Sussel Builders

This company hires lazy subcontractors from other states. Bottom-of-the-barrel types. I'm guessing that's why you see so many F reviews, that contrast with A reviews which are probably jobs that were not subcontracted. In 1994, we paid these knuckle-dragging idiots $36,000 to build a 3-car garage. The crew they hired was a bunch of carnival sideshows from Florida, who were messy, lazy slobs that I wouldn't trust to build a tree house. All during construction, they just threw their trash into the crevice between the dirt and the new cinder block wall. And I'm not sure they knew anything about how the ground in Minnesota freezes. Unfortunately, I was only a kid and didn't hold any authority to change anything, and my old man was too rich and lazy to do anything about it. My neighbor (who built his own garage the year before, which to this day has not a single crack anywhere) watched in terror as they pieced this pile of garbage together. The floating slab they poured needed to be about twice as deep for the amount of cinder block that was going to be on it (5 blocks high, 3 stalls wide). I'm sure they didn't tamp the ground enough, as another reviewer pointed out, because within 2 months the foundation began to crack across the back 1/3 of the slab. The cinder block walls had 1/2 inch cracks in several locations within 3 months, which worsened every year. The garage door has had to be adjusted every couple of years because the entire structure continues to deform in ways I can't describe without pictures. Today, the cracks in the walls are so large that you can pass a screwdriver to your buddy outside. You can clearly see the neighbor mowing the lawn next door. In winter, when the ground freezes, the height difference between the back 1/3 of the slab and the front 2/3 is OVER AN INCH. The frames around the two-car garage door and the single garage door are bowing. The walls on the garage door side are pushing inward (which is why the doors need to be constantly adjusted). In addition to constant adjustment, both doors have had springs, chains and drives break. That's not supposed to happen. Needless to say, the concrete apron is cracked in several places as well. That's normal for a 25-year-old garage. But the apron cracked within the first 12 months. This garage is so awfully built that the apron is now higher than the foundation, and heavy rain or snow melt will flood the entire floor. I remember when we complained early on that there were cracks. They sent a one-man crew to put mortar in the cracked walls and called it good. When asked about the slab, he just replied that "it's Minnesota, and all garage floors crack." What a crock. Customer service = zero. Now that I'm 40, and will soon graduate with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, I can say with 100% certainty that this company doesn't care about anything but getting your money. Don't buy from Sussel, unless you're filming the next great documentary of how not to build something. Plan about $50,000-$60,000 for your budget since that's about the cost to build this garage in today's money. Eff Sussel straight in their faces. Their buildings are excrement. Will upload pics as soon as garage is empty.

Started building September of 1999. They poured the cement, on ground that needed to be packed down first!!!!!!!!!! They rode over the dirt with their little bobcat and called that good. They then called the city inspector, and he gave the ok over the phone!!!!!!!!! They finished the garage somewhere in February/March,2000. They put up the wrong siding. The draintile that I bought and put down was spray painted with the waterproofing paint for the side walls of the garage!!!!! The man they hired for this, they must have pulled off the side of the road!!!!! He spent at most 10 minutes with a cigarette hanging from is mouth all the while!!! He left leaving huge globs of paint running down the sides!! I spent 2 hours trying to smooth out the globs of paint, and cover the areas that he missed! I called sussel, and they said that they would have had to have seen the job!!!! But I had to spread and smooth out the paint before it dried permantly like that!!!!!! There are cracks all over!!!!!! Two large ones right off the bat in the spring of 2000. Cracks in the side walls on all sides!!!!! The frost heave moves the service door up a good inch or more. When it rains or winter thaws, it is a very wet floor inside. Mold over the side walls!!!! You really need to see this to really appreciate such shoddy workmanship!!!!!!!!!! I did try calling them about all these problems, I was always put on hold for ever. No one ever responded to my calls!!!!!!! I dont care how much time has passed, I am not through with them, or the city inspector!!!!! They owe me a new garage!!!! This clearly was not built correctly!!!!!!!!!!!! Should NOT have paid them.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am really surprised that they are still in business!!!!

