Urban Studio

On May 2017 my husband and I signed a contract and made a deposit with Urban Studio for a home renovation. We were told that work would commence once a permit was issued and that getting a permit would take around 3 weeks. We were verbally told that work would probably commence in June 2017. We were later told the drawing had to be approved by the committee of adjustments. In March of 2018 our application was review and approved by the committee of adjustments. In April of 2018 demo commenced on the third floor of our home. We were told that the permit would be released in a week or two and that they wanted to start demo so that once we had the permit we could start with framing and removing the exterior wall. They continued with demo and demo'ed the 3rd floor exterior wall and began framing. When I asked about the permit I was told that the architect was looking into the delay and that it would be issued in a week not to worry it had been approved. They demoed the 2nd floor bathroom ahead of schedule with the promise that it would be completed in 2-3 weeks as it was the bathroom we normally used and without it we had to use a smaller bathroom in the partially finished basement that only had a shower and we have kids.
In May we had water damage to the second floor which resulted from water coming in through the third floor where it had not been adequately covered to protect from water entering. The two finished bedrooms on the second floor got damaged from the large amount of water that got in. I asked for them to put fans and a heater to dry the wet areas as I was concerned about mold if it was not dried properly. I was told they would do that but they never did. The damage was not repaired until the fall when the new piece of drywall was put up and then in December some taping and plastering was done. This left us with no usable bedrooms for months. These areas still have not been completely repaired or painted. The bathroom is also still not complete or usable.
In late spring we were told by *** that the permit was being delayed because the city was asking for the footings of the house to be examined to ensure they were sufficient before the permit could be issued. At this point all of the framing had already been completed for the extension. In July 2018 we were told that the crawl space would have to be underpinned in order to accommodate the extension. The underpinning would cost an additional $30-
$35 K. We felt that this is something that should have been foreseen by a company that that advertises that they specialize in extensions and additions. We had already paid by that time over 50% of the total contract price. We asked about having Urban Studio cover a portion of the underpinning as it was required. We were told that this was not an option. The permit was issued August 3rd of 2018 which meant according the the agreement that the timeline of 18 weeks commenced from that date and the $150 fine for not completing the project on time would not be due until 18 weeks later. It was at that point that no one would show up for weeks and work stalled. When the work did not pass inspection *** complained about the inspector and tried to pressure me file a complaint. The insulation had to be removed and redone properly with proper venting twice and then the taping had to be redone properly. The building inspector issued a list of items that were required in order for the insulation inspection to pass. *** claimed that the insulation payments were due even though the insulation inspection has not passed and he refused to comply with the building code. He has refused to complete the list from the building inspector, refused to complete the project, terminated our agreement and claims we owe Urban Studio money for work that is not completed . We are left with a project that is half completed but we have paid 80% of the agreement amount. The projects deadline passed months ago!

In May of 2017 Urban Studio began work on our home (a 250, 000$ project) at ***. Very quickly things went badly with Urban Studio asking for more money and inappropriately quoting parts of the project (unforseen things that were not in Original contract). It became clear that neither party trusted the other and Urban Studio stopped working on the house, telling us they were done what they had agreed to and been paid for, which they had not finished while we waited for the permits.

In August 2017 after not hearing from them and they not finishing the work they had started, we requested to have outstanding work to be completed by Sept. 12th 2017 or the monies already paid for these work(s) to be returned. We asked that if they did not intend to complete the said work, the money should be returned forthwith by September 6th 2017. This is the work that was left unfinished;

The basement work
Clay drains removed and replaced, to code..
Dirt floor leveled and prepped for slab pour.

Weeping tile and water membrane installed to code.

Sump-pump installed to code.

Slab poured to code.

Remaining demolition completed

Chimney flue demolished and removed.

Remaining drywall and cables and piping removed.

Demolition still not completed... Some drywall, plumbing pipes , chimney flue.

Basement slab removed (only) nothing else completed in basement.

In addition to a deposit on the entire project, to date we paid for the following (almost exclusively by cheque, I think about 5,000$ was paid in cash):

$5K - Upon commencement of Architectural drawings (04/13/17)

$5K - Upon submission of Architectural drawings (04/30/17)

$5K - Upon commencement of work and all preparation required (05/08/17 & 05/09/17 - 2 transfers)

$13K - Upon completion of all demolition, removal and disposal of waste (05/10/17)

$4K - Removal of all existing clay pipes (payment on 05/19/17)
Installation of weeping tile / membrane and Installation of sump pump

We did not hear from Urban Studio again after that email.