Wanke Builders, Inc.

Review: Since our home was built, we have had continual problems with our fireplace. If the fireplace is not in use, it continues to frost inside our home. We have also had to have our chase cap replaced before it was even 4 years old due to excessive rusting. I believe this issue led to rain leakage along the side of the fireplace. My son also indicated that the "cricket" did not extend far enough to divert rain and snow melt run off away from the chimney. Wanke Builders recently came out and extended the "cricket" and did some other work, but they are now charging for that work.Desired Settlement: I don't think I should have to pay for the work done. I am also concerned that our fireplace may be defective due to the frost issues we have when the fireplace is not in use. This issue has never been resolved to my satisfaction and I don't want to wait for so much time to pass that it will now be my problem to deal with. If others that have this fireplace don't have this problem, then there is something wrong with mine that needs to be corrected. The first year we used it, both Jason Wanke and the fireplace rep were at our house with no answers shy we have this problem. [redacted] continually refers to the Wisconsin weather. To me this is simply an unacceptable answer.

Business

Response:

Was disappointed to hear of [redacted] dissatisfaction with the invoice for the service we provided her 5 years after the home was built. She has been a great customer and it’s unfortunate when “matters of money come in the way of relationships. I do remember visiting her home with the fireplace installer to see if there was anything wrong with her fireplace, as there was frost on the glass doors when we had extreme cold temperatures. The Installer, who also warrants the unit, determined that there was nothing wrong with the unit and that because the chimney of a fireplace is an uninsulated and unobstructed airway, it is not uncommon to have frost on the glass during times of extreme cold when the unit is not being burned. If there is a high level of moisture in the home, which is common in the first two years after construction, there may be incidences of frost on the glass. I experience frost on the glass of my fireplace, in my home. Fireplaces are efficient means of heat when they are burning, but are often very inefficient when not being burned. This spring, Five years after the home was built, and several years after warranty, [redacted] called me and asked me if I could look at the underside of the fireplace chase as it appeared that there was some leaking around her chimney chase. She also informed me that she had experienced rust from her chimney cap and that she had a salesman come out and sell and install a new chimney chase cap. It’s unlikely the cap was leaking, however, rust drips are unsightly and she did the right thing by taking responsibility for her home. Furthermore, It was obviously wet underneath her chimney chase and we discussed the potential points of water penetration. There were three areas that I felt could have been possible areas of water penetration: 1)The new chimney cap she had installed, 2)The caulk joint in the log siding corners, 3)The cricket behind the chase, up on the roof). We took a look at each area individually. The New chimney cap she had installed by an unknown source: I climbed a ladder and inspected the chase cap she had installed four years after the home was built. See the picture taken, which is enclosed. It appears that it wasn’t installed properly or has come apart. The flashing just doesn’t look correct. I asked her to contact the installer, she hired, and have it checked out as it appears to be compromised. The caulk joint in the log siding corners: The caulk joints were over 5 years old and needed some maintenance. This is normal and common for log siding in our extreme climate. See the pictures of the gaps in the caulk joints enclosed. She was not surprised that her home needed some maintenance and knew that a log home in our Wisconsin climate required a commitment of time and maintenance. She asked me if I could get her some matching caulk as her son would perform the maintenance or have someone he knew do the maintenance work. It was obvious to all of us, that is was a point of water penetration and likely a source of her problem. [redacted] paid us for the caulk. If the caulk maintenance has not been performed yet, the corners are still leaking. The cricket behind the chase, up on the roof: The last area that could have been a potential area of leakage was the cricket or saddle behind the chase. See the picture enclosed. If it didn’t extend far enough beyond the chase, it may have not diverted water far enough away. Also, it is likely that her leaking was not caused by rain, but by the combination of heat build-up from the fireplace and the immense amount of snow build-up we experienced during these record snowfall years. The snow acts as an insulator from above while the heat melts the snow from below causing an “ice-damning” effect. During years of extreme cold and snowfall, like the past two years, it is necessary to perform minor maintenance by pulling snow with a roof rake from areas prone to snow and heat build-up. This past year was an unusually bad snow year. So much build-up; so many roof cave-ins. Even though, we didn’t have time to take on any added work, I felt we needed to make time to visually inspect the area around the cricket. The only way to know for sure whether it was leaking was to tear it apart and inspect it. We did this and found that the cricket extended 3” beyond the chase and that there wasn’t any leaking going on behind the chase. All looked good. While it was torn apart, we decided it was the right time to extend the cricket to 8” beyond the chase, in effort to further help divert water from running against the chase. We felt that [redacted] or her son, was unlikely to perform any snow removal in extreme conditions and extending the cricket would further minimize the incidence of leaking from ice damning. We also custom made some copper kick-out flashings to help divert water away from the chase. See the picture enclosed. Our carpenters did a wonderful job. I spent a lot of time on [redacted]’s service issue. I didn’t charge her for any of my time and didn’t charge her for any materials that I could scrounge up from our shops. This alone saved her several hundred dollars. Needless to say, I was surprised and disappointed when I learned that she didn’t want to pay for any of the service. We really had a great relationship. Hope you can help bring resolution to the issue. Thanks [redacted]Wausau Homes of Medford.

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have decided we will continue to "agree to disagree". In a message Jason sent me on October 16, he suggested we split the cost. Here is the excerpt from his email "I appreciate your business and have always enjoyed working with you. If

it makes you feel better, I can offer you this. We can split the

remaining balance of $460.90. that would leave $230.45 remaining. What

do you think of this proposal? "

I will have a check in the mail today for the amount of $230.45.Regards,