Retaining Wall Systems

After consulting with area suppliers, we acted on a recommendation to work with Josh McClure, owner of Retaining Wall Systems. We singed a contract in March, and despite the COVID pandemic, the job started in June within a few of the scheduled start date. As the job progressed, we noticed some of the wall placement was not to plan, some as much as 19" variance. We discussed compromises with RWS to remaining work to minimize the impact of rework, but it raised our awareness to become more involved. We asked more questions, we initiated more communication. As the project neared completion, we noticed the steps to the porch were uncomfortable to use and we actually had someone fall down them. When we looked into it further, we discovered the risers were too tall to meet code and the step landing pad was too steep to meet code. You would step down 4” out of front door, take 2-3 steps across the porch, step down 8.5” and then 9.5”. After a discussion with RWS in July, we agreed to a cost-based change order for a solution RWS recommended. Work for the change order started much later than communicated and took longer than originally estimated. When RWS was unwilling to discuss questions mid-construction in August, we consulted with our local building inspector and not only confirmed some of our concerns for the how the steps were being built the second time, but he also found other issues that put our house at risk for water and structural damage. After trying to work RWS for nearly 3 more month to resolve the issues, in late October RWS refused to complete the job and left us with incomplete repair work for the original contract, unresolved warranty work, incomplete work for safe access to our front door, and our house at risk for water and structural damage.