Reed Okerstrom from North Star Remodeling is something else. Polite guy, has been a contractor for…read moreyears, but unfortunately a real crook. His sons are very good and considerate carpenters. He started out well with our kitchen and master suite remodel and even put up with the terrible situation Carol Karnes and Brian Simonson (Builders) from Rochester MN, left us with. We signed a very costly contract that specifically stated good quality subs from the Twin Cities. When the mechanical sub did not show up, he hired an unsuitable company in Rochester, MN (HIMEC) that we had interviewed previously and that we did not want.
Nevertheless and not listening to our concerns, he proceeded with HIMEC. After that our life deteriorated. Small children, no kitchen no master bath, no master bedroom. He charged $26,000+ for cooling a 400 sq feet kitchen and in-floor heating of both, the bathroom and the kitchen. Very quickly, it became clear that HIMEC installed a greatly oversized unit (3 ton air handler and huge duct work) in the relatively small space without a heat loss/cooling calculation in place and other issues.
Reed Okerstrom/North Star Remodeling stopped answering our e-mails and abandoned the remodeling site for nearly 2 months. The new sub is great (Mark Sims, from heating & cooling 2). Although the new bid was $11,000 less than the 1st one and although our contract states that North Star receives from us what the subs bid plus 15%, Reed Okerstrom tried to coerce us into paying an additional $5,500, which means he tried to pocket $16,500 !!! after not showing up on the job site for 2 months. It took more than 2 weeks to explain to him how unapproriate this was and legally very questionable.
We explained all this to him and he was clearly embarrassed, stuttering, explaining that "money bleeds from one lien item into the next" etc. Yet - while I am writing this review, he sends me an additional "change order" over $7,000 for work not originally stated in our contract demanding a signature within 2 days and threatening that further delays will occur if not. Our feeligns range from disbelieve to disgust.
Next thing, we know, he allowed his brother to wire our place during our absence without a city permit, without our knowledge, and without a signed contract and now demands money ($30,000?). Please also see my review for North Star Services Electric (Bret Okerstrom) outlining the situation.
Will North Star Remolding implement a correction plan or continue to make up fictional invoices? Will Reed redeem himself? Or perhaps not? Stay tuned.