Gagnon Construction

Description of Work: He put in a full bath downstairs, remodeled my sunroom that was originally a sunroom. He remodeled guest bath, put in mohogany on the porch floor, changed out old slats on the outside of the house and also replaced some window.

Description of Work: In May of 2009 we hired Steve Gagnon, owner of Gagnon Construction in Putnam, CT, to replace our wooden porch with an updated Trex product. Upon completion the porch looked professionally done; however, one year later we had received significant damage to a room that is under the porch (a finished basement) resulting in thousands of dollars in repair. The major concern is that the nails Gagnon Construction used in the application of putting down the new porch compromised the rubber membrane under the porch resulting in catastrophic water damage. This process caused water to leak through the nail holes and into the finished basement ceiling below. We have since been advised by a professional contractor that the correct process should have been to glue down the membrane with an adhesive glue to prevent leakage. It was also later discovered that the membrane used on our porch was not a brand new continuous piece, but leftover bits and pieces from Gagnon Construction’s previous roofing jobs. There were places at the outer edge of the porch that were not even covered with the membrane so rain water was absorbed by the original wood underneath. Also, a flashing trim piece was not added to the outer edge of the porch which would allow the water to run off of the porch rather than leak back into the wood under the porch, so this also caused even more water to be absorbed into the original wood underneath the Trex. We were fully aware that the Trex product was not waterproof, so an adequate rubber membrane was imperative in order to keep the underneath side of the porch and room below dry. However, as stated above, the process should have been to glue it rather than nail it down. Finally, as a result of all the water being soaked into the wood below, the porch had several places where it sagged, especially where the vertical 4x4 posts holding up the roof met the porch. This too had to be rectified by lifting the roof and installing an additional 2x8 support board across the entire front face of the porch. At the beginning of the project, we had no signed contract, scope of work or dollar estimate from him; however we paid Gagnon Construction a good-faith deposit of $3,000.00 by check. Upon completion of the project there was a balance due of another $2,400.00 which we also paid by check, for a total of $5,400.00. We were not given an invoice or a receipt for either payment and still have not received a receipt. We have attempted to contact Gagnon Construction by phone and email and have left messages, but have received no response. After obtaining several estimates to repair the damage resulting from the inferior work done by Gagnon Construction, we have since hired a professional contractor to redo our porch. This includes removing the Trex product on the porch, laying down new rubber membrane over the incorrectly installed membrane, lifting the roof and installing a 2x8 support board across the entire front face of the porch to prevent sagging, installing a flashing trim piece to the outer edge of the porch to allow water run-off, reinstalling the Trex product, and repairing the damage to our basement ceiling, including all new insulation, drywall, paint and carpet. Because of the substandard work done by Gagnon Construction, we were forced to pay an additional $5,000.00 to redo our porch. We filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau who contacted Gagnon Construction TWICE and did not receive a response. We desire either a full refund for the work completed by Gagnon Construction, minus materials which would be for the Trex product only, since the rubber membrane used was leftover pieces and was not purchased new, which we paid for. Or we feel it is fair that Gagnon Construction absorb 75% of the current cost to repair our porch.