Wargolet Construction LLC

We had a contractor that we got from Angielist that was absolute nightmare, the guy initially had a A rating this guy was a convicted felon he was a liar he was a cheat and totally incompetent right now we're litigation with him he was terrible. It costed us tense of thousands of dollars with this guy. Oh my God I tell you what people are gonna get real burn by this guy. We contracted him to do a rehab for twenty one thousand dollars they started it and then they started not showing up and then we got a new contractor actually we got several contractor in everyone told us the same story the work was wouldn't pass city inspection it all had to be ripped out and redone so we got the city inspector to come in and he said the same thing that none of it passed so we had another contractor come they ripped everything out he didn't get anywhere complete and they ripped it out and we're just finishing it up now but this guy was a disaster he started a suit for the twenty one thousand dollars and put a lenient on it which is totally illegal and it's a fault suit so we're suing him now.

Like any project this size there were delays and changes that had to be made that were no one's fault. We got that and I am not addressing any of those things here. Many other issues could have been avoided. We took our time giving this review because we wanted to remove some of the emotion. Mark is a nice guy but we feel that this project was probably much bigger than he normally does and he wasn't very organized. Mark told us he wanted to help us create our dream basement but parts of the process was a nightmare. He had some good plan ideas and suggestions to add to our vision and we were excited. He had told us it would take a month to 6 weeks but we signed the beginning of April and it took until mid-July before it was completed. He said he would be here but was absent much of the time. Many days they said they were coming but didn't show up, a couple times for an entire week. He had workers doing things they were not trained to do. Often I heard and quot;I don't know what he wants done. I guess I'll just try this and if it isn't right we'll just have to do it again.and quot; Many, many things had to be redone (rough work and finish work). Mark had said he would mirror things to the main floor. The window sills were bordered with quarter round molding giving the appearance that they were cut short. I insisted that they be redone to look like the main floor windows. They did re-do them and they look much better. That is one example of many things that had to be redone or fixed and there were other things we chose not to even mention to him our dissatisfaction with and had fixed later once they were done and gone. My husband was specific on the look for the electric outlets on the exposed brick-like poured walls. He wanted them coming down vertically in conduit. Mark told me that we would need to change it to running horizontally so I said if they needed to do that I guess we would have to. So he did. When my husband saw the change he insisted they fix it. So, because I had and quot;signed off on the changeand quot;, for $500 more they made it how we wanted it in the first place. This change took just a couple hours that same afternoon. I get that even though I didn't feel we had the choice when he suggested the change, I did agree to it but I feel that he over-charged for what they had to do to fix it. Much of the wood including all of the doors, will need to be re-stained as they have runs and bubbles and other flaws. The stain doesn't come close to the main floor stain even though he said he special ordered it. The bathroom fixtures and the cabinets for the bar area were not installed until the VERY end. In fact he told me at 2pm one day that he'd be back at 4 with the cabinets, then at 4 called to make sure he was getting the ones we wanted (they were chosen before any work began) ...and by they way they had to be special ordered - another week+ delay. Prior to that he had implied he already had them. We were not consulted on the style of the bathroom sink and light and while they are adequate I would have never ordered these and will be replacing both when we can. I mentioned that I thought the office should have a smoke detector and he said and quot;we'll see if the inspector noticesand quot;. The inspector did want one added and an additional outlet in another wall. Mark charged us an additional $100 for those additions which I would think he should have known to include in his original plan. Then I heard his electrician tell another of his guys to go buy a smoke detector and when asked what kind his reply was and quot;the cheapest you can findand quot; (and they spent maybe $10 on it). I also heard the comment and quot;let's wait and see if we need to fix thatand quot; a few times. In other words if they notice it... We were very disappointed with the finish details. He did not fill any of the nail/staples holes. When I asked he said and quot;no, I am not filling themand quot;. Mark caulked the countertop and it looked like he did a good job of it until I later noticed large smears of clear caulk all over the counter as though he wiped his hands on the counter instead of using a rag. Then in the bathroom, I am glad that we noticed before it was used that the seam in the bottom of the shower was not caulked at all. About a month after they finished I used painters tape to protect the wood near where I touched up paint and when I pulled a piece off the wood at our landing to reposition it the clear coating came right off the wood with the tape. Anyone who has used painters tape knows that shouldn't happen. I had to remove the several layers of the finish and redo it. We were afraid through most of the project because of what we saw and didn't see during the process. We feel that we were promised a higher quality of work and that our house would be treated as his own. His workers didn't respect our house either. They put plastic up to protect our belongings from dust in the storage area but then cut it to get at the electric box and never re-closed it so I had heavy dust caked over everything. They did cover the carpet on the stairs but other areas weren't protected at all. Per his request our floor guy came in and did the bathroom floor (VCT tiles) after the drywall was up so that it was beneath the sink and toilet. When the project was done several tiles had to be replaced because of damage done by Mark's workers - a tool had put a gouge in one and a couple were scratched deeply from something being run across it. After all of the frustration and disappointment we do have to say that we love our new basement. We still have work ahead to make the details nicer looking but the functionality is great. We gave a C for over all because the bones of the project ended up good and the things that aren't right can be fixed. Our advice: Vet your contractors well and demand references and speak to them. Check each stage of work being done on a nightly basis so flaws can be caught and fixed right away and by all means get a permit (which we did). The inspectors should catch anything you didn't know about so that the structure is safe, to code and done right.

