JG Development Inc

Very smooth process, interior design help was great and much appreciated.  Very helpful all the way through the process.

I contacted this contractor and they told me they could do the work in December of 2014 for $15,000 project. They weren’t ready in December and they would start in April 2015. The company started demolishing my place and doing electrical work and getting pieces for the structure but no placement while I was traveling. While I was traveling I learned from them that they had not got the permit (had 5 months to do so). When they finally asked the permit, they had it refused since my condo is considered commercial and not residential, so it would be under a different code. The engineer took responsibility and re-did the plan with me and the contractor without asking more money. However in this contingency I discovered that  the contractor had changed my original plan without my knowledge (making the estimate much more for what I wanted but much cheaper for the plan he changed it to) The contractor said the modified project will cost much more (which I did not understand as the changes were minimal). I had chosen this contractor in October and am now finding they provided me with non-realistic/false estimate (lower than other companies) and promised to build in December, but did not end up starting until April. I came back home and I can’t go home as my place is not finished (I am renting a room now). They have given me an estimate that was not my version of the plan. They changed the plan without telling me and had me sign the contract. They put me in a very bad situation because I can’t give them more money (as they are asking for a lot more then they initially asked) JG proposed to cancel the work and if I do that I have no one to do the work and number two: they won’t give me all my money back. I just want this project built and to have them free me from this damage (complete the project) so I can go home.  JG needs to take responsibility for their mistake in pricing, I am not saying this was intentional but it was their mistake when they gave me the estimate and it has made a huge negative impact on my life and living situation. They promised me another estimate a month ago and now are saying they are busy. I have contacted back the engineer and provided JG with all of the explanations they would need and still no estimate However, they did respond telling me they would give me one but the time has passed and I cannot wait any longer I need to go back home and get everything finished there. I also have another contractor involved that will need to move the air conditioning system and he needs to know in advance.

Price was fair for a full-service contract work, but you can save at least 20% on individual jobs. Part of this was to cover interior design-related overhead, which we understand and accept, given this is full-service. We did take back some of the work simply because they were nowhere competitive on pricing (hardwood floor install/refinishing and painting). To be fair though, when we asked JG to help with insulation, they did find the highest quality sub-contractors and the work showed. The team was very professional, courteous, and with high integrity - important traits for our family. The project looks great and functions well.
2 things that bothered us (hence the "B" Overall Experience and a "B" Quality), and JG was fully aware of them:
1. A random person walked into our house unannounced one day, walked around inside the house, and then disappeared. He had no identification as to whether he was with JG or a hired subcontractor. JG also had no clue who this person was, because the crew left the house earlier, with doors unlocked. This startled our babysitter and our 2 young boys, and we were very concerned with their safety, particularly when it is obvious that renovation work was being done with JG construction sign parked in front of our house. However, JG apologized immediately and made sure they tell us who were onsite going forward, and thank goodness nothing bad happened.
2. There were nails that punctured the pipes in the 2nd floor bathroom as JG was renovating (they did not mark the locations of the pipes to remind their floor guys). Anyhow, our 1st floor ceiling and the walls were soaked, and water seeped into our basement. JG promptly remedied it, as they tore out the drywall, the ceiling, air-dried the damage, and replaced them all. While JG absorbed all the costs, this delayed the project for a week, and hampered our living space.

We worked with this company for several months creating the specifications and bids for a project to install large windows in the lower level of our home. Working with them was a real pleasure. Their quality of their estimates and advice was outstanding. They were friendly, timely, professional and fulfilled all of our expectations. Our personal interactions with company representatives was as good as anyone could want. Ultimately, we did not hire them to do the project for reasons that had nothing to do with them. Had we gone ahead with the project, we are confident they would have exceeded our expectations. We highly recommend that if you are thinking about hiring a construction and remodeling firm, you talk with these folks. They are an excellent company, our experience with them was first rate, and we will be going back to them again on our next project.

