I'm going to try to be concise as possible…read more
I met Vinny Russo, owner of SolidRockBuilds in spring of 2022. He was very pleasant and seemed very forthcoming and he came to our property several times. We were still dealing with Covid and finding someone to show up was a struggle, so we were happy to see him stick through this process. He was one of two contractors that made the cut. He wasn't the cheapest, but he seemed honest.
We broke ground on Nov. 2022, and from that point forward it was a disaster. Within a week the issues began. He cut right through our sewer line, so excrement was leaking into our backyard. - Vinny did not inform me, and someone on his crew shoved a rock into the sewer pipe. I called him, he told me it wasn't a big deal.
It was fixed 3 days later. Pretty gross, and to not rock the boat I praised him for his speed. 3 days of toilet water spewing into our yard is 3 days too long in my opinion. The hits continued from there. He removed the insulation from the soffit which was underneath the upstairs bathrooms on the coldest week in December. Our pipes froze. By the grace of god they did not burst. It took 2 days to thaw though. Fun!
Next up, the architect called for a vapor barrier underneath the concrete. Not to get too technical. A vapor barrier prevents water from moving upwards through the concrete and to the surface. The surface which might have a finished floor like wood. The day of the pour he put holes throughout the vapor barrier. I called my architect to confirm it that was called for and he said no, and in fact he should redo the vapor barrier. By that time, the cement truck was on site. That was HACK move number 4-5. By now I started to see a pattern and I should have pulled the plug, but I didn't.
Then came the clown show of the pour. He didn't opt to have the concrete company provide him with a power extension hose to spread the concrete. He build his own funnel system that didn't work great and him and several other laborers he brought in for the day wasted time trying to get it in place.
Since his contraption was so poorly devised the concrete was not distributed well, so we had deviations for 1/2 to 2 inches. I believe from the bathroom to the living room which was on 8 feet, it at 1-1/2 alone. I know what you are thinking at this point why not get rid of him. I need the job done, so I had to continue. We could not stop and start the process over again. I just needed to make sure I stayed on top of every step.
The framing took several weeks because little did I know when I hired him. It was just him and his pal Jimmy that would be building the addition. He said he had a crew, but it turns out not to be the case. Literally it's him and Jimmy 90% of the time, and they only work from about 8:30AM-2PM, many days it was to 1:30PM. My ring camera does not lie.
I let the clown show continue, and I even extended the additional to also include replacement of the old windows and siding. I think I'm a glutton for punishment. He did it everything wrong. Number one, when installing house wrap, it should be done all at once as a continuous barrier. The seams should be taped and if using staples, the stamp holes should be taped as well. He applied a strip of house wrap around the window opening, and before I caught him. That's all he had. He didn't use a waterproofing rubber membrane around the window opening. When I asked him why not, he began asking me if he wanted him to build for leaks. I couldn't wrap my head around what he was saying. I called Andersen and they confirmed their warrant does not cover improper installation. He ended up using flashing after that, but the order in which it was installed was again wrong. The fact that the homeowner had to call him out on that is astonishing. IMAGE WHAT HE DOES WHEN PEOPLE AREN'T PAYING ATTENTION OR IF THEY DON'T KNOW ANY BETTER.
Every sub that came in mention how terrible the concrete pour was. I don't know if they said it to his face but even Jimmy, his right-hand said it was awful. In the end I had to pay him to additional money to level the floors. He actually tried to install flooring on top of the concrete. It was so unsafe. It was like walking on sponge. Just absolute trash like much of his other work.
This is getting long enough, so I'll wrap it up. He didn't maintain a typical pay schedule and at the end of the day we paid him for all the work we signed a contract for, but he did not complete and purchase all the necessary material to complete the job, so we had to pay additional money to other people to complete the job. He's a bad contractor and I wish I saw other reviews citing this. The combination of all the issues makes me convinced that any prior review were written by family and friends.
His work was subpar. In review all his work, there is not one single thing that is good quality. Check out the pictures. I wish I were making this up. AVOID, AVOID!!!
