Minneapolis/St Paul Garage Construction/Builders

The quote experience was excellent.

They were great to work with and visited several times to make sure the design was correct. I was wanting a very particular style of shed built that I did not have the experience to do myself. They said it would take 3-4 days and it took them 4 days. I would recommend their work to anyone!

My garage was cited by the City of Minneapolis for several construction violations; sagging gutters, etc. The garage door was too heavy and operating it kept shorting out my home's electrical system, plus I had to stand there and make sure it closed all the way. Snowplows had knocked a huge hole in the side of the garage by the alley. The structure seemed ready to fall apart. Minneapolis Garage completely rebuilt my garage, and installed new doors (both the main door and a service door) and a window. They also replaced the gutters in the color specified. I ordered window lites on the garage door and new sensors with remotes and keypad. I am very happy with everything. Joe Slavec worked with the Minneapolis City Inspectors to let them know the violations were being taken care of. He was able to get a fine dismissed, and I very much appreciated that. These guys are just great. They truly deserve their "A" rating!

In the end, I think we got a good garage at a good price, but the project (particularly the communication) was not managed very well. The construction company was busy with many concurrent projects, but it seems like the project management did not hold up under the project load. I am speculating, but I think the construction company was the victim of its own success - they had so many concurrent projects going that they could not adequately keep up. A few specific areas where I wasn't satisfied: 1. When quoting the project, Joe Slavec had said that he expects it to take 3-4 weeks to complete. In reality it took 5-6 weeks, even though the project did not start immediately after we paid the deposit and the construction company had a lead time of over a month before construction began. I feel that the project duration was under-estimated. 2. I found that I had to repeat what I thought we previously agreed on because Joe Slavec and his project manager (Rich Forster) were not tracking it on the work order. One example is smartlap siding. We talked on the phone about smartlap being our choice, I emailed Joe about it, and yet I got a call asking for the decision on the siding when the materials order was about to be placed. I had already communicated the decision on at least two occasions, but the project manager had not recorded it. Another example is not recording the second installment of the payment and relying on me to tell the vendor that the second installment had already been paid. 3. I specifically asked Joe and Rich to keep me informed ahead of time about what construction activities are taking place on what day, but I did not always get that. Sub-contractors would suddenly appear. One contractor left a trailer with roof shingles in our garage for several days after the roofing job was completed and I had to call to ask for the trailer to be removed. The debris bag sat in our driveway for a long time after the job was completed. I had to call ask when it was going to be hauled away. I was told that it would be on Friday, but it didn't happen until the next Tuesday (when once again, someone suddenly appeared without prior notice). In summary, I am satisfied with the result, but not with the experience during the project. I felt like there were times when I was either in the dark about what?s supposed to happen next or I had to call or email with a reminder of what we had previously agreed on, but which hadn't yet happened. I gave the overall job a "B" grade because a "C" grade would be unduly harsh, but it was really a "B-" experience.

Joe was a good salesman. He provided excellent info and references. The estimate was detailed but unfortunately he added it up to $500 in his favor. Demolition was done on August 29. Foundation was done two days later. Then the project sat with huge trenches around it for nearly 4 weeks. Framing finally started on September 25 and they worked for the rest of the week putting up the structure. I was then told there would then be a delay because it would take two weeks to get the garage door (which meant that, although they started the project a month earlier they hadn't ordered the door until that week thus necessitating the delay). Then he told me he'd only recorded one of my $6500 payments and I had to remind him that I written two $6500 checks. On October 18 I had to remind him that he hadn't installed the garage-door opener. I received a final bill on October 25 although there was still no sidewalk, no site cleanup and there was a missing corner board. In addition, the bill didn't include credit for the $450 I paid before the project started. He was prompt in resending the corrected bill but I waited 3 weeks for the sidewalk. Now I'm unhappy with how it's graded--looks like it's going to send water into the garage. He says it'll be fine but when I asked if I end up with water in my garage if it's covered by his workmanship and structural defect guarantee, he said "No." So in summary, my 2-3 week project took 12 weeks. I was billed improperly twice. And I may end up with water in my garage which isn't covered by their guarantee. Do you really want to take the chance?

