Decks were not bolted into the foundation…
The Decks were not bolted into the foundation, nor did chuck install enough cross members. If you look at the gaps, they are 30" apart. i am not sure what code is, but we had to redo them at somewhere between 12-15" when they were inspected. The wood was not treated before putting the top boards on and the worst part was... the pylons chuck sank were not appropriate for the size and weight of the deck. Since they were too small for code, there should have been at least a retaining wall installed, but as you can see there was not.
Studs not braced properly and wood was not treated
before putting on the top boards.
No GFI in Kitchen or Bathroom near sinks
Amazingly... No GFI plugs in Kitchen or Bathroom near sinks. On top of this, they were installed into the granite and since it wasn't done correctly the first time, we had two choices, remove the granite, or access the wiring from outside (cutting into the outside wall). We chose option 2, which as you'd imagine, neither were great options but we weren't pulling and replacing all that granite. Thanks Chuck!
No GFI in Kitchen or Bathroom near sinks
Used Round hinges instead of square with wood filler
One of the last things he did in the house (after he said he was 2 weeks from finishing up), was that he used Round hinges instead of square, and just filled in around the edges with wood fill, and said he was going to paint it and it would be alright.
Dented new hood that was vented into the air conditioning duct!!!
Dented the new hood and didn't match up the back splash, and no, he didn't replace it or offer to fix it. Most amazingly... he vented it into the air conditioning duct. and the second one wasn't even vented out of the ceiling.
Lights put in the ground but not hooked up.
Yup, he bought them, and stuck them in (probably had a worker put them all in the ground) and just stick them in the dirt. Amazing!!!
No ground or neutral wires to the outside electical?
i just don't get it; this is how Chuck left the outside wiring for our outdoor lighting. Why wouldn't pull a neutral and ground wire for the outdoor lighting. It just doesn't make sense...
No neutral or ground wires installed for the ouside lighting...
Main plumbing and shut off valve
This shut off pipe was not replaced even though Chuck said he replaced the plumbing below the house. as you see in a previous post this was not the case and as you can see here, the pipe is going through the old screen instead of the wall where i was told it should. One impotant note... at this point the house has already been painted (and with a color we did not request).
The crawl space entry that is not to code
Chuck poured new concrete that flowed toward the house... and when they did it, they didnt raise the crawl space lip to code. This would have allowed water to flow under the house especially with the concrete not balanced to allow rain and other water to flow either down a drain or toward the driveway. i just don't get it... why we have to redo or fix just about everything he did.
The French Drian that goes nowhere…
Chuck installed a french drain and when we opened it up, it was full of mud to the top with no exit pipe.
Oven installed but not hooked up???
We just found out that the oven he installed was actually bolted in, but was not plugged in. To boot, we requested a gas oven but Chuck got us an electric oven. And installed it but didn't hook it up. I mean come on... its just a plug. Why would you completely bolt in a new oven and not hook it up? Why???
Incredible!!!
12/28/09 - I just found out that the Viking BBQ, and the Dishwasher were installed but not hooked up either.
Plumbing – The plumbing was paid for but when we brought in a plumber to check chucks work, we found that he left these old rusty pipes attached to the new pipes. Here is what we found…
Chuck used rusty old cans that we found when we opened the ceiling and the new cans he used were not installed to code as you can see…
Lets take a look at how the deck was constructed
Lets take a look at how the deck was constructed: Not only were the boards pulling away, but the deck was not bolted to the foundation and the boards (under a year old) were nailed in so they were starting to pull up and off the deck base showing a warp in the new deck.
Prime Example: Cuts around the water heater instead of taking it out and installing the flooring properly. And… when we pulled out the water heater, there was no subfloor under the new hardwood flooring.
When we pulled out the water heater, there was no subfloor under the new hardwood flooring (which we were charged for!!!).
The Nightmare Begins…
I cannot believe we hired Chuck Conaway to rehab our house. He was so nice in the beginning, a real sales man. But in the end, it was just a nightmare to redo so much of what he and his team did incorrectly or not at all. Besides the fact that he refuses to give us any of the receipts from over 400k of work we paid for, this blog will account for all of the shortcomings, overcharges, and sub-standard work Chuck and his team did at our house accompanied by photos over a 16 month period. A contractor who did an inspection after chuck left the job said to quote, "this is a disaster".
Most of these photos were taken at a time when chuck said he'd be done with everything within 2 weeks.
Read on...