Highmark Builders

I had a lot of issues with how the flashing was applied. Highmark tried to fix it, but I will need to have an outside person try to get it up to standard. Secondly, because the paperwork submitted to State Farm was incomplete, I had to deal with those hassles. It felt like my responsibility to solve the issue, as requests for payment were constant. Another example: I just noticed that they missed a downspout that they charged insurance for yesterday. I am feeling too worn out to deal with it. Overall, I wish I would have gotten multiple bids, which is what I am doing now for exterior painting. It felt like they were too busy to do the work well. In short, Highmark tried to fix things, and things sort of got better.

Our insurance company, State Farm, recommended we use Highmark to restore our basement when we had water damage. I would absolutely not ever use them again. We worked with Brandon Soleta as the project manager, and Andy Browne as the day to day general contractor. This project seemed to have no oversight. Twice the flooring company came to lay floor when the demolition was not even completed, so had to return and add to project delay. That is just one example of unorganized and inefficient contractor management. Communication with us was inconsistent and mostly reactive. When we finally contacted the owner, Dave Mauer, we asked for a live meeting with Andy and Dave to discuss expectations, communication, and work going forward. While things seemed better for awhile, we only got the project completed when we micromanaged the process-called them daily and put pressure on. They did not inspect the contractors work, so we had to ask for things to be done over, do to some of the work being of low quality. This fairly simple and straight forward project took OVER 8 MONTHS to finish. The restoration business is based in Savage, MN

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They were very professional and flexible with the schedule, everything was managed and we did not have to go through any hassle of coordination etc work done was as per our expectation. There were a few times we had to go back and forth but that was expected with the size of the project

Overall a very pleasant experience

They did a very good job. The cleanup was excellent. I believe it took them about 2 days to complete the work.

I think they are a great company. Quality of their work was very good. The staff demeanor was good.

Highmark gave us a superior level of attention, design and work quality. The designer, Kristen, was great to work with and spent many hours going around to showrooms with us to pick out granite, tile, lighting, and cabinet designs and color. We had many meetings at the Highmark office to go over detailed plans and prices. Matt and Terry were great to work with.

Terrible overall experience. Had to bug them for months after initial agreement to come out and get the job done. Made a general mess of the house, walked on furniture with dirty shoes on. Wound up calling a different painter in AFTER they were done, to fix things up. Had to get a rug professionally cleaned after the dirtied it. Unwilling to acknowledge that they were anything less than stellar.
Awful, awful, awful.

They shovled snow off of roof. They removed the ice build up with steam. Family members have used them in the past as well. I have been burned before and using angies list takes the pressure off. They were honest and they came with high reviews.

Horrible – that’s about the only way to sum up the overall experience of working with Highmark.

They failed to deliver the two main points we had informed them as to why they were hired: clear communication and a hard deadline to complete the project in 6 weeks. We were given a contract that said they could do it in 5 weeks.

However, what we got for the next 10 weeks was a lack of transparency, constant pushing for payments on their schedule while they couldn’t meet their own deadlines and at times hostility toward our requests for better explanations of billings, extra charges and why they were taking so long to complete the project.

It started when the plumber couldn’t install the bathtub Highmark helped us pick out because it wasn’t to code. So when we got the first invoice on the replacement tub, it said the new tub was $70 cheaper but there was a $150 restocking fee. Even if Highmark intended to pay the restocking fee, they sent the invoice over without verification they were covering something they should have done their homework on to know local code. I had to get in writing the fact that we weren’t responsible for a restocking fee.

We were also promised a website that would track the cost of our project when we signed the contract. Subsequently, we had to ask several times for this service until we got it many weeks into the project. Once it was opened, we found the owner had decided to utilize a 20% overage charge clause that was above and beyond their initial cost +20% markup on some of the additional tile work we wanted done that. When I asked when I knew I had just been hit with several hundred dollars of pure profit to the contractor, the owner replied that a voice mail was left saying I was over my allowance and that was the official notice. No specifics, no dollar amounts, no specific validation to make sure I wanted to do this and incur a completely unnecessary overage charge: just a voicemail saying you’re over your allowance. The owner then met us with a great deal of hostility about questioning his contractual right to charge us and threatened to just shut the project down if we didn’t accept his charges. So we then asked to cancel the tile and get back to our original allowance and were told we own the tile and had to pay for it.

