LAD Construction Company Inc

Regarding *** and *** *** *** *** residence and their complaints: *** or *** *** *** have not contacted LAD Construction with these recent allegationsAttached is the last correspondence from *** on January 19, requesting assistance in purchasing materials for his garage that he damagedOnce again, we accommodated him in purchasing material for items that he damagedAs you will note, the letter is short, to the point, and friendlyThere is NO mention of ANY problemsWe were also contacted in September, with regards to them purchasing additional siding due to an accident that *** had - again, he was very jovial and not a mention of the allegations he is now reporting to have been ongoingAlthough they were out of warranty as of January, 2012, looking back on their project, we always assisted them with their needsIn speaking with the landscape contractor, *** *** he informed us that he was actually called back to their home to perform fertilizing, mulching, and other lawn maintenance the year following the work that he did*** has not received any telephone calls or emails from the ***’s regarding any problems, it is sad and disappointing that the ***’s would not have called the builder or landscaper to notify them that he was having problemsCertainly, even though they were out of warranty, LAD would have been more than happy to see what was going on and advise accordinglyWe had a very good relationship with the ***s! can’t speak for ***, but imagine by his years in business also, that he would have responded if calledCompanies don’t stay in business for more than years if the allegations in the ***'s letter was trueNotes for your reference: 1. All inspections met or exceeded the code and requirements by all governmental bodies and or agencies required to obtain an occupancy permitThis includes the DEP for the septic systemAt the time that the occupancy permit was issued, the home and septic, were in compliance2. The final “rough” grade was done and inspected prior to issuance of the occupancy permitThe water retention was in place and again in compliance3. Once the final seeding/mulching was completed, the ***'s hired an outside vendor to install a shedLAD nor *** were a part of this projectThe shed was placed over a swale designed with the water retention plan and by its placement impeded the proper water flow*** returned to make further adjustments at the ***’s request since the swale under the shed was causing issuesThe ***’s were pleased with the work and as mentioned above, hired *** to do more work for them4. The french drains were a part of the inspections and the backfilling was again done in accordance with the current adopted building codes at the time of construction5. Nail pops are and we ask our homeowners to provide us with a list of adjustments that they feel need made upon their month of occupancyWe did that - there were numerous sticky notes on the drywall settling areas - these areas were repaired6. Homeowner maintenance is required whether you live in a new home or an older homeGutters need cleaned twice a year, downspouts should be checked, and septic tanks cleaned to name a few7. I (***) met with *** and *** personally - we walked the property and they were informed about the water retention and that it needed to be changed back to the original retention that was left at the time the occupancy permit was issuedIn April of 2012, *** informed us that “I actually dug (using a shovel) a path around the basement part and down the hill in the front." This is the area adjacent to the septic tanksIn closing, LAD Construction Company, inc., is not responsible for the “alleged” issues that the ***'s are havingThey are years out of warranty and furthermore, LAD Construction was never contacted in the past years with the exception of needing to purchase products through our suppliersThey were obviously very comfortable to make the call or send an email requesting help/assistance to purchase products, it would stand to reason that if there truly were issues as they report in the complaint, that we would have been made aware of iti firmly believe that if in fact work was done on their property, it was due to their desire for change or to upgrade the starter landscape package that was installedOur records with the Revdex.com and the *** ** *** ***, or any other agency, will show our commitment to quality construction for more than yearsThank you.LAD Construction Company, Inc.*** ** *** ***, President

April 13, Dear ***: In regards to your letter dated 4/7/15, LAD Construction Company, Inc., hereby responds as follows: The occupancy permit was issued for the ***’s home on January 28, The home was built according to the codes and requirements and all necessary inspections
were performedWe are surprised and disappointed to receive this letter as our last contact in January of from Salvatore, did not indicate any issues whatsoeverThe reason for his contact was that he needed to order material through our supplier because of damages he caused to the home againLAD actually has provided at his cost, material to replace siding that he damaged with the weedwacker, siding that he burned with his grill, and trim that was damaged in their garage with the carLAD has provided labor and material to repair ceilings in their home because they were walked on and created holes - this was an emergency call that was received at 10:at night on a Friday while they were under warranty - although this was not a warranted item, LAD took care of it as a courtesyThe home was under construction in the fail of and completed in January of and is out of warrantyThe final exterior grade left by LAD Construction was changedThe water retention plan that was in place was ignored, thus creating problems because water is not flowing away from the house or septic systemWhen Leon personally was there because the septic pump failed, he noted that the grade was changed and all the water was running into the septic tanksThis was making the pump run continuously making the pump bum outAt the same time, even though it was not LAD’s fault, the failure was due to the change of grade and water was puddling around the house, Leon brought it to Sal and Mary’s attention and told them the grade had to be changedThe new pump was installed at no chargeSal was told repeatedly to have the grade changed as it caused these problemsWhen LAD finished repairing septic system, everything was done according to specifications provided by the manufacturer, however, ignoring the grade and not properly changing it back to the way it was when LAD had it established will continue to cause problemsWe have not heard from the ***'s since with the exception of needing to order parts for the garage door trim that he damagedWater retention is a serious and important aspect to your home and when it is ignored and changed, these problems will existAdditionally our warranty specifically details this issue along with recommendations such as gutter cleaning, etcSadly, it is hard to deal with people that cannot be honest and listen to the professionals and not change what the professionals that have put in place to protect them. LAD Construction built this home, but cannot and is not responsible for changes made by the homeowner or lack thereof homeowner maintenance.Respectfully,*** ** *** **.,President

