Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  02/15/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In early Spring of 2023 I had Bella put a new roof and gutters on my house. Up until I'm writing this in February 2024, the roof has been leaking. The gutter in the rear of the house is also sloped in the wrong direction and overflowing water has ruined my brick. The water leakage caused drywall, trim, paint, flooring, to need replaced. Bella sent people out 7 times to "resolve" the issue, but they kept making excuses and doing little repairs as shots in the dark. I had another company come out since the issues couldn't be fixed by them. They stated it was some of the sloppiest work they've seen. They also stated how many calls they've received from other jobs Bella has screwed up. The other company showed me pictures of the gaping holes they left in the flashing, flashing that wasn't caulked, improper flashing used, siding they mangled, missing caulking, sloping gutter completely missing a downspout, crooked shingles, wrong chimney flashing, and no step flashing used. They found these issues out in 10 minutes and fixed it in 5 hours, but Bella couldn't find them in nearly a year??

  Business response

  02/23/2024

  To Whom it May Concern,

  On March 10th, 2023, ** ******* ********* went into contract with Bella Construction & Development Inc. for a full roof and gutter replacement.  All work was completed on April 20th, 2023.  At this current moment, the house was in need of repair and ** ********* was doing just that, starting with the roof.  Once we completed the roof replacement ** ********** continues to have repairs made on the dwelling, to include the exterior of the structure to be painted.  Fast forward to June, June 16th, 2023.  ******* ********* phoned into the office informing us that he has suffered a roof leak at his chimney and was getting moisture into his living room.  Our service crew was out to the property on June 20th, 2023 and thought to have pin pointed the issue at the chimney where the sidewall flashing meets the siding.  ** ********* was not home at the time of the service call and was not able to show the technician the exact point of the leak.  Then, on August 14th, 2023 ** ********* phoned into the office again, speaking with his original project manager, explained that he has another leak in another part of the home.  2 days later we again returned to the property to pin point the leak and it was evident that this was the same root, flashing at the sidewall where the siding meets the roof.  Again on October 16th, 2023 ** ********* phoned into the office informing us that he still had a leak.  A few days later, we returned to the property to check the chimney flashing, again our service technician explained to ** ********* that his sidewall flashing was bad and his siding needed to be reset to replace the flashing where the siding meets the roof (a task we were not originally contracted to do).  We scheduled for us to actually meet the homeowner, ** ********** at the property to discuss options and see how to fix the pertinent issues.  On Tuesday November 28th, 2023 at 2:30 PM, we met with the homeowner, went over his options and let him know that we would be willing to replace the siding on the side of his home where he was having issues, repair all necessary flashings and truly fix the root of the issue at a cost of $1200.  ** ********* did not want to have this done.  Again on January 9th, 2024 he phoned into the office with a leak, and we told him we would not be able to come out again since this was not an issue of his original contract.  On Feb 15th, 2024, I received a BBB complaint regarding this matter with ** ********** requesting monetary compensation for his time, materials, and ultimately his cost for services to pay another contractor to replaced the entire siding on his home.  I, Andrew B**** the vice-president of Bella Construction, called ** ********* on Feb 21st, 2024 at 10am to review the case, find a solution and move forward.  ** ********* demanded $4,000 for these repairs of siding and interior damages.  This confirmed the fact that the leak was indeed the siding, since he paid the other contractor to fix his leak, and their solution was to replace the siding as well.  Again, a service not contracted by Bella Construction originally.  ** ********* also requested money for his house to be repainted since water was overflowing his gutters, an issue that was never once presented to Bella Construction, and we were at the property a number of times.  
  

  Sincerely,
  Andrew B***
  Vice President, Bella Construction
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  09/28/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I hired Bella Construction to install new facia, soffit, gutters, & downspouts on my house at a price of $13,000 back in August of 2022. The contract included a service/labor warranty. In March of 2023 a piece of facia fell off and I called Bella to let them know about it and they said that they would put me on their service schedule. After a few weeks I called back to get a status update. They said that they were very busy and that they would send someone out ASAP. About a month after that, ( sometime in May I believe ), I called again for an update and they said that they were waiting for a 40 ft. ladder to be able to get up to where the piece of facia came off, which was surprising to me that a company like theirs didn’t have a 40 ft. ladder; how’d they get up there in the first place? After several more calls they finally send two guys out to the house, who didn’t have a 40 ft. ladder with them, and they told me that they really weren’t given much information about my situation. I had my own personal ladder, and a bent ladder left behind by a roofing company we hired, chained & locked to my fence. One of the guys called a manager & told him about the ladders locked to the fence and he then got a hack saw from his truck and cut my locks off of the ladders that were chained to my fence. When I discovered the cut locks laying on my porch I asked them why they did that and they said that their manager gave them the OK to do it. They tried to use the ladder left behind by the roofing company but discovered it was too bent to use so they left without repairing the facia. I called again a couple weeks later & talked to a gentleman who identified himself as one of the owners & asked why this was taking so long and, somewhere during the course of the conversation, he said, “what do you want me to do sir? Pull something out of my ass?” Finally two days ago 9/26/23, after six months, they told me it will cost $750 for the repair. BEWARE! THEY DON’T STAND BEHIND THEIR WORK!

