Badgerland Restoration & Remodeling

When our company was originally contracted by [redacted] [redacted] , we worked diligently to get her and her family back into their home by ThanksgivingsAfter multiple attempts to obtain a punch out list from the [redacted] , we finally received the list on Feb17, Due to the tardiness of receiving this punch out list we were not able to begin work on the list until recently due to poor weather as the list included exterior paint and window replacementWhile our crew was working on the list, Mr [redacted] made the decision to remove the lock box on the front door so our crews could not complete the projectIt was explained to Mr [redacted] multiple times that our crews are very busy and as a result of his actions it will dramatically increase the completion time of the projectA representative from our company spoke to Mr [redacted] on may 1, and stated that due to him not letting our crews continue, we were currently focused on many other open projects which are larger and could not be stoppedThe representative also stated to Mr [redacted] that the other projects should be completed by May 9, and Mr [redacted] questions would all be addressed at that time Our company feels this claim is premature and inaccurate from this customer due to prior contact with our representative stating a time when his questions would be addressedThe owner of Badgerland has made several attempts also to set up a time to meet with Mr & Mrs [redacted] to go over the details of the project in order to move forward with the completionEvery attempt of contact by the owner of Badgerland has not had any response from the customer to this date Badgerland is still currently attempting to set an exact time to meet with the customer, owner of Badgerland, sales representative, Chief Financial Officer, and desk adjuster to review and resolve this situation

My husband and I hired Badgerland Restoration and Remodeling Incin April, to replace our gutters, soffit, fascia, roof, windows, patio door and update our bathroom (install new shower/tub unit, replace the floor, install new shower door, all new hardware, sand, stain and topcoat unfinished vanity and two doors, and prime and paint the walls and ceiling)When Badgerland’s sales representative presented us with the estimate, it stated: “We are fully licensed and insuredOur in-house crews are extremely competent, well trained, and undergo extensive training/certificationWe pride ourselves in quality workmanship, customer service, and on site managementAll labor comes with a guaranteed five year warranty, with possible extensions up to a lifetime labor warranty.” Prior to signing the contract, my husband and I asked the sales representative for Badgerland to verify that they had their own crews to do the work and their sales representative verified that they have their own crews that would be doing the workThe sales representative even stated the crews would be coordinated to begin work on our home at the same time in order for the job to be finished within a shorter period of timeThis never took placeThe contract stated the approximate start date was 5-22-and the approximate end date was 6-22-Badgerland did not begin work on our home until 6-4-and the job was not completed until the end of September, There was no change order given to us to notify us of the delay nor did Badgerland verbally inform us the job was going to take longerAlso, we never received a copy of Badgerland’s insurance policy, which they advertised they were insuredThe windows we ordered were eleven replacement, sliding vinyl windows in our homeWe also ordered a bay window with double-hung windows on the sides and a patio doorThe sales representative stated these would be the appropriate windows needed to replace the old windows which were single-pane, wood casement windowsWhen the windows were delivered, the bay window had casement windows on each side instead of the double-hung windows that we orderedI brought this to the sales representative’s attention, and he contacted the window manufacturer to get the correct windowHowever, the manufacturer refused to supply a corrected window, because the sales representative did not specify on the order form that the bay window should have double-hung windows on each side, causing the manufacturer to default casement windowsDuring the time the windows were being installed, the installer mentioned he was having problems getting the windows to fitIt was obvious as the installation went on that the installer was getting angry and frustrated with the jobHe tried contacting the sales representative from Badgerland several times to let him know of the problems; however, the sales representative never contacted himFinally, I called the sales representative and informed him the window installer was having problems with the windows and that he needed to talk to himWhen the sales representative returned my call, I asked him if there were any problems and he said everything was fineHe stated that he called the installer and talked with him and went on to tell me that the installer has a tendency to get easily upsetAfter the windows were installed, the man who did the installation informed me in a conversation that he was not certified for window installation and did not receive any training from Badgerland nor the window manufacturer on how to properly install these specific windowsNevertheless, it was advertised in our estimate (see above in bold print) that their crews were “extremely competent, well trained, and undergo extensive training/certification.” The