Unfortunately I live in an apartment directly under an apartment that was completely gut renovated by MecTec. The GC was Ofir Ohana, they tore down every wall and even tore up all the floorboards to attach sister joists to level out the sagging floor. They did absolutely everything in the renovation...... demolition, walls, electrical, plumbing, build outs, etc.
It was one calamity after another. During renovation they turned the gas on at the meter WITHOUT a representative from Con Ed and created a gas leak in the building. The fire department and Con Ed responded immediately and turned the gas off to the entire building. It was never turned back on. They cut the Time Warner cable as well as the thermostat lines to the boiler, all of which had to be rectified by other contractors.
But the absolute worst was the two cave ins of our ceiling; two separate instances where the ceiling collapsed in the middle of the night and filled out apartment with hundreds of pounds of debris. In both instances he was called back to repair and he said the cause of the problem was water leaking. The first from the condensation from the air conditioning unit HE INSTALLED and the second from the tub overflow pipe, which he also installed. The real problem is that when they had the floor open they used demo debris as insulation. We weighed the bags from the first collapse and there was 135 POUNDS of debris that fell through a 60 inch by 16 inch hole. All of which we have photos and video of, not to mention recordings of the fire dept and Con Ed representatives when they responded.
He insists the debris was existing, so I pointed out the following:
1) As noted there was over 135 pounds of debris in a relatively small space and in the same joist space was the new plumbing pipes that he installed. If it was existing, he would have had to remove it to do the plumbing work and then push it back in when he was done.
2) Most of the debris was masonry rubble, but there was also broken glass, cut pieced of old plumbing that they replaced, 2X4 scraps, etc. Plus, why would there be masonry/plaster in a wood floor? This was wall debris from the demo.
3) Buildings have leaks all the time, overflowing sinks or toilets, etc. and the water just makes its way into the space below, and these leaks were supposedly small drips. The real reason is the weight of the debris left in the floor by this contractor!
This has taken over our lives, having to stay in a hotel while the wreckage was abated, belongings destroyed, the fear of another collapse at any time. We have to navigate through all of the city red tape to make sure this company pays for it's negligence, as well as having a reputable contractor come through and drills through the ceiling with a camera to make sure this doesn't fall on my wife's or daughter's head.
Stay far away from this company, YOU WILL PAY FOR IT IN THE END.
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