Our personal experience building with Fourteen Estates and Rick and Shawn Rondeau: We hired 14 Estates to build our dream home and noticed issues with their invoicing and quality along with the fact that the project was taking much longer than promised and we were noticing serious issues with the house. We began questioning some invoices as well as finishes and 14 Estates walked off the project and wouldn't answer our questions...fast forward... It's been almost a year now since 14 Estates walked off our build and we continue to deal with the aftermath every single day. We have discovered SO MUCH since they removed themselves from the project. When they initially walked off the project, our main concerns were the major overages and charges on the invoicing but we've come to discover that the budget issues are literally nothing compared to what we've found. There are SO MANY issues with our house with the absolute main issue being that 14 Estates ONLY HAD 3 BUILDING INSPECTIONS completed as they were building. We have obtained proof of this and are now working with our municipality in order to try to rectify all the major noted deficiencies that were found during the inspections as well as now literally tearing the house apart so inspections can be done that were supposed to be done as they were building. The 3 inspections that were completed were: 1. Footings inspection - major deficiencies noted and the city has informed us that they did not correct them for their approval therefore the city now wants us to jackhammer though to the foundation footings to prove if the deficiencies were corrected or not (our basement is fully finished with fully hydro heated flooring, concrete overlay and glued down hardwood flooring). 2. Foundation inspection - major deficiencies noted and the city has informed us that they need us to excavate areas of our foundation if we cannot prove to them that the noted deficiencies were corrected. 3. Partial framing and rough in plumbing - major deficiencies noted and this was the last inspection they had. The city has informed us (and inspected the site themselves) that they never received any follow up calls from 14 Estates requesting the re-inspections after the initial inspections. That was it...3 inspections on our building permit. We now have a bunch of engineers ($$$$) doing inspections on the house and they have found serious issues with the house that do not follow the Ontario Building Code rules and regulations. Here are some of the major deficiencies in the house that we need to repair in order to obtain an occupancy permit as well as other issues we've dealt and are still with: * Code and plans call for a huge fire barrier in our attic...there are NONE * Serious structural issues * Approx. 14 current roof leaks (causing ongoing drywall damage) * Roof system is not to code * Ventilation (attic) system is hugely LACKING * Many (over a dozen) broken roof trusses * Incorrectly installed Tyvek (not wrapped over walls to cause a seal) * No insulation in the corners of framing * Outdoor fireplace collapsed * Mould (had to have professional remediation done) * NOT one room has acceptable drywall/mud finish * Serious issues with many doors and seals (outside elements blow in) * Exterior stone literally sagging and falling down And the list can go on and on but unfortunately, I am limited on character allowance. In this entire experience dealing with 14 Estates, we feel we have been bullied, threatened, disrespected, lied to, disgraced and defamed by 14 Estates. Thankfully I have complete proof and evidence to stand behind every single word I've written and we have decided that our story and experience needs to be shared in hopes of helping others. They have also brought a $15,000,000 defamation lawsuit against me because I wrote a review about our experience with them. read more

As we went through the process we realized that (not only did we) but also you wanted everything to be perfect. Your attention to detail has made our house stand out as something special and unique. My wife was very fortunate to work alongside your trademen. She got to know them well and quickly realized that they all take great pride in their work and strive for perfection. Safety was always taken into consideration. Whenever we visited the site the men were always friendly and answered any questions we had. They are all great and you must be proud of them. Working with you has been a great pleasure. We always looked forward to our meetings and getting to know the team better. We have become good friends and hope that continues in the future! Thank you again for all the time, effort, and hard work that you put into building us a beautiful home. We would not hesitate to do it all over again with you -- some day. read more

Awful work. Pieces of house are falling apart and you guys can't even get the correct inspections.