Brock Bunge of BRB Home Improvement ***NOT RECOMMENDED*** Antelope Valley, California
Brock (BRB Home Improvement) built a patio cover for me. Brock was polite & professional at first. After I started to point things out that were done wrong, he didn't seem happy to fix them. He had "toe-nailed" the rafters into the 4x10 beams, but his angles were incorrect and more than half of the nails didn't even penetrate the beam. He seemed frustrated when I asked him to use Strong Ties to attach the rafters the beams, even though I showed him where the plans called for them.
He (or his assistant) also damaged/dented my swamp cooler. When I confronted him, he admitted seeing it, but didn't show any indication that he was going to tell me about what happened. That showed me a lack of integrity. He did knock the dent out and I was satisfied with the repair. When he laid the tiles on the roof he only fastened the bottom half. When I asked him to fix it he didn't want to. He finally fixed the tiles after I told him I would not give final payment unless they were fixed. The city inspector wrote on the final inspection that the tiles must be fastened prior to being signed off. So, Brock finally agreed to fasten them.
I also had to have him re-seal the flashing against the house, because there were several spots that were not even sealed completely.The final product included a upper layer of tiles that weren't straight, the rake (edge) tiles weren't straight, they were all curvy when you looked at the roof edge straight on. (He also used roofing tar to try to fasten the top tile. It melted down the side and dripped onto my patio.) I had to re-install the rake tiles and cut the top tiles because they weren't installed straight, and they weren't butted up properly which can result in leaks.
My final opinion of Brock is that he will cut corners if he thinks nobody will find out about it. I would not recommend his work.
A little bit about me: I am an 11 year veteran of the US Armed Forces. A good part of my time in the service was as a Quality Inspector. I don't think Brock counted on me getting on a ladder and double-checking his work.
Bottom line: I ended up spending several days micro-managing, and fixing what he did wrong. I ended up sitting on teh roof and while he re-laid the tiles. Isn't that why you pay someone to do the work?, so you can be doing more important things like spending time with family??? I am going to be posting an article about my experience online with detailed photos. They will be available via a Google search using Brock Bunge, or BRB Home Improvement.
Photos and my review can be seen at (((link redacted)))
CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Brock Bunge
lancaster,California,
United States of America
court - slander.
#4REBUTTAL Owner of company
Thu, December 09, 2010
Yes Victor, I will be seeing you in court, for slander, have a nice day!
unsatisfied7
lancaster,California,
USA
My response to Brock Bunge's rebuttal
#4Author of original report
Wed, December 08, 2010
First off, I should report Brock Bunge of BRB Home Improvement for posting false statements in his rebuttal, in accordance with the policy on this website. Yes Brock, putting words in ""quotations" means that your repeating someone's words verbatim. Several times in his rebuttal he recounts conversations that never happened between him and I. (Seriously, if you want to take this to another level we can meet in court and we'll see if you still lie after raising your right hand).
Nonetheless, here's my response BRB Home Improvement's rebuttal:
Brock Bunge's response to my review is a clear indication of how he works. First off, I did not set the posts anchors in the concrete, the guys who poured the patio did. Also, Brock told me they were off by only about an inch. This slight variance is easily compensated for by adjusting the placement of the posts on the bases. Brock feels that he went "Above & Beyond" for me. Maybe in comparison to other customers who didn't check up on his work.
Let me tell everyone this: When I pay someone to do a job for me, I expect it to be done RIGHT. I don't expect to have to keep calling them because they didn't follow building code, or manufacturer's instructions.
Really now, when you negotiate with a contractor don't you expect that it will be done in accordance with building code? Come on, crooked rake tiles? Really? How hard would it have been to draw a guideline and run a diamond blade up the rake before installing them?
I can tell you this. I know what INTEGRITY is. It's doing what's right, even when nobody's watching. I served Honorably in the Armed Forces for over 10 yrs. Several years as a Quality Inspector. Integrity was every bit a part of my life THEN as it is NOW. I have absolutely no reason to be posting an uncreditable review.
