Western Construction, Inc.

I wish I could write a positive review about Western Construction, Inc., and the job they did building our 22’ x 36’ garage. I really do. Brad seems to be a decent, very personable guy, and I know they have a long history of building many, many garages in the Twin Cities area. However, at the end of the day, I just want a well-built garage constructed in a timely fashion, and unfortunately it hasn’t been a positive experience. The initial work from Western started on July 26th, 2017 with the demolition of our old garage. The crew came out, and found a large concrete footing below the garage slab, and needed extra time and backfill in order to remove it. That’s fine, we live in an old house, and expect some unusual things like this. So, up to this point, everything seemed within our expectations, and certainly normal. However, the next steps were where the project went South. Ten days later, on August 4th, the concrete was poured. My family and I left for a two week vacation the morning they were setting up the forms and pouring the concrete. Upon returning, we got to see the finished slab. My wife’s response to seeing it was “Is that *really* wide enough???” I dismissed it nearly immediately, saying “Of course it is.” Now, Brad and I had initially discussed a 20’ x 36’ garage in the initial stages of planning, but quickly switched it to 22’ x 36’ to accommodate extra storage shelving. All of the correspondence between Brad and myself was 22’ x 36’ ever since then. So, of course my wife must just be imagining it, right? Later that day, I walked out to take out the trash and looked at the slab – and you know what? She was right. They poured it at 20’ x 36’. A quick phone call to Brad on a Friday, and he was baffled. He got on it ASAP, though, and had another crew out with a concrete saw the following Monday to re-form and pour on Tuesday, August 21st. However, in addition to the 10 day delay between demolition and the initial pour, we have now lost about 2 weeks (per Western’s website) in order for the new concrete to cure before anything else can be done. Not happy about it, but I realize we’ve just got to wait. Fast forward to September 18th (54 days since demolition, and 28 days after the second round of concrete was poured), and construction lumber and materials were delivered to the site. While four weeks of cure time seems excessive, based on every indication I had been given up until now, I figure things should move quickly now, right? Wrong. The carpenters first came out on September 22nd, and put up the stud walls, and framed in the doors and windows. Why nearly a week delay between materials and actually starting? Not quite sure, but I chalked it up to scheduling, etc. Fine. As long as they get moving, I’m okay with that. Luckily I was home that morning, as the carpenter started framing the opening of the window in the wrong place. I ran out and let him know where Brad and I discussed placing it, and he said Brad told him specifically to put it where he was faming it. Well, after the stud walls were put up, the carpenter vanished. A few emails back and forth with Brad, and no work was done until September 30th, when a few diagonal braces were then put up on the stud walls. That’s it. The carpenter came out again on October 1st, and put up a few trusses. We had a few days of rain around this time, but definitely not the week’s worth of delay I’d seen up to this point. A few more emails back and forth, and as of October 5th, there was still zero progress on the garage. At this point, Brad decided to assign a different carpenter to the job, and their part was done 3 days later on the 10th. So, seriously, I needed to wait over 3 weeks just for the carpentry to be completed to an already-delayed project. At this point, the siding isn’t even on the garage, much less the electrical work done. The siding itself wasn’t delivered until October 18th. Now, given the amount of time it took for the carpentry to be completed, I can’t fathom why the siding was now delayed in getting delivered. Brad gave me some story about it being backordered, but I honestly don’t believe this when the siding color/style decision was made back on September 21st. The person doing the siding then started nearly a week later (again, losing nearly a week for unknown reasons) on October 23rd, finishing up on October 25th. The electrician came out promptly on Oct 27th, and finished up a day later. Electrical inspection was done on Oct 30th, with the final work being done Nov 1st and cleanup and final inspection more or less complete on Nov 3rd. An even 100 days elapsed between initial demolition and the garage final inspection, when Western’s own website cites a typical time of 30-60 days. Now, understand that this is perhaps a larger garage than some, but it was anything but complicated. We didn’t need or want dormers, or lots of extra windows, doors, or other adornments. It didn’t need major landscaping or leveling, other than that extra bit of concrete removal. It’s basically just a bigger version of a VERY standard 2-car garage, and it took 3 and a half months to build, and weather definitely couldn’t take the blame. After the initial concrete error, I felt like I needed to confirm and double-check every single detail with Brad, to insure that it was going to be done correctly, and to insure that things were moving along as swiftly as possible. The garage is done now, with the final minor fix to the service door happening on November 28th (125 days since initial demolition), and after all of this, Brad initially made no effort to make it up to us by offering a discount or anything. All of the delays and issues lay squarely with Brad and/or Western Construction, and I don’t think it’s too much to ask that a good businessman offer some sort of compensation for a mismanaged project, regardless of whether they actually made money on the project or not through their own mistakes. After some negotiation, he did offer to cover the costs of the sealing the concrete. I’m sure that there are worse contractors you could go with to build a garage, but I’m also quite sure there are better.