I have used Mark several times both my own home and rental properties. I've been very happy with the results and ability to stay in contact with Mark as the various stages of a project. Quality results that I've been happy with, if there was one problem, it is that Mark is very busy and projects need to be planned out, but that is good for Mark - business is well. Very receptive to calls and if you plan in advance, all my projects have been positive. And reasonable.

I was quite impressed with the estimated cost of the egress window of $2600.00. The quote was quite a bit lower than 2 other quotes I received. I was told the work would be done by 12/31/11, to allow for the tax credit or deduction regarding installation of insulated windows. However, no one showed or called on the first date I was told they'd arrive - 12/28/11. I called and was told the excavator wasn't available. Another date was arranged on 1/2/12, and again no one showed and no one called. I had already paid half of the total estimate as a down payment and was getting concerned that no work had started yet when we had 2 arranged dates with no call no shows. A third date was arranged for 1/5/12. I also reminded this company that I had already pulled a building permit with the city and therefore the city would be expecting a permit pulled by them. The workmen did show up on 1/5/12 and finished by 1/9/12. I paid half of the remaining amount ($650.00) on 1/7/12 with the understanding the remaining amount of $650.00 would be paid once the city inspector ok'd everything. The city inspector did come out but did not give final ok until much later, which was unrelated to the work done by Wargolet. However, Wargolet insisted on the final payment before this final inspection, which I paid, and the city inspector did give their approval once the final inspection took place.

I think what made me the most nervous about this company was the initial suggestion of a tax credit/deduction if the work was completed by the end of last year, and then there were 2 no call, no shows, even though I had paid a down payment of $1300.00 on 12/11/11. Why tell me about this tax credit/deduction when you can't get the work done as originally proposed? I started to question if I was involved in a scam. On the positive side, the window works. I do have to caulk around the inside and do the finish work, which I gues is to be expected. Another positive is that Mark Wargolet did answer his phone or get back to me right away when I called him. But I guess I question why I had to call him in the first place when he or the crew didn't show up as arranged.

Please note the already listed comments on Angie's list was taken from a phone interview a couple weeks ago and incorrectly listed the cost for and quot;basement windowsand quot; as and quot;$3600.00and quot;. I didn't have the exact information readily available at that time and apologize for incorrect information. The cost was $2600.00 for 1 basement egress window.

The work was completed and passed inspection, but I had to keep begging them to come. There was a number of times that they did not show up for appointments.

They did everything they promised to do within a reasonable amount of time.