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.May 9,
Re: ID[redacted]
Dear Ms[redacted],
I am writing to you in response to LAD Construction's letter
of April 13, since it is riddled with factual inaccuracies and
misapprehensions. I shall respond to
each of the claims in the order they are presented in that letter
With respect to LAD's willingness to order materials for us
at our request there is no dispute. We
did order siding to repair damage done to the siding with a weedwacker, but we
never burned it with a grill as claimed.
LAD did order material for us to repair damage done to the trim on the garage
door. We do acknowledge that LAD did
come and patch two areas of damage done to the ceilings in two bedrooms as a
courtesy. It however was only a patch,
it was not a complete, seamless repair as LAD informed us that it would be too
costly to undertake as a mere courtesy.
These observations, however, have absolutely no bearing on the issues we
have raised concerning the failure of the exterior grading, and thus are
irrelevant
With respect to the exterior grading, the allegations made
in the letter are both nonspecific and erroneous. The exterior grade left by LAD Construction
WAS NOT changed as claimed. Because it
was not changed, water ran toward the house at the back and caused mold
damage. [redacted] claims to have seen that
the grade at the front and side of the house was changed causing water to run
into the septic tanks. There are two
problems with this allegation. First, we
never changed the grade at all—we left it as [redacted]'s subcontractor left it at
the time of the original construction. [redacted] actually claimed, in the presence of both
me and my wife, that his subcontractor at this time had done a poor job of
grading in the area of the septic tanks, specifically piling the mulch too
highly around the risers (he even kicked the mulch around while saying that). [redacted] never "repeatedly" told either one of us
to have this grade changed. Even if he
had, why should we have done so? It was
his subcontractor and not us who had made a mistake, and thus it was his
responsibility, and it was within the one-year warranty period. Additionally, his contention that he told us
it must be changed demonstrates that he was aware that work done ultimately by
LAD, as a general contractor, was faulty.
Secondly, and most importantly, the grade in this area had no bearing on
the flooding of the septic tanks. [redacted]
did replace the electric pump the first time the tank was flooded. After his attempt to replace the electric pump,
the tank containing it was flooded a second time so we had septic professionals
([redacted]) come make the necessary repairs.
They told us that water from the grade of the land had nothing to do
with the water level reaching a critical point and signaling the in-house
alarm. Rather, it was the fact that [redacted]
had merely plugged the electric pump's power cord into an outlet inside the top
of the enclosed septic tank—which contained waste water, in combination with
the failure to install a check valve to stop water from flowing back down into
the tank from the leach beds, that caused our septic failures. They also told us there was a fire because
the top of the tank was black. After the
pump was hard-wired into the power source and a check valve installed, we have
had no further problems. [redacted]
actually laughed when we told them that [redacted]'s advice to us was to install
higher risers. And, most importantly, we
have never changed the grade in that area to this date. Thus, [redacted]'s incompetence is clearly
demonstrated
And finally, LAD's letter of April does not address the
mold issue at the back of our house caused by the failure of the swale and the
fact that the grade from the base of the swale to our exterior back wall as
established by LAD, and left completely untouched by us, caused water to flow
directly to the house. Perhaps he is
aware that in the area in question he left a slope of inches (as measured
by laser on a tripod)? We did, in this
case, "listen to the professionals" and plant grass. This was his solution for the large pools of
water in the back yard that we told him about.
Obviously this advice was as useless as his other advice. We do agree
with [redacted] that "it is hard to deal with people that cannot be honest."
May 13,
Re: ID[redacted]
Dear Ms[redacted],
I am writing to you in response to the letter of April 23,
sent to you by [redacted] of LAD Construction Company. We do intend to pursue this matter. In order to do so, this letter will address
the issues raised in LAD's letter of April
We did not contact LAD Construction concerning the mold
growing on the back basement wall due to water draining from the hillside
toward the back of the house simply because we did not discover it until
November 2014. When we had the area
excavated and the mold remediated we discovered that the causes of the problem were
the incorrectly created swale, failed French drain at the base of the bank we
paid extra for, uneven kitchen patio stones sloped toward the house, and
buried, unpainted wood. In April 2015, we
also discovered that the yard from the base of the bank to the back wall of the
house sloped inches toward the house bringing all of the water to the house
foundation. These problems were unknown
to us until this time. We did not bring
them to LAD's attention because the house was out of the warranty period and
because we simply did not desire further advice from the builder who committed
such egregious mistakes. Rather, we had
the situation evaluated by two other experienced contractors who advised us of
these serious flaws in design and implementation as well as our rights under
the Consumer Protection Act
In addition, the allegation that LAD had no knowledge of the
problems with pooling water and drainage in our lawn is falseWhen we told
[redacted] of our concern that water was pooling in the lawn directly behind the
