Basement lowering, underpinning and buildout of new suite
John Oliveira passed himself off as a licensed general contractor, although now 10 weeks into the project he has yet to actually produce any of the licensing and insurance documents which I requested.
The basement project involved digging out the existing floor, adding a new room under the front porch, underpinning the foundation, and building out the final new suite.
The digging and foundation underpinning was completed at the end of August and at that time I discovered that no inspections had been done, which according to the building inspector, must be done at various stages. Not surprisingly, it did not pass inspection.
Additionally, the plumbing, which they added for a new bathroom, was never inspected nor did they get a permit for it.
They had refused to let me see the underpinning drawings. I had to go to City Hall myself and get a copy of the drawings so that they could be on site when the building inspector came. John had the arrogance to tell me that the building inspector who came was not qualified to do the inspection.
I was told by the inspector that I have to get a professional structural engineer to come in now and review the underpinning and write a report.
They used substandard materials, did not follow the drawings submitted to the City of Toronto and were in blatant violation of workplace safety standards.
This man was very aggressive in demanding payments (I have paid him $30.000.00 to date), reluctant to admit mistakes, and threatening when confronted with all this.
NEVER, EVER GET INVOLVED WITH THIS MAN. DO NOT HIRE HIM.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $30,000.00