I signed with Doug and John from Home Team Advantage in May. It took HTA until May to get the permits done. When I saw the Architectural plans on May 7th when they drooped them off at my house I called and emailed HTA and pointed out all the mistakes and they basically said no problem I will take care of them and of course they never did.
In January Doug called me and said that John may never finish my renovations so maybe I should hire my own subcontractors and finish the renovations with the money I have left. I asked him where my money was that I gave them in November to pay for the Stucco, Electrician, Plumber A/C and A/C unit and insulation and he said he was keeping it as his profit.
I said "How Can You Take a Profit on Something You Haven't Worked On?"
He laughed. There are 39 scheduled items in the breakdown for my project and they only finished twelve. I paid HTA 60,000 of the 100,000 and paid 10,000 to the roofer and the window and door company. We agreed on a 3,000 credit on the flooring, which leaves only 27,000. But they owe me 1,600 on the roof they shorted me on and I have been asking them for the money since October and they always have an excuse.
There is no way to finish my renovations with 27,000 left to do the stucco, exterior paint, electric, plumbing, A/C and unit, insulation, drywall, wall and ceiling texture, tile and tile work in bathroom, trim and paint interior, all the bathroom accessories (vanity, vanity top, shower enclosure, toilet, faucets, shower head, towel rack, tissue holder, mirror, exhaust fan, lights etc.) closets and room doors, closet shelving and attic access.
Not to mention the opening from the existing house to the addition or do they think I am just going to walk thru walls. The opening for the window in the existing bedroom needs to be done since the original window is now in the bedroom of the new addition and it needs to be closed off. I have had a window sitting in the addition since November ready to be installed that I already paid for.
Because my slab size for my addition was the wrong size on the plans most of the things done by their subcontractors were wrong. For example windows in the wrong places and plumbing in my hallway instead of the bathroom and the toilet in the wrong place so now my bathroom can not be done the way I paid for unless I spend out alot more money to fix it.
I was supposed to have a roll-in shower for a handicap like bathroom and they never poured the floor slightly sunken (where the shower was going to be) to have the handicap shower and so to have the shower as a handicap now they would have to put a large hump at the doorway to the shower like a speed bump so I had to give up that plan and did a regular shower.
They were also off by the size of my bathroom so I can only have a vanity cabinet 18" deep and I had to order a vanity top by special order at Lowes to get one that size so it was alot more expensive as well as the vanity and glass enclosure had to be special order. I was supposed to have a 36" door and now it will be 30".
They also put a HIP roof on my house and we paid for a Gable roof. I spoke to a few contractors lately and they said it was alot less expensive to do the Hip roof.
HTA never corrected my plans and so in April I went to Palm Beach County Planning and Zoning Board and they said we had to stop our renovations and go back to the Architect to get the plans fixed. I told them HTA hasn't done anything in months anyway. We also had to hire a Mechanical Engineer. We paid for the A/C unit to be in the attic and they put it in my existing bedroom closet on the plans and never sent me a copy until just before it came out of permitting.
I called and emailed them the mistake and they ignored me. At last when I confronted Doug he said he told me it couldn't be done so I called Causeway Lumber and spoke to their engineer who designed the Hip roof and he said yes it could be put in the attic with no problem. Just a few extra 2 by 4's added to give extra support that can be done by a carpenter.
I also asked the guy at Causeway Lumber why he designed a Hip roof for us plus told him Doug told us that it was a new ordinance that mine had to be Hip and the guy told me that was not true. We could of had the Gable roof that we paid for but that Doug ordered a Hip roof because it was cheaper. (Just like the contractors I talked to recently said)
As of now, I have all my plans corrected and have brought in my own Electrician because their one wanted alot more and I got a Master Electrician for only 5400 plus their Plumber wanted 2600 and I got a plumber for 1700. I had to pay 50 each to change sub contractors but of course it was worth it. I stayed with their A/C guy because others also recommended him and his price was good.
I have had to find subcontractors on my own and as of today the Electric and Plumbing have passed and I am just awaiting the A/C guy to call in his inspection. I will also call in the framing and windows soon. Then I can go ahead with insulation and on from there until I finish.
John did come out and fix some of the framing recently but the inspector said it would still not pass because it needs a few more boards. I will be calling John again and see if he actually shows up. It took alot of calling to get him to come out to my house the first time.
I spoke with John the other day and I told him I better not go over the 100,000 or he will have to pay the difference. He argued with me that I better not overspend and for me to send him an approximate breakdown.
And I will be doing that.
I told him I am the one trying to stay in budget and up all night long on the computer trying to find things for less and I am the one calling all these subcontractors to get bids to save money yet Doug took my money in November and said he is keeping it for profit and it should be used to finish my project.
Back in August or September Doug said to me he took 20,000 for profit and with the 10,000 from November he is now making a 30,000 profit and he isn't even running the job, I am.
I am going to ask John for a complete rundown of what he has spent on my job so far plus the names of the companies he used and their phone numbers so I can check the numbers. I will bet you it won't be anywhere near the amount I paid but alot less.
So far I paid 60,000 for cutting my patio for the plumbing and footer (they put the clean out in the middle of my patio next to my pool and now I need to pay to have it moved), remove grass and treat soil for new addition and place form boards, steel and vapor barrier for both locations. Demolish my existing bathroom floor and foundation to connect plumbing and months later poured new concrete and replaced with new tile.
Pour concrete on existing slab and for the addition, block work, tie beam, truss straps, pay for trusses and install trusses and sheathing and some framing inside. That is all for my 60,000. Then they stopped working and kept my next draw.
This renovation project has damaged my marriage after 26 years together and it will never be the same because of the aggravation HTA has caused plus I now also have major health problems brought on by the stress.
0 comments