Kool View Co.,Inc.

Had work done last fall on my vacation home to enclose our deck and couldn't be happier with the results. We are enjoying our deck year round now. Would highly recommend.

unknown

From the start it did not go well. After signing the contract on July 3 2014, the engineer and owner came to our home on July 10 to plan the project. We had a unique design because we have a stone face on our home and needed two doors and steps. At the outset we started asking about what the steps off the room would look like and how they plan to fix the stone once the roof was extended. Bernie Bos kept telling us, "don't worry, we'll love it." From the 10th of July, our letter from Bernie said that we should have plans by Aug 3 and they would start work Aug 25 and end Sept 10. I started phoning Bernie around August 3 in expectation of the plans. He said that he was driving to Michigan that day to get them. We didn't receive the plans until August 25 and I had to rush to the building inspector to get a permit that day. Work started on the room the day after labor day. We asked that the deck not be torn off until they were ready to start the deck. The deck was torn off 6 weeks before the new deck was built. A big inconvenience to us because this is an entryway to the backyard. Also, from before the project started, I advised Bernie and the project manager to avoid the empty lot behind our home. They originally wanted to drive their trucks through the lot and we said no. Yet, when the workers dug the new footings, they dumped all the dirt and stones into the field! Who dumps their trash into someone elses property? I had to complain about this for several months until the workers finally cleaned up their mess in December. They kept their materials in our garage for many weeks. The job was very disorganized. On several occasions with one day notice, the workers told me that they needed access to my attic (it's through my bedroom closet). I would have to change my work schedule so that I could be home, and then they wouldn't need access that day and want access the following day! Three times they told my electrician to do work at a specific date and time only to have him stand around and not actually be needed to do the work that day. They also gave conflicting instructions to my electrician regarding what needed to be done and when. I was told that the workers generally install SunSpace sunrooms and that this was only the second Temo brand room that they've installed. SunSpace puts electrical on the floor and we specifically chose Temo so that we could put electrical on the wall. Even so, the lead construction manager tried to tell our electrician to put the electrical in the floor. It was only because we were home that we avoided this error. We were also told by Bernie that the workers attached the room to our home differently that planned. Originally Bernie told us that there would be caulking that we would need to maintain where the room attached to our home. The workers sawed a channel through the stone on our home to do this and then didn't use it. When we asked Bernie about the caulking, he said that they attached the room differently so there isn't any. The biggest problem occurred due to the lack of professionalism on the part of the owner, Bernie Bos. The terms of the contract are very favorable to the contractor, as are most. However, when work started on September 3, I still had no plans on what was being done on our deck - where were the steps, what railings. So I paid 50% of the contract without the deck since I had no idea what they were planning on doing. Bernie was very angry and called me in a very demanding tone telling me he was going to pull his workers since I didn't pay the contract amount. Finally, the third time that Bernie called me, he said that he would drop off plans for the deck. Once he came and delivered those, I promptly paid him. Because they didn't give me the deck plans with the room plans, I had to get a Second building permit and pay a second fee. It was November, the room was still unfinished and we were having the flooring installed. We still had no deck off our bedroom. Then we had trouble with the windows. Each day, more windows were pulled away from the framing. One day the window would be fine, the next day, you could put your hand through the window. This went on and on for several weeks. Finally, the project manager told us that Temo had a manufacturing defect and that the channels that held the vinyl were slightly too large for the cording which is why the windows kept coming loose. He told us that he would fix this in the spring by changing all the windows. Yet, even with this major defect, Bernie continued to ask for the final payment. I told his project manager that there is a major defect in this room (due to the channels) and that I would pay them when it is corrected. Next was the masonry and the steps. When the roof was modified, there were two triangular spaces without stone. Bernie's idea was to build a little wooden box on the wall. When we insisted on stone, Bernie complained that they were not masons. Their project manager told us that they were hiring a mason, but they didn't. They did replace the stone but used a shiny vinyl masonry due to the cold temperatures (since by now it was December). The masonry they've used has already cracked and we anticipate that it will be an annual maintenance issue. Then it was the steps. Originally, Bernie mentioned stone steps. What we got was little wooden boxes off both the room and the deck. The original steps required one to step through the threshold of the door, down 8 inches. The steps were little wooden boxes, hinged to the room and deck, with aluminum on the top. We were able to get them to modify one of the steps so that we have two steps off the room. The original steps did not pass inspection. Our building inspector had to come by three times and was going to start charging us if he had to come again. Still the steps look cheap and we are not happy with them. Bernie told us, "these are the steps we put on every room". So much for "don't worry, we'll be happy". Finally, in March, they replaced the windows and then, due to us calling, they had to return and fix the windows on the doors which they hadn't done. I paid them in full but I shouldn't have had to due to this poor service. I also reported my issues with the BBB of Wisconsin. I feel like I"ve lost control of my ability to repair my home since there are only two Temo contractors in this state and I will need SunComfort to make any repairs. We are paying someone else to finish landscaping around the room and to redo the steps. We had more issues than listed here but I think this review covers the gist of it. At the end of it all, the room is beautiful and I love it, but this was a customer service nightmare and we could have gone from very unhappy to satisfied with some proactive communication from the owner instead of constant hounding to be paid. Some honestly regarding the timing of the plans, the project delays, the delivery of the materials and a better schedule would have gone a long way.

They did a very good job. Their price was good and they were very efficient.