I am very pleased with my garage.

I contacted Western Construction in the summer of 2010 to get a bid on replacing my old garage, which was getting ready to collapse and take my car with it. The owner of Western (Bradley Chazin) was very friendly throughout the bid process. He was exceptionally responsive and patient with my (many) questions, and seemed to have a great deal of experience and knowledge in both concrete and garage construction. Within three business days of signing the contract and placing a deposit, my old garage was torn down... but that's where the problems started. When the paperwork was signed, I was told that in 3-4 weeks I'd have a new garage, but it took nearly two months to complete construction. From a communication/responsiveness perspective it was like I was dealing with a different company. Weeks passed without any activity, and all calls/email asking for status updates required multiple follow-ups to get a response. When the construction finally wrapped up, Brad made it clear that sealing the blocks/slab was not included in the job, so I picked up some Brock-White commercial concrete sealer and did the job myself. I then proceeded to enjoy my new garage as winter set in that year, and for a few months things were good. In the following spring (April 2011), I noticed that several cracks had started to appear in the concrete floor. I took some photos and emailed them to Brad. During the bid process he made a very big deal about knowing concrete inside and out, and even made a point of mentioning routine trips to concrete-related seminars and taking classes on the subject, so I assumed he'd be very interested. Instead, it took almost four months to get him to comment on the situation, and even then brushed it off as a "cosmetic" issue. "All concrete will eventually crack," he said, "and I'm not going to do anything about yours." His comments struck me as very odd, especially since during the bid process he seemed to take great pride in his concrete work. He even says as much in his marketing, which I'll directly quote below: "You can tell the difference between a Western Garage and our competitors by looking at the slab 10 years later. Concrete is one of the most important parts of garage construction. It's our reputation and it is something we take much pride in." That sounds great, but it's not even CLOSE to 10 years for my slab, and the cracks just keep getting worse, as you can see in the attached photos. The other big problem is that the slab wasn't sloped properly. As a result, water will pool in the corners of the garage, and has started to eat away at the treated block. As of this writing it's been four months since Brad was alerted to that issue and he promised to replace the damaged blocks. I finally gave up and hired another company to fix THAT issue.

-Project was well planned and executed
-Custom drafts were invaluable
-Subs were knowledgeable and courteous
-Team worked diligently with insurance company and mortgage company
-End result better than expected

The quality of the final product appears to be very good after the first six months and the subs were courteous and professional. No signs of problems so far.

The not so good and why we probably won't use them again....We put down a deposit in July and the demo started as expected about 10 days later. The process was a bit slow and painful as the concrete pad was more of a challenge then expected by Western and no on seemed to notice that existing garage was over the city property line until after the garage was torn down. Seems like the city or the builder would have known that at the time of the permit being issued. To cure the issue, after several weeks delay, Western asked for another $3k for additional brick etc for going deeper into the tiny backyard. Naturally, we came to an arrangement by flipping the garage sideways, since it had not been built yet- this was early September. We finally had the garage we needed a day before Halloween. In short, good product but it was not the smoothest process. Brad and Eric were very helpful once the problems were escalated.

A couple years back we had Western out to build my father a garage. They did a fantastic job so last year we had them out again to build ours. Like last time things went quickly and smoothly.

They put down a cement base, and it was too close to the alley, so it had to be moved. They had chopped up a bunch of net and left it in a pile for me to get rid of. I didn't appreciate that. When they build the garage, I assumed everything was done, so I paid them, but the final inspection wasn't done. And when they came out it didn't pass. So it was hard to get a hold of these people to get them to come back several times to get it done the way it was supposed to be done.

Every step of the way Western was great. Brad came out and gave me a fair bid and explained every step of the process to me. The demolition of the old garage was quick and clean. Actually I left for work and came home and it was gone. The next phase of excavating and pouring the the foundation was perfect, the garage was right where I wanted it and so are the door openings. Next came the building phase, the crew that came out was a father and son team. Tony (father) let me know exactly what to expect and how quickly things would be done. He then asked if I had any concerns. I told them I had an older dog who might try and escape. So he built a special fence to keep the dog from getting out as he built the garage. Then came the electrician John, he met with me and went over the placement of all the lights and switches. Then the final phase of the overhead door. Overall I was very impressed with the professionalism and the fact that they cleaned up every day was important to me as I have a toddler and a five-year-old that love to get into things.

