Warning - do not hire this contractor - he is a liar and does shoddy work.
Brian Merritt
Merritt Renovations
1 Dillon Road
Larchmont NY 10538
[email protected]
[email protected]
914 738 0817 home/office
914 426 9955 mobile
914 648 1305
I hired Brian Merritt to patch and waterproof seal several edges where my shingles meet wooden parts of the house - we experienced a leak inside which led to identifying problem places on the roof which had not been flashed. Brian said he would seal the entire length of each seam, making them waterproof so no water would enter until we could do a full roofing job, saying the the only way to do it properly is to use the roofing patch cement, trowel grade, which expands and fills the holes permanently. We agreed on a fixed price to do do long areas on top, one long line at the front porch and and third small area on the side, materials included. It was quickly getting dark and he set out to do the job, finishing just at dark. When he was done I paid him in cash and got a handwritten receipt with a "2 year warranty". I gave Brian and his helper a ride back to Larchmont since he does not own transportation. The next day I went out to inspect and found that he had hastily and incompletely put white interior acrylic window caulk on my roof, instead of any roofing cement/patch material. He had just squirted a line of this white caulk everywhere with the caulking gun not even attempting to fill the holes and visible problem areas. Not only is this the incorrect material to use for a roofing patch job, it is not intended for for this application and would not seal or adhere correctly.
I further discovered that he had done absolutely no treatment to the main problem area, about 20 feet long. I called him to angrily express my dismay that he had lied about the job done and the materials used. He claimed that he had used the right material and then covered it which white caulk - an outright lie. I asked him to immediately come back with the right material and do the job completely as originally promised. He said he could not come back on Saturday because he had a family obligation he had forgotten about. It took several back and forth phone calls and I have a recorded message Brian Merritt left me admitting that he had not done the job as promised, and the he had not used the right materials, that he had "rushed the job". He promised that he would come back on Sunday morning at 10AM after going to Home Depot to buy the right material. He asked if I could pick him up and take him to Home Depot. At 4PM on Saturday he called to say he would not be coming on Sunday because of prior obligations, he had to go to church with his family. He said he would come back Monday promptly at 5PM to finish the job and make good on his guarantee. At 830 AM Sunday morning he left a voice mail saying he could come by Monday or the next day to finish the job. I called him back Sunday to say, forget everything, I want my money back in full immediately. He said he didn't have it and that would take a couple of weeks.
I photographed all details of his work and have moved to collect a full refund plus expenses and court fees. Brian has a picture of his young son on his toolbox. Brian at first seems like a reputable hard working unlicensed tradesman that can do your work at a very cheap price with no strings attached. Unfortunately this isn't the case. Recommendation is do not hire.
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