Manitoba builder hit with lawsuits, stop work orders after complaints about shoddy construction, mould

A Manitoba builder has come under fire after three clients say the company didn't complete their home and cottage projects as planned — and in two cases, the construction projects were riddled with mould and other deficiencies, the clients allege.

Two of those clients have now filed lawsuits against the contractor and the other had stop work orders placed on the property.

Marco and Michelle Costantini hired Steve Collins Contracting Ltd. in December 2021 to build their dream cottage in Hillside Beach, on the eastern shore of Lake Winnipeg. 

They're now suing the company for what they claim was shoddy work on a cabin they aren't even sure they can safely use, and which they fear they will have to tear down.

"The deficiencies are very clear," said Marco Costantini. "My floor is sagging. It looks like a banana."

They hired the contractor after hearing a positive reference from another customer.

"I wish I had never hired this guy," Costantini told CBC News. "I wish I had a time machine."

Two other clients, Alexis and Calvin Bruneau, hired Steve Collins Contracting to build a $400,000 home in Tyndall, Man. They say they were shocked when they discovered the home was filled with mould and could have made them sick.

"If we would have moved in here, we were told within six months the mould would have started eating through the walls," Alexis Bruneau told CBC.

The third client, Cynthia Chartrand, paid Steve Collins $250,000 to build her a house. In her lawsuit, she says the builder poured cement for the sub-basement and installed concrete blocks before abandoning construction.

The contractor denies the allegations and none have been proven in court.

Costantini says he was originally expecting his Hillside Beach cottage to be completed last May, at a cost of around $400,000. He estimates the contractor finished less than half the work on the cabin.

A lawsuit filed by the Costantinis in January against the company, which is owned by Steve Collins of Tyndall, alleges there were extensive problems with the build.

Marco Costantini says there were issues from the start, including the fact the cabin was "10 feet in the wrong spot," without the change in location being communicated.