Disappointed in the standard in which Leo and his workers at Capitall Windows adhere to. I previously had them do work on windows for my home and decided that I would go with them again for a bedroom basement window. All I knew for that type of job was that it meant that the foundation needed to be cut into so that a bigger window could fit. I asked if this was possible for them to do and they said it was and that they hired their own people/company to cut the foundation. They said it would take a day, no problem. Now I am not a contractor or anything and when they finished the job at the end of the day, I looked at the work and everything seemed fine. Two weeks have since passed and only recently has it rained in Ottawa and I noticed that water was now coming into the basement bedroom that got the enlarged window. This was not acceptable at all.
Fearing that something may have happened to my foundation, I called for someone who specifically works in foundation repair to come take a look. When that person came, he just shook his head right away when he saw outside what Capitall Windows had done. He said that whoever Capitall Windows hired to cut the foundation has now compromised the structure of my home and that the work was left unfinished. He also asked if Capitall Windows got a work permit since the foundation had been worked on and I never was told of a permit or saw one. Again, I am not a contractor or someone who works in construction and I did not know any of this. Apparently, a permit is required when cutting into the foundation because the structure of the house is being tampered with. He also explained that since more of the foundation is exposed it also needs to be protected by the elements (summer/hot and winter/cold) because the dirt surrounding the foundation originally is no longer there and therefore there needs to be insulated. He said this is important because, once winter comes, the cold air can get into the foundation and cause cracks and multiple other problems long term. Furthermore, to top it off, he said the work was left unfinished and there were edges around where the people who cut the foundation should have done parging to seal up the work. This was not done and water is now coming into the room. Additionally, to fix this absolute mess is now going to cost me more than what I already paid in the first place.
Disgusted with everything that I have now learned, I have since contacted the owner Leo at Capitall Windows. Leo was uncaring to my concern as a customer and would not even offer an apology or reimbursement from the poor work. Leo was dead set that the only problem was the parging and did not want to acknowledge that the insulation of the foundation needed to be done as well. It seemed that Leo did not understand why the foundation needed to be insulated to protect the home. Leo kept saying “we don’t do parging, the water coming in must be from something else, this second opinion is just trying to get money out of you”. Excuse me? The water was not coming in before and now it is. It’s obvious that something is not right. Leo was stuck on the parging as being the only issue and wanted one of his guys to come by for a “small fee” to fix it. I should have been told in the first place that parging would have been required afterwards…why was I not told in the first place and only to know afterwards now that water is coming in? No. Clearly for the work to be completed properly was above the skills that the Capitall Windows workers have. There is more that needs to be done now than a simple coverup/sealing of the foundation. Whoever Leo hired to do the foundation work half a*sed the job and, Leo, you are standing behind work that is embarrassing to be proud of. I will never contact Capitall Windows again and to whoever reads this and is thinking of choosing them to do work, I say: look somewhere else.
