Ray Kaszuba Builder

Max and Cody are the two main craftsmen working for Ray Kaszuba Builders. They are capable of great skill and I feel so lucky to have had their expert help. They have done amazing work with my house.

I contacted the provider when I had one month left before some important deadlines. I needed to finish all of the carpentry work in time to have electrical and insulation installed before the end of August. If I didn't finish by that time, I was going to lose my funding through the We Energies Me2 program. I was also more than 8 months pregnant and feeling very stressed about the situation. Since the house was/is not liveable in its current state, I was staying with family in Madison, so it was difficult to make the trip to Milwaukee to meet workers. I explained all of this to Ray when we first spoke. We set up an appointment and I met him at the house on a Sunday, 3 weeks before the work and baby deadline. I went over all of the work that was to be done and explained how critical it was that it get finished in time. He assured me that he would be able to do all of the work before my deadline and said that I did not need to hire anyone else to take on any part of the work. Even though he was not going to be able to start until the last week of my allotted time period, he promised that he and his crew could complete the work on time. This meant he would have only 5 days to work! I asked about payment and if he could arrange to accept credit cards but he didn't respond. I sent him all of the drawings I had, including a very expensive professional report done by a structural engineer to describe the beam work. He also met with my previous contractor for further information. He was to have a preliminary meeting with the inspector for additional clarification on the morning of his first day of work at my house. He told me that the inspector didn't show up, but the inspector told me later that the appointment was never made. Ray and his crew left the house at noon that day and did not return. At 7:00 that night he finally called me to let me know he had not done any work that day, saying that he wasn't sure how to proceed without advice from the inspector and also he wasn't comfortable working without pay. I don't understand why he wouldn't respond about payment during the two weeks between the day we met at my house and his start date, and I don't understand why he couldn't find any work to do at all without further instruction. How hard is it to replace a door, or to follow an engineering report? Isn't that what contractors are supposed to know how to do?? Now there were only 4 days left and I was extremely close to my due date. Anyone who has been pregnant will know how much more stressful this makes everything, but Ray was far from sympathetic. Even though it was going against my doctor's orders, I offered to drive, by myself, all of the way to Milwaukee early the next morning with a check so he could finally begin and at least get 4 days of work put into the project. Ray then agreed to trust me enough to start working without the check on Tuesday, as long as I could bring it to him on Wednesday when I could get a ride from my father so that I would not be putting myself or my unborn child in as much danger. I made a new appointment with the inspector for Wednesday morning and assumed he would begin working on some of the easier tasks on Tuesday. I woke up at 4:30 Wednesday morning to get to Milwaukee by the start of his workday only to find that he had not worked at all on Tuesday and had not told me about it. Then he didn't even show up to meet me on Wednesday. He let me drive all of the way to Milwaukee in that condition and then he didn't even show up to meet me in person. Finally I was able to reach him and he told me then, when I had only 2 days left in the work week, that he could not get involved in my project. When I asked him why he didn't tell me that 3 weeks before and let him know that he had caused me to lose thousands of dollars in funding, he had the nerve to say that it was all my fault, because I never should have taken on such a big messy project in the first place. He had no sense of remorse about lying to me, leading me to believe the work would be finished in time and then going to another project instead, letting me risk my health with the trip to Milwaukee, or causing me to lose my funding and with it any hope of completing my house this year. My home renovation project is now on hold, perhaps permanently, and I am devastated. If he had just been honest from the beginning, I would have hired someone else to complete the work. Being told it was my own fault was the worst part, especially when I was in such a delicate condition. He may as well have told me I was a silly woman who shouldn't have gotten into "men's work." That is exactly how he made me feel. I went into labor only 3 days later. I'm not sure what I would have done if it had started early, when I was away from home dealing with this stressful situation in Milwaukee. The whole experience was absolutely terrible, and it's not something I will easily recover from. I have acquired almost $30,000 worth of personal debt on this renovation project over the last year, and now, without the Me2 funding, it may never be finished. I would not recommend anyone trust Ray on any important project at any time in the future. He has no respect or concern for anyone but himself, and he isn't even a big enough person to admit to it, to apologize, or to make amends. He does not keep his commitments. This is by far the worst contractor I have ever had to deal with.

Ray was referred by mutual acquaintance. He showed up every morning at 8am fully prepared and equipped. Worked at a steady pace all day. Ate lunch in truck. Very neat and professional. Did extra and hidden work at little or no extra cost. I've already contracted him for inside winter work.