream... Regardless! Lastly These are not accusations on my part as all this is backed by pictures and texts. 
  
  Regards,
  
  **** + ******* *********