Liberty Home Improvement Co Of Union

Description of Work: As a new homeowner, I have had no experience with hiring contractors and this is a place where I guess Angie's List would have come in handy. I was contacted by Liberty Home Improvement of Union Inc, to do the following:-put up fencing around property complete with driveway and side yard gates-replace two steps on front steps of house and repoint bricks to upper front steps where needed-replace windows on porch (8 windows)-replace storm door to include mail opening-fix porch sensor light-fix kitchen electrical box for fan-paint railings for front steps and front retaining wall-Blacktop on driveway and a portion of backyard-replace two levels of stairwell (from first fl to second fl roughly 14 steps). He charged me $2400.00 for the 14 steps of the stairwell, $1,785 for a dumpster(I contacted Dumpster Direct and found that for NJ the most a dumpster for 5000lbs costs is 602.50 and $105.00 per each additional ton),we did not have more than 5000lbs if we even had that amount of poundage. He charged me $13,400 for vinyl fencing, $7,000. for blacktop to driveway and portion of backyard, $1500. to replace two steps on front step leading to the house, 1500. for re-pointing some of the bricks on the upper steps leadng to the house, $7800. for 8 casement windows on front porch with screens, $250. for single stormdoor with screen at top,$450. for electrician to run a wire from my switch to my sensor lignt on the porch and to replace wire in my ceiling fan ( the electrician did not put my fanblades back properly, and they now wobble and make a noise as if it is going to come loose). Throughout the process, I felt I was being nickel and dimed about every thing, for instance, when they replaced the windows on the porch, he had to be told to paint the wood moulding they put on to match the rest of the porch (basic white), he had to be told to stain the 14 steps to match the existing ones and then told to put on more than one coat of stain, he painted the railings for the front steps and the retaining wall in the front of the house and had to be prodded to do that. He then handed me a handwritten list of costs when I asked him from the beginning for an itemized list with costs as per nj law and refuses(to this day) to give me a list on his company's letterhead in accordance with standard business practices. I had to tell him to just tell the truth when he was trying to secure the home improvement loan (he finally listened) and the loan was approved. He wants to charge me a total of 30,300. for a job that now completed does not reflect that amount of costs. We are currently in dispute about his practices, the outrages costs for the items listed above, and the fact that he refuses to give me an itemized list of items plus cost (I expect him to include his markup, however, his markup resembles 80% of the cost). I had to do some research and found out the real cost of the materials used, which do not resemble the best quality material for the cost he is charging (fencing). In short, I am not satisfied with the cost he is charging for the work done. When I spoke with one of his workmen, he stated that the job was not a 30,000 job. His workmen did not clean up behind themselves and left pizza boxes, beer bottles and caps and cigarette packs on the grass in the back yard (we have garbage cans prominently displayed that could have been used). The things he had to put in the dumpster was not enough to fill it up. We had some branches from a tree that was threatening our and our neighbors' property removed (by someone else) and put the branches (cut up) in the dumpster. He made a fuss about that and I found out when he gave and took back the handwritten list, that he charged me for the rental of the dumpster anyway. If I was being charged for the dumpster, I should have been able to put other things in the dumpster. I would not recommend that anyone do business with this contractors for he gave me the impression that all he is interested in is getting the most amount of money regardless of what work he does or the quality of work performed or the quality of the materials used. Because I did not get what I was promised, I only paid the contractor a portion of the money and the remainder I returned to the bank. The proof of the substandard materials used came on 9/18/12. We had a severe wind storm, and the wind blew the driveway gate off of the hinges. I called the contractor who gave me a one year written warranty and he said that because I did not pay him the full $30,000.00, that I could find someone else to fix the driveway gate. Mike Fiore of Liberty Home Improvement of Union is the worst contractor I have had the misfortune to work with. I will never again hire him to do anything on my home and if he does not fix the driveway gate as he warranted, I will contemplate taking him to court. As it is, the $18,891.97 I paid Mike Fiore, is far more than the job is worth given the problems I am facing just one week after the money has been paid and the check cashed by the contractor. I should have checked Angie's list before hiring this contractor. I am also reporting him to the Better Business Bureau.