We hired Wade D (Accel Aluminum) on April 30, 2009 to supply glass walls and interior windows for our bathroom and stairwell, to apply frosted mylar film to the glass, to clad 18 of our exterior windows with aluminum, put siding around the 3rd floor north window and replace the glass in the 5 small basement windows. His quote was 12,915.00. (Please see attached summary of the scope of the project) On April 30 we paid him a deposit of $3690.00 by cheque.
Our bathroom was being renovated on the third floor. Wade said to us that he would clad the exterior windows of the house while the interior bathroom was being tiled and finished. He started the cladding fairly promptly in mid April and did replace the glass in the basement windows and clad them in aluminum. He also clad 2.5 windows on the west side 2nd floor of the house. Some of those windows are not finished…they have not been caulked. Then he said that he needed scaffolding to finish the job and packed up and left.
On July 16 the contractor that was doing our tiling finished the job. This contractor, Frank, referred Wade to us. Frank’s crew made some mistakes in the tiling,
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forcing him to redo the tiles in the bathroom which put us a few months behind and stopped Wade from installing the glass in the bathroom. However Frank retiled the floor at his expense and did a great job of finishing the whole job to his and our satisfaction.
Wade had said that he couldn’t measure for the glass until the entire tiling job was finished. We had been calling Wade during April and every week from then on, to finish the outside work. He always has some excuse preventing him from showing up and doing the job. On July 20th Wade came over to measure the bathroom. At that time he said that he required another cheque to pay for the glass that he had purchased which had been cut and was at the temperer. We gave him another cheque for $3690.00.
He said that there is a backlog of glass being tempered and that it might take a while to get the glass done, but that all the glass was at the temperer, waiting in line waiting to be done. The third week of August Wade came over to our house to install some additional replacement sealed units that we asked him for in other parts off the house. This job was to replace 5 sealed units in existing windows. For this job he quoted for
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$1100.00 plus tax. He installed that glass and we were satisfied with the work. He told us at that time our bathroom glass and exterior cladding will be done by the end of August. He asked us to pay him for 5 sealed units. As we had already paid him $7380.00 we said that we wouldn’t pay him any more money until the glass is on site and installed for the bathroom and hallway. We do have hinges and handles for the doors for the bathroom and bedroom which he left on site, which he paid for.
The end of August came and went as did September and October. I continued to call every week about our bathroom and exterior work. There were always more excuses.
Still nothing has been done. In the third week of September he came over with the sliding door hardware and installed half the hardware over 2 evenings. We felt that maybe now he would finish the job. We have not seen him since.
In October he calls for a meeting with me and my partner ‘ go over details’. We feel that the details have all been gone over many times but agree to the
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meeting. He then tells us that he has to make templates for the hallway windows which are large.
He had previously told us that once glass is tempered it cannot be cut or finished as it will shatter. We figured that the hallway glass had never been cut and sent to the temperer as he told us it had been back in August…. if he was just making templates now.
We don’t know what to believe as the story is always changing. He makes appointments and doesn’t show up without calling or shows up 2 – 3 hours late without calling while we have to take time off work to wait for him.
Wade has told us that he will show up and do the exterior cladding many times…He never shows up. He has only done a small portion of the work that he contracted with us to do. We have paid him $7380.00 of a $13,915.00 job (including 5 sealed units). He has been asking us for more money but we feel that we cannot pay him anymore until he finishes at least some part of the job. We want to pay him and we want him to finish the job. We have not been able to use our bathroom since February.
Update:
on November 11 Wade called and said that he had the rollers for our 2nd sliding door in the bathroom area and that he wanted a cheque for the cost. We gave him a cheque for $993.90 bringing the total we have paid him to $8373.90.
He is now saying that he does not have enough money to buy the frosted mylar to put on the glass for the bathroom and hallway area.
We have no idea if he has indeed purchased and tempered glass for our bathroom.
Update:
November 16...We are filing papers today to sue Wade de Souza to refund us the difference of the money we gave him and the work that has actually been done. We would like to put this very bad experience behind us and finally after almost 8 months be able to hire a reputable company to install the glass in our bathroom so that we can use it.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $13.00
- Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
- before hiring any contractor make sure that you check that it is a registered company, that they have liability insurance and that you have a very detailed signed contract outlining every aspect of the job the contractor is to perform with a completion date.
