55 Tara DEV Co LLC

The home had a zero clearance fireplace, which utilized a wooden framed chase around a stainless steel chimney/vent. The wooden chase was not properly flashed for moisture and had holes in the top plate that allowed water to run inside the framed chase. This chase was well over 40' tall which prevented someone from seeing this unless special lift equipment or staging was utilized. The rear deck was not properly installed, no ice and water shield was utilized around any window or door openings. The result of this is that at the 12 year mark we've discovered that the chase was rotted out from the interior and had to be removed. All the sheathing under the deck level was rotten due to the lack of proper installation. All the windows are rotten due to poor installation practice combined with the builders instance on using Malta brand windows - which turned out be poor quality and the company has since gone out of business due to multiple law suites. Once we started peeling open the onion we discovered that the master bath shower (which sits in a corner on exterior facing walls) did not have any insulation between the shower stall and exterior walls. Result, condensation has been slowly chipping away at that exterior (2nd floor) corner = more rot. When we closed on the purchase of the home, Martin told us explicitly that he would not guarantee the roof if we put gutters on the house. When I contacted Martin about all the rot we've discovered he claimed it's our fault for not installing gutters. At least three of the five homes that Ferwerda built in our development have similar problems. At least one of the other homes has gutters installed, the rot problems occurred anyway. Ferwerda will cut whatever corners he can to make a $. I wouldn't hire Ferwerda to build a dog house. I would not recommend purchasing any structure built by Martin Ferwerda.