Find Top-Rated Rochester Home Builders

Home Builder reviews in Rochester

• D

  Kyle Schultz Drywall LLC

  Kyle Schultz assured us that he could finish the ceiling in a hallway and stairwell to a smooth finish to match the rest of our ceilings. The work order also included retaping and mudding areas in the ceiling where old tape had pulled away, leaving long "cracks." Our house is 27 years old. He began work September 17, 2018. When he finished, the ceilings were not smooth/of the quality in the rest of our home. We pointed out some areas that were especially rough, which he then worked on again, but couldn't seem to get a decently smooth finish. We decided to just pay him and move on. Then in November, the areas he had repaired with tape began to bubble. He came back to fix this in January 2019. He worked quickly to repair the tape, leaving the ceilings uneven and rough, even moreso than the first time. We sent him pictures to express our dissatisfaction, and he didn't reply. In addition to the poor quality of his finished work, he was disrespectful of our home; although when he first made the bid, he assured us he would cover the area and not leave messes. He put down plastic on the carpet the first time in September, but after sanding the ceilings, which left powder all over the plastic and walls and doors, he then walked through it and out of our house, leaving a trail inside and out. As our bedrooms were off the hallway, we had to vacuum up the mess before we could use the hallway. In January when he came, the messes became worse. He put down plastic on half the carpet in the hall only, allowing wet drywall mud to fall into our carpet, which then was stepped on and trailed through the carpet. We also found chunks of actual mud (dirt) on the stairs, apparently from the treads of his boots. We texted him before he came back to finish, telling him that he was trailing dried mud into the house. When he came back, he stomped up the stairs with his boots on and was not the friendly guy who had come to do the original bid. This was an extremely disappointing and frustrating experience. After his first time here, we primed and painted, and now will have to hire someone else to do this job as we anticipated. This has become a spendy and time-consuming project. Kyle Schultz may be able to handle some simpler dry-wall projects, but he does not have the experience to take on ceilings. He handled this unprofessionally.
  - Kristi E.
• A

  Heartwood Homes of Rochester inc.

  A builder for life and a man that truly cares, maybe to a fault, about his customers, community involvement, and the kids. Heartwood Homes where a handshake is still worth something! We have spent the better part of two years with Mr. Jay Burke building our custom homes first in 2009/2010 and then after purchasing some acreage six years later in 2015/2016. From the design to the finished house the one constant is Jay. Atypically, he only builds 2 houses in any given year allowing him to spend his time where he should, at YOUR HOME ensuring all things are done accordingly and to plan and if asked will teach the homeowner along the way. Jay uses subs that are second to none and only where needed as the Heart of the work is done by him. Anyone who as ever built a home, our 3rd, understands that much like marriage communication is key and must flow both ways and after 25+ years of experience Jay understands this and has a knack for holding it all together with the beginner and loosening the strings with the experienced. All in all, I am uncertain after building two houses with Heartwood Homes what more we could possibly look for when it comes to a home builder. F can stand for many things BUT when it comes to our experiences with Jay Burke and Heartwood Homes it stands for F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S! Thank you, Jay!
  - Robert B.
• F

  Roger Payne / Payne Company

  Roger Payne is a land developer (Century Hills subdivision) and landlord in Rochester, MN.  We rented a home from him starting in August 2014.  We strongly recommend against doing business of any sort with Roger Payne or his business, Payne Company due to lack of integrity, ethics, and poor responsiveness.  He always responded very slowly to issues that were his responsibility and, on one occasion, did not respond at all to an urgent matter.  He lacks empathy and simply responds "it is not convenient for me" when he does not want to help with a problem.  All of this despite the fact that we were model tenants who paid rent by automatic payment days before it was due and took care of most issues by ourselves.  His lack of integrity has disrupted my family greatly and will cost us thousands of dollars.
  
  - David S.
• F

  MJM Handyman

  Matt ripped me off. He was supposed to put two coats of paint on my house when I was out of town but only put one, the paint is so thin you can see the wood in many parts and stole the other 5 gallon can of paint. This guy is a liar and a thief!
  