house, he told us that planting grass would solve the problem. For this reason we hired his landscaper
[redacted] to seed, to fertilize and to mulch our yard the following year as
well as spreading grass seed ourselves.
The additional grass helped but did not solve the problem, but this was
not Mr[redacted]'s problem, so we did not contact him again.
In order to elucidate the complex issue of whether or not
LAD was cognizant of the problems with water drainage, I have included a
narrative account of our dealings with [redacted] in the form of an approximate
timeline:
1.
June - We find water in the rear of the
cold cellar. There is a pool of water on
the floor. I mop it up, contact LAD LAD comes to look at it, and has the siding
subcontractor come over to the house to review their own work. They find nothing wrong with the siding in
that area near the garage. I was told it
was most likely condensation – nothing to worry about
2.
About weeks later or so, a portion of the bank
(about 5%) collapses due to an underwater spring and the swale is affected, so
we call LAD. This is what LAD neglected
to state. It is not the shed that
affected the swale but the collapse of the bank. [redacted] comes to take a look at the collapsed
bank. This is when [redacted] walked the
property with my wife and me. It is at
this time that [redacted] states to us that he does not like the shed location. [redacted] states that the shed is all my
responsibility, and of course I agree with him since LAD had nothing to do with
the shed. I told [redacted] the shed is on
level ground, far from the end of the swale (feet in fact), not on top of
the swale, as LAD falsely claims. Also,
it sits on runners that in turn sit on top of gravel, so water should just
trickle through it. I also told him the
shed guy said it was fine, and has nothing to do with the swale. After I told [redacted] all this, [redacted] shrugged his
shoulders at me. [redacted] then states that
[redacted] did not do the swale correctly and that he did not follow his
construction directives. He also states
he does not like the mulch [redacted] placed around the septic tanks, nor how the
front yard slopes down directly into the septic tanks. [redacted] spent the entire time criticizing and
blaming [redacted], not us. We were still
under warranty. [redacted] never stated that
we were responsible for the swale, grade or anything else. Why would he, when we were still under
warranty? [redacted] tells us he will speak to
[redacted] about the issues, and that [redacted] would be back. It is at this time that I tell [redacted] I want to
dig a trench (French drain), around the side basement area and septic tanks to
move the water away from the house and septic tanks. [redacted] states that it will accomplish nothing
and is a waste of my time.
3.
[redacted] then comes back as LAD states in the
April letter, places soil on top of the bank collapse, reforms it and fixes
the swale due to the bank collapse—not the shed as LAD states. [redacted] also makes the swale deeper this time,
as [redacted] told him to do. [redacted] places
some mushroom mulch down around the pooled water areas. After this time, [redacted] never visited our house
to inspect [redacted]'s completed work
4.
About weeks later, the collapse happens again
in the same area on the bank. LAD
ignores it as an act of Mother Nature for the time being
5.
July, August and September 2011: My wife and I
have noticed all the water pooling at the basement door in June, so I decide to
create my own French drain. This is the
trench LAD refers to in point of the April letter. I let a friend with a backhoe finish the
job. He installs a inch pipe, and some
gravel. The French drain seems to work
as I can see the water coming out of the end of the pipe after a rain. I realize it is not a huge amount, but better
than nothing at the time. We did not
know what else to do since [redacted] told us to let the grass grow as high as we
could so it would suck up all the water around the house.
With regard to the nail pops being normal, no, they are
not. We found out through other
contractors in and that if the drywall is installed correctly, you
won't have any nail pops. Also, if you
use dry wood and not wet wood that hasn't dried enough, then that helps
too. All the nail pops LAD
"fixed" came right back. Even
the corners of walls are showing the corner metal they used when doing the
drywall. All I know is when I asked one
of LAD's subcontractors (mudders) working on the ceiling, he said yes those
drywall guys worked too fast and did some "jerky" things. I wrote LAD an email and my wife came to the
new house and confronted [redacted] about this, and [redacted] said it was no problem to
worry about
As far as that release we signed about the DEP and EPA dated
06/02/2012, LAD knows perfectly well why they made us sign that. LAD left long, deep trenches in our front
yard which were only getting worse as time went on. My daughter was not even years old yet, and
I told LAD I wanted them to extend those pipes to the end of the front yard
because someone could get really hurt, and it was difficult to mow the
lawn. They eventually agreed, but would
not extend those water solid white drainage pipes unless we signed a release
so that they would have no liability or responsibility if the DEP or EPA tried
to fine us or made us modify it. My wife
and I said fine as long as it gets done because at that time it was a safety
hazard and needed addressed quickly. I
didn't want my daughter to get a broken ankle or leg, and I didn't want to make
a mistake on my riding mower and end up going down the sloped front yard and
down the hill (or rolling the tractor)
Because a contractor has been in business for 30+ years,
does not mean they make no mistakes, nor does it mean that all their work is
effective, of quality or will not fail.
Each house is different, and there are different topologies that have to
be dealt with. Thirty years of
experience does not guarantee they will get it right every time
Regards,
[redacted]

