ComplaintsforCavallio General Contracting, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  10/04/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We purchased a new home from Cavallio General Contracting in December 2022 and the home is still under warranty. We have never had any direct contact with the builder, only the sales agent. The builder failed to properly grade the property such that it floods every time there is significant rainfall. We first alerted the builder's representative to this issue on February 11, 2023, when the problem first became visible to us as new residents. Since then, we have repeatedly sent photos and asked many times that the builder fix this problem. The property is not in a flood zone and none of the surrounding properties flood in the rear yard like ours does. Finally, in June 2022, the builder's landscaper applied fill to the property, but sadly, that resulted in even more flooding in the backyard! Independent professionals determined that swales are required to properly drain water from the rear and side yards to a drainage grate located at the front of the property. The builder's representative claims swales are unnecessary and "extreme." Sussex County Delaware Building Code states the grade minimum is 6 inches of fall within 10 feet of the foundation. I recently hired a surveyor (at considerable expense) to prove the property, in its current condition, would not pass inspection. The surveyor included a drainage plan with swale elevations on the survey document. No one from Cavallio has come to the property to witness the problem first-hand. Moreover, the sales contract includes a requirement that the builder must ensure proper grading and drainage at the crawl space doors. Currently, the grading does not fall 6 inches within 10 feet at the crawl space doors. I can only assume Cavallio does not want to promote goodwill or satisfied customers. If Cavallio refuses to install the necessary swales, I would want to warn all potential home buyers about this company's unacceptable practices with respect to grading and drainage; Cavallio is building several homes near ours.

  Business response

  01/02/2023

  Business Response /* (1000, 25, 2022/11/11) */ ***Document Attached*** Dear Lisa, My apologies for the late response. This document was not received until yesterday at the mailing address provided to you. There have been no other documents received either. I see this states its a final notice; however its the first I received. My representative Becky ****** has type of a response and it is attached. Thanks, Mike Cavallio Photos found on this link (copy and paste into any browser for quicker access to photos attached) https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/s851m0uhnb1utbtqh31p1/h?dl=0&rlkey=e4ioogc0ra6huiqzcwx0fuc9f Thanks, Mike Cavallio Consumer Response /* (3000, 28, 2022/11/20) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Unfortunately, many statements contained in the business response are inaccurate. First, our sales contract clearly states the property MUST be properly graded away from the crawl space doors. The property drains so poorly that the HVAC unit, located near one of the crawl space doors, had to be elevated to avoid taking on water. In its current condition, the property is STILL NOT properly graded (as evidenced by the survey document included with this complaint). Second, while we initially asked for no sod or irrigation in the FRONT yard, it is the BACK yard that continually floods. The property listing included sod and irrigation of the FRONT yard alone. None of the neighbors' BACK yards have flooding issues. (Ms. Glover only supplied BBB with photos of neighboring FRONT yards). We do not live in a flood zone. I added photos taken on NOvember 16, 2022 showing the flooded conditions in our BACK yard, while it is visible that neighboring BACK yards are not flooded. Ms. Glover indicated we wanted to finish landscaping the FRONT of the property ourselves, which is true. However, when we tried to hire landscapers to also finish the BACK of the property, they refused to provide any estimates due to the poor drainage conditions that existed there. Ms. Glover was made aware of this fact. Several independent landscapers advised us that grass will never grow in the BACK yard due to the type of fill the landscaper used and the fact that the BACK yard is constantly flooded. Even after the builder's landscaper applied additional fill in June of 2022, grass NEVER grew within approximately 30 feet of the rear foundation wall. The application of fill in June 2022 resulted in even MORE flooding of the BACK yard near the foundation and Ms. Glover was made aware of that with more photos and emails. We also communicated with DelDot Supervisor, John ******* who came on site and had to locate the FRONT yard drainage grate using a metal detector. He had to use a metal detector because the builder's landscaper had covered the grate over with so much dirt and debris that it became totally invisible! Mr. Marvel told us that we needed to work out the drainage issues with the builder, which we have been trying to do for the past several months. Ms. Glover stated that we live in a "low-lying" area of Delaware, which is inaccurate. This particular property is NOT located in a flood zone. After we supplied Ms. Glover with a proposed storm water mitigation plan (including swales) from Rowe Property Maintenance in April 2022, Ms. Glover said we had to supply "proof" of the inadequate drainage conditions in order for her to approve the installation of drainage swales, which she described as "drastic measures" to address the BACK yard flooding. Now that the survey document she received on September 14, 2022 proves that the entire property is not graded properly to conform to 6 inches per 10 feet away from the foundation, she still refused to remedy the problem by installing swales consistent with the survey document. Neither the Occupancy Certificate nor the Final Survey document the business supplied addresses the current condition of improper grading existing on the property. Ms. Glover stated that we asked for swales to be installed down the sides of our property to direct water onto neighboring properties, which is inaccurate. We requested that all swales and all storm water drainage be directed to the FRONT yard drainage grate alone; this is also evidenced by the survey document. Ms. Glover stated she did not receive any written reports she requested - neither Ms. Glover nor I would receive any reports from Sussex County officials as that is not their practice. I was advised that after the occupancy inspection was completed back in November 2021, they could do nothing further. Sussex County indicated they could not address conditions on any property subsequent to the date of inspection. Ms. Glover received photos from us many times along with the water mitigation plans and cost estimate from Rowe Property Maintenance as well as a copy of the survey document. We also communicated with Sussex County Soil Conservation. The representative came on site and informed us that the property would not pass inspection in its current condition because it was not properly graded. He said he could not supply any written report because, again, that is not their practice. In essence, neither Ms. Glover nor I could have any written reports from Sussex County officials because Sussex County officials simply do not supply such written "reports". Ms. Glover stated that she and others viewed the property in June/July and observed conditions on the property, which is also inaccurate. While Ms. Glover and others may have viewed the FRONT yard of the property, the BACK yard is not visible from the road or the driveway because the house itself obscures the view of the yard near its foundation, where the BACK yard flooding occurs. No one has contacted us to view the BACK yard; not Ms. Glover, nor any other individual or county representative that Ms. Glover indicated that she may have invited. Ms. Glover stated we are improperly directing water with our downspouts, which is inaccurate. While we installed downspouts to mitigate the flooding conditions at the BACK yard, they drain onto our property only. We were advised to drain water at last 4 feet away from the foundation. No one from Sussex County contacted us about our downspouts as they are appropriately situated. None of our neighbors contacted us about the downspouts as they are appropriately situated. Moreover, we have requested tha Ms. Glover schedule an in-person meeting with Mr. Cavallio many times in an attempt to amicably resolve this matter, but for an unknown reason, Ms. Glover continually refused to permit any meeting to occur.

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