Better Built Garages

This was the most terrible experience I’ve had with any remodeling company. Every time I call it’s not but attitude and confusion. I have questions because they do not communicate with their customers about anything. People just show up at your door and that’s it. 0 consideration for customers time and all they care about is charging you what you owe. I’ve been in the remodeling industry for 5 years since I graduated from school and I’ve never seen a place so unorganized and out of whack. The fact that I call and they say why am I asking these questions then hang up shows me I made a terrible decision with this company. I’m like 95% sure that they treat me like because I’m Hispanic. I will never recommend this company to any company or customer I work with. The price was good but honestly they were only cheaper by 200$ next time I’ll recommend someone to spend the extra 200 and go with a company that isn’t so rude an unorganized. Literally every time I call people ask me “we already finished right?” And each time I respond saying it’s not even built yet. Please do yourself a favor and go some where else!!!!

We signed a contract on June 25th 2020 for a new garage which we were told would be finished in 3 months however it is now November and it is still not finished as we have been waiting weeks for electrical and insulation. We called numerous times to the main office and were told that an electrician would call us in 24-48 hours but an electrician never called. On November 4, 2020 we were told that an electrician would be sent out on November 5th to start work at 6:30 am and yet again the electrician did not show up. The garage is up and ready for electrical and I have attached pictures to show that it is ready. This is absolutely ridiculous on how long it has taken for a garage to be built. We signed the contract in June so we wouldn't have to put boxes away and move stuff into the garage in a brutal Chicago winter. We also have other contractors waiting to do other work on the garage but know they are waiting as well. I would not recommend this company for your garage construction!!! I would be willing to change my review if they are able to get an electrician out this week by Friday.

We signed our contract on July 8th with Bert our salesman after getting some quotes from three other contractors. Better Built was the second highest of the quotes but due to them being in the area as well as the length of time they were in business we decided to use them. During the final review of the contract I asked Bert at least three times how long to complete and each of the times he stated “4-6 weeks depending on rain.” Knowing how things can go in construction I figured that meant my garage would be complete sometime around labor day. Little did I know it would take another 6 weeks past that. First we didn’t get our old garage torn down until the end of July. At that time they said it was due to the permits taking longer than usual and I figured that might be the case so I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I also figured that once they started with the tear down that the work would continue at a steady pace until the end of the job but boy was I wrong. The way they work is each step is done by another subcontractor and you will wait WEEKS between steps but nobody will tell you this. When you call the office they just say “the contractor has your job”, that’s right, they don’t schedule their subs they just give them a job and then it’s up to them how/when it gets done. Sometimes a contractor might not come into the office for work for a week and during that time you sit with a hole in your backyard. It took THREE WEEKS from the time of the tear-down to get concrete STARTED. That brings me to my other issue with this company…. THEY DON’T MANAGE ANYONE. I was ecstatic when I finally got the call that the concrete guys would start so I was watching their progress on my security camera when they began. First I saw the concrete foreman taking measurements and he yelled “I’m not going that high, put it to grade and they can put a drain in later”. This concerned me since I knew my last garage flooded and I had discussed with Bert that having this garage high enough was my number one priority. In my contract it said 18-20 inches high at the back, that’s what I paid for and that is what I assumed they would do. They didn’t. When I got home I Measured and they were at 16 inches at the back and the garage was actually LOWER than my driveway. I was furious and called Bert. Bert got the owner to call me and she said she would talk with the concrete contractor. After some arguing and back and forth it was eventually raised to 20 inches but the point was I was now managing the job. It was also at this point that the owner told me “you should hold your complaints until the end of the job, because in the end you’ll be happy.” REALLY??? If I waited the garage would have flooded. I don’t know what I paid Better Built for since they never once at any step sent someone of their own out to review their subs work. THEY WILL WAIT FOR YOU TO COMPLAIN. Be prepared to manage them at every step otherwise they just let their subs do whatever they see fit and move on. This is why they collect money up-front at each step, otherwise you wouldn’t pay them. During the contract phase I agreed to be charged extra to have the stone/Concrete wheeled up the driveway in order to protect it. They didn’t wheel the stone and BROKE my driveway. Again I only caught this due to my security cameras but when I first brought it up they tried to say everything was wheeled in. The part that was broken was supposed to be cut away as part of a longer apron that I had paid for but in the end, instead of a 16 foot apron I got a 14 foot apron and they smeared concrete over the asphalt that they had broken deeming that an acceptable repair. I mentioned this to Better Built, and again, they didn’t respond or care. The only time you will hear from them is when a check is due. Then you get calls back ASAP, if it’s about something that you need done forget it, crickets from the office and Berts constant response is “Ill let the office know” and it never goes any further. Keep in mind they do not have anyone managing your project, its literally a stack of papers in an office that someone hands to the subcontractor. Nobody is reviewing the finished work. Carpentry construction on the garage didn’t start for another month after the concrete, so now we were at the end of Sept/first of Oct. Now I understand that there is supposed to be a pause to let the concrete cure but a month was excessive. I will say that the carpentry subcontractors were good and worked quickly and were done in about a week. This brings us to electric. All their electrician had to do was install the outside lights, two inside, and some outlets. It was in the contract to recess all electrical as we were going to drywall in the future. Their electrician ran a box below what would be ceiling level and literally ran pipe so close to the bracket for the garage door opener that I had to bend the pipe out of the way to install the opener. On top of this he was obviously in a big hurry since the caulk job on the outdoor lights was not only unprofessional, it was downright laughable (see pictures). I brought this to the attention of Bert our salesman and he once again “Sent it to the office”. Guess what? I heard nothing back. Why? Because they already had their money. Two days later I let him I know I hadn’t heard back and rather than getting someone on the phone he sent me pictures of how his garage is done. The funny part? His was done better that mine! His electrical was done so that drywall could be installed. I guess he didn’t look close enough at the work their guy had performed. In the end I would say RUN don’t WALK from Better Built. Am I happy with my garage, kind-of. The experience of paying top dollar in order to manage the project myself just wasn’t worth it. At every step I couldn’t get excited because I knew I had to rush home and review that the work was correct before it became irreversible. Better Built is a sales organization. They sell you a Garage and then sell the jobs to the subs, at no time should you expect them to manage or otherwise supervise the work being performed.