Other incidents only made this situation worse. The custom vanity we ordered ended up getting one of the 6 drawers shortened because they didn’t move an original obstructing water feed pipe when they could have. How did we find out? The drawer was missing upon installation and all we had was a hole in the vanity for two weeks and a cold water pipe in the middle of it. When we asked why we weren’t notified this would be a problem, there was no apology and were told if we wanted to the pipe moved it would cost us an extra $1000. In the end, even the subcontracted plumber said this could have been easily fixed if dealt with earlier. More examples: It took them 2 weeks after the original completion date to work with their mirror people just to figure out how to hang the mirror on the glass tile they told us they knew how to work with and had installed several times before.

But the worst is their constant denial they were late when the project was almost a full 4 weeks overdue from our primary requirement to be done in 6 weeks. When we hit our 6 week deadline and the tile wasn’t finished, glass and plaster shards were left everywhere on the floor for our child to step on, no mirror hung, no door hung and several items were still left on the punch list, we were told contractually they met the “substantially completed” contract clause on time. Two weeks later with no mirror and lots of punch list items, again “substantially completed” was quoted. A full 4 weeks after the contract completion date and the mirror was finally hung, we asked about an adjustment to the bill for being this ridiculously late. We were told they were “substantially complete” on time according to the contract and offered nothing.

So in the end, while we got our project finished almost 30 days late with several errors, they pushed for payments within the day of its payment schedule and still demanded full payment on time from us. Although the work we did with their insurance adjuster and designer coordinator went well, the general attitude and lack of customer service from the ownership of this company overshadowed anything positive we could have ever felt about this project or ever recommending them to someone else.

They came within 3 days after I called. Gave price as $275/hour and worked two hours. Workers were courteous and professional. They removed all the dams. Had to move back and forth in the breezeway to get to the back roof. It was quite dirty and wet when they finished, but they cleaned up all areas thoroughly.

I had an outstanding experience! Highmark is just a little more expensive than some I checked into...but the quality, responsiveness, professionalism is like none I have ever experienced. It is so worth it!! I just purchased this house, so am still learning its little nuances. I had a single point of contact, Kelly Myers. Kelly took a lot of time with me up-front to ensure we were clear on what I wanted and how much it would cost. Once I signed off on his thorough and detailed estimate, the project moved really quickly and smoothly. The quality was high, the schedule was aggressive and well communicated, and there was a high regard for yard cleanup at the end of each day. Kelly was onsite almost every day to monitor the work. I absolutely love the end result and everthing was exactly according to estimate. The proejct exceeded my expectations on every level. Highmark did exactly as they promised for exactly what they said it would cost...and it was the most relaxing project I've ever done, because Kelly stayed engaged and kept it all on track for me. (I'd also like to commend Scott, manager from the painting sub-contractor, who also came onsite at critical points and didn't nickel and dime me when we hit unexpected things.) I would definitely use these guys again and highly recommend HIghmark Exteriors. A really professional bunch!

The tile work is beautiful. The bathroom looks twice the size now. When they started they laid out a schedule and finished right when they said they would. The nice thing about them is that the contract is very friendly to the customer. I would recommend them any time.

The job went very, very well! Their subcontractor did all of the excavating by hand so I had no cleanup and did not damage the yard at all. It left one inch to fill in for the driveway and patio. The antique, stamped circular patio is just beautiful. The concrete used included rebar and was 5000 psi.

They are really good. They keep their appointments and show up on time. They demolished the whole bathroom in 6 hours. The next day the tub was in. The day after that all the electrical work was done. They have also done a good job of cleanup so far. I am very satisfied and highly recommend them. They have worked with us and the contract very well so far.