Rocco Penta Sons Plumbing

The original time line for the entire project started at the end of March 2013 and was to be completed by the end of June or early July. Penta arrived on site as requested and completed rough in plumbing in a timely and satisfactory manner in the April/May timeframe. He was actually quite helpful in this phase making recommendations for setting up laundry and bathroom facilities. In June, when it came time for Penta to install the tracks and tubes for the radiant heat, he became difficult to contact. Once contact was finally made, he claimed that he was not told of the timeline for installing the tracks and tubes and had not ordered the material needed. He gave conflicting information as to when the materials would arrive at the work site and caused other work to be postponed pending arrival and installation of the heating tracks and tubes. When the materials arrived, he left the work incomplete for some time and had to be reminded repeatedly that other subcontractors were waiting for him to complete this installation. Before hardwood floors could be installed over the radiant heat tracks and tubes, the system needed to be checked for water tightness. Penta's crew arrived to do this work but did not have the necessary tools and/or parts. This phase of the work was finally completed some time in late June or early July. Penta made no effort to come back and complete the work (connect the tubes to the furnace, install flow controls and pumps) and did not respond to calls or efforts to contact him either at home or through his supplier. Finally, on 8/27/13, I sent him an email and text message threatening to file a complaint with the NJ Board of Examiners for Licensed Master Plumbers. Penta responded that he was on vacation and would return to the job after he returned from vacation. On 9/9/13, Penta came back to the job and promised to complete it by the end of the week. He did not return the next day or the day after. His assistant (but not Penta) returned 9/12, but did not have the parts to finish the job. Penta and his crew next appeared on Wednesday or Thursday 9/18 or 19, still without the needed parts. In order to expedite the process, I picked up the valve from the supplier on Friday, 9/20. The following Monday, 9/23, Penta returned to continue work and we left for the day while he was still there. When we returned, I went to check on progress and found hot water leaking from either the heating system or the hot water heater system. Penta returned that evening to fix the problem. The next day, he returned and also repaired a pipe broken by landscapers working at the site. Penta did not return on 9/23 or 24. When he did return on 9/25, he could not get the system to operate and could not determine why hot water would not flow to the radiant heat loops. Penta was unsure of how to correct the problem and further delayed completion while he waited for the person who designed the system to offer suggestions on how to make it work. When we left for vacation on 10/1/13, we still did not have heat and I told Penta to coordinate access to the house with our general contractor. On 10/11/13 we were returning from vacation and checked with the general contractor who reported that Penta said that he still needed to make a few adjustments to the system before it would operate properly. According to the GC, Penta said he would be back to complete the adjustments on 10/12. When we arrived at home, we discovered that we had no hot water. The next morning, I texted Penta to inform him of the problem and ask when he would be arriving. Penta never responded to the text, phone calls or any other effort to contact him. He just quit without finishing the job.