Brothers Plumbing Ltd

Several months ago I signed a contract with Brothers Plumbing Ltd. to waterproof the exterior north basement wall of my home, approximately 30 linear feet. In order to access the wall a mutual concrete walkway between my house and my neighbour's house had to be removed. Incidentally my neighbour was having her south basement wall waterproofed by Brothers Plumbing at the same time.

Once the waterproofing was finished , the excavation was back-filled and a new concrete walkway was poured with the addition of 3 area drains connected to the weeping tiles evenly spaced along its' length. I complained to Kevin, the project manager, that the concrete work appeared to be of inferior quality; there were no expansion joints or spacers and the finish was uneven and patchy and poorly graded. I questioned the need for the 3 area drains instead of a properly graded walkway but Kevin said that the drains would help to move the surface moisture away more efficiently. in addition, he assured me that should I have any problems, all the work was guaranteed for 25 years by Brothers Plumbing Ltd. Still not entirely convinced but unwilling to cause trouble, I paid the balance of my invoice. Within a few days I received a statement of account from Brothers Plumbing Ltd. marked: 'PAID IN FULL' and 'ALL WORK GUARANTEED FOR 25 YEARS'.

With the very first rainfall water began to seep through my north basement wall. I called Brothers Plumbing and they came and slathered some concrete along a 6 foot length of wall where the water was seeping in. Their patch job didn't entirely stop the water from coming in but at least it was temporarily manageable. At the same time my neighbour was also experiencing flooding in her basement. With the arrival of the spring rains the flooding became more severe. once again I began complaining to Brothers Plumbing.

I exchanged several phone calls and emails with Lisa, their office manager. I sent her descriptions and photos of what we were experiencing and just how severe the problem had become. After several weeks of stalling, Lisa finally agreed to send Tony, an employee and master plumber at Brothers Plumbing to survey the situation. It was on this visit that I managed to convince Tony that the area drains were the cause of the basement flooding. The very next day Tony sent a crew to cap and plug the drain holes with concrete and agreed that the walkway was not properly graded and needed to be replaced.

Once again I began calling and emailing Lisa the office manager to set up a start date to replace the sub-standard walkway. Again after weeks of delays and excuses Lisa confirmed to me by email that the work would begin on August 15th 2016. On August 15th, nobody showed up. After several more weeks of calls, emails, promises, delays and excuses, Lisa once again confirmed to me by email that the work would begin on November 21st, 2016 and again no one showed up. Convinced that I had done everything in my power to persuade Brothers Plumbing to honour their '25 YEAR GUARANTEE', I decided to file a formal complaint with "Toronto Municipal Licensing and Standards".

As a result of the investigation, it was determined that Brothers Plumbing Ltd. was not licensed to do waterproofing or to lay area drains as specified in our contract. Instead they could only sub-contract this work to a licensed renovator or contractor. Brothers Plumbing sub-contracted this work to "Vito Construction and Plumbing" also not licensed to do waterproofing or to lay drains. Because of this Brothers Plumbing was found to be in violation of Municipal Code Chapter 545-441A. The only reason they were not formally charged was because the six month 'Statute of Limitations" had run out. Instead, Brothers Plumbing Ltd. and Vito Construction and Plumbing each received a 'caution letter' from Municipal Licensing and Standards. I have a summary letter of the investigation as well as copies of the caution letters as issued by Municipal licensing and Standards as proof of these claims.

When I entered into a contract with Brothers Plumbing to waterproof my north basement wall, I was not informed that they were not licensed to do this work themselves. Nor was I informed that the work would be sub-contracted to another company. I feel that Brothers Plumbing had misrepresented themselves and had they been transparent with me at the begin, I probably would not have hired them. Instead I wound up paying a premium price for substandard work. if you're still thinking about hiring these guys please think again! The very last thing Brothers Plumbing cares about is customer service!!

IN RESPONSE TO BROTHERS PLUMBING: The fact that this contract was signed 18 months ago is irrelevant. There were problems from day '1' and the problems have been ongoing. In fact, I spent the better part of 2016 trying my best to cooperate with Lisa, your office manager, in order to get you to honour your "25 year guarantee".

The concrete walkway that you installed has continued to be a problem. Rain water does not drain away especially since you capped and plugged the faulty area drains installed by your "unskilled employee". In some places it pools to over an inch in depth and as a result the moisture is beginning to erode the parging on my neighbours foundation wall. In addition, the concrete is beginning to crack in several places because you neglected to install expansion joints.

Since you now admit that 'some' of the problems (read all of the problems,) that I was experienceing were caused by "...mistakes made by an unskilled employee..." then tell me why am I paying for your negligence? Any reputable company would have dealt with this months ago. Instead Brothers Plumbing has chosen to walk away, money in hand, without correcting its mistakes. While you say that you "did your absolute best to remedy the situation" both you and I know that you most certainly did not! I challenge you Brothers Plumbing, do the right thing and honour your "25 YEAR GUARANTEE."