Castle Gate Construction

He was nice at that point in time. He said he would get back to us with the estimate in the next day or two. After a week, we hadn't heard from him. We called him and he said he would get us an estimate right away. Five minutes later he emailed us saying he was no longer doing that type of work.

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Always top quality work. Dan (owner) has a passion for customer service and getting the job done right, on time and at a reasonable price. No job too big or too small. Very knowledgable - has the best contacts in the Twin Cities. If they do not know the answer on a particular detail, they know who to call. Castle Gate has my highest recommendation - they will receive all my construction and remodelling business as long as I live in the Twin Cities.

The project went exceedingly well. Dan was timely, on-budget, and committed to the project. We have an older home and he was able to make the kitchen remodel blend into the existing architecture. We are just thrilled about how this large scale project turned out. Without a doubt, Dan at Castle Gate is the first contractor we would contact if we ever take on another large remodeling project. Highly recommended!

As I did some sweat equity work on the project, Dan always let me know what I needed to do next and when he and his crew were going to do work, he always made me aware and showed up when I was told he would.

Dan does a great job. His is one of the rare companies that will take on a small job, and we had used him for a couple before having his company work on a house that I inherited. Dan is extremely enthusiastic and knowledgeable but will listen to your input. He will offer cost saving alternatives but will also let you have free reign if you wish. On the first small job we hired him for (repairing damaged sheet rock and toilet in a downstairs bathroom), he showed up three minutes early. In our second job, when we found better alternatives then he had already started working on, he cheerfully changed the work and even agreed with our new choice. Dan's people are pleasant to work with, and always willing to take the time to explain what/why they are doing something. When his workforce finished the last of the interior work, they cleaned up any dust, shavings, nails, and left the interior looking as if it had just been cleaned.

Dan does a great job. His is one of the rare companies that will take on a small job, and we had used him for a couple before having his company work on a house that I inherited. Dan is extremely enthusiastic and knowledgeable but will listen to your input. He will offer cost saving alternatives but will also let you have free reign if you wish. On the first small job we hired him for (repairing damaged sheet rock and toilet in a downstairs bathroom, he showed up three minutes early. In our second job, when we found better alternatives then he had already started working on, he cheerfully changed the work and even agreed with our new choice. During the planning stage of our large project, Dan shared his knowledge of businesses that offered a wider/better range of items such as sinks, fawcets, bathtub doors, tile, etc., but he also let us know when cheaper alternatives could be found at the local Home Depot or Menards. Dan's people are pleasant to work with, and always willing to take the time to explain what/why they are doing something. When his workforce finished the last of the interior work, they cleared up any dust, shavings, nails, and left the interior looking as if it had just been cleaned.

Dan, the owner of Castle Gate Construction, is GREAT to work with. He is professional, personable, honest, and timely. All of the workers he brought into our home were professional, polite, kind, and easy to work with. All work was done in a timely manner. When we ran into an unexpected flooring problem while removing the existing tile (due to poor installation by the builder), Dan worked with us to split the unexpected costs. Dan stands behind his work and will make any needed adjustments/fixes. I highly recommend Dan for any work you need done. We plan to use him again for a bathroom remodel, to redo our fireplace and to build a wet bar in our basement.

He came and did a remodel job for us on our main level, including the kitchen and bathrooms. Everything was great. He was very honest and easy to work with. He was very patient and price conscious. I would highly recommend him.

