Whole Builders Cooperative

Marcia, Keith, and the rest of the Whole Builders team were fantastic. They bent over backwards to accommodate our 3 month deadline so we could move in before winter. The subcontractors they used were excellent. The attention to detail was second to none, they went above and beyond in order to make the damaged house whole again. Weekly meetings were fantastic and allowed us to be engaged in the many decisions that had to be made. We felt like we could trust the team completely -- the quality of the work performed along with their honest feedback along the way proved that they had our best interests at heart. We look forward to working with them again!

I fully respect Whole Builders, their thoroughness, and their understanding of people, construction, and how the two interact. The architect plans were clear, accurate, creative, and completed in a friendly, professional manner. We would have hired them to complete the project, but some friends in the construction business gave us an estimate far below the current construction market price. We would definitely consider hiring them in the future.

Whole Builders are really great to work with but at the time we got the work done they could have picked their sub contractors better because I have to deal with the fact that the taping in the room is popping, the seams popped, some tracks have developed, and the roofing sub contractor used shingles that were recalled so I had to have the roof redone last year. The sub contractor for the heating did the worst possible job connecting the trunk line for the upstairs heat had coil cooling. From a physics perspective it was absolutely wrong and I had to spend almost $3000.00 for re-ducting and upgrading in order to get comfortable temperatures on my second floor and it was because they did the absolute wrong thing connecting the trunk line. I didn't know any better but anybody in the business should have looked at that. Whole Builders should have better oversight on their HVAC guys. They had poor follow up to make sure the work was done properly and had better oversight and understanding of what the sub contractors were doing. That was really disappointing because I've had extra expenses to deal with regarding the sub contracting work. However, the layout design is fabulous. I love the time they put in with this. They were really easy to work with and the space is nice to live in.

They were very thorough, friendly, and knowledgeable. They gave us a lot of options. I did feel like their quote was very high for the amount of work that was needed to be done and that is why we didn't go with them. I would consider using them for another quote in the future too.

We couldn't be happier with the way the work turned out, and the experience we had using Whole Builders. They and their sub-contractors were good people. Having some previous experience in construction myself, I liked that WB incorporated my material choices (like plywood instead of OSB, tar paper instead of tyvek, etc.) and technique preferences and made suggestions on better techniques when appropriate. The weekly meeting they use was a great way to stay involved in the process to make sure our concerns stayed in the project. After ~2 years since the remodel, we haven't had any issues. The only negative was that WB quote was higher than some of our other bids. Ultimately they were open to sharing their costs and allowing us to make some of the trade-off decisions to keep us on budget. We probably paid a few percent more, but got what we wanted in the end. Well worth the slightly higher cost in my experience (having done major remodels at least twice before, I preferred their method over the others I've tried).

Whole Builders were recommended to us from a couple of sources; we were most interested in having our remodel job be as green as possible. WB was responsive and came to look at our house soon after we contacted them. While my personality did not mesh with the WB person who came out, my spouse was ok with her. She talked a lot about her house (almost non-stop) and didn't ask many questions about ours. She also made some slightly judgmental remarks about our house and what we were thinking of doing. I had the impression that she hadn't estimated remodel jobs in quite some time, and I believe she said that someone else from their office usually does, but that that person was too busy to make it. Ultimately, their estimate was higher than the company we went with, so we didn't use them for our remodeling.

Very professional, very organized. They worked with a plan we had from a different architect, pointed out ways to save money, improved on the design. Very thorough and highly skilled. Their weekly meetings were invaluable to keep us all on the same page and aware of costs. All subs were very professional and respectful of our home. Any time there was a small glitch they were quick to identify 2 or 3 solutions which kept us on schedule. Very strong knowledge of all aspects of construction.

They are very punctual and environmentally friendly! They were very pleasant to work with and they finished the work within a week of when they said they would. A real breath of fresh air!

We were overall impressed with MJ's knowledge of building science and materials, (I am a former builder, so know a bit about what to ask). She also had a good handle on the process and timelines and possible obstacles. The company's flexibility was also impressive: They would do it all from design to build, or they would just do design, or they would do whatever parts of the project we didn't want to do. They would contract or we could contract. This gave us options for completing the project that others wouldn't have provided. In terms of initial impressions and presentation, MJ spent perhaps a little too much time showing us pictures (on a recalcitrant computer) of previous projects they had done. Although these were impressive in scope and breadth, they merely served to scare the heck out of us. One can only look at so many half a million dollar rehabs before starting to question whether one can afford an expanded attic in a south Mpls bungalow.

The final plans were very well designed, with great attention to detail. The addition looks like it was original to the house.