Home Concepts Remodeling

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• By Mark D.

  April 13, 2023

  Renovate entire house, 3 bathrooms, floors, siding & gutters

  $142,000

  Lie, cheat and steal. Dishonest crooks. These guys pull every shady contractor trick in the book. Carl Johnson and Nathan Steinemann are both seasoned liars. You only get that good at lying with lots of regular practice. Their exclusive plumber Jeremy Steinemann at Blue Star Plumbing and their exclusive electrician John Russel at Five Star Electric are just as crooked and incompetent. Don’t make the mistake I made of trusting them. They will advise you to do what is most profitable for them.
  Home Concepts Remodeling installed overpriced crappy vinyl windows sold as "better quality than Anderson". The old bait and switch trick. They came with the poorest quality screens I've ever seen in my life. Several had to be replaced during the initial installation. They did the same thing with the sliding deck doors, front, and service doors. They did not install a fire door to the garage or use auto-closing hinges which is what the building code calls for. They put in a used, dented, tiny top window door instead of the 50% privacy glass door they sold me. They only caulked 3/4 of each window. When I asked why not, Carl responded, “I guess I don’t know”.
  The siding they subcontracted out to a Hmong family fell off within one week of installation. When it fell off you could see the nails did not leave the required 1/32 of an inch space to allow space for expanding or contracting when the temperature changes.
  Nathen Steinemann lied about copper pipe not being up to plumbing code when his brother Jeremy Steinemann at Blue Star Plumbing realized it was easily accessible via a dropped ceiling in the basement. Then proceeded to steal 80 feet of ¾ inch type L copper pipe and replaced it with cheap vinyl tubing. When I called them on that, Nathan and Carl changed their lie saying copper pipe builds up sediment and needs to be replaced. When I questioned that Carl told me to take this up with the inspector which was more misleading advice. He knew the inspector would not get involved with a contractor dispute. This was a trick to buy more time and avoid getting fired before he could finish the contracts. Once they finish they can file a mechanics lien against the property because oddly, in this space all the laws favor the contractor rather than the consumer. Then Carl lied to the inspector claiming the pipe removed was only 1/2 inch and covered with asbestos. The inspector advised me to go after them in court. However, probably because they screw over so many people, they keep Rinke Noonan on retainer. Every other attorney in town refers you to Rinke Noonan for contractor disputes but you can’t hire them against Home Concepts due to a conflict of interest.
  Carl and Nathan don't bother to remove baseboard trim when installing flooring. Rather, they butt right up to it without the proper ¼ inch expansion gap required for vinyl flooring, then hide it with quarter round. Most of the baseboard was in poor condition and needed replacing. I assumed incorrectly that baseboard trim was included in the flooring bid, along with any subfloor that needed replacing as the bid was extremely high. Later they tacked on another $1000 for replacing one room of subflooring.
  In another contract to remove a weight bearing wall, they didn’t bother to remove and reinstall the laminate flooring from that point to the wall. Instead they shoe-horned it in without the proper padding beneath it. Now I have a horrible dip in the floor, and toe stubbing heaving where they glued it down and held it with weights. It only held for a couple months which is typical of their work. They only care about it lasting long enough to collect their money. They didn’t install the support column properly either and it settled within a couple months so the door frame on the opposite side of the column buckled such that the door won't close anymore. Clearly they lacked the skill to remove a weight bearing wall.
  They don’t stand behind work at all. When I asked them to replace a poor quality and poorly installed patio screen door he suggested I contact the manufacturer for warranty issues. He knows full well the warranty requires a licensed contractor to install it and he is responsible for installation issues.
  They “up” sold me a custom built oak railing and didn't use the 6 inch bolts required by code and which was stated in the permit.
  Jeremy Steinemann at Blue Star Plumbing hacked a floor joist all the way through the bottom to run the plumbing. Then lied to the inspector claiming it was already cut that way.
  Home Concepts Remodeling/Blue Star Plumbing downgraded my shower claiming the one they sold me wouldn't fit, after they had already demolished the old shower. That was a lie and they refused to give me any credit for the downgrade which also placed a 6 inch thick wall in the middle of an already small bathroom. They also stole a 6 foot bathroom mirror.
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