  
  - Michael D.
• D

  HRUSKA BUILDERS

  We were told the project would take four months to complete.  After over two years the contractor left without completing the project. Windows, doors, interior walls, exterior walls, trim, deck and stairs were left unfinished.  Trash not cleaned up. The contractor did not 100% finish any of the rooms involved in this project. After the builder stopped showing up the county inspector (despite an expired building permit) found numerous code violations that the builder has not chosen to correct. The builder Dave Hruska has known about the code violations for over twelve months and has made no attempt to correct them.  As a result we have assumed the duties of a general contractor and hired subs as well as worked ourselves to fix problems and finish unfinished work.  Prior to signing the contract with the builder I emphasized that I wanted extra insulation thru out. One of the code violations was inadequate insulation in the attics. In fact some areas of the attics had only three inches of cellulose which gives an R value of about 9. Minimum R value for an attic in Minnesota is around 38.  That was the contractor's personal work, not a sub.  We paid the builder up front for work and services that were either done poorly or not at all.  Water seeps into the basement and leaks over one of the basement doorways. This did not occur before the remodel.  The contractor made a feeble attempt at the grading of the grounds  and driveway.   We had to hire someone to grade the property to prevent flooding and damage to the basement.  The end of an existing culvert was buried so now water runs across our sloped driveway creating ice  in the winter. More things were done poorly and or  wrong than we have time to list.  We requested that the new widows match the old.  They do not. We requested that the corners of the addition (log home) match the existing ones. This did not happen. The trim around the widows and doors often looks random rather than matched.  Wrong sized holes for windows were cut through existing walls and masonry and never repaired.  Much of the finish work is average to poor inside and out.  The level of the floors from the new part to the old part of the house do not line up to the point of creating trip hazards.  The difference in floor height exceeds two inches.  Not exactly an example of "high end" work.
  In general much of the work that was completed is mediocre.  Some is poor and some is good.  Doors do not close smoothly, trim does not match and line up. There are cold spots and drafts. Floors are not level and ceiling height is inconsistent. Doors, trim window, decks, panelling and stairs are missing. The contractor did not keep the work site clean (meaning our house and yard).  The contractor often was
  inefficient,disorganized, and wasteful of materials.  The contractor did not show up on a regular basis and did not always show up when he said he would. In the second year of the project this behavior was even worse.
  The contractor did not pay his subs on a timely basis... if at all.  The plumber told us he had to threaten him with a law suit to get paid.  A building supplier told us that Dave was " a little short" in his payment.  In particular he was in dispute with the roofers.  When they (the roofers) warned us they were going to place a lien on our property, we discovered Mr. Hruska had not paid them( the roofers) and told them that we had not paid him.   We provided them with receipts and cancelled checks demonstrating that we had paid Mr. Hruska on time. David Hruska was hunting in Montana during the roof installation.  There were problems with the roof. Amongst other things Mr Hruska put copper flashing on the galvanized steel roof.  Over time there would have been corrosion and holes in the roof. After Hruska builders abandoned the project we hired a competent roofer to fix the problems.  He recomended tearing it off and starting over.  Having already paid out over 30% more than the estimate we could not afford that and went for a band aid fix.
  In June of 2012 David Hruska stated that he was done charging us for labor.  That was true he stopped billing us, but he also pretty much stopped working and then abandoned the project.  He does not pay attention to detail and does not listen to the customer.  We were patient and tried to work things out with Mr. Hruska.  We politely listened to his excuses. In an attempt to get his attention we made a formal complaint to the Mn. Better Business Bureau. (He did not respond to it.) Over the past two plus years he has ignored numerous emails and phone calls. He has had over one year to fix known and documented code violations.  He has failed finish the job and correct mistakes. He has missed his opportunity so now we will seek legal remedy.
  To sum it up we payed top dollar for mediocre work that was not completed.
  
  Below is a very small sample of the pictures we have taken of the project.
  Below. Lack of attention to detail.  Aluminum cladding does not cover wood. Poor as in mediocre workmanship.
  
  Below:  One of several loads of trash removed by homeowner. This one long after desertion of project.  Note wood scraps along wall. IBelow: Unfinished window trim as well as dust encrusted brick.
  Below: Door to nowhere. Oops forgot the stairs despite having materials on site.  One of several code violations.
  Neglected to finish door frame.  Lack of trim.  High quality finish work...NOT! IMG_4482.JPG
  
  Above:  One example of old floors not lining up with new floor level. Note  2" caulk tube included for scale.
  
