JERSEY CONTRACTING LLC

Condo Renovations A PICTURE IS WORTH 1000 WORDS I hired Steve Luger dba JERSEY CONTRACTING LLC, 510 NW 39TH AVENUE, DEERFIELD BEACH, FL 33442 561-400-4508 or 400 REDWOOD LANE, BOCA RATON or 7941 N FEDERAL HIGHWAY, SUITE C5 #104, BOCA RATON FL 33487 to renovate my condo in Highland Beach FL. The work he completed from his hire date on January 6, 2017 to his FIRE date MARCH 15, 2017 are check marked on his proposal. See photo. Jersey demolished my kitchen, 2 bathrooms, and 98 sqft of walls. He laid 75 sq. ft. of tile, removed and replaced 10 12x12 floor tiles, erected 8 metal studs, widened three doorways, and hung three bifold doors. His electrical subcontractor ran wiring for a microwave and under cabinets lighting but NEVER wired it either to the power source. In fact, the under cabinet lights were never installed. The electrical work was included in the proposal but Luger asked, "as a favor", that we pay his electrical subcontractor, Jim Simone, $750 at the end of his work day. We did. See photo. I never saw Jim Simone again. On February 28, Luger asked my 79 year old husband for a progress payment WITHOUT giving him an itemized bill. Because Luger was recommended by our neighbor (We live in New England) and we believed Luger to be a reputable contractor, my husband paid Luger a $10,250.00 progress payment. When I learned of this transaction I was HORRIFIED! How could Luger justify a payment of $10,250 plus $750 ($11,000) payment when he only completed 1/5th of a $29,117 job in SEVEN WEEKS? (See photos) After cashing our check, Luger STOPPED WORKING leaving us with dangling electrical outlets and light switches, an open ceilings, demolished walls, unfinished woodwork, missing toe kicks on our cabinets/vanity and ripped out baseboard. See photos. When confronted Luger claimed he could not proceed because the Highland Beach Building Department was delaying the permit. I called the building department to check his claim and learned that Mr. Luger DID NOT SUBMIT the required paperwork to obtain a permit. I also learned that Luger NEEDED a NOTICE OF COMMENCEMENT to demo my kitchen cabinets, vanities and walls. Most importantly, Luger could have continued working. He did not install the cabinet/vanity toe kicks, the vanity hardware, change the light fixtures, replace the base board that he ripped off, patch the ceiling and the walls, tile the bathroom floors, plumb the kitchen faucet and washing machine, grout the laid tile, etc. See photos. In fact, I had to hire another company, Boca Certified Plumbing Service Inc, to plumb my kitchen sink. They came immediately and did a fantastic job. I found it UNBELIEVABLE that Luger could demolish my kitchen cabinets and plumbing, rip out vanities and tear down closets that REQUIRED a permit but could not finish jobs that DID NOT REQUIRE a permit. I FIRED Jersey Contracting on March 15, 2017 after weeks of not working and little progress. On March 17, 2017, I emailed Luger and demanded an itemized bill for the progress payment. On March 22, 2017, I received an itemized statement reflecting the HIGHEST cost in the area for work he performed. ODD! Luger's bid was the lowest one submitted. On the "after the fact" itemized bill, Luger charged me $800 for Building permit that was ever issued. Highland Beach Building Department DOES NOT COLLECT FEES UNTIL THE PERMIT IS ISSUED. He also charged me for blueprints that I DRAFTED (See photo of my original work). Luger also charged $1077.00 for overhead and profit yet HE WORKS OUT OF HIS HOME and not the address registered with the state. Deerfield Beach FL is his residence. See photos. I could justify the EXTREMELY HIGH COST if he did quality work but he installed cabinets in the wrong places claiming the kitchen designer made a mistake. WRONG! I inspected his installation and found that he put 2 base cabinets in the wrong place and there are only 7 base cabinets. Further, he installed the cabinet over the refrigerator BEFORE fitting it. He installed a cabinet that needed to be trimmed in the back to accommodate a crown molding trim in the front. He charged me $200 to fix his installation error calling it a "design error". It took less than 30 minutes to fix his error. I have never encountered a contractor that made $400/hr Adding insult to injury, I had to redraw my blueprints. AFTER I FIRED him, Luger went to the building department claiming MY drawings as his property. His intentional deception prohibited the department from releasing the blueprints to my new contractor.