Complaint Review: GreenGo

Dan Baltudis Complaint

Baltudis aka GreenGo, aka Iguana Design Inc. aka One Stop Architectural Surfaces was retained in April 2011 to do design work and general contracting of a condo renovation project at 33 E Cedar St 9c. He represented himself as an architect and provided drawings and personal explanation to the Cedar Condo board May 20,2011. He was introduced as an architect and he did not correct this title while presenting at the board.

Mr Baltudis was paid over $17000 in design and management fees to date.  At that point we asked for 3D drawings of the bathrooms, and other rooms in the condo. These drawings never came. Instead Mr Baltudis cranked out poor 3D
images of cabinets  - and cabinets alone.  His software could only do cabinets. Mr Baltudis asked for and received $118
000 in payments by July 26, 2011. The entire contract was in the amount of $155000. He was instructed to do renovations based on his designs dealing with condo units 9c and 9d. Then after the access to a third neighboring unit 9e on Oct 1
2011 Mr Baltudis would receive the remaining amount of $155,000 assuming completion and acceptance.

In May Mr Baltudis submitted overhead drawings of all 3 condo units and also detailed drawings of kitchen cabinets that were subsequently sent to Studio 41 for final design and construction. The kitchen cabinet order was submitted about May 31,2011. Cabinets were said to be ready for delivery in about 4-6 weeks from design freeze. 

Mr Baltudis asked for and received about $85000 in the month of June. During this time Mr Baltudis retained and oversaw the following services:

Demolition and refuse removal from 9c and 9e.

Rough plumbing in a bathroom to be converted to a laundry room.

Rough plumbing for kitchen and bathroom.

Rough electrical work, for kitchen laundry room and bathroom.

A breaker box was moved to another wall, and a separate electrical line and breaker for 2 of 3 wall mounted electrical air
conditioners.

Existing dry walls were taken down and new walls with metal studs erected in 9d. Hardwood flooring was laid down throughout 9c and 9d.  Slate tile was ordered from a supplier in Madison WI.

New bathroom was stripped awaiting slate tile throughout, a vanity  a toilet door jam and trim.

Tile slate was laid in foyer,laundry, kitchen and bathroom.

At around this time paint selection and painting of all walls began. Despite being paid almost 2/3 of the total cost of 9c and 9d and having accomplished ONLY what is described above Mr Baltudis requested another draw of $35000  which he received. By August 1 Mr. Baltudis had requested and received the entire payment for 9c and 9d but only was about 1/3 finished.

The legal record will show that numerous letters of request were sent to Mr. Baltudis throughout August and September
asking him to provide accounting and timing of all the remaining work - kitchen cabinets, laundry cabinets and granite counters doors trim bathroom vanity toilet kitchen sink. Despite these requests Mr. Baltudis remained resolutely
silent and would occasionally respond with one or two sentences. From August onward he would communicate only verbally in person or by phone. All requests to respond only in writing were ignored.  Almost all projections of project completion were erroneous and repeatedly wrong . Also almost all promises for delivery of photos and materials were ignored.

Kitchen cabinets were delivered in July but not assembled until August. The kitchen sink was specified as a 32
sink in the drawings yet Mr Baltudis purchased a cheaper Kraus 36 sink. He then placed the large ill-fitting sink on a cabinet module designed for 32 sink and thus cut off the side posts that would support the granite counter. Granite slabs were laid free floating to rest unsecured on the sink lip

 

We selected granite the last of July and Mr Baltudis assured us that our  granite choice for the counters was reserved.
This claim turned out to be a lie. Mr Baltudis first ordered granite around the 2nd week of September. The granite slabs were then without approval cut in 8 places with seam gaps of 1/8. What is worse is that Baltudisdeliberately set 2 granite panels without support onto the sink margins.  The entire installation was asymmetric. YET Baltudis asked the plumber to install the hook ups to this horrible structurally unsound hodgepodge. The crown jewel granite counter piece costing about $1500 was bisected because Baltudis had not planned appropriately to have it delivered inside the condo unit. Upon inspection Baltudis was told the granite counter job was totally   botched and deemed unacceptable. When he was personally confronted with these circumstances he took NO RESPONSIBILITY for the seam cuts, the seam gaps, and HE DELIBERATELY WITHHELD THE MOST SERIOUS STRUCTURAL  PROBLEM NAMELY NO SUPPORT AND FREE FLOATING
GRANITE COUNTER ON SINK . Baltudis intended to and continues to withhold explanation on a number of serious defects with regard to the kitchen installation and the granite counters in a deliberate strategy of concealment and deceit. 

On another module Baltudis missed the proper measurement by 4 inches. As a result door fronts to the cabinet will not
swing open at all. So this module has to be removed discarded and a smaller module reconstructed so that hung door properly open.

All top tier cabinets are misaligned and tilted. The applied crown molding is 2-3 inches from the ceiling

The kitchen cabinet installation has been a complete wreck. The top tier cabinets are skew and misaligned with  the ceiling by over 2. To repair that all cabinets must be removed and realigned and new molding placed. One major module was off by 4 inches

Mr Balltudis on Sept 11, 2011 visited our temporary condo to provide assurances of the integrity of the project. At
that meeting Baltudis showed us credentials that he was an architect. I wrote him a follow up letter attesting to our understanding that Baltudis was a fully vetted and trained architect. He did NOT deny this fact  and said so in writing.
 
In follow up Mr Baltudis is not  now nor ever has been a trained licensed architect. His attorney claims he is an architectural designer a sobriguet that means nothing. At the same meeting Mr Baltudis showed us a receipt in the amount of $15000 that he claims he paid Studio 41 for semi-custom cabinets to be placed in laundry and laundry entry. Indeed in a signed sworn  contractor affidavit  Mr Blatudis once again stated that he paid $15000 to Studio 41 for cabinets.

Upon investigation this claim turns out to be a lie .   Mr. Baltudis never paid Studio $15000 for cabinets and he actually fabricated a receipt to show us. This act I believe was a deliberate fraud perpetrated on us.

Mr Baltudis mismeasured most of the kitchen cabinets. Most modules will have to come out and be re-hung and
realigned or reconstructed. The 36 steel sink has to be unplumbed and entirely removed and discarded. A previously specified 32 inch sink procured and correctly installed onto a reconstructed cabinet module with side posts.

3 of the stainless steel appliances were scratched and or dented. Hazardous ducting was connected to the microwave
oven.

The list goes on and on.