Ever wonder what it would be like to live next door to a contractor who worked on your house?

	Martha Rial, Post-Gazette Don Krivda says the basement of his Elizabeth Township home has been leaking since it was built three years ago. Click photo for larger image.

If there were a problem, all you'd have to do is pick up the phone or knock on his door.

That's what Don Krivda thought when he hired Lee Caranese to do the foundation work for his three-bedroom modular home in Elizabeth Township.

They met in 2000 when Krivda was using a chain saw and a chipper to clear small trees and shrubs from his 3/4-acre lot.

"He came over and we got to talking," said Krivda, 45, a PennDOT consultant. "He said he was a builder and had built his house. He said he could build my home or the foundation."

Krivda paid Caranese about $27,000 to excavate the site; pour the footer; build the walls, a basement fireplace and front and back porches; and complete all related foundation work.

I asked Krivda if he had done a background check on Caranese or asked him for references.

"No," Krivda said. "I guess that was dumb of me. But he lives right next door. I figured he could take care of anything that came up."

Or came in.

Water has found its way into Krivda's basement. The basement is divided into a family room and a garage. The water that comes under the garage door could be diverted by sloping the gravel driveway away from the house instead of toward it. The water coming through the cement block at various places may not be that easy to fix.

Krivda and his wife, Lisa, and their two young children would like to enjoy their family room. But the leaks have damaged the drywall they put up.

That may not be surprising, considering how long it took the subcontractor Caranese hired to build the foundation. They started it on May 19 and finished it on Sept. 19, 2000. The less than frantic pace of the two men was the talk of the neighborhood.

When water started coming through the cement block, Krivda called Caranese. Caranese looked at the problem and said he'd take care of it. After getting nothing but promises from Caranese for more than a year, Krivda called me last March. I called Caranese. He agreed to correct the problem by May 1. He didn't.

When I spoke to Caranese in early May, he said he was looking for a company to stop all of Krivda's leaks and the leaks in his own basement. "My wife Ellen has been after me to fix those," he said. He lined up a company to do the work. But, when the crew showed up on the agreed-upon date, Caranese refused to complete the paperwork and make a down payment.

"They had set up a schedule that didn't give me enough time to move all the stuff I have in my basement," Caranese said. "It was totally unfair. They said they would reschedule it."

Last month, Caranese contacted another company to do the work, but said its price was too high. He called back the first company, agreed on a price of "about $7,000" and said he would make a down payment tomorrow. I called the company and the owner confirmed tomorrow's meeting with Caranese.

"I want to take care of this for me and Don," Caranese said.

I asked him if he had taken care of his problem with the state attorney general's office. "I'm working on it," he said.

But not as a contractor.

"Mister Caranese is legally barred from doing any home improvement work in the state under his name or any other name," said Barb Petito, a spokeswoman for the state attorney general's office. She was referring to the many names under which Caranese has done business as a contractor:

C&L Builders, C. L. Builders, C&L Contractors, C&L Construction, L.A.C. Builders and Universal Builders, all at the same address in Elizabeth Township.

The attorney general's office sued Caranese in June 2003 for accepting more than $50,000 from six consumers in Allegheny County without performing the work or for performing shoddy work. Common Pleas Judge Ronald W. Folino last fall ordered Caranese to pay $54,896 in restitution, $6,000 in civil penalties and $3,925.

Petito said Caranese hasn't made any payments.

"The attorney general now has the option to proceed with contempt of court charges against [Caranese]," Petito said. "It also means the $6,000 in civil penalties can be enhanced to $30,000."

Folino's order also requires Caranese to pay restitution to any other consumers who file complaints about him with the attorney general's office.

Consumers can do that by calling 412-565-5135, 1-800-441-2555 or www.attorneygeneral.gov.

I'll keep you posted.