Four Seasons Sunrooms - Ambiance Additions 24,000.00 for a room with severe leaks that have resulted in toxic mould, cracking walls water stains and a massive headache. Fullerton California

I originally contacted Four Seasons sunrooms/ Ambiance Additions May 2004 Work was completed July 2005
10 year Limited Warranty effective 4/29/05

Work was for fully permitted room addition at a cost of: $23,449.00 plus city permit costs of $1,315.31

The warranty is a 10 year limited product warranty but they offer a lifetime warranty on the water seals which is my main bone of contention, the second issue is that the room is impossible to climate control - due the roof not being properly sealed the hot air is released in the winter and in the summer the room becomes hotter than the outside temperature. This room is and always has been unfit for the purpose it was built.


Right from the very beginning the room was never properly sealed, every time it rained water came through the roof in multiple areas. The first time the roof leaked there was major damage to a chest of drawers, which Four Seasons / Ambiance Additions reimbursed us for.

Every time it rained we would call up and complain that the roof was still not sealed. They came out and re-sealed the roof multiple times (I cant remember how many but I think at least 5 times they sent their guys to come out and fix the leaks) The last time anyone came out to fix the roof was in 2006. Every time we called to complain we were met with a very hostile member of staff who at best was just unpleasant to deal with.

As you know we have had a drought in California for the past 2 years so what little rain we had I just mopped up with towels (it was easier to deal with than the people at Four Seasons/ Ambiance Additions)

This February we had an immense amount of rain in a very short period of time, I had to use 8-9 towels to stop the water coming through the sliding patio door. My walls are covered in watermarks and there is now toxic black mould growing on the wall, which has the largest leak on it.


I called Four Seasons/ Ambiance Additions on 3/6/08 and spoke with Jessica (office manager) she said she would have Willy (engineer) schedule an appointment with me to asses the damage. I waited a week and never heard back from them so I called on 3/13/08 and spoke with Willy who hadn't heard anything about my complaint. We scheduled for him to come and assess the damage on 3/17/08 at 1pm.

3/17/08
Willy took a look at the room and asked why I hadn't called earlier. I explained we had had a drought and the leak hadn't been so dire. I also explained that the room was impossible to climate control, it was unbearably hot in the summer and extremely cold in the winter which made the room un-usable. Willy explained that if I opened the doors of the room to the rest of the house the climate would be the same as the house. Anyone who experienced this room in the summer or winter months would know that this is not true, my house doesn't need air conditioning in the summer as I am on a hill side and its a Spanish house which stays very cool, Sometimes too cool and the room addition reaches temperatures well over 90 degrees, I could cook an egg in it in the height of summer. In the winter only a fool with very deep pockets would attempt to heat this room, its icy cold and you can see your breath in it in the evenings.

Also, I need to point out here that the glass on the roof was the more expensive glass that was supposed to let in 100% of the sunlight but only 15% of the heat. So something here clearly is not working.

When I stated this to Willy and told him I didn't accept his explanation he got very agitated and began speaking to me in an aggressive manner, at this point I said we could discuss climate control later and should focus on the leaking roof at which he replied very aggressively that he would not discuss the climate of the room with me later.

It became very clear that the conversation had broken down at this point, instead of answering my questions Willy tried to intimidate me by staring directly in my eyes for a very uncomfortable amount of time, he kept walking towards me very close and speaking very loud at me whilst staring into my eyes aggressively the whole time, every time I stepped back to diffuse the situation he would step forward again saying things like "everything that has gone wrong with this room isn't all of our fault". Every time I tried to make my point he would twist my words around and talk even louder at me. He kept implying that it was my fault for not calling them in two years. I kept pointing out that there was a ten-year warranty on the parts and lifetime warranty on the seals (which is my issue) but he had no direct reply to that fact and kept repeating that I should not have left it so long to call them.

It was a very upsetting situation. I know that this would not have been his tone had I been male or accompanied by a male. I asked him simple questions like what did he suggest we do from here and what was the expected turn around on his plan of action - all of my questions were met with a intimidating stare which I found very unnerving. He explained to me that he made his schedules on a Friday, that he would make his schedule this Friday (March 21st 08) and that Jessica would call me and let me know.

After this experience I contacted several other sunroom companies and invited them to take a look at my room addition and advise me what it would take to get the room to a useable standard - ie no leeks. The opinions I got were unanimous, I had a tear down on my hands and it was going to cost between $20,000.00 and $27,000.00 to rebuild what I had already paid Four Seasons sunrooms / Ambiance Additions to do.

I called Four Seasons head office and spoke to Maude and explained what was going on and that I was about to file a law suit to recoup my losses. She had David from Ambiance Additions call me. He apologized for the situation and requested that I let him onto my property to water test the room. Since I wanted to avoid a law suit at all costs I accepted. He water tested the room for over 2.5 hours, was very polite and thorough. However, at the end of the water test he implied that the reason the room addition leaked was because I had stepped on the door frame (all 125 lbs of me) and caused enough damage to have it leak bucket loads every time it rained. He also said that the temporary patch I had my handy man put on the corner of the roof that leaked the most (since day one) was what caused the leak in the roof - I asked him politely to put his finding down on paper and a proposal of what they want to do to rectify the situation and as yet have not heard anything back. David was actually reluctant to agree to write anything down for me as he didn't want to have to get his lawyer involved but I said I wasn't going to make any decision without it.

At this point it is clear to me that Four Seasons sunrooms / Ambiance Additions does not want to make this situation right. I have paid a lot of money for a room that was supposed to be enjoyable and add value to my house, and instead I am left with a tear down that has toxic mould, water marks cracking walls and is totally unusable in every season. I cant even wash the glass roof as it leaks so much and I have had to lift everything off the floor by 2 inches to reduce water damage, not to mention the sleepless nights when it rains and I have to keep mopping up the mess with towels!!!!

Shame on you Four Seasons Sunrooms / Ambiance Additions for ripping off innocent home owners!

Anon
Los Angeles, California
U.S.A.