Eco-coastal Building

He was the the worst contractor I have ever dealt with. I am a Hurricane Sandy victim, and was victimized again by James Sullivan. He lifted my house in 2015, and the job was done so poorly, I have to lift it again to fix the mess he made. He didn't follow the archetect's plans, and abandoned my project after I began to realize the truth about his performance. Here is the letter I wrote to him, outlining many of the problems:

James J. Sullivan, President
Eco-Coastal Building LLC
2 Ellis Ct.
Monmouth Beach, NJ. 07750
Tel. 732-245-5526
Fax 732-571-2080
August 1, 2015

Mr. Sullivan,

I have a signed, binding contract with you and your company, Eco-Coastal Builders LLC, to lift my house and put things right after the lift. At the end of April, the lift was complete and the house was lowered again. My family moved back into the house on May 10, and we finally got our electric service restored and operational on July 13, no thanks to you. You and I decided to put the service underground, as a large tree precluded running the service to the house from the pole. I have requested numerous times that your company fulfill your obligation to restore our power. I have asked, cajoled, appealed, requested, required, insisted, implored, and demanded, to no avail. You have, for weeks on end, told me the trench would be dug tomorrow, that your electrician would be over this afternoon. In short, you have strung me along. I finally went to the Building Department on Thursday, June 25, and was told that you had not yet even applied for a permit. At that point, I had had enough. I hired another electrical contractor, and within one week, my service was ready for JCPL to make the final connections.

Even though my house is back down and we are back in, I also discovered there have been no inspections of my house at any point in the project. You have already received one violation notice.

Ever since we moved back in, I have had to tell you what to do. You have done virtually nothing on your own, and even with my daily communications, precious little has been accomplished. After weeks of requesting that you clean up your construction debris, I finally cleaned up the yard myself, over a two day period. Your debris is now piled beside the POD in my driveway, and I have asked you repeatedly to haul it away.

My HVAC mechanic, who I hired, discovered and repaired FOUR substantial leaks in my gas line, a line you personally installed.

The last day anyone from your crew did any work at all on my house was June 16. I have had no communication from you since July 1. A reasonable person would take that to mean you have abandoned the project.

But these matters pale in comparison to the real problems with the house-lift. Our contract clearly states that all work is to be done “as per plans and specifications.” That clearly was not done. I requested a foundation inspection and a plumbing inspection to be done on July 15, and the following problems were noted:

1) Bond beam not done per plans
2) 5/8 J-Bolts not done per plans
3) Crawl space slab not done per plans- elevation issue
4) Added access door in foundation- no headers installed on both
5) Drop Parallam not installed per plans
6) Missing two flood vent openings
7) Missing two piers in crawl space
8) Block corner not filled solid and no rebar installed
9) Architect’s plans reflect seven courses of block- only six installed
10) Deck foundation not done per plans
11) Missing sill sealer in some locations under plate
12) Lentils over vent openings must have eight inch bearing on each side
13) Gas leak in crawl space
14) Water lines in crawl space not protected from freezing
15) Bond CSST gas piping
16) Transition glue not to code for PVC to ABS piping
17) Remove 3” Furnco in crawl- not to code
18) Protect sewer piping from galvanized straps
19) Install 2nd nut and bolt on extension for piping straps
20) Protect water main from freezing
21) Electrical work unfinished

On this list are many major structural problems. This is by no means a complete list. As more inspections are performed, other issues may very well surface.

In addition to the issues raised by the inspections, there are issues inside the house resulting from the lift. Windows and doors no longer open and close properly, there are cracks in walls and ceilings, and our brand new granite counter top in the kitchen is cracked in five places. I called the insurance company whose paperwork you gave me when I signed the contract, and was told you had only paid a very small premium on the policy for two months, late last year.

All the aforementioned issues constitute a serious breech of contract, if not fraud.

I am hiring a structural engineer to see if the mess you made can be fixed, or if it would be more cost effective to lift the house again and do it