Review: Improper construction methods have caused numerous issues with our new home. Improper grading of the land surrounding the house, specifically the back and side yards has caused water damage. We had black mold growing on unpainted wood in the back. The mold surrounded a small stone patio. Because of the improper slope, water was draining against the house. The wood grew mold and it expanded across the entire area, infecting the patio stones and surrounding exterior walls. The outside furnace input and output are located there, so the mold spores got sucked into the input, went throughout the air vents and thus, throughout the house. The entire finished basement (2,000+ square feet) had a strong mold smell that would make you nauseous, dizzy and give you a headache. There are so many things wrong with our house. They did not hardwire the sewage tank pump - they used the electrical cord and plugged it directly into an outside outlet, in water! Water and electricity do not mix of course, so our septic tank caught on fire because of the methane gas. We are very lucky to not have an explosion. We have had many contractors come to our home to fix so many mistakes. There are too many mistakes to list in this summary, like hundreds of nail pops all over our walls, and French drains that did not work because hoses were just dumped in mud, clogging them all. You have to use a sock around the pipe and gravel. LAD also did not backfill our house with gravel. The improper grading causing the black mold and the septic fire are the most grievous because they could have caused serious damage to the house and our family's health.Desired Settlement: The business, specifically [redacted], needs to take responsibility for all his mistakes, and his subcontractors' mistakes, and do what is right. For example, there was improper grading of the land surrounding the new home, no backfilling of gravel, defective French drains, and improper sewage pump installation. Specifically, they need to reimburse us for all the money spent fixing all their numerous mistakes, and the necessary fixes in the future (there are many). We do not want them to personally fix anything, because they place band-aids over their mistakes instead of fixing it the right way, or blame their subcontractors. We have had real professionals take care of their mistakes, so we know it can be done right. We have already spent around $30,000 (25K just for the grading, proper French drains and a retaining wall). If I had to speculate, it is going to cost tens of thousands of more dollars to fix all the interior and exterior mistakes. I spent 60 hours alone cleaning this house before we could even move into it. The whole thing is ridiculous; we were too trustworthy. We thought they were professionals. If they do not want to stand behind their work, then that just shows how devious and deceitful they are. I have receipts, photos, witnesses and plenty of contractors to corroborate everything. One contractor who has built homes for a long time told me he never saw so many mistakes in one house.

