Sussel Builders

This company hires lazy subcontractors from other states. Bottom-of-the-barrel types. I'm guessing that's why you see so many F reviews, that contrast with A reviews which are probably jobs that were not subcontracted. In 1994, we paid these knuckle-dragging idiots $36,000 to build a 3-car garage. The crew they hired was a bunch of carnival sideshows from Florida, who were messy, lazy slobs that I wouldn't trust to build a tree house. All during construction, they just threw their trash into the crevice between the dirt and the new cinder block wall. And I'm not sure they knew anything about how the ground in Minnesota freezes. Unfortunately, I was only a kid and didn't hold any authority to change anything, and my old man was too rich and lazy to do anything about it. My neighbor (who built his own garage the year before, which to this day has not a single crack anywhere) watched in terror as they pieced this pile of garbage together. The floating slab they poured needed to be about twice as deep for the amount of cinder block that was going to be on it (5 blocks high, 3 stalls wide). I'm sure they didn't tamp the ground enough, as another reviewer pointed out, because within 2 months the foundation began to crack across the back 1/3 of the slab. The cinder block walls had 1/2 inch cracks in several locations within 3 months, which worsened every year. The garage door has had to be adjusted every couple of years because the entire structure continues to deform in ways I can't describe without pictures. Today, the cracks in the walls are so large that you can pass a screwdriver to your buddy outside. You can clearly see the neighbor mowing the lawn next door. In winter, when the ground freezes, the height difference between the back 1/3 of the slab and the front 2/3 is OVER AN INCH. The frames around the two-car garage door and the single garage door are bowing. The walls on the garage door side are pushing inward (which is why the doors need to be constantly adjusted). In addition to constant adjustment, both doors have had springs, chains and drives break. That's not supposed to happen. Needless to say, the concrete apron is cracked in several places as well. That's normal for a 25-year-old garage. But the apron cracked within the first 12 months. This garage is so awfully built that the apron is now higher than the foundation, and heavy rain or snow melt will flood the entire floor. I remember when we complained early on that there were cracks. They sent a one-man crew to put mortar in the cracked walls and called it good. When asked about the slab, he just replied that "it's Minnesota, and all garage floors crack." What a crock. Customer service = zero. Now that I'm 40, and will soon graduate with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, I can say with 100% certainty that this company doesn't care about anything but getting your money. Don't buy from Sussel, unless you're filming the next great documentary of how not to build something. Plan about $50,000-$60,000 for your budget since that's about the cost to build this garage in today's money. Eff Sussel straight in their faces. Their buildings are excrement. Will upload pics as soon as garage is empty.

Started building September of 1999. They poured the cement, on ground that needed to be packed down first!!!!!!!!!! They rode over the dirt with their little bobcat and called that good. They then called the city inspector, and he gave the ok over the phone!!!!!!!!! They finished the garage somewhere in February/March,2000. They put up the wrong siding. The draintile that I bought and put down was spray painted with the waterproofing paint for the side walls of the garage!!!!! The man they hired for this, they must have pulled off the side of the road!!!!! He spent at most 10 minutes with a cigarette hanging from is mouth all the while!!! He left leaving huge globs of paint running down the sides!! I spent 2 hours trying to smooth out the globs of paint, and cover the areas that he missed! I called sussel, and they said that they would have had to have seen the job!!!! But I had to spread and smooth out the paint before it dried permantly like that!!!!!! There are cracks all over!!!!!! Two large ones right off the bat in the spring of 2000. Cracks in the side walls on all sides!!!!! The frost heave moves the service door up a good inch or more. When it rains or winter thaws, it is a very wet floor inside. Mold over the side walls!!!! You really need to see this to really appreciate such shoddy workmanship!!!!!!!!!! I did try calling them about all these problems, I was always put on hold for ever. No one ever responded to my calls!!!!!!! I dont care how much time has passed, I am not through with them, or the city inspector!!!!! They owe me a new garage!!!! This clearly was not built correctly!!!!!!!!!!!! Should NOT have paid them.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am really surprised that they are still in business!!!!