individual who installed the windows also informed me that he was not an employee of Badgerland but was subcontractedIn fact, he has his own businessYet, the estimate stated Badgerland had “in-house crews.” The bathroom remodel consisted of new flooring, a new exhaust fan, a new shower unit, hardware to be installed (handles, shower-head, faucets, and two light fixtures), a new, unfinished vanity, two new, unfinished doors, a new shower door, and an electrical outlet to be installedThe walls also required retexturing and painting with mold-killing primer applied firstMy husband and I asked the sales representative if their crew could do the finishing of the vanity and the two doors, and the sales representative agreed that their crews could definitely do soAs time went on, mold began to come through the new paint in the bathroom, and mold continues to grow under the caulk used on the shower doorMold- resistant caulk for the shower unit was not usedThe glue from the previous border that was removed by Badgerland is showing through the new paintThe vanity and the two doors are rough to the touch, and the stain is now warping off of the vanity due to a top coat not being applied, and the wood was not properly finishedBadgerland also did some touch up painting in one of the rooms only to find that the paint did not match When I called Badgerland about this, Tom Pruett rudely told me he is not sending his guys out to our house anymoreOn the weekend of November 9, 2013, an excessive amount of cold air was coming in from around the window in a bedroom on the upper levelAfter checking the other windows, we discovered the majority of them had cold air coming in from outsideI contacted the sales representative about the problem and he passed the message on to the owner, Travis [redacted] [redacted] finally contacted me to schedule a time that he and a carpenter named Matt, could come to inspect the windows [redacted] stated they would remove the window trim and bring smoke sticks, fans, and an infrared gun to find the source of the air leakWe scheduled this meeting for 11-21-On 11-21-2013, [redacted] showed up alone with only an infrared gunHe did not remove any trim from any of the windowsHe said he would have Matt come to caulk even though the problem was not properly investigatedHe stated they would come back in the spring to complete further caulkingI also brought to [redacted] attention how the bathroom turned outI showed him the poorly finished vanity and the two doors, and he informed me that his “employees” do not do wood finishingHe stated they only install finished products which is unusual for a remodeling and restoration companyWe were also told by the sales representative that they would be able to do the wood workAfter [redacted] had left, I made a phone call to a friend of mine who has been in the window business for many yearsHe stated that the windows do not appear to be the correct size and that caulking would not solve the extensive air leaksI called [redacted] that same evening and informed him that I spoke to someone to gain their professional opinion of the issue who felt the problem was not simply an issue of caulkingI suggested having the windows re-measured only to assure they were the correct size [redacted] became belligerent, demanded to know how I had time to get someone to look at the windows since he left our home, and accused me of wanting moneyI told him I was not looking for money and only wished to have his company properly diagnose and fix the problemI also informed him of the many problems that the installers experienced during the installation process of the windows [redacted] ***t then stated he did not care how the project went and that the windows were not going to be fixedHe also stated they are what they are and hung up on meThis was when my husband and I decided to hire an attorney, because there was an obvious problem that the company refused to properly addressOn 11-26-2013, I received a call from Tom [redacted] , the owner’s father and vice president of Badgerland, to confirm the appointment for the next day for Matt to caulk the windowsI told him this appointment was cancelled and that he would hear back from us in a few daysUnder the advice of our attorney, we scheduled another appointment with Badgerland to have them remove the trim on the windowsThis meeting took place on 1-13-Tom [redacted] , an employee of Badgerland, and vice president of sales of the window manufacturer, Unlimited Windows, were presentWe also had an experienced window consultant come to this meeting to provide his opinion of the problemBadgerland refused to take any trim off the windows and stated that they did not have tools with them to do soBadgerland also tried to persuade the window consultant to take the trim off which would have been inappropriate for him to do so since Badgerland installed the windowsYet, this meeting was specifically set up for Badgerland to remove the trim to find the source of the air leaksTom [redacted] went on to say that he never told me they were going to remove any trim on this dateTom [redacted] then stated they would have a local contractor come to remove the trim on another day Tom [redacted] also stated that his son, Travis, does quite well and brings in about $5,000,a year It is our opinion that they would rather caulk the windows than correctly identify the source of the problemWe discussed the meeting with our attorney and decided not to make the appointment to have a local carpenter remove the trim, since we do not know if he/she is