1. our Custom Home by Pittsburgh's Custom Home Builder
    Review our Custom Home experience
Here is part of the email from Heartland Homes Pittsburgh to the Pittsburgh Better Business Bureau regarding our complaint with water infiltrating our electrical panel.

"The electrician found a compromised conduit which housed wiring for the breaker box that
was allowing water in. The electrician serviced the breaker box by removing the breakers, cleaning the breaker box and applying
silicone before re-installing each breaker. The apparent moisture problem to the breaker box had been identified and the
breaker box was serviced by 1PM, Tuesday, July 18, 2006."


our Pittsburgh custom home complaint.
 

Discovered rain water
coming into our electrical panel.
Foundation issues with rain water infiltrating our foundation and our electrical panel in our new home.

July 17 2006

 

 

 

Discovered rain water
coming into our electrical panel.
Heartland Homes builder.
Foundation issues with rain water infiltrating our foundation and our electrical panel in our new home.

July 17 2006

 

 

Discovered rain water
coming into our electrical panel.
Heartland Homes builder.
New home construction in Pittsburgh PA. Issues with water infiltration into our cinder block foundation.

July 17 2006

 

Timeline of our Heartland Homes home
Our Heartland Homes built home
ALL emails to Heartland Homes
Heartland Homes newspaper article
our Better Business Bureau complaint
our State Attorney General complaint
our Heartland Homes Trial details
our home construction photos
our electrical panel water issue
Our Heartland Homes experience
our Heartland Homes
Our Heartland Homes custom built home experience

HIGH LEVEL TIMEFRAME OVERVIEW

February 2004 - close on our brand new Heartland Homes home.

May 2004 - started having water infiltration issues, notified builder throughout entire time (click here to see all 50+ emails with digital photos).

February 2005 - warranty over, no issues resolved. See photos on Main Page or go to http://daverome.com for more granular details.

May 2005 - sent certified letter to owner of Heartland Homes, Alan Gillespie or Marty Gillespie - no response after 3 weeks.
(click underlined link to read)

June 2005 - Filed case with the Pittsburgh Better Business Bureau.
(click underlined link to read)

2005 - 2009 - to date: go to main page to read all of the additional details.

updated December 21 2009
NOTE: During our Better Business Bureau case, July 11th 2006 Heartland Homes performs water saturation tests outside our home. Shortly after this test we find water on our basement floor from the electrical panel.
Per Craig Faulkner, Heartland Homes tests are being performed to see if they can identify where the water is coming in from outside.
 
Note: the electrical conduit IS attached
to the outside of the conduit during this time frame. Water infiltration into our brand new home.
Issues with our new home construction water infiltrating our brick.
July 28 2005
 
Note: the electrical conduit IS attached to the outside of the conduit during this time frame.
Water infiltration into our brand new home.
New home construction water infiltrating our brick.
July 28 2005
     

NOTE:
During the re-trenching outside
our home during Jan/Feb 2006;
NOTE in this picture the electrical conduit
is NOT connected!

This is where the water infiltrates into our
electrical panel shortly AFTER Heartland Homes performs their water test.
Trenching work completed in the front and side of our brand new home.
January 2006

Better Business Bureau
case work being completed.

 


NOTE:
During the re-trenching outside
our home during Jan/Feb 2006;
NOTE in this picture the electrical
conduit is NOT connected!

This is where the water
infiltrates into our electrical panel
shortly AFTER Heartland Homes performs
their water test.
Trenching work completed in the front and side of our brand new home
January 2006

Better Business Bureau
case work being completed.

NOTE:
During the re-trenching outside
our home during Jan/Feb 2006;
NOTE in this picture the electrical
conduit is NOT connected!

This is where the water
infiltrates into our electrical panel
shortly AFTER Heartland Homes performs
their water test.
Major trenching work being completed on our brand new custom built home.
January 2006

Better Business Bureau
case work being completed.
Review our Pittsburgh custom home.
Our Custom built home in Pittsburgh.
 
   
JULY 17 2006 - FIRST TIME WATER INFILTRATES OUR ELECTRICAL PANEL

We find water on our basement floor directly below our electrical panel. Outside testing with hose flooding the front of our home was on July 11th 2006.

Water testing was performed by Heartland Homes.

July 18th 2006
Augenstein Electric was out to correct issue.

This is the START of our water infiltration
into our electrical panel.

Heartland Homes completes their water testing outside of our home.

July 17 2006
Heartland Homes performs water testing to see where water is infiltrating our home at.

July 17 2006

Heartland Homes performs water testing to see where water is infiltrating our home at.

July 17 2006

 
Click on this photo to see all of the
water laying on top of our breaker(s)
inside our electrical panel.
Custom built home in Pittsburgh with water infiltration issues into our electrical panel.
July 17 2006

 


We pay to have our
electrical panel replaced. Our structural engineers report does report corrosion inside of our electrical panel.
Custom built home in Pittsburgh with water infiltration issues into our electrical panel.
July 17 2006
Water inside an active electrical panel
can cause arching and potentially
a fire in your home.
Custom built home in Pittsburgh with water infiltration issues into our electrical panel.

July 17 2006

 

Rain water running down
breakers in our electrical panel.

Custom built home in Pittsburgh with water infiltration issues into our electrical panel.
July 17 2006
 
 
July 24th 2006 - EMAIL FROM Heartland Homes Pittsburgh detailing a compromised conduit was found..