We had our garage built in 2017. There were issues with every part of the process. Sussel said we’d have a garage in 4 weeks but to give them 6 weeks because there would be issues. This garage took 12 weeks. Communication was very poor with people showing up on days we were told they weren’t going to shop and they didn’t show up when we were told they would show up. We were told that we could leave everything in their hands…this was NOT the case. We had to police the project constantly and it is fortunate that we did. During demo, their equipment broke down and we loaned them our tools to help fix it. This one-day job took 3 days. We watched the rebar being installed and questioned how that was done. We also wanted a vapor barrier put in at the last minute. They said no problem, but when the plastic was laid, it appeared to be used, dirty and torn. We got that at no charge – good thing that the $174 charge for used plastic was waived. The slab finally got poured. There was a pop-out, of coarse, right where you drive in. That was eventually repaired and we’re hoping it holds. When the block installers started their work, they were going to install block for a 16-foot wide garage door. After some back and forth we finally suggested that he read the plans. Once he read the plans, the worker finally admitted, you’re right, it’s a 17- foot door. Our garage was a little different in that some of the block was below ground. When the block arrived we thought it looked too small, but what do we know – professional garage builders are working here. It turns out the block WAS too small – they installed 6-inch block instead of 8- inch block and the block wall cracked during backfill. They had to tear it down and start all over. This left horrible black marks all over the slab from the bobcat removing blocks. Before the work continued we saw that it was going to rain. We had to go out and clean up all of the mortar residue and trash ourselves or the slab would have been ruined with hardened globs of mortar that had been rained on. Then came waterproofing of the block. They waterproofed all right, but when we went to look at it, they used a grey substance and didn’t reach the point where the block met the slab in many places. They had to come out again and re-waterproof. When they came back, they used a white substance at the slab/block juncture – now we were going to have grey and white stripes show. They came back a 3rd time to waterproof – all with one color. We asked for and were charged for drain tile. They were coming back to do the 2nd back fill around the garage but never installed the drain tile. Fortunately, my husband and his brother chose to install the drain tile because it wasn’t getting done. Sussel showed up the next day to backfill without us being informed that they were coming. Sussel made a good-will offering and gave us the service door for free. That was nice, but they installed trim that was all knicked up on one side. We didn’t want them to install the attic floor, but they mistakenly delivered the materials for that, so they installed it at no charge. Framing of the structure went well – so we thought. The structure was built, siding and roofing put on….then the garage door installer came. He informed us that the door opening was 2 inches too short in height for the 8-foot door. I couldn’t bear to have them pull off siding and deconstruct the garage after all of what we endured. It still worked, but it was 2 inches too short so the decorative part of the door is off. Trash was everywhere in the back and the driveway had yet to be laid. We called and called and no one came to clean up the mess. It took us two trips with a truck to the transfer station ourselves to clean up all the mess. Fortunately, we did that because the next day they came to pour the driveway. After all of this, I wanted my bill adjusted. After an hour meeting of going over all of the issues with the VP and Co-ordinator, I was offered $500. That was nothing. Good thing I kept good records and took photos along the way. We went back and forth on emails for 2 weeks and finally came to a compromise. I felt like I was negotiating a car deal. This was started in May 2017 and completed in August of 2017. So far so good, but it was not a good experience along the way. My main suggestion to them to help avoid this in the future for other clients was to have more oversight by their own people. Perhaps mistakes could be lessened.

Well planned and thorough from start to finish. They worked nicely around our schedule, which extended the construction period a bit. They were not the cheapest, but their price was competitive with two other bids. We went with them because of their long experience and were not disappointed. If you want a garage built with minimal hassles, Sussel is your builder.

We were very impressed with Dennis, the Sales Rep. He was very knowledgeable and informative, and gave helpful suggestions. He was an excellent representative of the company.

Fabulously! They were incredibly easy to work with, communicated well, and very receptive to some changes we wanted to make along the way

Apparently they didn't want my business.