The estimate was completed in a timely fashion and the contractor (Joe) was very receptive to my design idea and was good at filling in the details to match the architectural style of the house on the lot. Demolition happened exactly on time and was cleaned up well. The slab was poured shortly thereafter, but from then on the time table seemed to stretch on more than I was hoping and expected. The finished product however was worth the wait, the stucco team did an incredible job and the finishing trim on the roofline looks very professional. Further, it is so nice to have a modern garage with storage after barely being able to fit my compact sedan into the old garage. The price was fair and slightly under a bid from a similarly reputable contractor. I would say Joe firmed up the sale when he gave me a list of projects similar to what I was looking for that were in my neighborhood so I had a chance to inspect his work.

The project went very smoothly from the beginning. The owner, Joe, came out quickly after we called to give us an estimate. He asked us all the right questions and gave us a very comparable bid to the other companies we spoke with. After waiting about a month the project commenced and each crew that came out was professional and timely. The demolition of the old garage was quick and painless followed shortly by the install of the new concrete pad. After taking almost two weeks to allow the concrete to cure the framers were out, followed by the siding installers, roofers and electrician. The only real issue we had was that our garage door took much longer to be installed than it should have. We had a special order garage door that was ordered later than it should been which left us without a way to secure our new garage. Eventually it too was installed and we have been very happy with the end result. Joe was responsive to our questions and calls through out the project except for the week of vacation he took when his #2 man was left in charge. I would hire Joe and his crew again should I find myself ever needing a garage again.

Worked well with me to allow me to do parts of the project myself (i.e. I did the retaining wall, steps, and in floor radiant heat)

Joe and Rich at Minneapolis Garage proved to be totally professional as they built my garage. Demolition and removal of debris took one day. Preparing the site and pouring the concrete slab took one day. Erection of the walls and roof trusses took two days. Shingling took half a day. Installation of siding took half a day. Miscellaneous (electrician and garage door instalation) took one day. At the end of each day, the job site was cleared of construction debris. The crews did not curse nor were they unnecessarily loud (the neighbors have a baby). They kept their shirts on. Other than a brief lunch break, they worked continuously??.and hard. Each crew was very polite and respectful, not only of us but also of the neighbors. The most impressive thing is that either Joe or Rich came each day to check not only on the crews but also on their workmanship. EVERYTHING is square and level. I checked! When the last crew left, it was as if no construction had taken place - other than the fact that there was now a new, sturdy garage where the old garage sat. Minneapolis Garage got all the permits required. They also set the appointed times for the various inspectors to do their thing. We had to do nothing other than watch the construction proceed. Minneapolis Garage's price was more than reasonable, especially compared to a price from another contractor which was nearly $20,000.00 more. In two words, we are VERY PLEASED with Minneapolis Garage and would not hesitate to recommend their work to anyone.

The owner, Joe Slavec was responsive and communicative from the estimate to final inspection. His price was $5-6K less than the nearest company from which I got estimates. There was glitch in obtaining the permit which was not the fault of Minneapolis Garage. They made several trips to the zoning office to rectify the situation. All the crew were professional, experienced and produced an impeccable, finished garage. The attention to detail was rather remarkable and left me with no problems to correct. Not a single part of the project was overlooked. Excellent, excellent company. If you are building a garage, look no further.

Garage went up just as planned. It looks great.

Job started May 15th, 2012 and completed June 8th, 2012 the garage door took a week longer to install than expected since it was special ordered. Excellent work. I sent quotes to 3 of the best in Angie's List and MSP Garage paid the most attention to detail and took time to walk me through options and make decisions on what I wanted. Honestly I used their info to try to get more detailed quotes from other bidders. MSP Garage was not the cheapest quote but since I felt more comfortable with them due to the focus on details. We negotiated a price on a Monday and they demolished the old garage on Wednesday. The space for installing the garage was very limited but they did a great job of keeping things clean. I was impatient waiting for poor slabs to cure before the next step occurred but it went relatively quickly. We ended up spending $500 over the $27,000 quote because we chose more outlets in the garage and the concrete team recommended adding additional color to the patio to give it dept. Great recommendation. I highly recommend using them for a garage. One more thing, my neighbor asked if they could poor concrete next to their garage to make it look better and it was no problem and pretty cheap for the neighbor.

They did a great job. They communicated very well; the workers were also fast and professional. They also included a detailed itemized list of all the work was being done. The itemized list was great because we did have a slight discrepancy with the concrete price. He quickly remedied the situation. The overall experience was great.

Joe is friendly and good at communicating. All of the people he uses are also friendly and do high quality work. They completed the project within 2 weeks and I could not have been more pleased with the results. Very professional.