I called Western in September to get a garage before the snow flies. They built a deck and replaced the windows in our old home so I knew they would be the right company to build our new garage.
The weather didn't cooperate but Western was able to complete the garage on time.
We built their standard 20x22 two car garage with vinyl siding to match our home. We didn't need much more so this garage was perfect.
We had prices from other contractors but went with Western because of the track record we had with them on our previous projects.
I would highly recommend Western to anyone looking to build a garage.

N/a

The whole process took about 4/5 weeks from start to finish. We were very impressed! The whole structure is still looking brand new!

They were great. Alway on time. The workers were always very polite and I really liked that they were all employees of western instead of some subs that they don't even know. We appreciated the family owned aspect of it as well.

Joe was great and very communicative - something that I really value with contractors. His crew was also professional and very nice - no young kids, all seemed very experienced. We got two other quotes and Mpls Garage came in well under the other two quotes. The quality of the garage is great and we are very pleased. The only frustration we had was the length of time it took from start to finish - Sept to Dec end to end. There were large gaps between stages of work - with sometimes weeks between them. Given the concrete shortage this past year, some was to be expected - however, the gaps between stages was sometimes frustrating and it was hard for the team to estimate when certain steps would be started or completed. All told, we were pleased with the result; and thankful that we no longer need to park on the street or scrape snow off of our cars any longer.

Great

It went great! Easy to work with.

It was a good experience, and everything went well.  The crew was on time, acted professionally, and did a great job.  In fact, they even took it upon themselves to fix some water-damaged insulation and sheathing that they discovered which I appreciated.  They also picked up after themselves and had a reasonable price considering the scope of the work.

They were quick and so professional and they took evey scrap of debris and clrraned up alll of the mess leaving us a little bit stunned by their thoroughness.and speeed.

My dad was looking for a garage to do some tinkering in.  He is not Internet savvy so I researched various builders in the Metro area and chose Western based not only their competitive prices, but the friendliness of their staff.  Brad came out and took his time to talk through everything my dad wanted and was very clear on timing and what to expect.  His delivery was exactly what he laid out and it put my mind at ease to know that my dad was taken care of.  
My dad has been a contractor for years but in his older age is not capable of building a garage for himself anymore.  He is VERY knowledgeable on the topic and he talked very highly of Western's level of expertise.  I would definitely recommend this company again!

My garage was hit by the tornado in north Minneapolis back in 2011. When I purchased my home in February of 2013 the garage was in shambles. Every company told me they would have to tear down and demolish what was remaining and start from scratch (excluding the concrete floor). I heard about Western Construction Inc through a friend of mine who also had work done by them. He recommended I give them a call before I make any decisions. BEST ADVICE EVER. Someone came out right away (same day!) to give me an estimate. It was immediately clear this man knew significantly more than anyone else I had met with. While every other company wanted to build me a new garage, said it would take 3 weeks, and wanted to take every penny I would give them. Western said they could rebuild the garage, and then proceeded to show me exactly how and why it was possible when I had questions/concerns that it was cutting corners. All of my concerns were explained in a way I could understand instead of construction mumbo-jumbo. The only thing that had to be entirely replaced was the garage door and they were even able to get me a deal on that! They were there everyday until it was done, anytime I spoke to any of the workers they either had an answer or got one for me immediately. I have never had such phenomenal service anywhere for anything.
The bottom line: Western saved me almost $10,000, got the job done in 1/3 the time, the estimate was %100 accurate and never changed on me. I would definitely recommend them to friends and family, and will be using them again for future projects.

Overall the experience of working with Western construction was a breeze.  This being my first project Western construction went above and beyond my expectations.  They were very knowledgeable and knew exactly what I wanted.  The pricing was very competitive based on all the quotes I received on the project. The process was completed very fast and was always on schedule. I knew i could trust their reputation being in business for 65 years with three generations working there.  Brad and Zack where great to work with and would 100% recommend Western Construction to all my friends and family.

I would recommend Western to my friends and family because during my whole experience I was treated like a friend/family member. They have been in business for a long time and know what they are doing- they made me feel at ease. I called and asked tons of questions - more than most I can imagine- and they were always prompt and friendly with their responses. I am a female and had a hard time talking with other construction companies but they totally took care of all my concerns, met our budget -they did even better than some highly recommended companies- and completed on schedule. Thank you!

The sales person was very pushy and did not seem to listen well. I asked to have the exact same siding and trim color that was damaged and they started when I was out of town. When I returned they used a different style (I had Duch Lap and they used the normal style). When I told them the problem all they said was that they were sorry - they never offered to either re-do the siding or reduce the price. Every day after they were here I could see nails, staples and debris all over my yard. They only cleaned up when I called to complain. DO NOT USE THEM IF YOU WANT A GOOD JOB.

