Had pipe burst in wall behind water heater and front coat closet, resulting in water soaking up edge of carpeting to living/dining area. This company was called by plumber who came to determine where leak was. They pulled up carpet and removed pad of about 100 sq ft of area, cut out 5 ft by 6 ft of drywall and removed trim on floor in closet and in entry. They brought in 15 fans and 2 humidifiers and left telling me it would take 4-5 days to dry out area. They refused to give me estimate of costs. Called insurance co who would not be paying for this due to high deductible who told me I could run up $5000-6000 bill and should not take that much time to dry out the floor and they alerted me to how these guys work costwise so next day I told them to stop and remove all the equipment and I would not pay for any more of their service. Spoke with their manager and he finally says should cost up to $1000-1200 at this pointed out this was not final figure or exact. I kept waiting for bill, calling the workers who did n’t respond asking for cost. They must have mailed bill to insurance company and finally called for payment. When they emailed me invoice turns out they padded bill by $700, not at all what I expected from talking to their manager…and, they thought insurance company was paying even though I specifically stressed to both of workers and their manager that I would be liable for bill, not insurance company. My Insurance agent had warned me that they would try to pad bill and that is why I tried to stop their services at once. Later, I had another remediation company come to complete the job and he tells me that they had done way “overkill” by bringing in so many fans(15) and 2 huge (humidifiers). And, he tells me they did not need to remove the whole wall only about a 12″ x 12″ area where the pipe was obviously leaking. He replaced the drywall, loaned me 3 small fans to dry floor out under carpet, applied disinfectant to surrounding walls by drilling small holes in 2 walls, and put floor trim back on, and, he tells me he would have charged me about $500 for whole job they did, no more. The floor was dried out in less than 24 hours, didn’t take 4-5 days as they had predicted. I am 79 years old and disabled and this whole incident was really stressing me out, especially since they refused to give me a professional written estimate of costs since I figured I would have to pay it myself. I am attempting to live on Social Security only and told them that I really needed to know what this might cost since I would have to move funds. They gave me expectation of $1000-1200 which I was prepared to pay. Their bill was for $2000, way over what it should have been! They claim they cannot give you a price but other companies advertise that they provide a free estimate for same type of work….they have to know what it costs to run 1 fan and 1 humidifier for 24 hours and to cut out drywall and remove trim on the floor….other companies give this cost and say other expenses may be necessary, but, they do provide an idea of what this service can cost…the guy who completed the job told me upfront what it would cost to restore it and dry out the floor…if he can provide a professional estimate or opinion of costs, so can they!
Thompson Building Associates
3333 Refugee Rd
Columbus, OH 43232-4893
thompsonbuilding.com
(614) 863-9650
