JG Hause Construction Inc

We have an older house with a newer addition. There were two types and vintages of siding, which we wanted to redo. We hired Hause to completely remove all existing siding and replace it with new HardyPlank siding and trim. We also hired Penguin Insulation, on Hause's recommendation, to reinsulate the older part, which was done fine. We also hired Hause to remove our old, falling-down garage and build a new one on the same foundation. We got them off Angie's List, because they had a good reputation, and we called people who had used them before and they all gave great reviews. We do not know why Hause had so much trouble with our project. We spent fifty thousand dollars on the house and when you spend that kind of money you expect a pretty good job and people who know what they are doing.  

First, the garage work (for another $22K) went quite well, and we are very satisfied with the final product. But even then, I had to inspect often and have a couple of problems fixed. For example, the HardyPlank instructions very clearly say to keep all the siding at least 2" above grade. But the worker who did the siding put a couple of pieces right in contact with the dirt. Also, he did the soffit but left a 2-3" gap with no covering all along one side. This opening would be perfect for bats and paper wasps to invade. I had to insist this be covered with a linear vent of some kind, and it finally was. 

We have to believe that the job supervisor and many of the workers are quite competent on new construction, such as our garage, but they do not have the experience or inclination to do excellent work on older homes, such as our residing project. To be honest, an older house has "idiosyncrasies" which require extra attention and care. We know, because we have lived in and worked on this house for 40 years.

It took Hause five months to finish re-siding our house, and it is not all that big. We have a list of couple dozen problems that arose during the project. In spite of promises given us before we signed the contract and often repeated during the project, workers did not show up on time, and there were many days when no one showed up at all. The excuse was typically, "Joe is working in Chisago today." So, apparently, our project which was started first and for which we paid a good down payment, was always lower priority than some other project. I am sorry, but that is no way to treat a customer, especially when I specifically asked before signing the contract if people would work on it every day, and I was assured they would.

We were disappointed in the lack of diligence on the part of the supervisor. He would say, "I'll come tomorrow at eight", then he would show up two or three days later at four, with no notice, just the recurring excuse, "We had to go to (the) Chisago (project)". When the weather was great, they would be not there and when the weather was lousy they would show up. One of the subs had to come back five times and he was upset because of being called so many times because other people hadn't finished their part of the job. In the fall, the weather turned cold and  they couldn't touch up paint when it was freezing, so there are many exposed nail heads. Perhaps a small thing, but it could have been avoided if the project had received proper resources all along. For example, they just finished cleaning our yard up at the beginning of February and the project started in August. They had to dig stuff out of the snow banks so we could get our entire driveway ploughed. It was a continuing stream of stuff like that.

The workers in the very beginning were young and had little understanding about the job. We were told later that Hause actually had to fire a crew and start again. The crews made many mistakes. We believe that the owner, Jeff Hause, being older and with many years of experience, would have handled the project much better. But he was not involved until we insisted. And then he pretty much backed up all that we said. But he left the project in the hands of the original supervisor.

We had to have things done that we did not intend to do because the workers made so many mistakes. For example they trimmed some doors and most of the older windows so badly that the existing storm doors and windows no longer fit. And this was in spite of the fact that we left the older storms and screens right next to the openings so they could fit them correctly. Four exterior door frames and 10 window frames had to be ripped out and redone. And even then, we had to buy new screens for many windows. 

We felt we had to be on them all the time. So it was just an unpleasant situation. We hired a contractor hoping that we would not have to be so involved every day. You should be able to go on vacation and come back and have it done. It ended up costing us more work and more worry than we should have had to endure, so it was not a pleasant experience.

Many of the window frames in the old part got tilted when they ripped off the siding and we didn't know that. Instead of going around and checking to be sure everything was plumb and square, the "siding crew" just put the trimming and siding on. Imagine my dismay when some the of windows were so loose that you could see light around the sashes. And the attic windows were trimmed so closely that all the storms and screens no longer fit. Hause decided it was less money for them to buy and install new storm windows than to redo the trim as it should have been done in the first place. We couldn't believe that they couldn't do simple things like check to make sure windows were level and straight and door and window frames were the right size. The "Tyvek crew" did not properly put Tyvek house wrap and sealing tape around several of the older windows, and the "siding crew" did not pay attention and do it right before installing the siding, so that had to be redone, involving replacing the trim and some siding. And that stuff is expensive! The first sub who was to wrap all the old window frames with aluminum (so we don't have to paint any more), stopped the wrap on the sills at the outer edge of the old window sashes. This would allow rain to run down the sash and under the aluminum and rot the window sill. Neither the sub nor the supervisor noticed it until we brought it to his attention. So, a different sub had to come back, pull all the sill wraps off and rewrap with the sills being covered all the way to the inside edge of the sashes.

After all the problems, we are satisfied with the final result. Hause did fix all that they could, without trying to weasel out of anything. So, we give them high marks for integrity. They did not walk away; they did finish,  but they took five months to get a house re-sided. We believe that the owner, after he saw the problems first hand, came down on the workers and got them to "do it right".  The original price was not a bad price but we can't believe they made any money after they spent all that time and money to redo every thing they had to do. 

It was extremely frustrating to be a homeowner and hire a contractor and have so many things go wrong. We can understand bad weather or other hazards beyond the workers' control. We just couldn't understand the lack of attention to detail, not checking their own work, and lack of diligence. If we were the average persons who knew nothing about contracting, the job would have been terrible because we wouldn't have known that we were getting a poor job, until it was too late. It should have been Hause's job to do the right things from the very first. It could have cost someone else a lot of extra money. 

We believe they are an honest company. But they have m