Affordable Modular Homes

           My wife and I first met Mr. Lapinski in January/February of 2013. We wanted a contractor to look over any land we would purchase before buying a modular home to put on that land. We found some land and had Mr. Lapinski look it over so we would not have any surprises (like a grinder pump) when building our new home on it. When we first met Mr. Lapinski his business was called ?Affordable Modular Home? with a phone number of 518-383-5674. Both business name and phone number change around July 17, 2013.

           This business that we have choose and trusted has made what should have been one of the happiest times in our lives into one of the worst times in our lives. He talks a good game but the service and workmanship we have received is not what we expected. We have been told many things like this whole process would only take 3 months from start to finish. Here we are 9 months later and still don?t know when we can get these people out of our life.

            I had inquired before we started all of this to see if we should wait until 2014 to have our new home done and was told we had plenty of time. We gave Dream Street the OK to start at the end of August in 2013. Now 3 months from that would be the end of November 2013 (not 2014). We were told over and over that we would be in by Thanksgiving. The day the house was put on the foundation, Mr. Lapinski said they were shooting for the end of November but it would probably be more like the first week in December. We even moved into a hotel (during Christmas) because the house was not done when promised.

            When it come to the workmanship, I feel A.R.E. construction has to know these things were not done correctly when doing the job. I am not sure if they think we will over look all of this and fix it ourselves or will just get paid (again) to fix it. Some workmanship items are:

1)      Nails coming out of our steps.

2)      I had to call National Grid to get the power and gas turned on (was told we were waiting on National Grid and National Grid said it was never ordered).

3)      Holes in the house roof from the crane.

4)      Hand rail on basement stairs.

5)      Doors not closing properly.

6)      No screen in kitchen window.

7)      Basement floor (cracks and not level).

8)      Furnace installed to low and had to use a pump for the water.

9)      Dryer Vent cut to short.

10)  Insulation in ceiling vent.

11)  Pipes sweating due to no insulation.

12)  Sewer pipe leaking.

13)  Missing door stop.

14)  Carpet seams.

15)  Plaster imbedded in rug.

16)  Garage roof leaking.

17)  Garbage Disposal not hooked up.

18)   Back garage door not working properly.

19)   Had to purchase my own light bulbs to verify some of the light fixtures worked.

20)  Leaking bathroom sink.

21)  Dream Street garbage all over site.

22)  Roof singles, nails popping out, ridge vent coming up and facial not installed correctly.

23)  Plywood cut to short and not supported in garage roof.

24) Sand for steps.

25)  Weather stripping on doors.

26)  No air conditioning as of 6/16/14.

27)  Pipes freezing in the master bathroom.

28)  Outside water leaking.

29)  Grinder pump too far out of the ground.

30)  Boarder fence knocked down and needs to be put back up.

31)  Sump pump plumbing (does not exist).

32)  Dish washer leaking.

33)  Cabinet destroyed by leaking dishwasher.

34)  Shower leaking in basement.

If you are looking to use Dream Street Modular Homes, formally Affordable Homes, owner Larry Lapinski - RUN AWAY!!!

On a good note - our home is by Pennwest - very good people to deal with!

 

                                 

This was a terrible,painful and expensive experience.We had sold our home and bought a lakefront lot where my husband was to have his dream house. We chose a modular design from Affordable which my husband customized and so started our nightmare. We should have realized there would be problems when Larry did not put a Porta Potty on the site(too cheap) and the neighbors told us that when the workers were there , they were using the woods as their bathroom!!! He also had no dumpster on site so my husband and I had to go to the site to clean up and take the trash and discarded building waste ourselves to dispose of.
We were using a construction loan for this project not knowing Affordable was grossly undercapitalized and understaffed, both of which became our problem even though Larry assured us we would have a crew working on the home and a timeline of completion of about 3 months. The timeline was very important as we were renting while the home was being completed.
His crew consisted of 3 men who were running between another job( 30 miles away) and ours.There were many, many days when no one was working at the house which resulted in the home not being completed for 9 months
. We expected Larry, who was the General Contractor, to be at the site at least once a week to oversee his so called "crew," not my husband ! The man who was doing the majority of the work; plumbing, electrical and general construction,was not licensed resulting in some serious electrical problems (wiring problems in the walls which were potential fire hazards) , breakers constantly popping and plumbing issues that resulted in a stench so powerful, the house would have been uninhabitable had my husband not discovered the problem.
We moved into the home 10 months later and we have been working on the house since fixing many of the mistakes he left.
I recently had Larry come to the house to go over the punch list ( nail pops, cracks in walls due to settling ) normal problems expected in new construction which other contractors expect to come back for and fix. He said he would be back to fix them and 4 months later we have not heard nor does he respond to my phone calls or e- mails
Remember, DO NOT BE FOOLED by his company's new name,Dreamstreat Modulars. He is still a fast talker and con artist with the same incapable crew.