Overall I had a positive experience working with Sussel. I have some minor complaints that I?ll go into more detail on later. I?m providing a lot of details and dates in the hopes that this will be helpful to a first-time garage builder like myself. The process started out with Dennis (sales guy) coming out to take a look at my property and provide me with an estimate. Since this is my first time building a garage, I had a ton of questions for him during and after this consultation. He was knowledgeable and responded quickly to my inquiries and pricing questions. I was happy with Dennis and his honesty which is why I went with Sussel. Once we agreed on everything and got the paperwork signed, demolition started about 2 or so weeks later on 9/8/15. I would?ve preferred it started sooner but these guys are busy. Demolition was fun to watch and the guy that did it did an excellent job and was very friendly. He worked a very long day to get it all done. The foundation pouring was delayed by rain a day or two, and that was completed on 9/11/15. Again, these guys were great, friendly, and seemed to do a solid job. I know it?s still new, but so far there hasn?t been any cracks except in the control joints (fingers crossed). Next up was framing. There was a delay in getting this started which kind of frustrated me. I?m not sure why - maybe part weather related, or maybe my fault (I kept making design changes). Once they got started it only took a few days to complete both the walls and the roof. I didn?t interact with these guys at all, but they did a very nice job from what I can tell. Framing was completed on 10/1/15. Next was shingles and roof vents. The roofing crew came out on a Saturday and got it done quickly. They seemed friendly and did a good job. When they finished, I watched as they took an extra box of shingles with them. I?m not sure if that was appropriate or not, but no big deal in my book. They did good work. This was completed on 10/3/15. Siding was next. This turned out really nice, and as far as I can tell they did a great job. It was completed on 10/7/15. One complaint here ? the sider was supposed to put the aluminum on the door frames, but that didn?t happen. I believe it was because the aluminum hadn?t been delivered yet. Whatever the case, I got in touch with my project coordinator and informed him and the sider came back out and put it on. Next up, electrical. Mostly positive experience here. The work was completed on 10/9/15. He did a great job but missed a couple things ? the power line to the house needed to be 3 feet from the top of the garage and he didn?t put the garage on its own breaker (I used to have a complicated electrical system consisting of breakers and fuses, so understandable). This wasn?t a major issue though, once I had the electrical inspection he was back in touch to come out and fix things. Despite this, I enjoyed working with him so much that I?ve had him out to do additional unrelated electrical work since, and will most likely go to him in the future. Really knowledgeable and nice guy. After that, another delay waiting for the overhead doors to be put on. The first picture I have of the garage with the doors is from 10/22/15, so I?ll say that?s about when they were put on. Other than the delay (which I was told was caused by my 18x7 door that was special order) this was a great experience. There was one guy out there working all day to get all 3 on. I was pretty excited when this was done! After that there were a few more things ? the city came out to bridge the gap between the slab and alley with asphalt, installation of firewall panels, final inspection, I cleaned and power washed the floor and applied a sealant, etc. I finally parked my car in there for the first time on 10/29/15. So that gives you an idea of how long something like this takes - 9/8/15 to 10/29/15 from demolition to parking in your new garage. Less than two months. 12/1/15 is when I made my final payment to Sussel. Looking back it seemed like a lot longer than that. Those were some long weeks and this was quite the process. I made several changes to the design through the process though, which made my involvement higher and made it a bit more stressful. Working with my project coordinator (Paul) at Sussel was mostly positive. I do have to say though, there were a few times when he didn?t get back to me on questions I asked via voicemail or email, and I had to follow-up with him. That became kind of frustrating. Other than that, I?m happy with him and the work done by Sussel. As far as I can tell everything was done right, and I?m happy with the final product! I would work with them again. My best advice to a first-time builder - make sure you thoroughly think through your design. I put a lot of thought into it, and even with that there's still things I would go back and change if I could do it over. The major one is I would've made it bigger, just because it would make more sense on my lot and because even though the garage is huge I visualized it bigger in my head. It's really difficult to visualize the final product but do your best with a measuring tape. Also, don't be stingy with money. I made several changes that I'm happy about (such as adding the extra overhead door in the back of the garage) and all of them added to the final price. But in the end, my take is if you're already spending $35k, what's another few thousand dollars? Especially if that allows you to get a feature you really want. Good luck!

Great service. They've come back a couple times for minor concrete repairs. Very responsive.

They were busy with work and I was not able to reach him to discuss options...

Work completed in a timely manner - cleaned up after themselve.

We hired them to build a garage, they sent their surveyor out. He went off the computer area map instead of using the monument from 1947. His survey was off by 8 feet, which would have put the garage too close to the property line so the city denied the permit. We had to hire our own surveyor to do a property line survey using the monuments, which came out exactly where we knew the line was supposed to be. Sussel's surveyer refused to come out and redo the survey using the monuments.