  Above: One of nine examples of inability (or desire?) to match window and door trim.  Window in background trimmed correctly.
  Some of the trash gathered from yard by home owner months after desertion of project by licensed MN contractor David Hruska of Rochester Mn
  
  House as "sealed " up against the elements during first winter of the project. Note wasted and broken insulation panels. IMG_0682.JPG
  Drain tile not surrounded by gravel.  Soil type is clay.  Huh... and the basement leaks.
  Finish work not tight.
  DSCF5440.JPG Round corner pieces that did not even remotely match existing square corner pieces.  We paid for them, wasted time painting them and in the end burned them for heat.... since they had no practical use.
   M
  IIts more efficient to put up the gutter and then take it down to put up the siding?!!
  Below. Note odd sized trim and cut in cinder block.  This is the outside of next window picture down.  Contractor did not fix the damage.
  
  Above is the inside of our family room.  We asked Dave to fix this multiple times. He deserted the project without fixing it.
   Below.  Just another example of the high quality (NOT!) finish work.
  IMG_1112.JPG
  Above:  The window is the wrong size as ordered by the contractor.  Suppliers do not take windows back especially more than a year after they are custom ordered. The ordering, measuring installation and trimming of the windows was to say the least poorly executed.  The contractor "forgot" to include $10,000 dollars worth of windows in his estimate....  
  
  Above:Another example of high end  trim work.  Note the mismatched materials.
  r
  Sheets of cement board do not line up on front of house.  Also having wood within 8" of soil is a code violation.
  
  Uncovered foam insulation is a code violation.  It was exposed to the elements for over a year and shows signs degradation.
  
  Poor quality trim and finish work.  Pencil is for scale.
  
  More poor quality trim work.
  
  
  
  - Kathryn L.
• A

  Dahl Home Builders Inc

  With Carl's attention to detail and expert carpentry skills the building of our home was seamless. Carl was very knowledgeable and willing to take time to answer all our questions. We cannot say enough about our wonderful building experience. We have a top quality beautiful home thanks to Carl.
  
  - William M.
• A

  COUNTRYSIDE BUILDERS & REAL

  22-ish years ago, our home was built by Countryside Builders.  Today, they're quite active in and around the area.  We chose them to sell our home, as we anticipated they would build our new home too (my wife fell in love with a model home of theirs).  We did lots and lots of work (cheap labor by my wife & I - many projects over 2-3 months) preparing the home for sale.  Countryside listed it on MLS, had two open houses and it we accepted an offer about a week after it hit MLS.  We're going to build our new home with them, so I'll put out a review after that project is completed and we move in.  They are a great option for the dual sell & build scenario that we were in.
  T & V G
  
  - Thomas G.
• A

  Jim Siebenaler Construction

  JSC is a terrific company. I first asked for a cedar fence, after having Jim S recommended by a neighbor. The job expanded, as Jim's competence and fine subcontractors gave me the confidence to improve a 55 year old house. This involves every part of building a new house, frame, roof, cement in basement, insulation, electrical, plumbing. Tile, subflooring, sheetrock. More. Except, it is being done within a house. They must work around existing structures and utilities. It is quite impressive to observe. Neighbors and friends and other professionals are in awe.
  - elisabeth l.
• F

  DE COOK BUILDER LLC

  Adam DeCook, DeCook Builders LLC acted a general contractor for complete home renovation. Bid and took on the job knowing he would be leaving the state, he did not inform me of this. He hired a project manager who did not know what he was doing. He did not manage the budget, he went 30% over the budget. We found out about this 2 months before the project was finished. 6 months since we moved in and he has not finished the job. Punch list has 300 items on it and we have more items from a home inspection. He will not finish the job. Tile was installed not to patterns, counter top cut incorrectly, appliances damaged during installation, doors hung at incorrect height, flooding in basement,  cracks in plaster, windows and doors not painted on top, landscaping not finished, cabinets not made to measure, defects in banister. No one should use his services, be careful as he does pre-solds and spec houses.
  
  - Patrick S.
• A

  DESIGN BUILDERS PLUS LLC

  One of our board members met with By Design in order to understand our needs.  A bid was obtained and based on this bid we chose them to do the work.  They arrived when they said they would and before any work was done, showed us samples of the materials and how it would be installed.  They did their work professionally and quickly and stayed within their bid price.  We are very happy with the results.
  
  - Thomas F.