We hired JG to take our remodel project from start to finish. Perhaps we would have saved some money lining up the contractors ourselves, but JG took care of all the details, made sure everything was done on time and done right. When we needed changes, they listened and took care of it. When we changed our minds at the last minute, they were happy to work through the change and make it happen. I was impressed with the level of communication, from returning phone calls and emails to the use of written change orders. At the end of the project, the work site was cleaned and the house looked great. Jeff and his team are great folks to work with.

Everyone showed up on time and worked hard and effficient all day. Very happy with work done.

Excellent. JG is very attentive to details and completed the job very quickly. The fit and finish of their work is fantastic. I would highly recommend this company to anyone seeking renovation or home repair services around Madison.

We bought a house in Mount Horeb and soon realized that we needed a couple of things done to the house sooner rather than later. We chose JG because they built a home for our friends and did a wonderful job. Our experience with JG was top notch. They were professional, on time, and communicated frequently throughout the process of this small job. They cleaned up perfectly. Their price was fair and we will definitely contact them again when we have more work done. This is the type of builder that shakes your hand when they arrive for work. A real pleasure to work with!

Process started in early 2011, contract (pre-construction agreement), signed in April 2011 which had our budget specified. We were given assurances that JG could build our dream cabin for budget specified. Several meetings and several iterations of plans ensued. Preliminary estimates exceeded our budget. Design features we wanted most were the first ones to be eliminated in attempts to reduce estimate. People were nice, but we felt that we were being shuffled around. At our last meeting in Jan 2012, we came to realize that JG was not responsive to our needs and we ended our association with them and forfeited our pre-construction service fee.

I started with a sketch and a budget, they worked out the design with me. This builder typically does high end remodeling and custom homes; in this work demonstrated good business controls and project oversight. I was still working in NY during the construction so we used a lot of email to communicate. The interior design and selections were tremendously enhanced by the skilled designer on their staff. Project went very smoothly, the house is beautiful. Cost was appropriate for what they deliver.

I can only think of positive things to say about them. They had excellent managers and sub-contractors. They provided excellent customer service. We definitely will use them again in the future.

They used our home in the Madison area Nari show. It's something that happens annually.
We were pleased with their professionalism with that. It was a very postive experience.

Two words for working with this company: BIG MISTAKE!!! This is my experience with JG Development and Jeff Grundahl in Blue Mounds, WI. His agreement is a joke! We wrote a check for $6000 for design work of an additionand received no working document in return. I am sharing my experience with JG Development to protect you so that you do not put yourself into a similar situation with JG Development and Jeff Grundahl. Most people would be embarrassed that they got into this position but we are writing this journal to save you from a similar experience. Since this experience I have joined Angie’s List to be more informed. I have no idea how they got such a good rating on the BBB so check ALL your sources first.

JG Development is located right down the highway. We have seen them for years at every EXPO in Madison WI and picked up many glossy marketing materials. We wanted to trust them and hoped they would respect us especially being a neighbor. I contacted JG Development through their web site. The sales consultant Randy Ziebarth came to the house to hear my vision of a room addition. What we wanted was a copy of the octagon room JG Development uses for their office space. As we did our walk about the property I caught comments of, new siding to the house, “No thank you”, landscaping, “Nope”. I later realized why he was adding on as much as he could. Randy is a good salesman and the design contract I signed was a percentage of a completed project. $$$$$. Still we had faith that they could design our vision. The design couldn’t be difficult because we sat in the octagon room during every meeting! An agreement was drafted and I signed an agreement in an early Tuesday morning meeting. Randy walked through the agreement 12/14 in less than 15 minutes.

That night I reviewed the contract in detail and sent an email Wednesday 12/15 with a detailed list of concerns. If we would have received a "Cooling Off' Notice” in the agreement as defined in NARI's Code of Ethics we would have canceled the contract. Making the contract null and void was documented as one of our plans in the email of concerns. I have all the email communications. We received an email response to our issues but the check already cleared the bank. Big Flag!!!! I had my car salesman friend review the JG Development agreement. He told me that it was stupid high estimate and that we should have just given the money to charity.

