CROMWELL ENVIRONMENTAL

We had a renovation loan with our house purchase and had to get bids from contractors before closing. Basically, our loan amount included the price of the house and the renovation cost and the bank would pay the contractors after the work is done. Mold was found in the basement just a few days before closing and we went with the company our realtor recommended. The worker who came to remove the mold-infected sheetrock and such failed to put up plastic to prevent dust and mold from spreading throughout the house and he did not have any protective gear on. He took more carpet than necessary (about half of the basement floor). They had proposed to HEPA scrub the air for 48 hours, but we barely got 24 hours. They were going to spray the moldy areas with some sort of sealer, but the equipment was not available, so they did not do it. All in all, there was less than 10 man-hours. The workers lied about the work being done and the bid price was not reduced to reflect the work that was not done. On July 11th, we e-mailed a request for an itemized bill, but did not get a response. On July 22nd, they e-mailed the lender's paperwork to be signed so that they can be paid, and we were planning on signing them at the lender's office as we had done with other contractors. They got impatient and on July 26th, e-mailed the lender (while CCing us) to urge us to respond. We replied that we were still waiting for an itemized bill. Again, no response. We went ahead and signed the paperwork, and when the check arrived, it needed our signature. So one of us went to the office to sign the check, and expressed our discontent about the whole process on August 3rd. They promised that they would send an itemized bill the next day. It didn't come. August 6th, we sent an e-mail to them (CCing the owner of the company) reminding about the itemized bill, and did receive a response from the owner explaining that it was a lump sum contract so there is no itemized bill and that this price is their minimum. From their perspective, their customer is the lender, and since mold was removed successfully, the job is complete.

It went quite well. They could not complete it on the week planned owing to unexpected storms, and subsequently needed a reminder. Once thus alerted, they came in as promised for the revisit. They identified each of the potential leak spots, worked with me in the attic and on the roof, and allowed me to inspect the job after completion. They waited for another 2 weeks to test the integrity of the leak-fixes after a thunderstorm or two before billing me. The final bill was very reasonable.