I notice that the concrete on the driveway on the edge is chipping. I don't know whether it's their fault. Otherwise I am happy with the garage. The sales guy was very pleasant to work with. They were very responsive over the phone.

It went smooth as can be! Western was a delightful company to work with. Small family owned business right in st Louis park. They built my fathers garage back in the 70's. Looking into them I discovered they have been around building garages for 64 years now. Zack was a pleasure to work with and his father brad (the owner) was very knowledgable. It was apparent that they definetly were the garage "experts" in the twin cities.

Everything from the price to the tear down, pouring of concrete, framing, workers and customer service was on point with our expectations.

I highly recommend western when it comes to garages.

Last Spring, we tore down our old single car garage and built a much larger (22x36) detached garage.   After researching builders and getting a few quotes, Western Construction appeared to be a solid choice, although in hindsight this was definitely not the case.  Bottom line, based on our experience we would not choose Western again for our garage.  According to Brad (Western’s president), Western kicks out ~200 garages/year.  Perhaps they are adequate if you are looking for a very basic one or two car cookie cutter garage, but if you’re interested in a higher quality garage or something out of the ordinary with a few upgrades, I suggest looking elsewhere.

My experience:  I signed my contract on 5/8/12 and gave Western a $12k deposit for a garage they told me would be completed in six weeks with demolition beginning the following week.  Time was a big issue for me since I had an upcoming project requiring use of the new garage.

While talking to a neighbor who signed his contract with Western 3 weeks prior to me, he informed me he was experiencing delays.  In week two, I called Western and was given excuses.  By week three, work had not started.  On May 29, I contacted Western and was informed they were backed up due to the weather.  However, I called the city office and learned the permits for my garage had not been submitted until May 23 and as of May 29th they had not yet been issued.  At this point, it became clear to me Western had no intention of building my garage in six weeks.  I notified Western I was terminating my contract and requested a refund of my deposit.  Western presented me with a revised schedule and agreed to a monetary penalty for schedule slips, so we chose to proceed.

From this point forward, things started happening quite rapidly.  However, one of the things we contracted for was for a curb cut to make our driveway double wide at the street.  On June 6, I was informed I may have to pay more money for the curb cut since the city was requiring a wider apron than Western thought.  I refused to pay additional since this is what our contract stated and I felt it was up to Western to know the city requirements.  They poured the new apron (the part where the driveway meets the street), only to have the city inspector make them completely tear it out and redo it a few weeks later.

After the concrete was poured and set, the construction on the garage moved quickly and we soon had an enclosed garage.  Shortly after the garage was completed, I noticed I was getting water in the garage from underneath both of the service doors.  It turns out Western did not apply caulking under the service doors.  Western came out and applied an ugly bead of caulk outside the door threshold as a remedy.  I did not feel this was an adequate long-term fix, but after a number of discussions, it became clear Western was unwilling to do anything more to provide a long-term fix.  Since the caulk did seem to keep the water out for the time being, I paid them the remainder of my bill.  On 8/15, there was once again water in the garage.  I contacted Western to inform them, but did not hear back.  On 10/26/12, I continued having water problems and requested warranty repair.  On 10/31/12 Western informed me they would arrange to have someone come out.  I never heard back, and this meeting never happened.  As a result I have been dealing with a wet garage this Winter/Spring.  Had Western applied caulking under the doors, I am confident I would not be dealing with this water issue. 

Three other items of note, are: poor trim work, pitting concrete and the stucco color is not even close to the color we chose.  For the trim, we paid an additional $2000 to upgrade the material, then Western apparently did not order enough material, so they spliced together pieces for some of our window trim making an otherwise nice looking garage appear cheaply built.  The floor of our garage became pitted and is no longer smooth.  This may have been caused by several factors, such as: pouring when temps were above 90, over troweling, or incorrect concrete mixture.  After researching this topic, I don’t believe this presents a long-term structural problem, but our new garage floor does not look like a new garage floor.  Lastly, the stucco color we selected was from the color chart Western provided.  During the application, it looked very light, but I was informed it would darken over time.  Ten months after the final stucco coat was applied, it is still many shades lighter than the color we chose.  

Bottom line, would we chose Western again or recommend them?  Absolutely not.  According to Brad (Western’s president), Western kicks out ~200 garages/year.  Perhaps they are adequate if you are looking for a very basic one or two car cookie cutter garage, but if you’re interested in a higher quality garage or something out of the ordinary with a few upgrades, I am sure you could do better elsewhere.