It went okay. Quality of work was nothing special.

We had Better Built build our garage in 2013. First of all, the crew showed up without any garage plans which is an odd way of building a structure. I watched daily as it was put together and had to correct them when it came time to build the rafters. I had to get my paperwork out to show them how it was supposed to be built when I shouldn't have to do that. We were supposed to have a loft with pull down stairs for half the garage and the other half was to be left open up to roof. They had remove the beams they had installed going the full length of garage and ask me a few questions on what we were supposed to get. We had several service calls since our service door would never close right. I won't even describe how the man they sent attempted to 'fix' that problem. In the end, we took care of it ourselves so that it was truly fixed. We also paid extra for a 'heavy duty' garage door opener. That was a piece of garbage which we ended up having them replace once. The second one was also garbage that failed and we had to just purchase one on our own and install ourselves. We haven't had problems since we did it. Our biggest problem is that we had several calls placed from the time that the garage was built regarding our shingles sliding out of place. They would send someone when we weren't home to 'fix' the problem just to have them continue sliding in other areas or even the area that was just 'fixed'. Then we were told they wouldn't send someone out anymore without a charge. When I stated it was an install problem and not weather or wear and tear, they would repeat that we would be charged since the 1st year warranty was over. Now here we are 4 yrs. in and shingles still sliding down and 1 even completely came off. So we had an outside company come to inspect and take pictures. As we had stated, the roof was not installed properly and they had blown the nails through the material, thus not holding the shingles in place as they should. I have been in touch with Better Built and even emailed them the findings with estimate and pictures explaining that the roof was not installed properly. Again, I now get the same reply that we will be charged for service call and the office manager, Tegan refuses to give me her boss's contact information. This company does not stand by it's work. When they are done, they are gone and do not fix their problems. They will blow you off until the year is up and then think they have no responsibility for their work. So now begins our legal battle for what we paid for. Sad they don't take responsibility for their mistakes, because this review would have been much different if owned up to their mistake and correctly fixed it.

