BETTERLIVING

They get chunks of money each step of the way, wanting money prior to beginning each step. So bulk of money is already paid before ground broken, then more before the walls will go up, etc. The last 2000.00 is to be paid at 'Final' inspection. 'Final' is not what you would assume. They have several 'final' inspections before the work is really 'done'. This is laid out in the contract which we signed, but was not really clear to us. Had it been clear, I would not have agreed to payment arrangements. I think after the down payment, half at start of work, and half at completion would be fair. The original delays were blamed on their engineers having to complete the drawings (4 weeks!) blah, blah, then getting those drawings to township inspectors. I know our township turned it around quickly, but they then blamed delay on not getting permits approved. I called the township office and found that permits were approved, but then BetterLiving said, oh no, we have to have them delivered in hand before we can schedule the work to begin. If I had known that would be another two week delay, I would have picked up the permit and driven it to them myself! Then it was another two weeks before the crew is ready to schedule. There is a crew for breaking ground and creating the platform. Then another crew for roof and walls. Then another separate crew for the electric. Each crew has to be 'scheduled' each time... read 'delay'. Once the work finally began, the workers were good, cleaned up after, nice decent work. But things were different than the salesman had told us. We chose that company for their 'new' technology of helical piers, so no foundations need to be dug, no mess, no destruction of existing gardens, etc. When it came time, oh, no, we can't do helical piers for your installation. So they dug footings for six large pressure treated posts. The salesman had told us the subfloor comes from factory, insulation all encapsulated within pre made structure, so no mice, moisture, etc. A big selling point for us. But, (again) sorry, no, we can't use that for your installation, too low to the ground. The salesman had seen that this was not an elevated addition. He intentionally misled us for the sale. The phone number on his card goes through the company switchboard and there is no way to ever talk to him again. They won't put you through. He also promised us a higher pitch to the roof which was a deal breaker for me which I told him. Somehow it was not drawn up with the proper roof pitch. You only see the sales rep drawing, you do not get to see the engineering drawings until they actually come to build it. and when I noticed during construction, it was 'too late' to go back and re-do with the proper pitch. They do not honor what their company representative promises. Make sure to get every detail written on the contract, write it in yourself! I noticed after-the-fact that all dimensions were included on the salesman's drawing except the height from floor to ridge. Accidental? No, I think not. I feel we paid too much for what is essentially a pressure-treated deck with the aluminum glass structure on top. But, it seems to be built well, and serves the purpose we envisioned.

The project was easy enough to plan and work out with Lehigh Patio Room. The price was initially relativvely high, but they dropped it significantly saying they had the latitude to do it on a limited number of jobs as a promotional offer. Once they started they "finished" in a reasonably short time. However there are still unresolved issues. Our house has aluminum siding. The installers cut a window in the siding to attach the roof beam, and just caulked the gap. Ad since they used pure silicone caulk I could not paint it to match the sidingwithout first re-caulking with a paintable caulk. They flashed along the siding in other areas, but not there. I requested a scrap piece of flashing, to do it myself, but never got any. They told me all the wiring would be hidden, but then ran the wiring to the fan using wiremold. If I had known they were going to do that (supposedly due to township restrictions), I would have explored other options. My biggest frustration is with the finishing of the exterior right at the roofline. The roof beam along the peak is rectangular. The roof panels frame into it on each side of the beam, so that there is a flat spot on the peak of the roof. The facia pieces are flat aluminum, that come together in front of the beam. However they should come to a point, an inch or so below the top of the beam, leaving a "significant" gap under shingles covering the roof beam. Further, the facia boards do not even butt together- the installer left a vertical gap about 1/2" wide between the two sloped pieces. I will have to flash both areas myself. I complained to the Better Living Company itself, at least twice, about the lack of response from the installer (who kept promising to fix the flashing but never came back to do the work). I have come to the conclusion that whatever warranty I got is unenforceable. I would not use them again, or believe anything they promise. Unfortunately I did not see the outside problem until well after we paid them (I only saw it when I was on a ladder moving some loose weatherstripping back in place). I also would not buy anything from Better Living, even with a different installer. Buyer beware.,

Bad install.