Ridgewater Homes

i handed over my 5% deposit in june 2021, after a complete mess of preliminary admin and plans which were always incorrect, inaccurate or wrong as none of their staff are actually qualified in anything, constant emails about extra costs even before they got on site, and finally an email after they got a building permit that they cant meet the fixed price as per contract. now they refuse to answer any calls, emails or return my deposit. stay clear of these thieves! my best advice to you!

Me and my husband signed a contract with Mr. Darryl B from Ridgewater on August 28th. The contract said that the work would start about 2 weeks after getting the permit, and it would be finished in 4-6 weeks. The estimated budget, including a 20% markup, was $22,711.20 plus GST. We thought the cost would be around $17,000, maybe $22,700 if things went wrong. We made it clear that we had limited funds and our main goal was to have a high-rise building with a toilet and no baths installed, as stated in the contract. The main problem is that Mr. Darryl B started the work without getting a building permit. When I came back from being out of the country, we asked him if he got one, but he said no. We insisted that he get a permit, and he applied for one in November . He started taking down the walls in September without a permit. We paid him a $5000 deposit on September 16th. Then he gave us an invoice for $9992.45, which we paid on October 8th. After he cashed the check, he abandoned the work and went on holiday. Then he gave us another invoice for $32,000, even though he hadn't gotten the permit yet. We had a meeting with him and told him that these invoices were too high. He agreed to knock off $15,000 and asked us to pay $17,000. We reluctantly agreed just to finish the renovation. We told him that he was way over the estimate ($23,800) and the charity organization paying for this couldn't afford it. We had a lot of arguments, but we gave him the checks to keep the peace. We also asked him to provide a quote and get approval before starting any work. He has overcharged us and left the project unfinished, but he still wants more money. He hasn't given the city the required architect's floor plan with a sealed code analysis for the permit. We have paid him $32,000 so far, which is over the budget, and we still don't have the permit. The walls have been ripped off, and the washroom he opened up can't be used. The city came and said the washroom doesn't meet the code. The pipe he worked on was poorly connected, and we had a flood in January because of it. We disputed the wrong billings, but he said we asked for those things to be done. He made up lists of extras we asked for, but they shouldn't have increased the cost from $23,800 to over $62,000. He keeps mentioning extra costs based on what we ordered, but he hasn't given us an itemized list to justify going over the original budget. He has not been able to justify trying to collect over $60,000 and leaving the property in this state. He demanded that we don't contact the city and said the project wouldn't be completed without him. He refused to comply with the city's request for an architect's floor plan and insisted on using an engineer instead. He demanded that we keep using him and pay $5,000 for his engineer's code analysis quote. We told him we weren't happy with his invoicing and price increases, but he threatened to bring back the $15,000 he wrote off and add more bills. We explained that the initial $5,000 deposit was supposed to go towards getting the building permit, not the work he did. He threatened us again, saying that if we don't do what he wants, he will fine us and take us to collections. He keeps sending us invoices with different amounts and offering discounts, but it's all very confusing. He flooded our emails with unsolicited mails and sent letters to our business premises with stamps saying "past due" and "sent to collections." We received a letter from his collections agency saying we had to pay $15,000 by May 24th or they would report us to the credit bureau. He has also threatened to put a lien on our property. So far, we have paid him $32,000 for work that hasn't been completed and without a permit. We want Mr. Darryl B, the owner of Ridgewater, to refund us at least $25,000 so that we can get a building permit and hire another contractor to finish the work. This doesn't include the $5,000/month mortgage payment and the income loss or the cost of cleaning up after this contractor. We would have brought this matter to you earlier if we had known about your services last year, but we just found out about you 2 days ago. We appreciate your attention to this matter before the May 24th deadline from Mr. Darryl B's collections agency.

I been workin' with Ridgewater for years now for our apartment buildin' and gotta say workin' with 'em has been an absolute pleasure. You can rely on 'em for yer construction/renovation projects, let 'em do their work and you won't be disappointed with the result. Their team is real knowledgeable and responsible and they treat every project with respect like it's their own home. I'll definitely recommend 'em.