Before & during my legal proceedings against Gary Knight/Knight Construction Design Inc. for mismanagement of my project money, project work, & several breaches of our contract, I had to obtain SEVERAL estimates regarding the value of the work I had received from Knight, what it would cost to fix Knight's shoddy work & outstanding code violations, & the cost to complete the remodel as outlined in the scope of work. These estimates were necessary because Gary Knight claimed that his work was to industry standards & that I had received equitable goods & services for the money he had taken. Castle Gate was one of many companies that I picked at random. Many contractors were reluctant to undertake the corrective work, because it was so extensive. More of Knight's work would have to be demolished, than left standing & the contractors claimed that it would be difficult to get a nice & professional -looking finished remodel given the amount of patch-work needed. ( Photos of Knight's work to our home can be viewed on many review sites, i.e. Angie's List, Goggle, Yahoo, & especially, Yelp where there are an extensive number of photos & case paperwork used to dispel Knight's claim that we have lied about what they did to us. ) Pat, an employee of Castle Gate at the time, was so empathetic to my nightmare with Knight. On a second visit, Dan came along, because he could not believe what Pat had described to him. I also appreciated Dan's reaction to Knight's mess- he got mad. He was not the only one to be upset with how bad contractors give the good, hard-working , & honest contractors a bad name. I received Castle Gates estimates & they were among those that kept in touch, because, at the time, nobody could do anything to my house while official legal proceedings were in motion against Knight. When we bought our house, we had planned on converting a bedroom into an office & part of Knight's work was installing an extra window in that room. Knight over-mudded the new drywall, even mudding in their blue painters tape on an existing window nearby. Knight did not trim the sheetrock around the window properly, used the wrong wood trim around the window & even put it up poorly, gouged areas of the fresh mud, & tore the screen when they installed the window. Over a year later, after getting excuses & the run-around from Knight & the okay from my attorney, I contacted Castle Gate to correct & finish Knight's work on the wall around the window. Dan did the work himself & was done in 2 hours, including the trip to get the correct trim profile, that Knight said was no longer made. Dan knew it to be a common trim & went directly to a supplier. I have submitted a photo to show the amount of excess mud & sheetrock that Dan had to cut & sand away. I appreciated Dan's hard work, & after that we were able to finish painting the room & have the office cabinets installed by another company who had been kept waiting for almost a year while we were strung along by Knight. Also, another company was put on hold for inside shutter installation. ( TechLIne & SunBurst Shutters were great to work with! ) Months later, as legal proceedings against Knight continued, I had to get another okay from my attorney & chose Castle Gate to complete the wiring for 3 outside outlets. It took Castle Gate's sub less than 45 min. to complete the wiring that allowed us to use electric awnings that we had installed by another company as part of our home remodel over a year earlier (A Shade Above - also, great to work with- they are in retirement now & sold their business.) Knight was given the opportunity to complete their own work, time & again, but they never did - it was always unfulfilled promises. Castle Gate was always there to do the job quickly & without hassles. The two companies, Castle Gate & Knight were so opposite in how they approached their work , their quality, & pricing. While still in the midst of the legal battle with Knight, a hail storm damaged our roof & some siding. We got estimates from other companies & ended up hiring Castle Gate. We were concerned that the work needed for repairs would end up damaging a lot of our plants around the house. Pat, was our project manager & he wrote into the contract the measures that they would take to minimize damage to our landscaping. He was on-site to see that those measures were followed by the workmen. The roofers were great - no damage at all, plus they went around the house & picked up stray nails. They were impressive. Other than a beautiful new roof, it was like they had not been there. The guys who replaced the siding damaged a few plants & they let me know ahead of time that it would be likely. Our property is narrow & we planted heavily around the house, but they needed to stabilize their ladder somewhere, so I understood. They were friendly & did a nice job, too. We love the look of the gable. Castle Gate did not gouge us for the decorative shingles on the gable as other companies tried.After the positive experience with the bigger job, we chose Castle Gate from the start, not considering anyone else, for a bigger project. Because we could not move back into our basement as the legal battle with Knight continued, all the furniture & others belongings from the basement had to be stored throughout the house & garage. It ended up being 4 years without the full use of our house & zero use of our basement. So, we asked Castle Gate to build a storage shed. It became a bigger project than we first planned, but in the end, we love what we got & it was all because of Dan's involvement along with Pat. It was Dan's idea to build the shed on a deck out over the slope. The clay soil heaves badly & we were concerned about a concrete slab foundation cracking. Also, our back yard is mostly a steep slope & an odd shape. Dan's deck idea was great & Pat encouraged us to build the maximum size, 8 x 10. At first, we were concerned about the building being on a high deck, out in the open, with no shelter from the very strong crosswinds that can blow across our property. They will knock over our patio umbrella when it's closed with an extra weighted base, knock over heavy teak chairs, & hanging baskets haven't a chance. We went to the city engineer with our concerns & questions. He gave it the okay & complimented our contractor for utilizing space that way. He stated that he would like to see more people develop their property & lessen the size of their lawns to conserve water. After that, we told Pat & Dan that the project was a go. The building & deck are solid. I have no worries of either being toppled by the crosswinds. Dan added insulation to the floor as well as the walls, to make it as warm as possible, after I told him I'd like to turn it into a hobby house someday. Dan suggested the lattice work around the bottom to hide the supports & give it a more finished look. He also suggested putting in a door at the highest point of the latticework so that, in the future, we could dig out an area of the slope underneath the deck & use it as rough storage, which we have since done. It ended up looking so nice that we stopped calling it a shed & starting calling it the "garden keep." A few things came up during the project, but it is to Castle Gate's credit how easily they were handled. Also, at the start of work, Dan disagreed on a construction issue with the building inspector. Dan settled the matter face-to-face, in his favor, with the city engineer, got it in writing, had no more hassles & earned respect from the inspector. Dan knows construction - a sharp contrast to Knight. We have NEVER doubted Dan's ability to build properly. After receiving the settlement, Dan was our project manager for the basement remodel. He worked hard & gave us a beautiful basement. When he was not on-site ( which he was the majority of the time ) he was on the phone with subs & us. He moved windows & the patio door for a better view. He inserted cabinets between the wall studs for extra storage. He added soundproofing to the ceiling. He finished our laundry room. He removed a half wall, utilized an antique newel post we had & made the staircase a show piece. He finished a wall around a double-window and took away the basement look Knight had made of it. He framed the ceiling to get every inch of height out of it. He rerouted the heat vents to minimize awkward soffits & paid great attention to the finish trim giving the space a very professional, polished look. Because of Dan's abilities & commitment to us & the job, he turned Knight's "knightmare " into a dream space for us. Of special note : We find it hard to believe that the Angie's List member who rated Castle Gate so poorly was truly ever a customer of Dan's. Nothing about their description of Dan & his workmanship rings true. We also find it interesting that the scope of work in the other review, so closely mimics our own. We suspect who is behind this & we feel it to be a shameful retaliation for Dan acting as our expert witness.