I would never hire this company EVER AGAIN. I have managed several rehab projects/new construction builds for my family over the years, and this is by far the WORST company I her ever had to deal with. Not only would I not recommend them, but I would try and persuade anyone from even picking up the phone to get a quote. They make empty promises, and have excuses for everything. I am still waiting for my garage clean-up. I'll be waiting forever!!!! -Worst customer service -All the work is farmed out to 3rd party sub contractors, and the job isn't managed by anyone on site or at the office. This leads to two week delays between each part of the job. Each sub-contractor that arrived (demolition, concrete, construction, electrical) had no idea about what needed to be done and required my help/navigation on the day of service to make sure job done properly and actually completed. If I wasn't around, the job would have been not been built to spec, or not completed at all. -The office claims that weather delays are the problem with their delays, but with only 3 rainy days during my garage build, weather delays can't explain why my garage took 8 weeks to build. -The office staff is rude, and clueless. Beth or Sam always needed to put the phone on hold to get an answer, but then never offered for me to actually speak to anyone who might have had a clue about timing and progress of project. This is a terrible way to run a business to have people answering the phone that can't help! -My service door that was installed had a gouge, and it wasn't replaced. Nor was this issue addressed by the company or the sales agent. -Sales agent presents himself as manager of project to get the deal, and start the project, but then checks out completely and doesn't respond, telling me I should contact office. Only then was it apparent, that he just wanted to seal the deal, but really want at all involved in any of the building. -Website states that you can pay by CC, but they require cashiers checks to be given to the last construction crew on site in order to proceed with the next stage. Of course if you are not home and are unaware that they will be arriving that day, then there are "delays" in payment, and Better Build won't proceed with any further scheduling until payment has been received. -I could go on, and on.... AWFUL, SKETCHY, MANIUPLATIVE and RUDE! They took my money and RAN! Like I said, I still have some unresolved issues, and I don't anticipate that they will ever handle them. based on this project, I am rather certain they will not stand by their one year garage warrantee. When I called them about issues that came up within the one year warrantee, no surprise they claimed it wasn't under warrantee. DONT HIRE!!!

Excellent service

Fantastic! Each step followed immediately after the first. Our salesman, Todd, was wonderful at explaining the process, the tear down went smoothly, the building crew was amazing, the electrician did a great job. Only complaint was the attitude of the concrete guy, Terry from T & G Concrete. The concrete turned out fine, but he spent so much time verbally berating his guys, loudly, that I had to go out and tell him to stop or take it off my property. Very unprofessional! Aside from him, the rest of the process was a good experience and we are pleased with the outcome.

My wife was told to "shut the **** up and listen to your boss " by the owner (the owner was referring to me as the boss) after she questioned the color of the trim the builders were using while I was at work. Then she threatened to sue us for slander if we went to the BBB. By the way, I signed the contract 4 months ago and my concrete has been poured for a month. And I'm the one that had to call and see why nobody had scheduled the build yet. They used the "rain" excuse for the delay, but it hasn't rained that much and the workers said the owner is a tool and uses that excuse to drag out projects. I've never been so disgusted with customer service as I was with this company.

It was amazing. Price was good. They're good dudes. It was a 2 1/2 car garage. It was good.

This job is still pending what a nightmare!

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The new guy that came out was way quicker than the other guy that had came out. Had I not seen the dents and white paint when my door was supposed to be brown I never would have knew. It was ridiculous and it was a old old door they tried to give me for 1500.00.

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I contracted Better Built for $21,600 in exchange for new construction on a garage. Specified in the contract was a 3 ft. concrete apron to transition from the newly poured slab to my driveway. After the slab was poured it became apparent that additional gravel fill was needed in order to be able to drive into the garage, as the grade was no where close to matching up. I called the contractor and told them about it, and they told me it was not their problem, as they were only contracted to complete the work that was already done.
After a few different conversations with them, they told me that the reason the garage was built so much higher than the existing driveway was because of an adjustment that was made during construction based on the grading needed to keep water out of the new building. They also told me it would turn out as a benefit to me whenever I decided to put in a new driveway. Understanding of this, I asked them to come back to make it usable, and was willing to pay them to do so. Further, I explained that nowhere else on earth is a company allowed to make a change to what they've promised without first conulting the customer they're contracted with, and then make additional adjustments to either contract additional service as needed, or reduce cost appropriately. They again told me it wasn't their problem, and that I had to do it on my own.
End of the day, I was promised a garage that I could use this winter, and instead I end up a 10,000lb paper weight, and another project that I need to source out and pay for. Now winter is coming and I'm not sure if I'll be able to get anyone out here to take on their patch work.
Very upsetting. Better Built promised me something I didn't get, they refuse to fix it despite my offer to pay for any additional costs, and have since threatened to put a lien on my house if I don't pay them the final $1500 of our contract immediately. Had I known this would be an issue before construction began, I would have built it into our negotiation before signing any contract. I relied on the word and promises of the experts and have been left out in the cold.
Such a shame, their salesman was a GREAT guy. Their carpenters did an AMAZING job. Everything is perfect with the way this job went down, except I still can't use my brand new $21.6k garage.
A classic example of a contractor who makes a lot of promises up front to guarantee your satisfaction, but when push comes to shove, are willing to turn their back on you once they have their money regardless of whether or not they've delivered what they've promised.

