House Lift

Pricing was reasonable but they did not bring in any sub contractors for the bid. In order to get an accurate bid, they required a $3000 down payment. No other contractor required a down payment for a bid. I did not use them.

House Lift did an awesome job. From the start we really enjoyed working with them. They were able to accommodate to our schedules and requirements. We had previously paid for a design from another company that we chose not to work with and House Lift had no problem with working off of that design. They were sensitive to our budget and gave us lots of different options for choices on materials. The work was completed within a reasonable schedule and we are very happy with how the bathroom turned out.

unknown

We got an estimate from Houselift to add a small basement bathroom to our house. Their initial estimate was reasonable so we gave them a $500 deposit and scheduled a contractor walk through. After that, they sent us the final estimate which was 60% higher than their initial estimate! The agreement we signed with them stated that they would refund the initial down payment if the cost of the project rose by 10% or more. When we saw the huge cost increase, we decided to not proceed with Houselift and asked for a refund of our $500 down payment. I sent emails and phone calls which were all ignored. Only after threatening them with going to the BBB or Attorney General's office did I get a response and then the company claimed that we had added to the scope of the project which caused the difference in price. That is categorically false - we did not add 60% to the cost of the project on our materials. I feel like House Lift used bait and switch tactics to try to get us to pay a lot more for essentially the same amount of work. When we dropped them, they didn't want to give us our money back despite their own policy stating we were entitled to a refund. Be warned, I don't think Houselift does business ethically. If you decide to go with them, ask for DETAILED estimates that show everything itemized line by line including cost. That way you'll have the proof needed to get your money back if they try to do what they did to us. Personally, I would NOT do business with them - we had much better results with a different contractor found through Angie's List.

This company was completely dishonest. They promised everything from "we are going to send you a DVD", "We will call you in 6 months to see if you are happy", "We will fix any problems that you have", to telling me that they had pulled the proper permits (I called the city to confirm that they did not have the permits). They swore they had the permit in their office. They charged me for a heated floor that was not installed, for permits that they didn't get, and I was double charged for the things they did do. They only directed me to stores where they got kick backs, and the products were all overpriced. Then they got mad at me because they didn't get a kick back when I ordered my fixtures on line. They ignored what I asked for with my vanities, and I couldn't have been more specific.

Some water leak damage prompted the need for a temporary repair which House Lift handled, while we determined what to do about the poorly constructed old subfloor & a deteriorating tub/shower. House Lift fit the messy demo work nicely with my planned business trip. They work to a schedule and chose good sub-contractors.

House Lift was an exceptional company to work with. They provided design consultation, coordinated the overall project, and worked incredibly well with my cabinet installer, who I selected prior to hiring House Lift as the general contractor. My project was under a very tight time line in order to complete by the holidays. In spite of the cabinet manufacturer delivering cabinets that were wrong color, delaying the entire project, House Lift was able to complete the project on time and under budget. From the owner, to the project manager and supervisor to the designer, House Lift was very hands on, and the most professional general contractor I have worked with. I highly recommend them.

While all the people were very nice, they had a hard time getting some things right. They put in a cement step when none was called for in the plan, forcing us to change where a doorway was to be. My husband found them framing a doorway in the middle of a wall which was supposed to be 6 ft to the left. Their plan called for a ceiling height of less than 7 ft until I pointed out that they could just dig down a foot lower. Windows were not installed level. The building site was constantly a mess, and despite repeated attempts to get them to put floor protection down, they just wouldn't do it. Some days no one would show up at all, without any communication. The site manager was rarely around. Promised weekly meetings never happened. Communication wasn't very good. While they would try to fix things or give us offsets for the problems, it just wasn't a high-quality experience. Just not at the top of the game. Again, nice people who meant well and had no bad intent. They just made too many silly mistakes.

They were good with schedule, but not necessarily great with accomodating detail type of finishing problems. I didn't want to be out of my kitchen too long, so that was great that they stuck to the schedule. It was not an in-expensive project. I felt like they were a little high priced. I didn't feel like there was a lot of creativity coming from them. The quality was adequate. They were good, but I think there are better and more interesting people out there.

It went very well. They had great references from many people that I knew. They gave us a reasonable cost, and it ended up costing lower than their estimate. They were on time and we had no problem with the inspector.

They did a good job!

House Lift was an exceptional company to work with. They provided design consultation, coordinated the overall project, and worked incredibly well with my cabinet installer, who I selected prior to hiring House Lift as the general contractor. My project was under a very tight time line in order to complete by the holidays. In spite of the cabinet manufacturer delivering cabinets that were wrong color, delaying the entire project, House Lift was able to complete the project on time and under budget. From the owner, to the project manager and supervisor to the designer, House Lift was very hands on, and the most professional general contractor I have worked with. I highly recommend them.