It was an upgrade from the old one although it has water issues. I liked that everybody was good to work with and they were able to start on time.

They came out and gave me an estimate in August and then completed the project in November. The work went well. It is a pretty well used company in our area. We didn't have any problems and it just went fine. They were professional and the service was good. The cleanup was good. We didn't have any problem with the project manager and any of the employees. They were all professional and helpful. They were willing to accommodate. They were willing to listen and make suggestions. They were what we expected from this particular company, although we haven't dealt with them before; so we went to Angie's List to see what the reviews were. We also knew a couple of people who have used them to build garages for them. The price was very comparable. We didn't a lot of checking around and they were right within like everybody else here.

Showed up on time, and went over everything. Asked who else was bidding my garage and then bashed them. Then promised to have something to me within 2 days and I waited for over a week to even get a bid. When I got the bid it was $5,500 higher than the competition he just bashed.

They answered my questions from a phone call

Everything went fine through the permits and building, until the end of the project. I'd requested they remove an inch of rocky dirt in the back yard (maybe fill quality) so it would be ready for a layer of soil and new sod. Unfortunately instead of removing a level inch, they removed only some soil near the garage and then dumped the rocky dirt in my front yard and MY NEIGHBOR'S YARD. They dumped the rocky mess in a slight depression that lies on both my property and clearly extends into my neighbor's yard. This was nowhere near any work they were contracted to do. They also dumped it in various places in my front yard (again, nowhere near any contracted work) and used it as the fill dirt next to the newly poured front walk. After several attempts to get them to come out and rectify the problem (at LEAST remove the dumped rocky mess so I could put down sod), I was never able to get them to come out and take a look. I finally decided it wasn't worth the hassle and paid a sodding company to come out and remove it and lay new sod. However, my main issue is that the garage foundation is in no way treated for moisture or water incursion. That is completely unacceptable in Minnesota. I was never even offered the option to have the blocks treated, nor to pay extra to ensure that the foundation was installed in such a way as to prevent water from pooling against the east side of the garage. I'd been very clear that this was my first house and first garage, so obviously I didn't know to ask to have the foundation treated and leveled correctly to avoid water incursion. And I question if a homeowner should know this or have to request it. I have not contacted them to rectify the water incursion issue. I have reviewed the contract, and it very clearly states that the foundations are not treated for water/moisture in any way, and that this is the homeowner's responsiblity. It's hard for me to believe that I was supposed to hire a contractor to treat the foundation in a brand new garage build. However, I have since confirmed that is the case as I've had a contractor come out to take a look at the problem and to review the contract. I will be hiring someone with a much better rating to treat my garage, now that I understand how serious the issue is with our extreme weather changes. I cannot recommend a company that routinely uses slab and concrete block for the foundation, but does nothing to treat for moisture in a new construction job.

Sussel tore down my old garage including the slab and built a new one. It took longer than it needed to (in my "I want it done now" opinion) but every bit of it was quality work. I'd use them again in a heartbeat except that I only need one garage. I recommend them whole-heartedly! |

He put together a very thorough breakdown of cost for the estimate. He was a little bit higher than the rest so we decided to go with someone else. He was very personable and helpful. He answered all the questions we had. He was very knowledgeable and asked all the right questions. He was intent on listening to what we were telling him we wanted. We were pretty happy with him. The quote was pretty thorough. We would consider him in the future.

First met with Dennis Jarnot. He has been in the business a long time and was able to answer all of my questions. Project manager was Paul Wiik. He is very friendly, thorough, respectful and timely with communication. Project completed in a timely manner within a few weeks. The garage is great!