We had our garage built in 2017. There were issues with every part of the process. Sussel said we’d have a garage in 4 weeks but to give them 6 weeks because there would be issues. This garage took 12 weeks. Communication was very poor with people showing up on days we were told they weren’t going to shop and they didn’t show up when we were told they would show up. We were told that we could leave everything in their hands…this was NOT the case. We had to police the project constantly and it is fortunate that we did. During demo, their equipment broke down and we loaned them our tools to help fix it. This one-day job took 3 days. We watched the rebar being installed and questioned how that was done. We also wanted a vapor barrier put in at the last minute. They said no problem, but when the plastic was laid, it appeared to be used, dirty and torn. We got that at no charge – good thing that the $174 charge for used plastic was waived. The slab finally got poured. There was a pop-out, of coarse, right where you drive in. That was eventually repaired and we’re hoping it holds. When the block installers started their work, they were going to install block for a 16-foot wide garage door. After some back and forth we finally suggested that he read the plans. Once he read the plans, the worker finally admitted, you’re right, it’s a 17- foot door. Our garage was a little different in that some of the block was below ground. When the block arrived we thought it looked too small, but what do we know – professional garage builders are working here. It turns out the block WAS too small – they installed 6-inch block instead of 8- inch block and the block wall cracked during backfill. They had to tear it down and start all over. This left horrible black marks all over the slab from the bobcat removing blocks. Before the work continued we saw that it was going to rain. We had to go out and clean up all of the mortar residue and trash ourselves or the slab would have been ruined with hardened globs of mortar that had been rained on. Then came waterproofing of the block. They waterproofed all right, but when we went to look at it, they used a grey substance and didn’t reach the point where the block met the slab in many places. They had to come out again and re-waterproof. When they came back, they used a white substance at the slab/block juncture – now we were going to have grey and white stripes show. They came back a 3rd time to waterproof – all with one color. We asked for and were charged for drain tile. They were coming back to do the 2nd back fill around the garage but never installed the drain tile. Fortunately, my husband and his brother chose to install the drain tile because it wasn’t getting done. Sussel showed up the next day to backfill without us being informed that they were coming. Sussel made a good-will offering and gave us the service door for free. That was nice, but they installed trim that was all knicked up on one side. We didn’t want them to install the attic floor, but they mistakenly delivered the materials for that, so they installed it at no charge. Framing of the structure went well – so we thought. The structure was built, siding and roofing put on….then the garage door installer came. He informed us that the door opening was 2 inches too short in height for the 8-foot door. I couldn’t bear to have them pull off siding and deconstruct the garage after all of what we endured. It still worked, but it was 2 inches too short so the decorative part of the door is off. Trash was everywhere in the back and the driveway had yet to be laid. We called and called and no one came to clean up the mess. It took us two trips with a truck to the transfer station ourselves to clean up all the mess. Fortunately, we did that because the next day they came to pour the driveway. After all of this, I wanted my bill adjusted. After an hour meeting of going over all of the issues with the VP and Co-ordinator, I was offered $500. That was nothing. Good thing I kept good records and took photos along the way. We went back and forth on emails for 2 weeks and finally came to a compromise. I felt like I was negotiating a car deal. This was started in May 2017 and completed in August of 2017. So far so good, but it was not a good experience along the way. My main suggestion to them to help avoid this in the future for other clients was to have more oversight by their own people. Perhaps mistakes could be lessened.

Well planned and thorough from start to finish. They worked nicely around our schedule, which extended the construction period a bit. They were not the cheapest, but their price was competitive with two other bids. We went with them because of their long experience and were not disappointed. If you want a garage built with minimal hassles, Sussel is your builder.