Business

Response:

April 13, 2015 Dear [redacted]: In regards to your letter dated 4/7/15, LAD Construction Company, Inc., hereby responds as follows: The occupancy permit was issued for the [redacted]’s home on January 28, 2011. The home was built according to the codes and requirements and all necessary inspections were performed. We are surprised and disappointed to receive this letter as our last contact in January of 2014 from Salvatore, did not indicate any issues whatsoever. The reason for his contact was that he needed to order material through our supplier because of damages he caused to the home again. LAD actually has provided at his cost, material to replace siding that he damaged with the weedwacker, siding that he burned with his grill, and trim that was damaged in their garage with the car. LAD has provided labor and material to repair ceilings in their home because they were walked on and created holes - this was an emergency call that was received at 10:00 at night on a Friday while they were under warranty - although this was not a warranted item, LAD took care of it as a courtesy. The home was under construction in the fail of 2010 and completed in January of 2011 and is out of warranty. The final exterior grade left by LAD Construction was changed. The water retention plan that was in place was ignored, thus creating problems because water is not flowing away from the house or septic system. When Leon personally was there because the septic pump failed, he noted that the grade was changed and all the water was running into the septic tanks. This was making the pump run continuously making the pump bum out. At the same time, even though it was not LAD’s fault, the failure was due to the change of grade and water was puddling around the house, Leon brought it to Sal and Mary’s attention and told them the grade had to be changed. The new pump was installed at no charge. Sal was told repeatedly to have the grade changed as it caused these problems. When LAD finished repairing septic system, everything was done according to specifications provided by the manufacturer, however, ignoring the grade and not properly changing it back to the way it was when LAD had it established will continue to cause problems. We have not heard from the [redacted]'s since with the exception of needing to order parts for the garage door trim that he damaged. Water retention is a serious and important aspect to your home and when it is ignored and changed, these problems will exist. Additionally our warranty specifically details this issue along with recommendations such as gutter cleaning, etc. Sadly, it is hard to deal with people that cannot be honest and listen to the professionals and not change what the professionals that have put in place to protect them. LAD Construction built this home, but cannot and is not responsible for changes made by the homeowner or lack thereof homeowner maintenance.Respectfully,[redacted].,President

Business

Response:

Regarding [redacted] and [redacted] residence and their complaints: [redacted] or [redacted] have not contacted LAD Construction with these recent allegations. Attached is the last correspondence from [redacted] on January 19, 2014 requesting assistance in purchasing materials for his garage that he damaged. Once again, we accommodated him in purchasing material for items that he damaged. As you will note, the letter is short, to the point, and friendly. There is NO mention of ANY problems. We were also contacted in September, 2012 with regards to them purchasing additional siding due to an accident that [redacted] had - again, he was very jovial and not a mention of the allegations he is now reporting to have been ongoing. Although they were out of warranty as of January, 2012, looking back on their project, we always assisted them with their needs. In speaking with the landscape contractor, [redacted] he informed us that he was actually called back to their home to perform fertilizing, mulching, and other lawn maintenance the year following the work that he did. [redacted] has not received any telephone calls or emails from the [redacted]’s regarding any problems, it is sad and disappointing that the [redacted]’s would not have called the builder or landscaper to notify them that he was having problems. Certainly, even though they were out of warranty, LAD would have been more than happy to see what was going on and advise accordingly. We had a very good relationship with the [redacted]s. ! can’t speak for [redacted], but imagine by his years in business also, that he would have responded if called. Companies don’t stay in business for more than 30 years if the allegations in the [redacted]'s letter was true. Notes for your reference: 1. All inspections met or exceeded the code and requirements by all governmental bodies and or agencies required to obtain an occupancy permit. This includes the DEP for the septic system. At the time that the occupancy permit was issued, the home and septic, were in compliance. 2. The final “rough” grade was done and inspected prior to issuance of the occupancy permit. The water retention was in place and again in compliance. 3. Once the final seeding/mulching was completed, the [redacted]'s hired an outside vendor to install a shed. LAD nor [redacted] were a part of this project. The shed was placed over a swale designed with the water retention plan and by its placement impeded the proper water flow. [redacted] returned to make further adjustments at the [redacted]’s request since the swale under the shed was causing issues. The [redacted]’s were pleased with the work and as mentioned above, hired [redacted] to do more work for them. 4. The french drains were a part of the inspections and the backfilling was again done in accordance with the current adopted building codes at the time of construction. 5. Nail pops are normal and we ask our homeowners to provide us with a list of adjustments that they feel need made upon their 11 month of occupancy. We did that - there were numerous sticky notes on the drywall settling areas - these areas were repaired. 6. Homeowner maintenance is required whether you live in a new home or an older home. Gutters need cleaned twice a year, downspouts should be checked, and septic tanks cleaned to name a few. 7. I ([redacted]) met with [redacted] and [redacted] personally - we walked the property and they were informed about the water retention and that it needed to be changed back to the original retention that was left at the time the occupancy permit was issued. In April of 2012, [redacted] informed us that “I actually dug (using a shovel) a path around the basement part and down the hill in the front." This is the area adjacent to the septic tanks. In closing, LAD Construction Company, inc., is not responsible for the “alleged” issues that the [redacted]'s are having. They are 3 years out of warranty and furthermore, LAD Construction was never contacted in the past 2.5 years with the exception of needing to purchase products through our suppliers. They were obviously very comfortable to make the call or send an email requesting help/assistance to purchase products, it would stand to reason that if there truly were issues as they report in the complaint, that we would have been made aware of it. I firmly believe that if in fact work was done on their property, it was due to their desire for change or to upgrade the starter landscape package that was installed. Our records with the Revdex.com and the [redacted], or any other agency, will show our commitment to quality construction for more than 30 years. Thank you.LAD Construction Company, Inc.[redacted], President