See pictures above showing the conduit disconnected during the trenching work.

Dear Ms. Dutko and Ms. McAuliffe,

In response to your letter dated July 19, 2006:
Heartland Homes received a call from Mr. Romesburg on Tuesday,7/18/2006. Our receptionist who received the call, immediately called
Craig Falconer, the production manager, who has been to Mr. Romesburg's house previously concerning issues.
Mr Falconer called Augenstein Electric immediately. Augenstein sent an electrician to Mr Romesburg's townhouse.

The electrician found a compromised conduit which housed wiring for the breaker box that was allowing water in.
The electrician serviced the breaker box by removing the breakers, cleaning the breaker box and applying silicone before re-installing each breaker.  The apparent moisture problem to the breaker box had been identified and the breaker box was serviced by 1PM, Tuesday, July 18, 2006.

At this time, Mr Falconer is awaiting a reply from Duquesne Light on when they can schedule Mr. Romesburg to perform a
disconnect/reconnect (power outage) so that Heartland Homes can repair the compromised exterior conduit.

When this procedure is completed, I will send you an email confirming the process and conclusion to this situation.

Thank you for your time and courtesy.
Michele Takacs
Executive Assistant
Heartland Homes, Inc
101 Commerce Blvd Suite 1
PO Box 535
Lawrence PA 15055
 

 
 
AUGUST 1 2006 - SECOND TIME WATER INFILTRATES OUR ELECTRICAL PANEL

Outside testing with hose flooding the front of our home was on July 11th 2006. 

Water testing was performed by Heartland Homes.

August 2nd 2006
Augenstein Electric was out again to correct issue.

Click photo to view extensive amount of condensation in our electrical panel due to the compromised conduit discovered by Heartland Homes.
Major water infiltration issues since 3 months after closing on our custom built house.
August 1 2006
Click photo to view extensive amount of condensation in our electrical panel due to the compromised conduit discovered by Heartland Homes.
Major water infiltration issues since 3 months after closing on our custom built house.
August 1 2006
Click photo to view extensive amount of condensation in our electrical panel due to the compromised conduit discovered by Heartland Homes.
Major water infiltration issues since 3 months after closing on our custom built house.
August 1 2006
 
   
AUGUST 2 2006 - THIRD TIME WATER INFILTRATES OUR ELECTRICAL PANEL

Outside testing with hose flooding the front of our home was on July 11th 2006. 

Water testing was performed by Heartland Homes.

More water infiltration as rain is now dripping onto the top of the breakers.
Click on this picture to see rust starting to form in the corner.

Custom built home rain water infiltration into our electrical panel multiple times.
August 2 2006

Condensation on the back of our electrical panel door.
Custom built home rain water infiltration into our electrical panel multiple times.
August 2 2006
Condensation on the back of the door when you open our electrical panel.
Custom built home rain water infiltration into our electrical panel multiple times.
August 2 2006
 
   
AUGUST 3 2006 AM - FOURTH TIME WATER INFILTRATES OUR ELECTRICAL PANEL

Outside testing with hose flooding the front of our home was on July 11th 2006. 

Water testing was performed by Heartland Homes.

Water issues with our newly built home in Castleview Estates, McKees Rocks, PA.

Castleview Estates water infiltration issues with our custom built townhome.

August 3 2006

Water issues with our newly built home in Castleview Estates, McKees Rocks, PA.
Castleview Estates water infiltration issues with our custom built townhome.
August 3 2006
   
   
AUGUST 4 2006 7:xxAM - FIFTH TIME WATER INFILTRATES OUR ELECTRICAL PANEL

Craig Faulkner from Heartland Homes comes to our home to check out the situation since we continue to have issues with rain water infiltrating our electrical panel.

I did not take any pictures this morning,
Craig was there to see more water infiltrating our electrical panel.

       
   
         
August 9th/10th 2006
NEVER hear from OR see Heartland Homes again until our Better Business Bureau arbitration hearing.
 
   

NOTE: Sears Laundry Center dryer now has issue with dryer turning on.
After replacing multiple parts and testing multiple other parts dryer still will not function.

Out of frustration because of this month long issue with water inside of our live electrical panel, we decided to purchase a new individual washer and dryer, not a Sears Laundry center combo unit.

Since so much time, energy and effort was spent on replacing dryer parts and the problem still existed, we bought completely new.
We had our old Sears Laundry Center hauled away when new washer and dryer were delivered.

The brand new Sears dryer just delivered to our home still doesn't work.
The next day I call Augenstein Electric, they tested our 220 breaker turns out ONE of the double breakers is bad so the entire 220 breaker needs to be replaced. 
 

IF you have any questions, please
do not hesitate to email us.

dave@daverome.com

Dave Romesburg & Christopher Rojik
Heartland Homes townhouse
27 Castle View Drive
McKees Rocks, PA  15061
Kennedy Township
 

Heartland Homes wins Three Housing Excellence awards - 2008
Click on picture below to see their BUILDERS Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh awards!
The link directly below will open in a separate window.

Heartland Homes Builders Association of Pittsburgh awards


"Heartland Homes has always been known for its attention to detail and fantastic home designs,
but on Friday December 12th - Heartland was awarded with three concrete examples."