AABCO Home Inspections

Bryan B.

Brad Mathas and his group of AABCO cronies repeatedly lied to me over the course of an 11-month renovation, which was only scheduled for 6 months.

Not only did the renovation project take nearly double the time that it was scheduled for, but it was never completed. Left with no other option and five months past schedule, I terminated Brad and hired a new GC to complete the work.

When the new GC came in to complete the project, I found out that most of the work was not done to code due to Brad not using licensed workers to perform the work. Notably, the home was wired with the wrong gauge wiring; the pitch for the plumbing drain line was inclined; the diverter cap for the shower was never installed, necessitating the tiled wall to be demolished and redone; the framing to the bathroom door was done improperly leaving no space for the trim of the door to go around the entryway; they failed to put plumbers putty in the drain of the bathroom sink, which caused a leak and damaged the vanity sink cabinet; and they improperly charged me for an incorrect electrical panel that was not the proper size that my home needed.

Brad is a complete pathological liar. Throughout the entire process, Brad repeatedly lied about coming to perform the work. However, Brad and AABCO would literally work once a week, if that.

Brad lied to my lender about submitting the documents to obtain the permit, which I found out when I called the permitting office and they informed me that Brad never paid the fees, submitted the notice of commencement, nor submitted the subcontractor list, all of which he said he did and told my lender that he did via email. Mind you, this was already three months into the renovation that Brad had still not obtained the permit. I ultimately obtained the permit by submitting the missing documents and paying the fees myself, a duty that Brad, as the GC, was supposed to do.

Regarding subcontractors, Brad lied about the subcontractors he was using. I hired Brad and AABCO expecting to have licensed professionals perform the work. However, Brad lies about who he hires and sends to work; Brad stated that Lucky Devil Electric was going to perform the electrical, instead, I got unlicensed Gregory Bishop. Brad stated that I was to get the plumbing done by Denham Plumbing & Drain SVC, instead I got unlicensed Kyle Pleffner. After learning of Brad's deceit, I notified the Pinellas County Construction Licensing Board, to which they issued Brad two separate citations for allowing nonlicensed workers to perform licensed work, see the attached citations issued to Brad.

Moreover, at around five months into the renovation, when it looked like the project was not going to be completed on time, Brad continued to lie month after month, saying that the project would be completed within a month's time. This went on for approximately five months before I finally had enough and terminated him.

Please don't fall for Brad's pathological lies. He will lie straight to your face and believe his own lies. He is the reason why contractors get a bad reputation, for being crooks and scammers.

Brad and his AABCO cronies took me for a ride, please avoid him at all costs, so that you won't have to go through the same horrible experience that I went through.

Hayley Y.

A scam. Unfortunately the review below was posted shortly after we contracted with Aabco General Contractors LLC.

Brad Mathas and Kyle Pleffner of Aabco Construction are quite literally con artists. On top of stealing our payment to place a cabinet order (resulting in roughly a $15K loss to us), they strung us along for months pretending they had intentions to complete our project (which they didn't).

What's worse is that they lied to us about the required electrical scope putting us in a potentially harmful situation. Kyle went as far as to tell us the only concern with aluminum wiring is that it can become brittle (we know that in fact it expands and contracts more than copper, which can lead to loose connections and potential fire hazards.)

As for Brad's home inspection business...yikes. I would be extremely concerned if Brad had inspected my house given his incompetence and lack of integrity.

Stay far away.

Marilyn R.