  Business response

  10/02/2023

  ****** *
  In June 2022, ** ****** entered a contract with Bella Construction & Development Inc, to replace Siding, Soffit, Fascia, Gutters and Downspouts.  In August ‘22, work was completed and customer was satisfied with the work.  At this time, rotten fascia board was noted but customer had just wanted the rotten board wrapped.  Fast forward to May 2023, ** ****** phoned into the office explaining that a piece of the fascia wrap had fallen off his home and needed to be reattached.  On May 26th, 2023, we had sent out a service crew to replace the fascia warp.  At this point, we notified *** ****** about the rotten fascia board again, noting that this will continue to be an issue and the board needed replaced.  ** ****** agreed, however the homeowner needed a price.  The service department, and myself, reviewed the scope of work needed to replace the fascia board and presented ** ****** with the price.  ** ****** said that that price was crazy and he did not have the means to do that.  He offered to buy the board and have our team just put it up while we are up there.  I explained to him that unfortunately it is not that easy.  The old board needs cut out, new board needs put in, ladders and tools need set up, and it is 40 ft in the air.  I offered to put back up the fascia wrap, but explained this will probably keep happening unless the board is replaced. At this point, ** ****** said he would see if he could have someone else come out and replace the board so we could come back and put up the wrap we installed.  This is where the conversation ended, and I have yet to hear back until this complaint.
  Sincerely,
  Andrew B***
  Vice President, Bella Construction
  
  

  Customer response

  10/03/2023

  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.]
  
  Regards,
  Untrue statements; Rotten fascia board was not noted when we signed the contract nor at the time of installation. We were never informed that there was anything about our house that was structurally unacceptable or unsatisfactory in order for the installation to take place. We would have never paid $13,000 for an install that was only going to fail. As a professional, why would you even agree to such an install? I first reported the fallen piece of fascia at the end of March, not May, and when the service crew finally came out in May, it was then that I pointed out to them that there was no wood at all in the place where the fascia fell off. There was definitely wood there before the work began. I did not say to the gentleman on the phone that I did not have the means to pay the $750 that he was asking for to reattach the piece of fascia, only that that was a crazy price to charge us. We already paid this company $13,000 for work that included a service & labor warranty, and 7 months later a piece of fascia falls off and you want to charge us $750. Very disappointing! We were hoping this company was a keeper for future home improvements.
  ****** ******

• Initial Complaint

  02/17/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Be careful because they don't have a license to work within the city of Pittsburgh. Bella came out to my home in July of 2019 to do a siding project on my apartment building. The siding looks great but the problems came after the work was done. In June 2021, I received a letter from the city of Pittsburgh saying the work was never permitted. The first two times I called Bella to get their help on fixing this, the secretary told me they were on vacation and they would call me back. No call ever came. I forgot about it for a couple of months. I went on my own vacation in August and when I came back, I had another letter from the city of Pittsburgh saying I need to appear in court in 2 days over the violation. I called Bella and again was told the owners are on vacation. I explained to the secretary the situation and she told me the owner would call me back. (They either take a lot of vacations or avoid their customers after the work is done) I showed up in court and was told all commercial work needs a permit and I have one month to get it. I called the office again and asked for the owner to call me back asap. He called later that day and I explained the situation. He dismissed it saying he never needed a permit before and that someone is messing with me. I got in touch with the city again and they told me I can apply for the permit myself but I would need their contractor id to do it. I called, and they gave it to me. The license number didn't work. The city told me that Bella doesn't have a license to do commercial work in the city. I called Bella and told them this, and a guy, Nick maybe, would renew his license and call me. This was a month ago. So Bella has been doing unlicensed work all this time. I eventually found someone with a license who was able to pull the permit for me but charged $5000 + the permit fees because he didn't do the work.

  Business response

  04/07/2022

  April 7, 2022 
  To Whom it May Concern 
  *** ********* *** ***************** ****** 

  
  First, I would like to apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Bella Construction was made aware of the issue with the City of Pittsburgh and *** ****** in June 2021, at which point I, as well as the other owners (as it is a family business), were on vacation. Upon returning the trip, we had investigated this issue and reached out to *** ******. When we contacted *** ****** we had explained that our contract with the homeowner was only for the removal and replacement of siding, soffit, and fascia with no mention of a permit. As a rule of thumb, homeowners are responsible for additional permitting and licenses needed to complete the job unless prior arrangements have been made with both parties. At this point, Bella Construction cannot assume responsibility for a neglected permit two years after the job was completed. 
  

  If you have any questions please feel free to reach out. 
  Thank you! 
  Andrew B*** 
  

  
  

*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. ↩