WISCONSIN LANDSCAPES AND REMODELING INC

Description of Work: We had our 1950's era cast iron bath tub replaced with a modern modular wall/tub unit. At the same time we had our tub fixtures, toilet and water heater replaced, and the entire room re-trimmed. The walls surrounding the tub were stripped to the studs and re-drywalled. One wall was furred out to accomodate the slightly wider tub, and (old) damage to the ceiling was repaired. The crew(s) did an excellent job on most aspects of the project and immediately took care of the few issues that did arise. We are very happy with the project and have received positive comments from family and friends. We'll work with Mick & Jeremy again when the opportunity presents.

Description of Work: We asked Mick to help us design and then build if we found his pricing reasonable. We also asked him for pricing on a couple of easy tasks, such as, preparing a space in the lawn for a veg garden. He suggested a design agreement, before signing we had questions about the scope we wanted answers to, these were never resolved. I sent a down payment in good faith, (Mick is a very likeable guy) He agreed to do a preliminary design and then discuss it and move to full design as we define the agreement more.

Description of Work: We worked with Wisconsin Landscapes and Remodeling for several months to create the specifications and bids for a project to remove the earth from the side of our basement, cut large holes through the concrete wall, and install large solid glass windows in the basement to expose the previously dark space to sunlight and to create views of the countryside so that we could enjoy using that space for recreation, exercise and a workshop. | |They did a great job! Their bid was not the lowest, but it was very competitive and very comprehensive with a lot of attention to detail and the small difference in price between them and the lowest bidders was well worth it. They offered us several alternative proposals for our consideration after talking with us about different ways the job could be done. That gave us a good comfort level that everything was being done carefully in terms of engineering the project for structural integrity, energy loss and weather seal. Especially in terms of specifying the best windows we could get that had the features we wanted for a severe northern exposure in a cold climate [Marvin]. | |We appreciated the fact that the company acted as the turn-key general contractor for the entire job, and that when the job was finished, they were also able to handle all of the exterior landscaping so that once the remodeling was finished, the outside work would also be accomplished by the same company rather than sub contracted to another firm. It was a good thing, because placing the windows involved figuring out how far down the wall we could go to keep the grade above frost level while at the same time ensuring for proper pitch for drainage and sight lines in front of the retaining walls to preserve the views. | |The project involved removing the earth from the lower level of the house, cutting through the existing 8 inch concrete walls, tearing out the existing interior studs, insulation and drywall and electrical service, installing new, huge four foot wide energy efficient solid glass windows, rebuilding the interior walls, restoring the electrical and finishing off the outside with aluminum wrapped matching trim and sealing everything up to make it weather tight. Then large stone retaining walls were built on both sides of the opening and the yard was restored with the addition of new soil and regrading and seeding. | |The concrete cutting was dusty and dirty as you might expect, but they did an excellent job of masking off the rest of the house and containing the cooling water from the diamond saw while cutting the concrete. There was very little in the way of clean up after all of the cutting was finished. The specialized concrete cutting service retained by the company encountered a problem obtaining a straight cut, but the company was able to adjust the framing of the windows to accommodate the new dimension by custom cutting tapered framing to achieve a tight fit. | |Once the interior and exterior wall work was completed and the windows were installed, they constructed large retaining walls made of large native stones from a local quarry to match other landscaping in our yard. The rockwork was beautifully done, with a lot of attention to appearance as well as professionally constructed to allow for proper drainage. The stonemason worked with us as the wall was being built so that we were happy with the sizes, shapes and fit of the stones. All of the areas of the yard that were torn up by construction equipment were graded, new soil was added and the entire area was seeded to bring it back to better than original appearance. In addition, the company used leftover stone to create a clever council circle with a fire pit in the middle that is both decorative and functional, featuring a large rock slab table as an added attraction. | |The combination of landscaping and remodeling in a single contractor proved to be a winning service that this company delivered very well. Working with them was a real pleasure. | |The quality of their estimates, proposals, advice and finished work was outstanding. They were friendly, timely, and professional and fulfilled all of our expectations. And our personal interactions with company representatives was as good as anyone could want. The people working with this company are the kind of folks you are very comfortable with in terms of having them in your home and trusting them to be doing the right thing. They are professional, clean, courteous, consultative and patient. They were very attentive to our concerns as the project progressed, addressed all of our requests, answered our many questions, and made small changes along the way as they and we came up with new ideas and suggestions. Being able to work with a reasonable degree of flexibility within the bid, and being able to expand the project by adding on features with additional time and materials on a rolling basis was a real plus that allowed us to get everything done the way we had hoped it would come out in the end. | |One person, who is the owner of the company, coordinated all of the various people who worked on the project. We only had to deal with that person for scheduling and we got daily updates on what was going to happen and who would be here next. Everyone showed up when they said they were going to. All appointments were kept and everything was done on schedule, weather permitting. We did not experience any inconvenience because things were done when they said they would get done and no one was waiting for anyone else to get their part of the job finished before they could start their part. | |The project was performed on time as scheduled and slightly over budget but that was because of agreed upon changes and a couple problems that were unexpectedly encountered so no problem. When the project was over, everything was picked up, cleaned up and all neat and tidy, right down to the last chunk of stray concrete, scrap of metal trim and nail. The interior was swept and vacuumed and we were ready to start putting things back into the remodeled space so we could start enjoying the new sunlit view that used to be a dark basement. | |We highly recommend that if you are thinking about hiring a construction and remodeling firm, and especially if your project involves the restoration of the landscaping after your project is over or if it involves adding new landscaping features as part of the same project, you should talk with Wisconsin Landscapes and Remodeling. They are an excellent company. Our experience with them was first rate. We will be going back to them again for our next project. |

Description of Work: We worked with Wisconsin Landscapes and Remodeling for several months to create the specifications and bids for a project to remove the earth from the side of our basement, cut large holes through the concrete wall, and install large solid glass windows in the basement to expose the previously dark space to sunlight and to create views of the countryside so that we could enjoy using that space for recreation, exercise and a workshop.