Overall the project went very quickly and very well. Joe Slavec, the owner of Minneapolis Garage, assisted us every step of the way - from the initial estimate, through design and construction, to the final touches and permit sign-offs. Joe was extremely responsive and professional throughout the process and helped out as some changes to the contract needed to be made as the work progressed. He works with a carefully selected set of subcontractors that actually perform most of the work. Though all of them do great work, I was most impressed with his concrete contractor and the carpentry crew. I did a lot of concrete work in college so I know what to look for, and the quality of the concrete work is uniformly excellent. They brought in a great deal of Class 5 fill to level the site and set the grade to ensure good drainage and avoid problems in the future. The finish of the concrete is flawless, and because it was cold the week they did the work they left the new slab covered with thermal blankets for a couple extra days to ensure it cured and hardened correctly during the critical first few days. Given my experiences with previous concrete crews, and the unique drainage issues on my lot, the slab was the part of the job I was most concerned about. Joe's subcontractor did a great job, and I have absolutely no concerns about the quality or longevity of my new garage slab. The carpentry crew was also really talented, and did very high quality work very quickly. They arrived very early every morning, and did the work professionally and efficiently. They worked seamlessly with the city building inspector to make some minor changes to the design where necessary. I was really pleased at how quickly the garage went up, and how conscientious they were about keeping the site picked up and clean each day. It's one thing for a contractor to do great work, but it's a complete other to have them do great work and be respectful to my property, my neighbors, and of my time. These guys exceeded my expectations on every point. Overall, you can't go wrong with Minneapolis Garage Construction. I am so thrilled with my garage and all the new functionality and storage I have now. I'm also told by my realtor friend that my investment will be mostly, if not fully, realized when it comes time to sell. Joe, his project manager Rich, and all of his subcontractors are true professionals that do good work. I would whole-heartedly recommend them to anyone. The price we paid is a good value for the quality and efficiency Joe brings to the table.

We decided to not do the project. I would use them if we decided to do the project.

I wish this company was available to do all our remodeling and repair jobs, because of this very positive experience. It's hard to imagine such a big project going so easily and well. Working with this company was absolutely wonderful. Excellent communication and very trustworthy company. From the tear down to the concrete pour to the building and to the electrical work, all of the people were wonderful. Of course these jobs were done by specialists and there were different people who did them. The common thread was that the workman were very good at keeping in contact with what was coming next and what they needed from us. The workman introduced themselves to us when we peaked outside in the mornings. The project which took just over 2 weeks was never a mystery because of their good communication. It made us relax and know that they were handling things. Of course, we could see the progression and that was really fun to see everyday. Joe, the owner, is very responsive and always got back to us when we had questions. He keeps good records which is important to me. Everytime there was a change no matter how small (we asked for another set of gutters for the garage late in the project), Joe provided me with an updated invoice and receipt. Is it possible to love a garage? We love our garage. It is well built, looks nice, and is even better than I imagined it would be.

It turned out great. We're still waiting on them to come back and finish up some concrete work this Spring. It got too late into the fall/winter for them to complete that work last year.

Everything went great! Because of the time of year, everybody and their mother wanted to build a garage so it did take a little longer than expected. I had multiple bids and was very pleased with Minneapolis Garage's price. I would recommend them to anyone that is in need of a garage.

