Fergal Burke Plumbing

All of the work that was completed is of very good quality. The problems were with reliability, completeness and professionalism. Construction projects require a certain amount of planning and coordination on the part of the contractors and flexibility on the part of the homeowners. At first it was had to get commitments from Mr. Burke, then it was even hard to get him to return calls from me or from our general contractor (who had brought Fergal Burke Plumbing in, although not as a true "sub"). We got through the "rough" inspection, and most of the completion of the project with the usual number of "Uh-oh's" that accompany the remodeling of a 100-year-old building. It was because of the potential for "Uh-oh's" that we were dealing on a time & materials basis. We had a very rough estimate of how much the job would cost, and so I gladly paid 70% when we passed rough inspection. At one point Mr. Burke showed up, unannounced, on a Saturday morning at 8 AM, rummaged around, left things all over the place and departed again, having awakened us and to no effect that we could discern. Before we were ready for final inspection, I was asked for another increment of money which I paid even though I had no bill for it, or indeed for the original payment. The "trim-out" was completed soon thereafter (even though it was maddening to not know when the plumbers were coming and it was not as timely as we would have wished, the work was done). But before the inspector came back ,we discovered that for some reason there was no cold water in the shower/bath. Of course by this time all the walls were completed, the tub surround was in place, floors and ceilings were done. In order to pass the inspection, Mr. Burke essentially connected a garden hose from a hose bib in the garage, out a window, and through a hole in the siding of the building to which he had brought a suitable fitting after slicing open the bathroom ceiling of our downstairs neighbor (and repairing it). The intention was to get the inspection signed off and then return to figure out how to get a proper cold water line hooked up. This was the week leading up to Christmas. The inspection was on the 23rd and Mr. Burke said he would return on 12/26 to complete the job. We never heard from him again. Shortly after the new year, we got another plumbing contractor to complete the job. On January 19, 2009 I sent a letter, return receipt requested, telling Mr. Burke what had transpired and asking him to reimburse me for what it cost me to have the job completed. The receipt was signed in an illegible hand, so I can't affirm that Mr. Burke himself saw the letter. As expected, I have heard nothing. My contractor tells me that he thinks that Mr. Burke has had some serious family issues to attend to out of town. I deeply sympathize, but nevertheless, Mr. Burke's conduct with respect to our job has been, in the end, unacceptable.