Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  08/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Where do I begin- I was looking to buy my current house in 2021 my inspector stated there was a little moisture in the basement to have companies come out. I had to quotes and we found out that Davco came in and did work in 2018, they came guarantee they did all kinds of work and I would have no issues and they did the walls, put up PVC paneling on the wall, then said they put a drainage system him and were even nice enough to give me a lifetime warranty on the work. So I bought the house. Move fast forward to 2023, woke up on a Sunday with my entire upstairs flooding... then Tuesday I went to go do laundry and I am watching the sub pump about to over flow and it did prob got about 4 inches of water coming out which started to ruin my items, within 3/5 mins the pvc paneling and foundation began to cave and I had I5 inches of water. They came out on that Thursday and there whole story changed on what was done etc, we very nice to put beams up on that Friday. I looked into this further and they never got the proper permits to even do the work, they claim the owner got them but that doesn't make sense because the town would have to come look at the work. Davco now wants to change me 25K to do the basement over that they guarantied would have no issues. My son and I are now living in a hotel because of all of this. Davco believes I should be going after everyone else and doesn't want to take the responsibility. I am willing to work with them but they should be fixing this not charging me 25K. Then I get mean text messages because I asked about his insurance company. I am not afraid which I know is what they are trying to do because I am a single female.

  

  Business response

  08/14/2023

  ID: ********
  
  Re:
  ***** ******* * ******* *** ******* ** *****
  
  In 2018, Davco was called by Mr. ***** ***** for an interior emergency wall collapse.  Mr. ***** was a general contractor and was in the midst of renovating this home for the
  purposes of flipping it.  Mr. ***** assured us that he has secured all building and work permits as he was already working in house.  He requested that we start the
  project immediately, which we did.  The emergency call from Mr. ***** was to address an INTERIOR basement support wall that collapsed.   Davco removed this wall and installed a new block wall according to common building codes and practices.  Additionally, Davco also installed a sump pump.
  
  Davco originally spoke to Ms. ******* when she asked us to come and look at a home she was looking to buy at * ******* *** ** ******.  We knew the home and we were happy to meet her and answer any questions she had.  We said that there was some moisture in the walls but the drain system is working as it should.  We were not there to inspect any other part of the home.  Ms. ******* then asked for the warranty and she was told we cannot provide the warranty until she owns the home.  The next time we heard from her, she was the owner of the home and we happily provided her with a copy of the warranty.  Davco warranties the drain line, however the pump is separately warrantied by the manufacturer.  This warranty paperwork was provided to Mr. ***** and whether he filled out the info or not is unknown.
  
  The last time we were contacted by Ms. ******* was when she called with an emergency collapse of an EXTERIOR wall.  We explained over the phone that this was not the wall we worked on, but she still wanted us to go look.  When on site, Davco showed her photos of the work we did 5 years prior, but Ms. ******* still felt that this was our doing as we were in the basement before she bought the home and we should have known the wall was faulty.  Davco worked on an INTERIOR wall which lies approximately 12’ or so in the center of the home and does not connect to or is it attached to the failing wall in any way.  As this exterior wall collapsed, it brought in mud and debris, clogging up the sump pump and lines.  The wall, in no way collapsed because of our drain system being clogged.  Basement walls collapse inwards due to exterior pressure such as water, frost, soil, roots, and other forces of nature. They do not collapse due to a few inches of water on the floor.
  
  As a solution, we suggested that Ms. ******* install temporary support jacks to carry the load of the building above to be safe.  She agreed to Davco installing the jacks as an emergency precaution.  The same day we came and installed the jacks and provided her with a proposal for the wall replacement as well as cost for the emergency jack install.  
  To date, Ms. ******* has not returned a signed contract nor paid us for our services and our Jacks are still in her home.
  
  Ms. ******* had stated to us many times while on site reviewing the damage that she has no money to pay for these repairs.  We explained to her we understood and we could offer her free financing for a year to help he manage the cost as we do with many of our customers.   When following up about the signed contract and payment for the emergency jack install, Ms. ******* again stated that she had no funds to repair this and believed that this is something that we did, and we should cover the costs.   She then speculated that it happened because our drain system and pump failed.  We informed her that it failed only after the wall collapsed in and clogged up the pump.  After a few days, we were texted out of the blue and asked to provide our insurance info to her.  We did not respond to her request.
  
  Regarding a few other statements made by Ms. *******.  Her statement accusing Davco of installing some kind of wall panels is also inaccurate.  Davco Masonry does not install interior wall panels of any kind.  If anything, we often suggest that customers remove any wall panels as they not only trap moisture but they hide any issues with the walls.  These wall panels were most likely installed by Mr. ***** to hide the condition of the walls from the new buyer.  See our proposal to Mr. ***** and you will see that we did not install any wall panels.
  
  It was mentioned that Davco sent mean text messages as well?  I cannot imagine how anything which we said was mean or derogatory towards Ms. *******.  She was always and
  will always be spoken to respectfully and calmly.   We suggested that she reach out to the previous homeowner, home inspectors, and real estate agents to possibly inquire about
  their roles in this issue.  Was this misconstrued as being mean?  Finally, the comment about intimidating her because she is a “single female” is preposterous and borders on
  defamation.  If our decades of experience with these exact issues conflicts with her guesses as to why it happened, maybe she felt intimidated by that?
  
  To summarize, Ms. ******* had a catastrophic failure of one of her main exterior basement walls.  Over five years ago, Davco was hired to work on a different interior wall and we never worked on this wall.  Ms. *******’s statement that the sump pump failed and that caused the wall to collapse is simply not a realistic cause of this failure and shows she is grabbing for anything she can get traction with.  The wall collapsed due to age and exterior pressure.  Simple as that.  It brought mud into the system and shut the pump down.  If there was an issue with the pump or system when were there weeks before, we certainly would have mentioned it.
  
  We welcome Ms. *******’s hiring a structural engineer whom we could meet on site if that would assist towards resolution of this issue.  If an engineer were to be brought in, Davco reserves the right to speak with them on site to assure that all facts and series of events were accurately explained. 
  
  While we feel for Ms. *******, and perfectly understand that this is a hard hit to take, we offered her a free financing option to pay over a year and this was ignored.  Now, Davco most likely will incur legal costs to defend ourselves for something unrelated to our work.  Additionally, we have not been paid for services and materials.
  

  We have many photos showing the original work which I was only able to attach 4 due to their sizes.  
  We are available for you should you have any questions or concerns.

  Customer response

  08/15/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]  ALSO THERE WERE SOOO MANY LIES IN THIS......  First he told me he was renting the house out now its flipping....  He just sent me a bill last night for 3200 for something was offered to me.  I havent singed a contract with them because I need to get other quotes.  The lies are unbelievable. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** *******
  
  
  
  
  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