We are so glad we have Angies list . Neighbors down the street hired a relative of a friend and their concrete slab was cracked almost immediately and took over a year to finish. The Salesman from Minneapolis Garage visited us in July. We went with them largely due to Angies list and that he was very good at providing extra details to questions we asked. He seemed very responsive to our concerns about water pooling in our current garage and placement of driveway and door. Salesman from other companies seemed vague or pushed us toward a particular garage design. ... also very detailed answers to our questions about Saint Louis Park city codes and power line issues. They asked for payments in installments as work was done.. which was very fair. 1/3 up front to break ground and haul away old, 1/3 when the walls and roof were being put up, and 1/3 when COMPLETELY done. About two weeks later they got scheduled and very quickly tore down old garage and hauled all the debris away. From here on in I must say that they did excellent quality work and hired PROFESSIONALS who did excellent work. One of the BEST jobs I have ever seen on laying concrete. I would highly recommend if you have a new driveway to put in, call these guys. There were only a few drawbacks we could see. And while these weren't dealbreakers, I will spend most of the review talking about them so future buyers can be on top of them before they happen. It took alot longer than we anticipated to finish our garage. They started in early August but weren't completely done til mid October. They contract out all their work, and while they hire only the highest qualified professionals to do their work.. they weren't always the best at following up to make sure the job was completey done. The final steps (each of the steps below) seemed to depend on us calling them, and waiting a week or two week delay for each step to be scheduled ... and in a couple of cases they seemed surprised by our call because they thought they were all finished? 1: getting gutterspouts installed 2:getting the electrical installed 3: getting the city inspector to reinspect after minor fix to rafter configuration. (I know .. out of their control, but still another delay) 4: getting the electric garage door installed. *There were also a couple of minor things that they didn't mention that we were surprised by. 1> the attic space has to leave open rafters on the edges. We had envisioned a completely floored attic. This is a Saint Louis Park City code.. but we were a little disappointed that we couldn't have the attic completely floored .2> They don't do landscaping.. In all fairness they did mention this but I didn't envision a two ft wide by one ft deep trench around my garage that I would be responsible for filling. When I complained about this they partially filled it with about two or three inches of high quality black dirt. Which if I had left, would have washed away in the first rainstorm. SIX HOURS OF of backbreaking work later I had filled it in with much more appropriate gravel, paver base , and rock. I don't think it would have been too hard for them to haul in a load of gravel with a bobcat. would have taken about an hour of their time and probably less expense than the black dirt. If you hire them, look for a landscaping outfit on Angies list to hire after they leave. OVERALL THEY DID HIGH QUALITY WORK! and we are VERY SATISFIED in the end with our 2 car garage. and all the extra storage space was desperately needed. and it solved our water flow problems.. everything now drains away from the garage and out into the alley gutters. Many of our neighbors have commented on how they like the new garage.

The job went well. They fixed my garage door very quickly. They were very courteous and did a great job.

We met with Joe Slavec from Mpls Garage on 6/29/11 to get an estimate to tear down and build a new 22 x 24 garage. Joe is part-owner and you can tell he?s built a few garages in his time. He wasn?t just a salesman. He agreed to take down and put back up our garage door opener and roll back and reinstall our chain link fence, which is something that our other estimate would not do. We were very specific and said we did not want any wood visible that would need to be painted. We wanted all vinyl. Joe said that we could have a new garage within 2 weeks. The other estimate we received said 4-6 weeks. We picked a finish date of 9/3/11 so Joe said they could start on 8/15/11. Due to vacations, the demo crew showed up early, on 8/11. They started at 1:00 p.m. and by 4:30 the garage was down and the concrete slab pulled up. They returned the next day at 7:00 a.m. and finished pulling up the remainder of the driveway slab and dumped a pile of sand that the next crew would use to level things out. Monday, 8/15/11 the cement crew showed up at 7:00am and started working and by 3:00 we had a new garage floor and driveway poured and sealed. Monday night we had over 2? of rain. We watched the water run out of the garage and flow down the driveway ? just the way it should. We checked the next morning for puddles and there were none. The floor was dry. Wednesday the framing crew showed up and by 4:00 the frame was up. Thursday, they came and finished putting the walls up. Monday, 8/22/11 the garage door was hung and the garage door opener installed. Tuesday the siding crew showed up and started siding. They were not impressed with the siding that was delivered so they called Joe and Joe had new siding delivered. This showed me that they really cared what the finished product was going to look like. By 4:00 8/25/11 we had a brand new garage we could park in. The electrician came on Monday 8/29/11 and it was done. Throughout this whole time Rich, Joe?s partner, came out every morning and met with the inspectors and made sure everything was in order and the guys had everything they needed to do the job. Rich was wonderful to work with. Joe came out and did the final walk through to make sure everything was done. This company was the best company I?ve ever worked with. You could tell that every crew that came to do a job had worked together for a while and everything ran like clockwork. We did not have to do a thing ? Mpls Garage did it all from tear down to clean up and I would highly recommend them if you?re looking to build a new garage.

They arrived on time and fixed the problem we'd been struggling with for months. We should have called them earlier.

The project went well. Joe was very helpful navigating the permit/approval process and was very responsive all the way through construction. His crews were very professional. I received an excellent product at a fair price and would definitely recommend Minneapolis Garage Builders to anyone looking to build a garage.

We are exceptionally pleased with our new garage. Joe was fantastic with communication--by email or phone, he always replied promptly and sent all the pertinent details. He happily changed a couple things that I wanted modified from the original plan (added one course of cement block between the slab and framing). They used great subcontractors for pouring the slab, doing the roofing/siding, garage door installation, and electric. Every portion of the project was done with professionalism and properly cleaned up afterwards. We had a great experience, and I've recommended them to a couple of people already.