We started the design work on the octagon room when I learned JG Development did not build the room. It came with the building they purchased. We continued with design work while waiting for a property survey. We didn’t have one. Months later we received the required property survey to identify the property setback lines. The contract allowed only 40 hours of design work and after that we would be charged hourly. The design we were working on for 2 months could not fit within the property building lines! Here is where it all goes BAD!!! We were months into the project. Randy and Charlie came to the house to take the current building measurements. We had to change our design dramatically to fit into the property setback lines. The octagon room design turned into a draft of a traditional square room addition! Octagon to square? The first step for an architect/designer is to understand the customer's point of view. How did this happen? We had been working for months on the design!! At this point we were frustrated and disappointed in this agreement. It felt like we were spinning answering questions several times. We were in this agreement big money and hoped we could at least get the house measurements and at least some design plans to work with.

We finally initiated communication to end our business relationship. It was time to move on to work with someone we could trust and who would work with us. Not just for the money. This is when the JG Development relationship got NASTY!!! We were no longer customer and business partner. We were communicating on legal terms as the owner and contractor. There was no “Dispute Resolution” method for resolving disputes in the agreement. Jeff Grundahl let me know neither a 3 day cooling off period or a dispute resolution is required in agreements even though NARI indicates they are part of best practices. We shared emails trying to resolve the complaints. We stopped communication when it was clear Jeff Grundahl did not feel they caused us monetary loss. After several requests for the detail work JG Development performed we received a spreadsheet of the meetings, phone calls and design work. JG Development worked a total of 36 hours. They worked 11.75 hours on the design. The work rate shared was $65 and hour. Hmmm … they retained the 6K fee for $2340 of work. We entered the agreement for design work and today we have nothing from JG Development we can work with.

We sent JG Development an email requesting a partial refund. We received this response, “Wanting to resolve this issue without any further effort or expense, I am willing to send you a refund in the amount of $2,000.00. If that is unacceptable to you, then my position stands. If you so choose to accept that offer, and you notify me of your intentions, I will forward you a full release and hold harmless document that you will be required to sign and we will release the payment once we receive the signed release. This payment is in no way an admission of anything you have accused us of; it is simply an offer in good faith and is an only and final offer. “ HA! We did not accept this embarrassing offer. JG Development was out only a few hours of design work during winter months. The dollars are important but what is more important is our integrity to refuse an unacceptable compromise. I share this experience so other people are aware of JG Developments business tactics. Businesses should be responsible and accountable for customers. We share this experience because people want to see how a company takes care of customers.

Does anyone think we should take this to small claims court?

Anyone who would like to see the facts - deliverables, are more than welcome to contact me for the documents. It is interesting that any company would consider 36 hours of work as way out their way and beyond customer service.

There is not a negative in the entire process. Absolutely the best company I have ever seen in remodeling, design,and Interior decorating. Workers are professional, friendly, and concentrate on the perfection of detailing.
I was doing this process as a single person. They made me feel confident and well taken care of.

FANTASTIC. My home was built so much faster than I expected and the entire process was a delight!

We can recognize integrity when we see it. Working with Jeff and his crew from start to finish has been a grand journey! As you know, remodeling and building are very big commitments, and emotional ones. Working with JG Development you get up front, honest consulting to capture your vision in a realistic way in order to make your dream come true.

Please see above.....

Our cabin began as sketches that I, a non-professional, drew up. Working with JG, my ideas came to life. Some of the features I wanted were unconventional, but thinking outside of the box was not an issue for JG. I highly recommend them.

Vastly exceeded original estimate, very poor on-job supervision so many mistakes were made, charged an excessive markup on many supplies and sub-contractor work, workmanship generally very good, follow-up service non-existent. His warranty is a joke -- you have to sue to get anything fixed. Lots of personal charm from the owner, but that's all you get.