Richard Calkins Building Co.

The final bill for the project arrived in January of 2006. Soon after, I found a joist in the basement that had been totally eaten away by the termites, but had not been replaced. The contractors returned, but rather than replace it, the Calkins company sistered new lumber onto the bad joist. Since then, I've had to replace another joist that the builders "missed". And, the floor of my dining room still bounces like a trampoline! We moved in on March 7, 2006. Easter morning 2006, I awoke to see water behind my drywall joints on the 2nd floor. Obviously, my new roof was leaking. After the roofer patched my new roof, the son of the owner returned 3 times to attempt to repair the drywall in the new bedroom. Each time, the repairs cracked and pulled apart, with drywall mud separating from the ceiling and walls. These are not tiny hairlines along the joints. These cracks are jagged gaps of up to 1/8" wide. In these first few months, the 12" x 12" tiles installed in the second floor bathroom all popped loose. The only thing holding them in place is the grout. When you walk on the tiles, you can see and hear them shift under foot. The son of the owner assured me multiple times that they would return to fix the floor. After stringing us along for months, he simply stopped returning my calls. The tiles in the threshold area of the first 1st floor bathroom have also come loose. The bathroom on the 1st floor includes a corner shower stall. This shower stall has been leaking behind the walls on either side as evidenced by the water stains on the baseboards at the shower. Recently, while cleaning the walls in the 1st floor bathroom, a piece of drywall in front of the drainpipe chases, from the 2nd floor bathroom literally fell out of the wall. This 3" piece of drywall was soaked and covered in mildew stains. Obviously, the 2nd floor bathroom is leaking behind the walls, as well. I have known the Calkins family for over 20 years. The son of the owner was a good friend of mine, or so I thought. To add insult to injury, while the project was going on, I had to hear repeatedly from Mr. Calkins that he was loosing money on this job. I guess we now know who really lost money on this job.