affiliated with BadgerlandWe were also having many difficulties with them along with the lack of respect on their partWe scheduled yet another meeting with Badgerland to remove the trimPresent at this meeting were my husband and I, two sales representatives from Badgerland, our attorney, and two experienced window consultantsThis meeting took place on 3-18-2014, four months after Badgerland was notified of the problems with the windowsWhen Badgerland removed the trim on the kitchen window, several openings to the outside were visible due to no use of insulation and poorly constructed framingWe also discovered that the man who installed the windows removed the original frames and poorly fabricated new frames with 2x4’s and 1x6’s which left huge gaps in the cornersWe were not aware of this until the trim was finally removedOne of Badgerland’s sales representatives stated the old frames needed to be removed, because they were rotted and fell apart which was the reason the window installer fabricated new framesWe were never informed of the supposed problems with the frames, nor were we informed that the process of the window installations would be dramatically changed because of the fabrication of new framesAlso, at this meeting, this particular sales representative even commented that this was a “botched job.” At this point, my husband and I did not want anyone from Badgerland to do anything more about these issues, since we had so many difficulties with them, as well as the fact that they misrepresented themselves to us since the beginning of the jobI later found out from the man who installed the windows that the frames from the old windows were, in fact, not rottedHis justification for removing the old frames was the fact that he simply did not know how to properly remove themOne of Badgerland’s sales representatives advised him to remove the entire window, including the frame, and was told to make them fitThis resulted in the window installer’s fabrication of new frames in order to make the new windows fitHowever, even by doing so, the windows do not fit properlyBecause of the incorrect installation and lack of insulation of the windows, frost accumulates in the winter on the interior vinyl of the new windows and the trim, and cold air blows throughout our homeWe were faced with cold temperatures in our home throughout the past two winters, with our two daughters’ bedrooms being the worstDuring the summer of 2014, my husband and I conducted numerous phone calls, emails, and meetings with our attorney, and our attorney had numerous phone calls and emails with Badgerland’s attorneyIt is in our opinion that Badgerland was intentionally prolonging this situation for their own benefitEventually, we came to an agreement to conduct mediationIt was decided that if mediation was unsuccessful, we would then proceed to arbitrationMediation took place at our home on 8-22-The mediation took place without Badgerland’s attorney due to the extra cost it would acquire for themAlso, [redacted] was confident that we would come to an agreement during mediation without the presence of his attorneyUnfortunately, mediation was unsuccessfulIt was also brought to our attention by the village building inspector that there were no building permits applied for the remodel of our homeHe also informed us that if he were to have an inspection conducted on the windows, it would not passWhen this was brought to Badgerland’s attention, they stated they were not aware that any permits were required for this jobIn fact, the village we live in does require building permits for replacement of soffit, fascia and new windows if the frames of the window are to be removed to install new windowsBuilding permits are to be applied for before work commences on any home improvement for which they are requiredAlso, owners of the property are to be notified of any required permits before work commencesBadgerland eventually paid for the building permits and the penalty for applying after the work was already completedBadgerland paid this a short time before we the scheduled arbitration took placeOn 11-25-2014, arbitration took place at the arbitrator’s officeMy husband and I incurred the expense of hiring a court reporter for arbitration since Badgerland did not feel it was necessary to have oneWe also had to pay for half of the arbitration costs and attorney feesOn 12-11-2014, the arbitrator awarded us a judgement against Badgerland for $40,581.06, which Badgerland is well overdue in paying us to get our windows fixedThis judgement does not even include the cost of fixing our bathroomWe have also been informed that Badgerland has threatened to file bankruptcyTo this date, we still do not have our windows fixed, and it will be our third winter living in a freezing house with high heating billsNow, we have to worry about the possibility of mold in the walls due to the moisture from the bad installationI would definitely not recommend this company! In fact, the sales representative from Badgerland that so adamantly defended them has now taken Badgerland to small claims court himself [redacted] has many branches of this company across the United States and still cannot seem to make enough money to pay his duesIn my opinion, they are rude, unprofessional, irresponsible, and disrespectfulThey falsely misrepresent who they are and what they doIn my opinion, they do not care about the safety and satisfaction of their customersThere are good contractors out there, but in my opinion, Badgerland Restoration and Remodeling, Incis definitely not one of them