I hired Jerry Ballio to do several improvements and repairs on my home. One of these improvements was a 20' x 20' steel carport. The concrete footings for the posts were poured in a sloppy manner, with clay, dirt and mud left on my driveway and the concrete just haphazardly poured and not cleaned or trimmed to look good. Approximately 4 months after this carport was erected, we got a foot of snow in DFW. The carport collapsed in the center and pulled off the steel posts, ending up falling on both our vehicles, causing a great deal of damage to the vehicles.
Upon investigation on my own, I realized Mr Ballio and his non-English speaking help (illegals?) had used one 5/8" inch long self tapping sheet metal screw to hold each corner of the carport to the posts. He had also set the C Purling going across the front on the inside of the posts, allowing the carport to pull away from the posts in front. The carport was built with two receivers on the sides and only three C Purlings for cross members. Having done research, after the fact, I have found three cross beams are not enough for a 20' x 20' carport. Minimum is five C Purlings. I have spoken with several steel building companies to validate this.
Jerry came out to the house and checked into the carport and after my showing him what I found out, he agreed it was his issue to resolve. He did not take this approach at first and was going to charge me to remove the bent metal and put the carport back up. Our agreement was for him to rebuild the carport with proper bolts and welds to ensure it did not come down again and we were to split the two $500.00 deductibles from my insurance for the vehicle repairs. We even shook hands on the deal (a gentlemen's agreement moment). I have not been able to get Jerry on the phone since with the exception of once, which he dodged and did not call me back after promising to later that evening.
Jerry has done other work for me and this, too, has been shoddy at best. The flooring he installed is coming apart and he did not level the base before laying the flooring, leaving low spots. The flooring edging is coming apart from the walls now and there are spots hidden which were filled with black putty due to cutting the trim too short. The deck cover I had installed was the same steel form as the carport. It was supposed to be a 12 x 12 foot cover and turned into a 10 x 12 foot. These are things we have figured out after the fact, but need to be noted.
DO NOT HIRE JERRY BALLIO MOBILE HOME SERVICE! He is a thief, scam artist, liar, and a cheat. He hires ilegals to do the work and leaves them at the home alone and does not check their work. One of them even stole a soccer ball out of our yard that my dogs play with. They also chose to throw chicken bones in the yard to our dogs after eating their lunch. Chicken bones will cause major damage to dogs as they splinter. All in all, thus guy is a piece of garbage and should not be hired by anyone. I will be taking him to court at some point once I get all this mess straightened out. I am rebuilding the carport myself as this is not brain surgery or really that difficult.
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