HRUSKA BUILDERS

We were told the project would take four months to complete. After over two years the contractor left without completing the project. Windows, doors, interior walls, exterior walls, trim, deck and stairs were left unfinished. Trash not cleaned up. The contractor did not 100% finish any of the rooms involved in this project. After the builder stopped showing up the county inspector (despite an expired building permit) found numerous code violations that the builder has not chosen to correct. The builder Dave Hruska has known about the code violations for over twelve months and has made no attempt to correct them. As a result we have assumed the duties of a general contractor and hired subs as well as worked ourselves to fix problems and finish unfinished work. Prior to signing the contract with the builder I emphasized that I wanted extra insulation thru out. One of the code violations was inadequate insulation in the attics. In fact some areas of the attics had only three inches of cellulose which gives an R value of about 9. Minimum R value for an attic in Minnesota is around 38. That was the contractor's personal work, not a sub. We paid the builder up front for work and services that were either done poorly or not at all. Water seeps into the basement and leaks over one of the basement doorways. This did not occur before the remodel. The contractor made a feeble attempt at the grading of the grounds and driveway. We had to hire someone to grade the property to prevent flooding and damage to the basement. The end of an existing culvert was buried so now water runs across our sloped driveway creating ice in the winter. More things were done poorly and or wrong than we have time to list. We requested that the new widows match the old. They do not. We requested that the corners of the addition (log home) match the existing ones. This did not happen. The trim around the widows and doors often looks random rather than matched. Wrong sized holes for windows were cut through existing walls and masonry and never repaired. Much of the finish work is average to poor inside and out. The level of the floors from the new part to the old part of the house do not line up to the point of creating trip hazards. The difference in floor height exceeds two inches. Not exactly an example of "high end" work. In general much of the work that was completed is mediocre. Some is poor and some is good. Doors do not close smoothly, trim does not match and line up. There are cold spots and drafts. Floors are not level and ceiling height is inconsistent. Doors, trim window, decks, panelling and stairs are missing. The contractor did not keep the work site clean (meaning our house and yard). The contractor often was inefficient,disorganized, and wasteful of materials. The contractor did not show up on a regular basis and did not always show up when he said he would. In the second year of the project this behavior was even worse. The contractor did not pay his subs on a timely basis... if at all. The plumber told us he had to threaten him with a law suit to get paid. A building supplier told us that Dave was " a little short" in his payment. In particular he was in dispute with the roofers. When they (the roofers) warned us they were going to place a lien on our property, we discovered Mr. Hruska had not paid them( the roofers) and told them that we had not paid him. We provided them with receipts and cancelled checks demonstrating that we had paid Mr. Hruska on time. David Hruska was hunting in Montana during the roof installation. There were problems with the roof. Amongst other things Mr Hruska put copper flashing on the galvanized steel roof. Over time there would have been corrosion and holes in the roof. After Hruska builders abandoned the project we hired a competent roofer to fix the problems. He recomended tearing it off and starting over. Having already paid out over 30% more than the estimate we could not afford that and went for a band aid fix. In June of 2012 David Hruska stated that he was done charging us for labor. That was true he stopped billing us, but he also pretty much stopped working and then abandoned the project. He does not pay attention to detail and does not listen to the customer. We were patient and tried to work things out with Mr. Hruska. We politely listened to his excuses. In an attempt to get his attention we made a formal complaint to the Mn. Better Business Bureau. (He did not respond to it.) Over the past two plus years he has ignored numerous emails and phone calls. He has had over one year to fix known and documented code violations. He has failed finish the job and correct mistakes. He has missed his opportunity so now we will seek legal remedy. To sum it up we payed top dollar for mediocre work that was not completed. Below is a very small sample of the pictures we have taken of the project. Below. Lack of attention to detail. Aluminum cladding does not cover wood. Poor as in mediocre workmanship. Below: One of several loads of trash removed by homeowner. This one long after desertion of project. Note wood scraps along wall. IBelow: Unfinished window trim as well as dust encrusted brick. Below: Door to nowhere. Oops forgot the stairs despite having materials on site. One of several code violations. Neglected to finish door frame. Lack of trim. High quality finish work...NOT! IMG_4482.JPG Above: One example of old floors not lining up with new floor level. Note 2" caulk tube included for scale. Above: One of nine examples of inability (or desire?) to match window and door trim. Window in background trimmed correctly. Some of the trash gathered from yard by home owner months after desertion of project by licensed MN contractor David Hruska of Rochester Mn House as "sealed " up against the elements during first winter of the project. Note wasted and broken insulation panels. IMG_0682.JPG Drain tile not surrounded by gravel. Soil type is clay. Huh... and the basement leaks. Finish work not tight. DSCF5440.JPG Round corner pieces that did not even remotely match existing square corner pieces. We paid for them, wasted time painting them and in the end burned them for heat.... since they had no practical use. M IIts more efficient to put up the gutter and then take it down to put up the siding?!! Below. Note odd sized trim and cut in cinder block. This is the outside of next window picture down. Contractor did not fix the damage. Above is the inside of our family room. We asked Dave to fix this multiple times. He deserted the project without fixing it. Below. Just another example of the high quality (NOT!) finish work. IMG_1112.JPG Above: The window is the wrong size as ordered by the contractor. Suppliers do not take windows back especially more than a year after they are custom ordered. The ordering, measuring installation and trimming of the windows was to say the least poorly executed. The contractor "forgot" to include $10,000 dollars worth of windows in his estimate.... Above:Another example of high end trim work. Note the mismatched materials. r Sheets of cement board do not line up on front of house. Also having wood within 8" of soil is a code violation. Uncovered foam insulation is a code violation. It was exposed to the elements for over a year and shows signs degradation. Poor quality trim and finish work. Pencil is for scale. More poor quality trim work.