Gronowski Construction LLC

We started the process in mid-January, obtaining bids. Due to my husband & I working full time jobs, it was difficult to quickly get the process turned around as we were meeting with these contractors at night & waiting to get bids. We hired Gronowski Construction at the end of March to do the project. Initially we had received bids from 4 contractors, but knew that GC had done some work for other people in our neighborhood & came highly recommended from them, so we hired him for the job. Dave, the owner, was quick with his bid, but apparently didn't like to wait or respect us for wanting to see what other contractors had to offer. When we narrowed it down to 2 contractors, the night we chose GC for the job & told the other contractor 'no thanks', we received an email from GC stating that "Due to the slowness of our decision making process, I am formally withdrawing my bid". We contacted him & he said that he had a lot of other bids coming in and was just "giving us an easy way out" but ending up taking the job. Even with that, we still felt he was the right choice. That should have been our first indication that this project was about to go VERY wrong.
Construction started the first week of April.  The work appeared to go smooth at the start, but there was not much done each day.The only other people I ever saw on site were the electrician and the mason (who did the stonework on the stair wall) until drywallers came in. I'm not saying there wasn't one, but I never saw or heard of a plumber being subbed for the ejector pit and plumbing work.
Here are some highlights from our time with Mr. Gronowski during the course of the project:
   *Claimed that no permits were needed for this particular project (come to find out that there WERE) and when asked about us getting an inspection before the final payment his response was ?No one has ever asked to inspect my work? and appeared to be insulted
* Multiple days that we would arrive home and find door unlocked, despite a reminder note placed to remind them to lock up. One day the door wasn't even latched.  Another day, the basement window was left open. Thank goodness we found it before the storms came through that night or an animal climbed in. During a meeting with Dave, we mentioned AGAIN the window and door locking issue and his response was "Well, I guess we both make mistakes" referring to the day when my husband accidentally set our house alarm when he left in the morning for work.  Unprofessional. This is MY house...treat it with some respect.
 * Most days, it seemed like work began after 10:00, though we were told it would start around 8:45. I would notice on days I was home, work would end around 12 or 1:30. Most days he wasn't even on site, which meant that he was giving our key to the subs, which I don't feel is appropriate. How do we know that key wasn't copied? On the last night we dealt with GC, our key was missing and when asked, he did not know where it was. Luckily we found it on the front porch.
* About midpoint through the project, my husband received a text around noon while he was at work from GC that we had locked the storm door and the electrician couldn't get in to work. My husband was in a meeting and when he replied about 10 mins later, GC responded saying a day's work was lost because electrician was on another job and he needed another payment (though minimal work was even completed at this point). A phone conference ensued where we discussed how disappointed we were with the way things unfolded that day. At this point I hoped things would get better.
* There was constant talk of how he was losing money because of subs or adjustments to the estimate in an unprofessional manner.
* We have discovered from having other trades come in to bid on the completion of the project that the plumbing was installed incorrectly: The vent was improperly installed and will cost approx $1500 to have done to code. The ejector pit is not sealed, needs more concrete to finish. The water lines were installed too low for pedestal sink. Again, he may have subbed out the plumbing. I sure hope so because I never saw a plumber on site and GC is NOT licensed to do plumbing work, nor is he a registered contractor with the town of Fishers, which is required.
* He left the drain pipe exposed leading from the bathroom through our closet under the stairs and when asked if he could please frame it in for drywall, he stated it was a lot of work and it was ok if we did it ourselves as we "seem pretty handy". Unacceptable. My husband completed this in 30 minutes one night.
* Final straw after the fact was when I was cleaning our half bathroom that the subs and GC used while they were in the house and when I was vacuuming the floor, I found POOP smeared on the wall next to the toilet. This is how you treat someone's home?? COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE AND DISRESPECTFUL. And if it was your subs, that doesn't speak highly of the people you employ, nor does it reflect on you in a positive manner!! In addition, some of the subs looked like they were sprung from prison! I couldn't decide if I was glad I was at home while they were in my house or scared that I was at home by myself while they were in the house!
The drywall was installed and finished, ceiling stomped by the first week of May. This was the point where we received an email asking for $1700 more on top of the final payment to finish the project with no detail. When we went through the hiring process, I expressed a concern that we would end up paying more than the final payment was estimated. He basically swore that wouldn't happen, that if his estimates are wrong based on the work to be completed that was his fault and we would not be asked to pay additional money unless something changed. In this situation, nothing changed that would require more money. Items were removed, never added. And what little things that were added were adjusted for in the final proposal signed on April 19th. Quick math would show that he was asking for a little more than 10% of the estimated cost! Any smart consumer would never agree without justification. When we sent him an email and asked him to please justify the need for additional funding before we would be willing to pay it, this is what we received (shortened for allowance):
 ?Well, it seems that we are at an impass. I knew from day one that this was going to happen from the first days dealing with you. Most people can plan a new 10,000 sq ft custom home in the time it took you to figure out what the heck you wanted in your 800 sq ft basement. You ALWAYS get what you pay for! Being cheap never works out in the end! First, you don't change the contracts after you give a deposit (should note here we never signed anything that said ?contract?. It said ?Proposal?). I should have walked at that time and kept your deposit! 2nd, you don't contact MY subs EVER! (assuming he is referring to electrician, which he ok'd).I'm running the job, not you! There were many extras that I did that was not on the contract that were "unforeseen" extra costs such as 1) sub panel from garage, 2) MANY extra outlet boxes and switches 3) lights over the half wall, etc. (the subpanel from the garage would count as ?complete electrical to code?, we never decided on the number of outlet boxes and switches but have them spaced to code as appropriate, and the lights over the half wall were included in the 21 recessed lights in the estimate of which we only have 20) I was going to make money on the granite and the glass shelving area but I decided to let you eliminate those because they were at the final trim stage and I knew you would be a pain in the a** & I wouldn't get out of there till June! (see above re: his discontent with taking on these projects). I just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. (Regarding the cabinets:)You basically STOLE $1050 right out of my pocket and I should have never le

Gronowski Construction owner "David Gronowski" was on site at our home during the entire process.  He and 1 of his workmen removed our old carpet and installed a beautiful hardwood floor in our living room and dining room.  The wood was called Canarywood which is a Brazilian exotic type wood.  The whole project took 3 1/2 days to complete.  They were very professional, on time, cleaned up after themselves each evening, and finished ahead of schedule.  The price included the wood and labor to do the job.  When it was all finished, the floor was "spectacular".  We love our new flooring and would highly recommend Gronowski Construction to anyone of our friends/neighbors for any type of remodeling job. to place each piece

I thought he was very professional, he explained the design part of the job thoroughly, was a pleasant person to talk with, and did a great job.

They came right out to inspect our current old deck, made some notes, and then submitted a proposal. WE accepted and within 5 days they were back at our home starting the work. We had to put down 1/2 of the $11,000 by the first day of construction. The total project took about 5 days (we had good weather). They were very professional, cleaned up the construction area each day. On the evening of the 5th day, we had a beautiful new deck both on our lower level walk-out area and on our upper level off the kitchen. They had some extra lumber that they didn't use so they returned it and gave us the credit toward the balance of the bill. We were very pleased with the entire experience.

Their work was done the proper way, and their prices were very good. They were dependable, on time, professional, and courteous. The lattice work was of good quality and workmanship, and had the correct support. I will continue to use their services.