JOHNSON BROTHERS

Life took a different turn for my community of New Dorp Beach after 10/29/12. Like many others, I found myself with incredible damage and a house that was entirely missing a bottom half. I contacted Johnson Brothers on the recommendation of one of my neighbors to do the electrical work so that at least my electricity could come back. My entire lower level was submerged to the ceiling. Sandy left only bare walls, wiping away sheetrock, leaving only bare walls and exposed wires. I must admit that my experience with contractors was minimal. I did not even look up this vendor on Angie's list. I took him purely on the recommendation of someone that had used him. Mark Johnson came promptly, did the work in a day, and gave me a bill for $4100 which I promptly paid. I turned on the lights and they all all worked. The problem came weeks later when every general contractor that came to review the job commented that all the wires were not changed. The cable boxes were obviously new, but it was clear that some of the cables began to show effects of salt water, whitened with a powdery residue. The mold remediation specialist told me that the cables absolutely needed to be changed or I would have problems with my electricity in future months. I contacted Mark and he returned to my home to review his work. I told him what was told to me, and he asked if any of the people that gave me "opinions" were electricians. Furthermore, he told me that he only changed the horizontal cables and not the vertical ones. When I asked him why , his response was that "New York City Building Codes stated that the water sat in the horizontal cables and ran out of the vertical ones.. and for that reason only the horizontal ones needed to be changed". When I asked him from where he got this information, he told me that the Building Inspector told this information to his boss and that is what he was doing. I reminded him as was the obvious case, that the water had reached to the ceiling and beyond, therefore soaking all the cables. He continued to assure me that the vertical cables did not need to be replaced. There are several things wrong with this picture. First of all, I am faced with conflicting opinions from contractors. it makes sense to me, the novice, that ALL the wet cables should have been changed, AND, $4100 seems to me a bit excessive for a job where only half the cables were changed. Furthermore, I intend to seek in writing, where exactly in the New York City Building code this rule and regulation exists. In the meantime, I will get another opinion from another LICENSED electrician (preferably on Angie's List) who is familiar with the codes and I will proceed from there. In the meantime, I will withhold all opinion until all the facts have been brought to light. I still believe that a good referral is the best form of praise and advertisement, and a vulnerable public should not be subject to scamming in their weakest moments. I am still not home but am hopeful that this situation will be resolved in the very near future and I will be happy to update this letter to either praise this vendor, or make the buyer beware.