Michael Boruta Enr.

This has been, by far, the worst experience with a construction professional that I have ever had. Mr Boruta is unprofessional and irresponsible.

The work that needed to be done was constructing a new room upstairs and repair a ceiling in the bathroom downstairs, which had water damage. The work was never finished. Regrettably, and this is completely my fault for being so trusting and naive, I paid him for the full amount of the work $4300 before it was finished. He constantly made demands on me for more cash promising me that he would finish the work.

After the second day of work the house was full of chip rock dust because he failed to put up any plastic (which he said he would do) so the dust would not go downstairs. His response was that he did not know that there would be that much dust. I would think that a person of his many years of experience would have better judgment.

After 2 weeks of work he failed to show up numerous times, without even calling and when he did show up he was always late. The work was taking longer than expected and many mistakes were made and we were going over budget.

A new bed, elevated off the floor, had to be constructed for the new room. The actual mattress for the bed was a few feet away from him in another room. He did not take the few seconds to measure it and he constructed a new bed base several inches smaller than the mattress that I had. He claims he asked me if I had a twin bed and I said yes. So he measures his sons twin mattress at his home (35"x73") which was smaller than the twin bed I had (39"x75") which was on my premises. I accepted the mistake because it would have been too major a job to redo everything. Mr Boruta did not even agree to pay for the new mattress I had to buy which cost $150.

A new door frame had to be constructed in a wall. The door for it was right there on the premises. He called me one morning and asked me to measure the door frame because he was at reno depot making purchases. When I told him how large the doorframe was he swore, I imagine in fustration. He realized he did not make the frame to fit the door I already had. He had to buy a new door which he paid for himself.

At some point he told me that his father-in-law passed away. I was a little tired of his constant lateness and failures to show up and mistakes. I figured that his personal family crisis might be contributing to his poor workmanship that I should give him some time off to deal with his personal crisis. I had a conversation with him and told him that I was 80% satisfied with his work to which he apologized and thanked me for my honesty. Besides all the mistakes that I mentioned above everything else was satisfactorily done. He justified that the work was taking more time and was more expensive than he thought. But that is not my fault, as a professional he needed to take the responsibility to properly evaluate the work and accept his too conservative evaluation and respect his engagements to finish the work ON time and on budget. Being as generous as I was I gave him 2 months off to deal with his family crisis. There was max 2-3 days of work left, 75% was already done. He never answered my phone calls nor returned my messages asking him when he planned to finish the work.

I finally got a hold of him to remind him that he was contracted to finish the work June 17th an agreement I had him sign when I gave him the time off for his family crisis. He comes the 16th June to evaluate what needed to be done and do a bit of work. He promised me, THAT DAY, that he will come in the next day the 17th June WITH a helper to finish the work.

The 17th June he neither shows up not calls to tell me he cannot make it. When I left him a message telling him, rather insistently, that he needs to come in the next day the 18th June and finished the work he signed a contract to do he tells me that he does not like my attitude and he will not finish the work.

I am in the process of suing in small claims.

Replacement Of Bathtub And Remodeling Of The Frame Around Bathtub, Creation Of New Wall, Replacement Of Toilet, New Tiling, And Replacement Of Door Box And Door

This was my first renovation project.

Mr. Boruta was very courteous indeed, as were the people that worked with him. We got along really well and there were no problems in communication. Usually, he contacted me before I had to contact him. The guys came in everyday in the morning and were never late. They worked in an efficient manner, accomplishing the daily task at hand which was pre-planned at the beginning of the project. In one day they demolished the old part of the bathroom and organized a garbage disposal the next morning. Mr. Boruta and his team were kind enough to purchase and deliver the materials needed for the renovation the next day. Every day the work began immediately upon arrival. The team was professional in taking precise measurements before starting the task at hand. This ensured that there were no unwanted gaps between the bathtub and the wall and the floor, and prevented lopsidedness. The tiling was done to my satisfaction. New piping was installed, new valves and a trap door for easy access in case of an emergency. The painting of the newly constructed wall was perfect. I believe that the price was fair, especially when compared to other renovator quotes. Each day, before leaving, the team cleaned up after themselves, so that the amenities of the bathroom could be used.

Small remarks: the caulking was a bit sloppy in a few places, a couple of the tiles were not perfect, the bathtub faucet was a bit shorter, than I would have liked, the project took one more day to complete, than anticipated, the door box was 5 days late (in part due to my absence), the new wall was not at a 90 degree angle at the very top (although it is unnoticeable).

All in all, I am very happy with the job done and my experience working with Mr. Boruta and his team.

NOTE for the photos: the tiling behind the bathtub was not part of the job, and was part of the old design of the people who lived before me.