I would like to share the experience I had working with Tyton Homes, whose owner is Vigen. During my project, there were several issues that arose, which are costly and caused a lot of stress to me and my family:
Installation of LVL beam after the demolition of load bearing walls: I hired Vigen and his crew to take out the load bearing walls in my living/kitchen area on the main floor and put up LVL beam. First, he submitted the application and drawing for the demolition of load bearing walls and installation of the new LVL beam in our living room under the initial designers name without his expressed consent. In addition, he demolished the load bearing walls before the permit had been issued. He assured me that this should have been fine if the engineer wrote a letter to the city. No letter, which would need to be addressed to the city, was submitted. Hence, no permit has been issued for the LVL beam at this point. Second, he informed me that LVL work has been done. However, the completed product has numerous structural issues, which were pointed out by a structural engineer such as:
No stiffener plates were welded to either side of all point loads over the steel beam.
The newly installed LVL does not have connection to the below wood posts.
The newly installed wood posts have no connections to the above newly installed LVL or to the below steel beam.
Exhaust Vent Incident: There was an unfortunate incident where the exhaust vent of the water heater tank was ripped out, resulting in a carbon monoxide (CO) leak into my house. This was a significant safety concern and required immediate attention to rectify. How Tyton Homes dealt with this issue, you may ask? Just taped the vent back together. We were informed this was not sufficient repair by a licensed gas technician when he came to inspect the rental hot water tank. Vigen only acknowledged that he would replace the exhaust vent after the gas technician told him in person that had to be done on his returned for inspection of the repair. Yet, the vent hasn't been replaced till now.
Sewage Pipe Damage: When installing the sum pump in the basement, his crew damaged the main sewage pipe at the front of the house. Had I not found this damage out by having a camera inspection of the main sewage pipe and finished renovating the basement, I would have been treated to an unexpected sewage disaster. Despite of being shown the camera inspection video of the breakage, Vigen repeatedly denied the responsibility. He only conceded when his site manager admitted to us in person with Vigens presence that was their fault the pipe was broken.
Resurface my porch: Vigen was supposed to dig up the existing tiles and pour new concrete on my porch as well as putting up new railing. It required his team three times until the porch surface is sloped away from the house, avoiding rainwater to leak into the basement. Especially during their second attempt, they left a hole between the porch and the wall, which allowed rainwater to come into the basement and pooled on the basement floor. And yet with all these efforts and wasted materials, there are still uneven areas on the porch and some areas are not sloped properly away from the house. This demonstrated lack of management and quality controls from Vigen as the main general contractor of my project.
Installation of two new windows in my basement: When his crew installed these windows, they left the space between these windows smaller than the specification on my approved building drawing, which was provided to Vigen before the start of the project. This act not only failed to follow the approved drawing but also is non-compliant with the Ontario Building Code. To fix this issue, I will have to hire a new contractor to reinforce the concrete wall, where the windows are, and move one window further out to meet the window gap specification on the building permit drawing.
Overall, the experience I had working with Vigen and Tyton Homes was a complete disaster, waste of my money, time, and energy. Throughout the duration of the project, Vigen had grown increasingly hard to communicate with.
Above is not an exhaustive list of sub-standard works and deficiencies, major and minor, occurred during his time as our head general contractor. The main issues discussed above show us that Vigen and Tyton Homes Ltd are dishonest, lack of integrity, due care, and lack of pride in their works. Im writing this review to expose the truth of what Vigen and Tyton Homes Ltd. did to my house so that prospective clients are aware and avoid future disappointment and financial loss.