BEWARE! On March 22, 2023 I hired AABCO CONSTRUCTION to do a gut renovation of my newly purchased property in Saint Petersburg, Florida and to build an Additional Dwelling Unit (ADU) in the back of the house. I signed the contract with AABCO CONSTRUCTION and Kyle Pleffner, who identified himself on the contract as a sales person for AABCO. I paid $61,900 to start the project. I was told the project would be completed in about 3 months. They took my money and did not do the job. They started demolition WITHOUT TAKING OUT ANY PERMITS, then completely abandoned the project. First I was dealing with Kyle Pleffner, who works with AABCO CONSTRUCTION and stated they work together on these projects. As the project was not moving forward and Kyle Pleffner was giving me the run around, I reached out to BRAD MATHAS in July 2023, as the owner of AABCO CONSTRUCTION. To my utter shock, Brad initially tried to persuade my husband and I to let him continue with the project without taking out the general permits. He said that without taking out general permits he could have the project done in a matter of a few weeks. Otherwise, it would take forever as the city was difficult to deal with. When I refused and asked for my money back he changed his tune and he promised to apply for the general permit. He assured me that he would be personally in charge of my project and that he would move it forward. What a disappointment! HE STALLED AND DID NOTHING!!! Every time I called,Brad would come up with every excuse under the sun as to why the permits were still not filled with the city. As a result of them doing demo of the house without permits I was slapped with eight violations from the city. When I told him about it and stressed the importance of applying for the permits, he completely downplayed it and said it was nothing serious, even though the fine for not correcting the violation was $500/day. When he finally did apply for permits in September of 2023, the drawings were not drafted up to standards and the city requested corrections. He then kept lying to me that he submitted corrections to the city until I finally called the city and found out he never did. Since October of 2023, I have been requesting my money back and he refuses to return the money. Mathas claims since the money was not paid directly to him he does not owe me anything. He claims that I should go after Kyle Pleffner, as I paid money to him. He has denied any responsibility, even though Brad and AABCO Construction were the ones who signed and notarized application for the permits and were listed as the GC on the project. They did less than 10k of work and took the rest of the monies and failed to return the rest. A total nightmare! Brad Mathas and AABCO CONSTRUCTIONS ARE so shady! Both him and the other guy, Kyle Pleffner who works under him, take money from people and SCAM THEM!!! Additionally, I am aware that there is a pattern of both of these guys doing the same to other people. I know another person who hired them and are now suing them for the same. I had to hire a new contractor and pay again from scratch, not to mention that I was not able to use the property this entire time. Since I began working with my new contractor, he took out the city permits in a matter of WEEKS and the project is finally moving forward. I will pursue all the legal and administrative remedies against them to make sure they never do this to anyone else. Please learn from my experience and stay away from BRAD MATHAS AND AABCO CONSTRUCTION.

Robert R.

Brad and Rob Johns totally screwed up this inspection. Homeowners were at the home when it was inspected. Can't find light switch to pool light? Ask the homeowners! Instead they decide to skip this critical inspection. We didn't move into the home from out of state until 10 weeks later and were not in Florida until that time. I called the home owner in January to find out where the pool light was and was told the light didn't work. It leaked and the fixture and bulb are shot. Brad refuses to pay for what they purposely skipped and won't file an E&O claim to take care of it. Instead of doing what's right he uses the technical jargon of the contract to wiggle out of taking care of the nearly $1100 cost to fix the problem. I filed a complaint with BBB and he won't admit he is completely at fault here. Look to other companies to inspect your home as this one has NO integrity and could care less about taking care of something they missed. Quick hurried inspections and totally dishonest. It's all about rushing through the inspections and the $$$ with this bunch. DISGRACEFUL!!!!

Aidan S.

Brad and his team have always operated professionally, getting inspections
done when the turn around time is tight, and I've never had an issue with their service. I plan to continue using them.

Marianne K.

Thanks Brad for saving me time and money with another home inspection for insurance. It's great working with someone so responsive!

Mark S.

Thought i was doing myself a good thing when I watched Tom inspecting my house i was selling, so thoroughly. I thought wow he was doing a good job. So i hired him and Brad the owner to inspect my new home. Oops. They did not do a thorough job on my new much older home. Missed several plumbing, electrical & gas issues. Even had them come back to my new home to talk. Pretty much all on the defensive. Not our fault answers. They missed a few important things and along with myself intend to ultimately blame the sellers for non disclosure. Overall this inspection company is reliable but just not thorough enough for the money spent.

kevin a.

I'm not sure where to start or if this guy even inspected my home, but yet I paid a bill and got a report. The water heater was dead, there where live wires exposed outside the house, the gas lines were mangled and leaking, the dryer was venting into the A/C unit outside and the list goes on. Warning this is not a professional home inspection firm!

Kathy V.

I would suggest staying away from this company if you need a home inspection. They are not thorough at all. I used them in Oct and my condo passed pretty much everything. Here are a few examples of what they missed: They did not mention that my water heater is 35 years old; they claimed my dishwasher worked but the water was not turned on to it (so it's impossible that they really tested it); both bathrooms had pipes leaking; there was no hot water in the master shower; the master shower's floor is not level and pitches back rather than forward; and tiles were cracked in the master shower. These are just a few examples to illustrate the types of issues missed during the inspection. I do not know if these items were missed or if the inspection was just not thorough. Either way, this inspection was unacceptable and I would like to prevent other future buyers from experiencing a poor inspection. These are the types of things that you as the buyer want identified as you bargain before the closing. It's not helpful to find out about issues like this after you move in and it's very frustrating! I'm not sure if they are poor inspectors or dishonest, but either way, they are not an ideal choice for your home inspections!