Universal Builders of America

BAD ! Review of Universal builders: Work started 12-20-2-17 Job description: Roofing main house & garage – R&R metal siding all due to hail damage I will say this first, Universal Builders did to the best of my knowledge make the following issue correct but then again I’m not a contractor but a well-informed home owner with security cameras! Universal Builders on Dec 20-2017 sent a sub-contract crew to our residence to remove & replace the roof on our home and garage dude to an insurance claim for hail damage. The big issue caught on the security camera system was the work performed on our detached garage. I was monitoring the workers. We knew the garage would probably require some of the wood roof replaced along the gutters and toward the front lower portion of the garage because during pre-inspection they noticed some soft spots. Everything was agreed on and work started. I captured images of the crew placing metal panels over rotten wood areas and covering that up with the first layer that goes under the shingles. Not being home I was unable to take the time to call and stop the work and get the images uploaded to Universal. Then events happened that I forgot about it for a few days. I sent the images to the guy that was first sent to our home to set up the process and sign the contracts. I asked him how acceptable it was to place metal over rotten wood and then cover it up. He said it was not and had someone from the main office contact me. They said Universal would send someone out to inspect. The guy that came was furious after he removed some shingle and found what they had done. The next day the crew had to return and remove the entire garage roof and replace 6-8 4x8 sheets of wood and re-roof the entire garage. What a waste of time, money, resources & supplies. Should have done the work right the first time. During the roof inspection the day before the guy from Universal found the ridge vent place on both ridge lines of the main house was put on backwards and the ends were left open which not only would allow rain to enter but critters. He removed and replaced the ridge vent himself. I would have made the sub correct it. Let’s move to the vinyl siding. Work on that started that Friday December 22, 2017 I came home during my work lunch break to take a look at the work going on. To me at the time things looked great. The Sub-contractor for the siding was well underway. Had already removed the metal siding and had a good portion of the fan fold and siding going up. Later that afternoon we were preparing to go to an office Christmas party and I was monitoring the crew with the security cameras and noticed 1 guy pick-up the very long round roll of something white. It puzzled me as to what this could not know what might be round when it comes to siding. He took it to the rear section of our driveway and proceeded to roll it out and then I noticed the writing on it. Yes it was the Tyvek they should have wrapped the house in after the fan fold insulation went up. I was floored. My husband walked outside and asks if that was not supposed to have been on the house and the crew lead he was talking to stated “aw we never use that just the fan fold “and yes that was a quote! I was in the house trying to get Universal Builders on the phone but just our luck it was after hours but I left message and had to go to an upstairs bedroom window to capture images with the cellphone because the angle was just out of the outdoor security cameras. The crew rolled out the Tyvek and used it as a tarp to throw debris on so they could roll it up for trash. What were these guys thinking? So on our drive to the party I received a call from one of the main people at Universal Builders in Columbus Ohio asking what the issue was. When I told him I we saw he was honestly taken back but these events and assured me it would be corrected. The next day the crew showed up had a long conversation with someone on the phone and proceeded to remove the siding which was about half the house. Again, what a waste time, money & resources and supplies. I almost forgot to mention the window wraps. They had to R&R the metal window wraps. The work quality looked great. I went out and was looking at the window on the right side out our home which is the lowest to the ground. Looked awesome! Well that was the only window out of the 10 re-wrapped did the do right, the other 9 they never caulked anything! When they had to come back and I showed them the window off our back deck to the kitchen window the crew lead said it was done right and looked good to him. Then I walked him to the window on the right side of our home that was done right and asked so which windows was done right? He asked “why do they need caulked “? Really I said! Common sense would tell one that without caulking water is going to get behind the wrap and wood rot would start! He looked at me as if I had 2 heads. He made a phone call and came back and said he would caulk all the windows. As I stated above yes Universal Builders did make things right but my issue is how many other people did Universal do work for that these same sub-contractors were used and the performed the same substandard work and the home owners have no clue what was done because they didn’t have security cameras to capture the work. Prior to these event I had already told 4 households how easy Universal was to work with but at this point I would never refer them to anyone. The sub-contractors should have been better vetted and monitored. The one person that did come back out from Universal stood in my back yard and told me this was not the first time he had to follow behind the same sub and fix things they screwed up. With that knowledge why would Universal ever use the subs? I think the answer is simple. It’s all about profits! The sub bids cheap and does sub-standard work. Take a look at the Security and cellphone images below ! They show the areas the roofing crew covered the bad wood on our garage. They also show what the siding crew tried to pull off with putting up the fan fold insulation the placing the siding over that without the Tyvek ! You also notice the Tyvek rolled out at the head of our drive in the yard with trash on it ! The image Of the worker at the front & Side garage door I'll let you figure out what he was trying to do ! I was so stunned I never thought about pressing record I just kept clicking snap an image !