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.May 9, 2015

Re: ID[redacted]

Dear Ms. [redacted],

I am writing to you in response to LAD Construction’s letter

of April 13, 2015 since it is riddled with factual inaccuracies and

misapprehensions. I shall respond to

each of the claims in the order they are presented in that letter.

With respect to LAD’s willingness to order materials for us

at our request there is no dispute. We

did order siding to repair damage done to the siding with a weedwacker, but we

never burned it with a grill as claimed.

LAD did order material for us to repair damage done to the trim on the garage

door. We do acknowledge that LAD did

come and patch two areas of damage done to the ceilings in two bedrooms as a

courtesy. It however was only a patch,

it was not a complete, seamless repair as LAD informed us that it would be too

costly to undertake as a mere courtesy.

These observations, however, have absolutely no bearing on the issues we

have raised concerning the failure of the exterior grading, and thus are

irrelevant.

With respect to the exterior grading, the allegations made

in the letter are both nonspecific and erroneous. The exterior grade left by LAD Construction

WAS NOT changed as claimed. Because it

was not changed, water ran toward the house at the back and caused mold

damage. [redacted] claims to have seen that

the grade at the front and side of the house was changed causing water to run

into the septic tanks. There are two

problems with this allegation. First, we

never changed the grade at all—we left it as [redacted]’s subcontractor left it at

the time of the original construction. [redacted] actually claimed, in the presence of both

me and my wife, that his subcontractor at this time had done a poor job of

grading in the area of the septic tanks, specifically piling the mulch too

highly around the risers (he even kicked the mulch around while saying that). [redacted] never “repeatedly” told either one of us

to have this grade changed. Even if he

had, why should we have done so? It was

his subcontractor and not us who had made a mistake, and thus it was his

responsibility, and it was within the one-year warranty period. Additionally, his contention that he told us

it must be changed demonstrates that he was aware that work done ultimately by

LAD, as a general contractor, was faulty.

Secondly, and most importantly, the grade in this area had no bearing on

the flooding of the septic tanks. [redacted]

did replace the electric pump the first time the tank was flooded. After his attempt to replace the electric pump,

the tank containing it was flooded a second time so we had septic professionals

([redacted]) come make the necessary repairs.

They told us that water from the grade of the land had nothing to do

with the water level reaching a critical point and signaling the in-house

alarm. Rather, it was the fact that [redacted]

had merely plugged the electric pump’s power cord into an outlet inside the top

of the enclosed septic tank—which contained waste water, in combination with

the failure to install a check valve to stop water from flowing back down into

the tank from the leach beds, that caused our septic failures. They also told us there was a fire because

the top of the tank was black. After the

pump was hard-wired into the power source and a check valve installed, we have

had no further problems. [redacted]

actually laughed when we told them that [redacted]’s advice to us was to install

higher risers. And, most importantly, we

have never changed the grade in that area to this date. Thus, [redacted]’s incompetence is clearly

demonstrated.

And finally, LAD’s letter of April 13 does not address the

mold issue at the back of our house caused by the failure of the swale and the

fact that the grade from the base of the swale to our exterior back wall as

established by LAD, and left completely untouched by us, caused water to flow

directly to the house. Perhaps he is

aware that in the area in question he left a slope of 4.5 inches (as measured

by laser on a tripod)? We did, in this

case, “listen to the professionals” and plant grass. This was his solution for the large pools of

water in the back yard that we told him about.

Obviously this advice was as useless as his other advice. We do agree

with [redacted] that “it is hard to deal with people that cannot be honest.”