We signed a construction agreement with David Morsman of Brookside Homes, Inc.in Oct. 2006 Our house was built through the winter of 2007 and was completed at the end of April. Upon completion, various construction defects were present and we notified David Morsman of these defects. At that time, he seemed willing to work with us on repairing the defects. We have a warranty on the house with Brookside Homes, Inc. That should have covered the construction defects. Back and forth we went with Mr. Morsman over the repairs of the defects; weeks turning into months.
One of the worst defects is the basement slab. It was never poured correctly from the beginning. It has terrible hills and valleys, cracked and sunken areas. David Morsman did send his concrete subcontractor, who originally poured the slab, to make what turned out to be a feeble attempt to cover up the real problems. Even his attempted repair cracked into many pieces, as it never bonded to the original concrete.
Our front porch was also poured incorrectly with a negative grade toward the house. Meaning that during a heavy rain, the water on the porch drains toward the house, pools up in the corner and leaks into our basement. The biggest problems with our house go back to the concrete sub. Of all the things to screw up on a house, why did it have to be the concrete? Its just so difficult and expensive to repair and replace.
The last communication from Mr. Morsman was by e-mail in Dec. where he apologized and promised to repair our basement floor. He said he had a contractor who would look at the floor in January. Then, we never heard from him again. He stopped returning our phone calls and e-mails. I have since found out that supposedly, Brookside Homes, Inc. Went out of business in January. Surely, he must have known in Dec., when he made his promises, that he would be going out of business in January. Sure seems to me like he never had any intention of honoring his warranty on our house.
Our warranty period ended in May and still all these construction defects remain. Briefly here is what needs to be done and the estimated costs:
Complete tear-out and re-pour of basement slab $11,800-$20,000
Complete tear-out and re-pour of front porch $3,800
Reconfiguration of ductwork $3000
Tuck pointing of mortar joints $750
At a minimum we are looking at a total of $19,350 to repair the construction defects that exist with this house.
I also know that at the time of this writing there are several other homeowners who are having problems with Brookside Homes, Inc. Although, to my knowledge their situations are a bit different from mine.
The address I have listed for the business was the correct address while we did business with them. They no longer operate from that address.
Brookside Homes, Inc. Was owned and operated by David Morsman and his brother Greg Morsman during the time our house was built. I suspect that eventually, one of them will simply start a new home construction business, under a different name, leaving homeowners like me to clean up their mess. So, anyone in the Kentuckiana area looking to build a home, beware that they might start operating again with a different name.
We have been truly devastated by this. It has negatively affected our lives on so many levels, physically, emotionally and financially. We've been stuck in this hellish state for the last year and every single day of this past year has been focused on the problems with this house. What should have been our dream come true has been turned into a nightmare we can't wake up from.
I wish there was someone out there who could help us. Unfortunately, we find ourselves isolated and alone. Just seems like the law allows businesses to operate this way, taking advantage of hard working honest people who only want for what they've paid for.
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