unknown

I'm the neighbor of the folks next store who paid wow 30K for a garage ( their perogative ) But they had to get in my yard to finish one side. No Problem ... But did they or my neighbor for that fact inform of the day or ask if OK to take a Saturday ... MY DAY OFF to Dominate my back yard... ( Not the Biggest Problem ... But you'd think a professional contractor make sure the neighbor informed me or if not knock my door as a courtesy to enter my property and make sure it was OK) But No... they just piled in my backyard threw all there tools materiels all over my yard and into shrubs at the back... and I let it go for a while but I'm seeing metal shards from the siding there cutting falling into my lawn and nails ... bags and plastic from materiels floating in my backyard...So I let them know I expected to find my yard cleaned up... I got scowls
 So I had to leave and when I returned they were gone... I couldn't believe it... the bags were still floating in my yard ... I mean come on ... But the worst... siding shards and shards of metal and nails to fill a 5 gal bucket all embedded in my lawn ... so obvious they made no attempt to clean up one thing ...  a couple of shards were so sharp you could of slit your throat with them. I was furious... Then to add insult to injury I go into my alley to throw out there debre after I clean up for them ... and behind my fence in the alley where theres a small patch of grass they dumpped the wooded pallet the roofing shingles where delivered on... I pick that up to move it and under it all the metal strapping that held the shingles to the pallet under it....These guys are bad news if thats the way they do there work and you OK with that kind of professionalism god bless ... I called my neighbor to complain I called better built and left a message ... and they returned a few days later to something on another side and I walk in my alley to confront them about there mess they left... and one of the workmen was relieving himself on the other neightbors fence...He right away jump and stopped saying oh oh Im sorry... Listen ... These guys should of been fined or something and if thats there professional ethic and you want to give them 10's of thousands of your hard earned dollars Well ... Good Luck...Take my advice find another garage builder!!!

unknown

They did a very good job and excellent job. I would use them again in the future.

I wasn't keen about starting the project late in the year. I was assured by the sales person the concrete would cure properly.The tear down went well. Although a lot of mud was left in alley. Spent an hour or so hosing it down myself. Next came the framing and concrete.  The temperature by the end of November was around freezing. A week before the lumber was to be delivered I attempted to make changes to the height I decided on 9 foot walls and an 8 foot overhead door. I was told by the sales person that  they could make the changes for an extra charge for the added lumber and larger door. The weekend before delivery I called and was told the original lumber order was already on the truck and changes could not be made without extra charges for restocking. Also was told that it would delay the construction.The price of the changes also increased from what I was told over the phone a week earlier. I dropped the changes and went with original order. Garage was constructed in 3 days. Bottom line: Water ledge was not removed during the concrete pour so service door was moved to back of garage. Concrete never really cured right and no expansion joints installed.This resulted in cracks and flaking in the concrete.They didn't install as many cross joist as was stated in the contract.The service door locks had to be readjusted during the winter months and then again in the spring.Also the door isn't sealed properly on the bottom so water and rain can enter the garage from the gap. Lost a couple of shingles over the winter.

SOME MINOR PROBLEMS STILL EXIST WITH DOOR LOCKS . OVERHEAD DOOR NEEDED SERVICE TWICE. WATER LEAKED INTO GARAGE FROM AN UNKNOWN SOURCE.

Converting an existing garage with two doors into a single door is a project many contractors weren't interested in. The sales agent (Samer) came out and was able to explain exactly how they would do the job, and do the entire job in one day.
After accepting Samer's bid, he wrote up the plans and I took them to the village and obtained the permit for an additional $95.
A week later, the job was scheduled.  A truck came by and dropped off all the materials.  An hour later, a crew of 3-4 people came out and the job was done in 4-5 hours.  A village Building Inspector came by after the additional header was in place.  He asked that the header 2x12's be held together using 1" bolts and not the lag screws already installed.  Better Built installers quickly went to the local Home Depot, purchased the requested parts, installed them, and the Inspection passed.
They did a great job, the door is still working and in good shape 3-1/2 years later.

