We hired Steve Bergman to construct a new garage, sunroom and covered deck. A few days after the garage floor was poured it rained. We noted large amounts of water pooling up against our home's foundation. Steve said, "It isn't a problem. When there's a roof over it, no water will get in here." It had a horrible finish and the water was over 1/2 inch deep against our home's foundation. He said, "It's just a garage." We didn't know what to do. We were not happy with the finish but we moved on.
Inspector noted our windows on the deck side do not have tempered glass. Steve ordered the wrong windows. Solution: We pay for new windows or he place a film over the glass to bring them into code. It's okay, "You can remove the film after it's inspected."
We had another issue with high velocity air coming through the ceiling. We couldn't get our sprinkler system activated due to the risk of pipes freezing. We told Steve; his only reply was, "It was inspected." The only solution he offered us was to pull down the ceiling and crown, remove all of the insulation and spray foam it. Additional cost to us, $8,000 We didn't have the money for this.
For 2 years we lived with the sprinkler system inactivated. We contacted him to proceed with the modification. He said he'd be nere the middle of July, 2023. Didn't call to confirm, reschedule and just didn't show up. I wrote an email pleading with him to help us resolve this issue. I couldn't sit below the sprinkler heads without a sweater or blanket around my shoulders. I knew something was wrong but we wanted our sprinkler system activated.
We received a hostile phone call demanding the $3,700 balance we were withholding until he fixed the sagging deck boards and these issues. We finally called the Harfod County Building Inspector to seek advice and guidance as to how to proceed with the ceiling issue. We pulled the ceiling down. Low and behold there were two large pieces of insulation sticking up that had not been pulled down into position. THIS was what created the air flow coming through the sprinkler head holes.
We had a new insulation company redo the insultion. NO MORE DRAFT!!! Problem fixed. Also upgraded it from R49 to R60 to protect our sprinkler lines.
While the inspector was here we showed him photos of the garage floor and what a horrible finish it had. It was at this time, 10-4-2023 we were informed THIS FAILS INSPECTION. Any garage that is attached to a dwelling MUST have slope away from the house to facilitate the flow of fuel should there be a leak from a vehicle or tractor. THE JOB FAILS THE FINAL INSPECTION.
We filed a complaint with the Maryland Home Improvement Commission. Instead of Steve being an honorable man and standing behind his work, he hired his lawyer to avoid liability of this deficiency in workmanship.
MHIC ultimately declined our claim. Not because of the poor workmanship. The claim was declined ONLY because the delay in finding this was outside of the statute of limitations.
I have never been more disappointed in a contractor than I am in this one. I thought he was different. I felt safe and believed he would protect us and ensure all of the subcontractors he hired did the work properly. I could have never been more wrong.
His insulation subcontractor screwed up the insulation. We used the $3,700 balance we owed to remedy the ceiling issue.
We are now facing $10,000 in cost to demo the framed and painted walls, demo the garage floor and repour it. The poor workmanship is indefensible. Instead of having honor, integrity and standing behind his work, he used the statute of limitations to alleviate liability of a problem he created.
The floor is now out. Our new contractor advised us Cole Concrete from Kingsville also did not install a vapor barrier prior to pouring the concrete. There was minimal gravel underneath the concrete.
We may be out of $10,000 but Bergman Contracting is the loser. He lost my respect, admiration, and trust. Shame on Steve Bergman. Karma. read more