Fabulously! They were incredibly easy to work with, communicated well, and very receptive to some changes we wanted to make along the way

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Overall I had a positive experience working with Sussel. I have some minor complaints that I?ll go into more detail on later. I?m providing a lot of details and dates in the hopes that this will be helpful to a first-time garage builder like myself.
The process started out with Dennis (sales guy) coming out to take a look at my property and provide me with an estimate. Since this is my first time building a garage, I had a ton of questions for him during and after this consultation. He was knowledgeable and responded quickly to my inquiries and pricing questions. I was happy with Dennis and his honesty which is why I went with Sussel.
Once we agreed on everything and got the paperwork signed, demolition started about 2 or so weeks later on 9/8/15. I would?ve preferred it started sooner but these guys are busy. Demolition was fun to watch and the guy that did it did an excellent job and was very friendly. He worked a very long day to get it all done.
The foundation pouring was delayed by rain a day or two, and that was completed on 9/11/15. Again, these guys were great, friendly, and seemed to do a solid job. I know it?s still new, but so far there hasn?t been any cracks except in the control joints (fingers crossed).
Next up was framing. There was a delay in getting this started which kind of frustrated me. I?m not sure why - maybe part weather related, or maybe my fault (I kept making design changes). Once they got started it only took a few days to complete both the walls and the roof. I didn?t interact with these guys at all, but they did a very nice job from what I can tell. Framing was completed on 10/1/15.
Next was shingles and roof vents. The roofing crew came out on a Saturday and got it done quickly. They seemed friendly and did a good job. When they finished, I watched as they took an extra box of shingles with them. I?m not sure if that was appropriate or not, but no big deal in my book. They did good work. This was completed on 10/3/15.
Siding was next. This turned out really nice, and as far as I can tell they did a great job. It was completed on 10/7/15. One complaint here ? the sider was supposed to put the aluminum on the door frames, but that didn?t happen. I believe it was because the aluminum hadn?t been delivered yet. Whatever the case, I got in touch with my project coordinator and informed him and the sider came back out and put it on.
Next up, electrical. Mostly positive experience here. The work was completed on 10/9/15. He did a great job but missed a couple things ? the power line to the house needed to be 3 feet from the top of the garage and he didn?t put the garage on its own breaker (I used to have a complicated electrical system consisting of breakers and fuses, so understandable). This wasn?t a major issue though, once I had the electrical inspection he was back in touch to come out and fix things. Despite this, I enjoyed working with him so much that I?ve had him out to do additional unrelated electrical work since, and will most likely go to him in the future. Really knowledgeable and nice guy.
After that, another delay waiting for the overhead doors to be put on. The first picture I have of the garage with the doors is from 10/22/15, so I?ll say that?s about when they were put on. Other than the delay (which I was told was caused by my 18x7 door that was special order) this was a great experience. There was one guy out there working all day to get all 3 on. I was pretty excited when this was done!
After that there were a few more things ? the city came out to bridge the gap between the slab and alley with asphalt, installation of firewall panels, final inspection, I cleaned and power washed the floor and applied a sealant, etc. I finally parked my car in there for the first time on 10/29/15. So that gives you an idea of how long something like this takes - 9/8/15 to 10/29/15 from demolition to parking in your new garage. Less than two months. 12/1/15 is when I made my final payment to Sussel.
Looking back it seemed like a lot longer than that. Those were some long weeks and this was quite the process. I made several changes to the design through the process though, which made my involvement higher and made it a bit more stressful. Working with my project coordinator (Paul) at Sussel was mostly positive. I do have to say though, there were a few times when he didn?t get back to me on questions I asked via voicemail or email, and I had to follow-up with him. That became kind of frustrating. Other than that, I?m happy with him and the work done by Sussel. As far as I can tell everything was done right, and I?m happy with the final product! I would work with them again.
My best advice to a first-time builder - make sure you thoroughly think through your design. I put a lot of thought into it, and even with that there's still things I would go back and change if I could do it over. The major one is I would've made it bigger, just because it would make more sense on my lot and because even though the garage is huge I visualized it bigger in my head. It's really difficult to visualize the final product but do your best with a measuring tape. Also, don't be stingy with money. I made several changes that I'm happy about (such as adding the extra overhead door in the back of the garage) and all of them added to the final price. But in the end, my take is if you're already spending $35k, what's another few thousand dollars? Especially if that allows you to get a feature you really want. Good luck!

Great service. They've come back a couple times for minor concrete repairs. Very responsive.

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