B3 General Construction

This provider seemed organized with good pricing, but when hired, there were many mistakes and small details that were wrong or sloppy. They did return to fix everything we asked them to address, however doing so took multiple visits.

I got to B3 through the Hyatt hotel receptionist who said knew them. His cousin worked there. At first they were very responsive. Seemed very professional. Gave references and claimed a excellent quality standard - which i requested prove of. They came to my house right away after learning that it was an insured water damage issue by Allstate. A that point after failing to book any contractor through Angieslist - all busy - we were sold on their standards and quality. George Flannery brought along Brian who we learned later on was his Brother. And seeing the house pointed out all that was wrong with the work SERVPRO had done. Since Allstate adjuster pointed out some pit fails as well, we trusted their judgment. Also they affirmed that SERVPRO was not allowed to do construction work for obvious reasons - conflict of interest. They knew that because his other brother actually own SERVPRO near Oak PArk. All very professional and convincing George said the job could be completed in 2 weeks, Brian corrected to 1 month and at the end we stayed almost 4 months in a hotel. What went wrong? I gave my house keys right away. No contract. Once I came back they had already started and were putting up dry walls. We met in a Saturday and I went back to the house Tuesday. Once I was able to come back I noticed that some of my requests were being dismissed. We discussed them this time with my husband as well and George. Till there, all ok. I signed a paper in one of this site visits - was reminded of it - I did not remember - once we started complaining and indicated we did not want to work with them. The contract as I recall was initial and had more the function to give them freeway with my insurance to discuss any issue, including and most importantly pricing. Then I receive a call from one of the referrals and her experience with contractors pointed out a few things I should pay attention: I SHOULD NOT HAVE GIVEN THEM MY INSURANCE DOCUMENT, and the TEAM WAS NOT THE SAME. that was crucial because B3 sold us the quality work they were doing specifically in downtown Naperville historic houses. Following that call, I go to the house to find a chipped bathtub installed. By them a few other things started to surface as a doing 2 times at least to get it right. I get increasingly concerned with the fact that the things we had discussed as crucial to be done, did not happen. Ceiling was not removed. Walls were not inspected properly. Trust was broken. And hearing all about how about my house should not have this or that because was not worth it gave me a good sense of what they had in mind to deliver. I constantly questioned about protecting house and furniture and Brian's comment was: dust gives value to books. I have a wall to wall bookcase, and a design couch he asked if I wanted to put in a dumpster as a solution to my concern. That all started to feel abusive and not respectful at all. To my requests of pricing for specific work I needed to see if I could manage afford they dismissed my request to planning assuming that "unless I had money in my home country they did not know about". That was in the context a good indicative that they were there only to collect. If you still reading, I hope you keep going. I will tell you. I was frustrated with the whole process. The turning point was the worker JEff did get touchy when I say to him that the adjuster from Allstate said that any decent plumber/worker would have a tool to MEASURE humidity and access the situation. At that point they, after I insisted, made a 3" hole in the wall and looked trhough it bear eye to say: had no mold growth or need to remore the wall. By then has passed 3 weeks and I am questioning the absence of George - the manager - and the contract that would gives us the itemized bill for the work they would do. We got one with inflated prices at the end and no matter what they pretend they did they charge me the total amount of the dwelling I provided them. The following is a list of the things they did with lack of planning in case you are still considering working with them: 1. B3 did not pulled out the permits from the city which was expected and discussed with them. The fact that they short cut in so many ends makes me wonder about the quality of key things like insulation, which could only be possible to be reviewed if taking down dry wall. 2. B3 contract does not follow consumer rights guideline. I learned after from Attorney General Office. The contractor was not detailed or specific enough. 3. B3 cut tile and flooring inside my house. 4. painting job that was incomplete. It was also full of dust on walls. requiring another coat. Upper floor also required painting because of it. 5. They did not protect anything in my house, furniture. 6. I had to have brand new furnace serviced while they were in the house because it shut down with the excess of dust, and duct cleaning had to be done twice because of overwhelming amount of dust. 7. According to insurance B3 was unavailable to discuss differences and other needs that the house had. I did all the job they should have done with insurance, yet, they are claiming overhead and profit. Which it is charged because they knew insurance would pay. FYI, we assumed that posture was taken because i signed a allegedly contract - which was not understood to be final. This led to delay on insurance process. I had 3 adjusters visiting site because of it. 8. B3 did drag the work and not complete one task. They said the job could be done in 1 month and was in my house for 3 months, yet did not complete one thing he started. QUALITY ISSUES: 9. Bathroom renovation: a: tiles are uneven and the grout is cracking everywhere. I am yet to regrout it because I of potential leak through walls (need quote) b: shower handle are not put properly and coming out. My 18 months baby pulled that out first bath she took in there. c: toilet is liking - I will have to call the plumber d: disposed grout in toilet. I had sewer back up 2 days before moving in and 2 days after Brian last came to my house. e: did not reinstall the air system and outlets cover - which needed a special drill for tile. f: sink of half bath is also backing up. 10. disposed of grout on my toilets - leading to sewer backup 2 days before moving in. 11. Flooring and triming- are uneven, has gaps between plaques, some of which they put a type of grout to cover once we requested resolution. Baseboards are uneven and not flush in the wall. Not cut baseboard to pit closet door. Installed floor on top of internet cables. 12.. microwave fan installation at time of installation we found the job was not complete: not cut exit to install fan. While cutting we found they used wrong hardware, and did not make connections, so it all came apart and had to be redone. 13. Outlets: installing outlets they cut off the wires and power to dinning room. and failed to plan electrical work before putting drywall. 14. Clean up after construction: they did not clean. they abandoned the site and came back during a month to complete the most evident problems we had. I cleaned up and payed a cleaning company to help. 15.. broke light fixture - to replace has to replace both. I cant find match or even glass to fix it. 16. broke a piece of antique carved wood frame of living room mirror. family owned for decades. I contacted B3 several times to discuss bill and they dismissed me. Hired a laywer and they are professionals on keeping they immorality to the level of legality and their experience should not be underestimated in doing this.