Brock Bunge
lancaster,California,
United States of America
reply to complaint
#4REBUTTAL Owner of company
Wed, December 08, 2010
This is a reply to Victor Krampitz, Who didn't publish his name! I wonder why not??, Anyway I built a patio cover for him that started out like the other 67 patio covers that i have already built in palmdale lancaster areas. Well Victor had plans that where approved by the city of Lancaster, that called for a cover that was 10'x30'( remember this size) so that's what I started to frame, the concrete was already there with the post hold downs already set in the concrete, which were of by inches in spacing and perpendicular to the house, BAD start already!! So I brought this to Victors attention, He asked if I could deal with the variance's, I said that I could hide it from the underside of the cover but not at the roof-line where it meets the house, so we got past that issue! So I continued to frame the patio, The first day we set the post's and beams and rafters,( for anyone who knows this is called the rough framing part nothing is permanently set yet)So this is when the phone calls started!!, Me and my helper left for the day. I get a call from Victor telling me that the whole patio is not plum and He asked Me " do you know what your doing", So I proceeded to explain to him that nothing has been set and plumed yet, He could check it tomorrow when every thing was set and plumed, So we got past that issue, Now we come to the part about the "toe nails" from the rafters to the beam, I am not perfect, yes I did miss on some of the angels to the beam, I was using a nail gun that is hard to control in tight places, and we where still in the rough framing stage, I proceeded to cut the rafters for the over hang and attach the fascia boards, well Victor comes out to ask me if I could extend them out further than the plans called for(remember the plans called for a 10'x30' cover)now the dimension would be larger and that would mean more material cost!, well, me being me, I did it with out charging him extra, then he asked me if I could extend the sides also, I had to explain to him that I already did as far as I could, because the beams where already out as far as they can be by city codes, So we got past that issue, Now we come to the hardware on the rafter blocks, building code calls for 1 Simpson a35 per block, I already knew this!, Victor comes out and asks me if I was going to put some clips on the rafters, I again said that the building code does not call for them it would be an extra cost, well he didn't want to pay any extras, so we got past that issue,now the phone calls really start!!, The city inspector came and signed off on the rough framing part, so I can now put the 2 layers of 15 lbs paper on the roof and the drip edge around the out sides, This was on a Friday, I was going to the desert riding my quad, So I knew it was going to be windy that weekend, So I put the paper under the leading edge of the drip edge, So the wind wouldn't get up under the paper and rip it all off(lesson learned from the past), Well Saturday I get the phone call from Victor yelling at me that " YOU PUT THE PAPER ON WRONG!!" At this time I was getting irritated with him always saying I don't know what I am doing, So I said if you thought I was so incompetent, why did you hire me?, He said; I thought you were!, So I told him the logic of my apparent incompetence, And he understood!!! (miracles do happen) I even took pictures of me under cutting the paper and overlapping the drip edge, So we got past that issue. At this time we return to work on Monday to get it ready for painting, so we start caulking all the gaps in the lumber, we spend all day doing this, then we went home, Again i get a phone call , Victor now asks if we ran out of caulking?, I replied "no" we ran out of day light, So I Was really irritated at this point, So , yes I didnt fill the 1 natual vain in the 1 post, oop's lol !,Then I get another call about the swamp cooler being dented, I told Victor "ya I saw that , I thought you did it and that I could fix it for him, well he said that me or my helper did it! Well that did it for me!, I thought this guy is trying everything to not pay me for the job, ME OR MY HELPER KNOW "NOT TO WALK ON THE SWAMP COOLER", so I fixed it anyways. If you read his complaint , he was the one climbing all over the place to "micro inspect my work"Need less to say there was no plesing Victor Krampitz!! The city of Lancaster did the final inspection and it passed!! Thanks Dennis.Also victor is so proud to tell everyone that He served in the armed forces, Airforce snot!, while I am a Recon Marine 82-88, served in Panama and Grenada and some other places with no name!! Semper Fi.