M-R Builder Inc

Description of Work: Remodeled a dining room into a home office, and designed and built a room in the basement that my wife uses as a sewing/craft room.

Description of Work: .

Description of Work: In 1999, we contracted with M-R Builder to design and build our 3600 sq. ft. home in Brooklyn, Michigan. We took to them a design layout from a magazine and then worked with the owner and his CAD designer to modify the plans substantially to what we wanted. M-R Builder was very creative and had many good ideas on designing the house. M-R Builder bid out the subcontractor work to keep the costs low but also awarded the work to very qualified and professional companies and workers. They supervised the work very closely and kept us informed about the progress and consulted with us quickly on any questions (we lived an hour away from the construction site). The home was finished in a reasonable time in the Spring of 2000 and we were extremely pleased with everything. My purpose for submitting this report is to compliment them on how well they stand behind their work, years after the house was completed. Our house was built using Exterior Insulation Finishing Systems (EIFS) which is a styrofoam exterior covered with a cement skin. In Michigan this exterior is called STO and in the south it's called Dryvit. The look simulates a stucco appearance. We had been having a problem with water getting behind the EIFS where our upper deck joined the house under the entrance door at the north end. It proved to be a tricky problem to determine how the water was not draining properly and was getting behind the EIFS. We first noticed a problem around 2002 and M-R Builder worked with the EIFS contractor to make some changes to correct the problem. A couple years later we could tell from stains on the support beam under the deck that water was again getting behind the EIFS and M-R Builder came again and removed all the damaged EIFS and wood underneath and again made changes to control how the water drained off the deck and away from the house. All work and material costs were covered by M-R Builder. However, the drainage problem was not fixed and again in 2008 we could see evidence of water getting behind the EIFS. This time, M-R Builder completely removed the deck boards and railing down to the basic structure and rebuilt the deck using waterproof tar paper and lots of flashing along all the perimeter where the deck connects with the house. They also installed the deck boards on top of 2" x 2" strips so that any water will drain through the deck boards and run away from the house. Again, we are only paying for materials and that is because we chose to change from treated lumber to plastic decking and metal rails. Throughout the repair, the M-R Builder owner has been very pleasant and involved in the project, his workers are exceptionally courteous and do a great job of cleaning up the work area at the end of each day. M-R Builder is an exceptional home builder.