Laughed like Satan himself over the phone when confronted with his irresponsible and unprofessional lack of response or lack of any action taken for a front porch he failed to properly oversee [that he designed] but was in violation of building code.
He was finished taking as much money as possible from my family and me, so paying attention to a front porch that he was paid to design and oversee construction of was something he could have cared less about.
The steps on the front porch were in violation of building code. This Architect did not bother to notice this fact, and only gave shrugged shoulders and left the entire mess in my hands to handle.
Unprofessional is too nice of a word to use here.
This person was recommended by someone we did not know very well. When we told this woman what R. Gushue did to us, she stated she also did not know him well and only knew him socially!
Be CAREFUL from where you get recommendations, and always double--- triple--- check to see if
any person who is going to take money from you is remotely trustworthy, ethical, qualified.
The behavior I witnessed and was abused by is NOT one of a white collar professional, and certainly not one that should be trusted with the important things like overseeing the HOME of an innocent Consumer! This individual's behavior was one of a simple DRAFTSMAN and NOT of a qualified Architect who stands behind their work, and does their best to protect the Homeowner! We were never protected. In fact, we were thrown to the Piranhas whose only goal was to steal money from innocent Consumers who were desperate to find good people to finish their home renovation properly, safely, and to Building Code.
Just before I was hung up on from our very last conversation, I questioned Mr. Gushue as to why he bothered to take on our project, where we had been forced to deal with terminating a Sociopathic and abusive contractor who had managed to reduce our home to rubble, caused enormous structural damages, along with water infiltration and damage to our landscape..... and had stolen nearly $300,000 from us before we could finally catch on to his lies, pathetic excuses, and mind games.
Then.... we get MORE of this horrifying bad behavior and abuse from the Architect whom we were promised would help us, re-design our front porch, and help us oversee and hire a new contractor to properly and fairly restore our home so we could finally move in again.
The wretchedness and Narcissistic behavior of this Architect became very clear when he ignored his promises during the entire re-construction--- costing us many thousands [hundreds of thousands] in avoidable calamities.
This was the first time I had ever worked with an Architect, or had construction on a home because this was my first home! What a terrible reality the home construction industry really is.
The disrespect, the demands for money [most often cash] the same week he put in any hours [that were worthless, but nonetheless, charged $250/hour!], were all manifestations of an uncouth and unethical entity.
The front porch was left for the homeowner to deal with. The step issue was never addressed. He had taken all the money he was going to get and had no further interest in resolving a building code where he was totally responsible to take care of directly with the mason. But, then again, he would have to handle this entirely without charge to the innocent client, so this was not of interest to him.
The last conversation was a final confrontation, which I had had to muster up the courage to undertake. During the horrible construction troubles, he was weak and never oversaw a thing PRIOR to it becoming an issue. He was very, very weak and much like a 'buddy' with his carpenter friend, JP Eischen, who caused enormous problems with both structure and security in our home. This trim carpenter was also a 'Wolf in Sheep's Clothing' and they were in cahoots to charge by the hour, but never watch out for the homeowner. They were both clearly out for themselves [and the money] and "screw" the homeowner when they are done!
They both completely betrayed the homeowner here, and now that I have had the opportunity to interview and speak with other homeowners, people in the construction business, and even politicians due to my job in the Media, I have come to see that this 'bait and switch' along with textbook Sociopathic, Self-serving behavior is very common.
We were victims of several bad contractors for a fairly simple renovation project. We were left to fend for ourselves, even when we would take the time to hire 'Specialists' and 'Engineers' and an 'Architect' to protect us. NO BODY, not one person who took money from us, but on paper call themselves "Project Manager" and other such names of Authority.... not one watched out for us or remotely did their job.
It is time for the victims of these heinous, wretched crimes to stand up and not be shamed into submission to this monster of an issue in the home construction industry.
Shame on all of the irresponsible, narcissistic, deceptive, uncaring contractors and other supposed professionals who prey on the Homeowners who simply need someone to care enough to do a thorough, honest job.