My experience with Steve and Ruszkowski Construction was bad. I spent almost $60,000 on their contractor services and I regret it. I believe my bad experience is in line with many of the other reviews I see here and reviews I saw on Ruszkowski Construction's Google business page before it was deleted.
It became apparent to me rather quickly after my family started our construction project with Steve that he regularly makes excuses for bad work. He casually ignored my concerns about poor quality and otherwise tried to pressure me into accepting flawed work. I ended up bringing in two companies to review aspects of Ruszkowski Construction's work after it had been completed and both companies said Steve and his company did a disservice to me, my wife and my family. I was told that Steve cut corners and didn't do the job correctly. In both cases, I needed to pay more money to these other companies to fix the poor work performed by Steve and Ruszkowski Construction.
Based on my experience, Steve and Ruszkowski Construction's mode of operation seems to be to deflect responsibility for project issues that arise, rationalize why the homeowner should accept lower-quality work, and avoid honoring the construction warranty once paid.
For me, I always felt like Steve was committed to getting his money more than he was committed to delivering a good service.
During my project Steve installed new flooring, a new ceiling and new cabinets. When I asked why some cabinets were visually not leveled correctly he said it was because of the foundation and the ceiling not being level. He said that it is unfortunately the reality of older homes. He also recall that he questioned the quality of the leveler we used to verify the fact that the cabinet was not level. I don't think he knew I used his own crew's leveler to verify it.
When I asked why cabinets didn't close properly once installed (an issue that persists today), he said it was the cabinet maker's fault and to take it up with them.
When I asked why new wood flooring had a few gaps between the planks (a week after they were installed, he blamed my house's humidity.
Steve's tile work is horrendous. We spent roughly $2,000 dollars on backsplash marble tile and thousands more for his team to install it. It was terrible work. Multiple times Steve defended the work and tried to get me to accept it and to pay him for it. He actually supported the low quality work. It was only when I threatened to withhold money that Steve paid attention to my concerns. I had to bring in another company to re-grout everything Steve's company had already done and fix chipped or cracked tile Steve's company had already installed. In the end, the backsplash was in better shape than when Steve finished it but it is still flawed because I couldn't start over. It just sucks to have paid Steve thousands of dollars for the backsplash alone and to be stuck looking at its flaws for the next 30 years. Every time I walk into my kitchen and see it I am reminded of the regret I have for having hired Steve to manage this project.
I could go on and on with more examples like this.
The last thing I'll mention is the warranty. Steve never stood by the warranty or the work with me. Once Steve got his last check I don't think I ever saw him again.
We had a major plumbing issue come up in the bathroom that Steve and Ruszkowski Construction had renovated. The plumber found a nail from baseboard Steve installed. The nail had punctured the pipe. During renovation, Steve moved the existing sink and capped the sink pipe. To do this he removed some drywall. So, he knew there was a pipe there. He had done work on the pipe. What is clear to me is that his company didn't take precautions to protect that very same pipe when they installed baseboard in that wall.
By that point Steve already had his money so he was not inclined to do anything to help me. Steve refused to cover the expense of the plumber and he did not help with any repair of drywall damage in the bathroom or in the basement beneath the bathroom. In total, this probably cost about $1,000 to fix.
When I pointed out that as a contractor Steve should have known that a nail plate would protect a pipe from a baseboard nail, Steve responded to my e-mail with this legal explanation: "Your house did not have a nail plate to protect the water line and is an existing deficiency that was unknown to us or you."
I don't think very highly of Steve or his company. Though I would never tell anyone who to work with, please consider my story as a cautionary tale when considering if you want to work with Steve and Ruszkowski Construction. read more