After months of discussion, my wife and I decided it was time to replace our 40+ year old 1 1/2 car garage with a new two car one.  I didn't know much about the companies out there so I took to Angie's List and Yelp to determine who would be best for our project.  We received three quotes, one of which was Better Built.  
My wife and I decided to go with Better Built because of the comfort level with the salesperson, Shannon, who is related to the owner of the company.  In interest of brevity, I've broken down each stage of the process.
Pre-sale:  Shannon was great at what she did.  She made suggestions and made us feel comfortable with what we were doing.  We had Better Built also take out our existing patio and repour a slab behind the garage.  I had expressed a desire to have the whole thing done in 6 weeks which she said would not be a problem.  After signing the contracts, we were told that the office would let us know when the demo of the existing garage would happen.
I received no word from the office for over a month.
When I did call and start to question what the status of the permit process was, the office said that they had not received them yet from the village.  These calls went on for a couple of weeks.  I decided to call the village to find out where the permits were and was told that the just received the applications 5 weeks after we signed the contracts.  I called the office back and questioned this- and they assured me that the permits were applied 4 weeks prior.
Two weeks later, I was told by Better Built that the permits arrived.  We are now at 7 weeks after signing.  An email from Shannon said that there would be a call from the demo person to schedule the demo.
Garage Demo:  Demo person did call and schedule a day--but it took a week after getting the permits for a call.  He said that he would come the following Wed, Fri, or Sat--but "definitely" Monday..  Here it is Monday, and now he's saying tomorrow.  I reached out to the office/Shannon again and was finally able to get the demo done. In the process of removing the existing patio, they also took out about 15% of the concrete under our air conditioner.
I sent pictures of this to Shannon who assured us that it would be taken care of for the pour.  I was also told the office would call to inform us when the slab would be framed/poured.
Slab Framing/Pour:  No call from the office.  Someone just showed up to do the work.  They did fix the concrete under the air conditioner.  The pour was done on 7/17 which was 10 weeks after we signed the contracts.  The office said that the concrete would have to set for 7 to 10 days before construction could be done. 
Seven days passed and, when I called the office AGAIN they said it would be 7 to 10 "business" days for the concrete to set.
Construction scheduling:  No call from the office.  I called to find out when it would be done.  We went out of town for vacation the week our construction was to be done.  Naturally I assumed there would not be an issue getting it done the week we came back.  The office initially told me it "could" be two weeks after we got back for the build.  I contacted Shannon again and received a call from the office that it would be done the week we got back.
Garage Build:  One person - three days.  Construction A+ - he did a nice job. Probably could have been done in a day with a multiple person team like we were led to believe.   No electrical was installed at the time of the build.   I called the office again and they said that the electrician would call to schedule when they would come out.
Electrical install:  Two guys-no problems.
Final inspection:  I called the office (see a pattern yet?) and they said I have to schedule the final inspection.  Another thing we were not told about.  Once the final inspection was done-imagine my surprise....FAILED.  Clearly they did not have a good idea of local build rules as most of the issues were minor.  The office called me (SHOCK) to schedule the fix for the items and I told them that we were not going to schedule the inspection again.  They came out and fixed the items, scheduled the final install and we passed.
Wrapup-I emailed Shannon requesting some items be wrapped up.  Minor things including removing the extra concrete that was along the patio and sidewalk, as well as cleaning up some of the extra concrete from the patio breakup.
They came out and picked up the extra concrete from the patio, and promptly covered the extra concrete with dirt.  UGH!   At that point, we were done.
Follow-up: The job has been completed for 2+ weeks and no call from the builder to see if we are satisfied with the job.
Final grade:  C.  Biggest problem is the disconnect in the office.  They do not communicate sufficiently.  We also had to do too many followups via phone and email.  It sure seemed like we were the GC's on this job.  Not to say we would not recommend them - the electrical and construction are great.  But that office - just be prepared to wait.

They did a great job. Our new tool shed matched our house exactly both color and style. Their workmen were very professional and the shed was completed in only days, both the teardown and rebuild.

It was pretty expensive. We were given what was suppose to be the senior discount. What really impressed me, was that it was just one man who put up the garage. I couldn't believe it - how he worked all by himself. When he was almost ready to leave, I went out there and asked him where his helpers were. And he said that nobody wants to work with him! He knew what he was doing and I guess he has been doing it for 10 years. I didn't think it was possible to handle everything by himself, but he did. We did call for a few minor things to come back. In the inside of the garage you could see a little air space between the roof and the garage. I think it was the same carpenter, because me daughter took care of it. And then we had some problems with the door. He came and took care of it. The garage looks terrific, it looks as if it belong there.