Mike originally came out to a house I was to close on a couple weeks after he came out. He was going to turn the bid around to try and start building a 2 story garage addition (attached) as soon as possible. A couple weeks after he had come out there was a little quick back and forth after no response from me sending him information I got from the county he needed to proceed. Apparently he had been sick for a couple weeks. No more response for a couple more weeks. A month after trying to contact him a couple times, he got back and asked if I still needed the estimate. I said yes, then silence again. Well, then nearly another month passed by with nothing, I finally got a hold of Mike by sending another contact request through their website asking if this was anywhere he may have left for someone else in case he was really sick, or family emergency or something came up. He contacted me saying no excuses, said he would give me the bid by the end of the week. I gave him the latest details right away and then at the end of the week he said it would be an additional week to bid, at the end of that week when I was supposed to get the bid that time. It was supposed to be "early this week". I event sent another email Tuesday to follow up. It's Thursday. I don't know how the project would go if they actually did work, so the only thing I can review is the responsiveness. If Mike gets back to me, I have no plans to move forward with the project with them. They may have a really good price, and really good service, but so far it would have been nice to just get ... eh... that's my review. It seems like right now all contractors are booked up though, so maybe this is just how things work in the contractor world. Dunno.

Awesome. From the estimator to the last guy who swept up the mess.

I spoke to the provider over the phone about our garage build and scheduled a time for him, Dennis Jarnot, to meet my partner at the home we are purchasing. During the meeting, he acted in an unprofessional manner, was very short in his communication and appeared very disinterested in the project. When we received the bid, it was $40,000 greater than our lowest bid and $30,000 greater than our highest bid. He also begrudgingly agreed to give us a quote on a bathroom project and again his bid was $10,000 greater than our other bids. We felt his service was disrespectful of us and our time and that his bids were outrageous. You might want to think twice before considering this company.

We had our old garage demolished and a new, larger concrete slab and garage constructed. The sales and estimate process went well and we were very excited and optimistic about the project. Due to weather, our start date was delayed and we recognize that is not at the fault of Sussel. We were given an estimated timeline of events and what to expect. We waited over 2 weeks for the survey crew to arrive and only when I called and informed Lynn, our project manager, was it corrected. After the surveying was done, demolition followed. The contractor did a great job and was finished within a day. We then waited again for the next stage. The concrete crew arrived and it seemed like a good job was being done. This was finished efficiently in a couple of days. They left a small mess, but we just cleaned it up and waited for the next step. The framers arrived the next week, and they did a good job and completed the framing in 2 days. They left behind hundreds of nails all over our property. We ended up with a nail in our tire, nowhere near the garage construction site. They also left their lunch trash behind for us to clean-up. The following day, the roofing crew arrived and worked so fast and cleaned up their entire mess, leaving the trash from the job in a pile for the clean-up crew. We were very happy with this contractor. The siding was completed shortly after and the man that did this was very good and professional. The electrician arrived; however, the trenching had not been completed yet. This put the job behind again. These two items were completed in a timely manner after the initial delay. The clean-up crew finally arrived and had a pretty easy job. He even commented that we must have cleaned a lot up ourselves, because he could tell. I was honestly shocked, as I would have expected the contractors to clean-up after themselves as the job went on. Apparently, it seems to be the Sussel norm for them to leave your property a complete mess until the end. I find this very unprofessional and ridiculous. We were afraid to say anything, for fear it would never be completed or that the job wouldn't be done right. We expected the sub-contractors Sussel hires to work up to a standard and clean-up their personal garbage and possibly the construction area when they were finished. The demolition, siding, electrician and roofers did this; however, the framing crew and concrete crew did not. In dealing with our project manager, I expected much more. I called 3 times to provide the correct phone number, as it was written down on our estimate and project plans incorrectly. Lynn continued to call my husband on some occasions, and we asked this to be changed as he is not always available to answer. I gave him the number to call and this was only followed part of the time. When speaking with Lynn, I felt mislead and like he wasn't listening to our questions and concerns. I disliked dealing with Sussel and don't ever want to do business with them in the future. Overall, the job took over 2 months---much more than the 30 days we were given as an estimate by Mike at the sales meeting. We finally have a very nice garage, bt are disappointed by the process to get here.

Mike did an excellent job meeting our requests when making the sale and was very clear about cost differences and options. Absolutely no pressure to do one thing over the other, just offered his professional advice. John was great about sharing design plans at the appropriate time, and was able to answer questions in short order. Lyn was extremely helpful in communicating when the different contractors would be on site and what was being done on a given day - we never once had a surprise. Billing went smoothly as well. Actual on site work from start to finish was about 6 weeks. We're extremely pleased with the final result, very glad that wechose Sussel.