They were very responsive in meeting with us up front, providing us with quotes and references, and we felt very comfortable with the process. We did feel a little mislead in the quote for the kitchen cabinets, as it was pitched as being comparable to others we'd received but was definitely not once we saw the end product. When we signed our contract work was supposed to start in mid-September and be substantially completed by 10/31. The first printed schedule moved the date back to 11/9, and that was the last schedule we got. It's now mid-February and the work is still not done. I can not count the number of hours we've spent on the phone and writing emails to try and get work completed. We were also not impressed with some of the subcontractor work (especially the plumber). The latest item we are trying to get taken care of has been known to them since Thanksgiving and they are showing no desire to finish. The way this job has been handled is simply unacceptable.

It was a very difficult job, and they were awesome. They were very patient with my job changes, and the carpentry work was great.

House Lift was very organized and met with us once a week regarding the project status. The work was not completed in time as some items had to be special ordered but they kept us informed of when these items would arrive. We had one contact person to deal with so did not have to make multiple calls if we had questions or wanted something changed. The project included three design plans to choose from and the space turned out very nicely. It does not look and feel like an attic but more like a full second story of a home.

It was great! The people were great to work with, and they were very focused on keeping to the schedule. The carpenters especially did beautiful work, making the dormer look like it was an original part of my house, inside and outside. Overall, they are very helpful, efficient, and knowledgeable. I would definitely recommend them.

HOUSELIFT HAD A NEW OWNER AT THE TIME WHO WAS VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD. THEIR DESIGNER SEEMED EXPERIENCED, BUT DIDN'T COMMUNICATE MUCH VISION FOR OUR SPACE. WE WANT SOMETHING MORE THAN JUST BASIC AND WE DIDN'T HAVE GREAT CHEMISTRY. THEIR ROUGH PRICE QUOTE WAS THE LOWEST WE FOUND, SO LOW THAT I'M UNSURE IN HINDSIGHT IF THEY COULD HAVE DELIVERED. HOUSELIFT DID A BIG PROJECT ON A NEARBY HOUSE RECENTLY AND IT LOOKS GREAT FROM THE OUTSIDE. IN A DIFFERENT SITUATION, SUCH AS WHERE I HIRED AN ARCHITECT AND JUST WANTED A BUILDER, I MIGHT VERY WELL HIRE HOUSELIFT.

CONTRACTOR'S OWN WORK WAS ADEQUATE; SUBCONTRACTORS WERE OUTSTANDING, INCLUDING THE CARPENTRY, FLOORING, AND PLUMBING INSTALLATION. DISCUSSIONS WERE PROFESSIONAL AND DETAILS WERE METICULOUS. FOLLOW-UP ON SOME OF THE DETAILS WAS LACKING, BUT FOR MOST ISSUES IT WAS GOOD. TIMING WAS THROWN OFF EARLY BY MISSING DELIVERY DATE FOR ROOF TRUSSES, AND THIS COMPOUNDED THROUGH THE PROJECT. OVERALL WORK WAS HIGH QUALITY, BUT DON'T CHOOSE THEM IF SCHEDULE IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE.

THEY WERE PROMPT AT RETURNING MY CALLS, BUT ONCE THEY DID THE INITIAL DESIGN AND PROVIDED THE ESTIMATE THEY NEVER FOLLOWED UP. THEIR COMPETITORS WERE MUCH MORE ACCOMMODATING AND HAD BETTER FOLLOW-UP. (AND WERE LESS EXPENSIVE.)

I THINK THEY HAVE REALLY GREAT CRAFTSMAN. THEY DID A LOT OF FINISHING WITH WOOD, AND THEY DID AN EXCELLENT JOB! THEY ARE ALSO GOOD ABOUT LISTENING TO THE HOMEOWNER, THEY DIDN'T COMPLAIN WHEN I CHANGED MY MIND.

VERY PROFESSIONAL ON THE WHOLE. I THINK LARGER REMODELING JOBS ARE THEIR SPECIALTY. THEY SAY UPFRONT THAT THEY WON'T ALWAYS BE THE CHEAPEST CONTRACTOR IN MOST CASES. MY SENSE IS THAT WITH BIGGER REMODELING PROJECTS WHERE YOU REALLY NEED SUPERB COORDINATION AND ATTENTION TO DETAIL, IT WOULD BE WORTH THEIR SLIGHTLY HIGHER COSTS. I'D CERTAINLY CONSIDER USING THEM FOR BIGGER PROJECTS.

IN 1999, MY HUSBAND AND I BEGAN WORKING WITH DAVID WEEDING, PRESIDENT AND OWNER OF HOUSELIFT, ON PLANS FOR A SUBSTANTIAL REMODELING PROJECT. WE HAD RECENTLY PURCHASED A HOME IN SOUTH MINNEAPOLIS WHICH WE HAD HOPED TO SUBSTANTIALLY CHANGE. WE WORKED WITH DAVID, AND HIS STAFF ARCHITECT, THROUGH A NUMBER OF ITERATIONS TO DEVELOP A PLAN. AT THAT STAGE, WE ALL WORKED IN COLLABORATION. WE SPENT A LOT OF TIME THINKING ABOUT THE FUNCTION AND FORM THE HOUSE SHOULD TAKE; DAVID AND THE ARCHITECT HAD A GENUINE INTEREST IN THE PROJECT AND OFFERED A SERIES OF SUGGESTIONS, YET DID NOT PUSH THEIR PREFERENCES UPON US.