Unhappy Log Home Builder in Dartmouth

Wow. Nice to have work done by a friendly, incredibly knowledgeable and reasonable company. Highly recommended! My system was installed on time. Keith had an apprentice with him and he took the time to teach him and ensure everything was perfect. His attention to detail was excellent.

I met Stephen at the front office who sold me this small log cabin package. What a mistake I made. The delivery date was set for 3 months later. I took two weeks of vacation build this cabin at that time. The week they were to deliver the cabin I went to Dow & Dow and Stephen informed me they were not ready. They had known about this for a while, but did not have the courtesy to call me and let me know. I had 4 men hired to help me build the cabin during those two week. I had no choice except to wait, as I had paid Dow & Duggan $25,000 at that point as a down payment. They delivered a partial load 1 week late. It only took 1 1/2 days to complete what they sent. 2 Weeks of vacation for nothing and 4 men not getting paid. When they were ready to make the final delivery a month late, Stephen informed me by email that they would not deliver unless I paid them the remaining money owed in cash. Otherwise they would not deliver the cabin. My builder and I tried to get them to deliver but were unsuccessful. Ultimately I had to contact my Lawyer, and after lengthy negotiations, I had to arrange my own delivery in spite of the contract which stated they would deliver. The deliver wound up costing me more money and I had to pay for the lawyer fees. It was a horrible experience. It is also a faulty product. It looks good, but is a bad design. They use butt joints, that if you try to set the logs in place, it just wipes off the sealant leading to gaps. When it rains, the water comes into the building and stains the interior logs. On the first load, 8 logs were prepared incorrectly and had to be returned and re-made. They re-made the logs promptly, but it led to another delay. I have contacted another log company who will correct the leaking butt joints using specialized materials. I met an owner of another Dow & Duggan log home in Pugwash who has the same leaking problem. The owners are also very rude. One time on the telephone, when I asked a question to Mike, who is the other owner who prepares the logs, and he told me that I was stupid and did not understand. Nice customer service!! These 2 people are not employees, they are the owners. If you want a good product with excellent customer service I would consider Riverbend Log Homes in New Brunswick. Since I have had these problems I have met several people who built homes with Riverbend, and had a very positive experience. I wish I had driven up to New Brunswick. Hindsight is 20:20.