Rod Baum Custom Homes

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• By Scott

  March 14, 2020

  Bathroom remodel, update doors and small portion of flooring

  $10,000

  The reviews posted by "Ryan" and "Shelby M." are accurate about Rodney Paul Baum. Anyone can look up info on the court records website as an FYI - I found info on him at the Eaton, Ingham, and Clinton counties. I havent looked at all courts. His YOB is 1969.

  This issue has gotten worse from the last two posts after doing a lot of research and learning from mistakes - it has brought me to this website that i never knew existed

  His wife is Kollette Bordeaux-Baum. She works for the prosecuting attorney's office. She was the economic crime unit - which is known for going after people if they write "bad checks", thats why I'm here. I've been told by that office she no longer works that division as of ~2018 but is still at the prosecuting attorney office as of 2020.

  How we ran into Rodney is through Ashlyne V. Bordeaux-Borruso's 'business' called Ram Remodeling and Construction, found out this was renamed from Ram Rejuvenation. Ashlyne was suggested by Kollet in a facebook post in the Grand Ledge Community page.

  We were looking for a licensed and insured company that could do electrical (hooking up a whirl pool bathtub which required its own 15A GFI circuit/outlet), install vanity lighting, move electrical outlets, change light switches to paddle switches and plumbing work (install new vanity sink, toilet, bathtub and shower) as well as install seven inside doors, premium vinyl plank flooring, trim, route bathroom ducts to roof with a hood vent (already existing ducts, just not ran correctly) and paint. This was for a bathroom remodel, update doors to bedrooms/bathrooms and update flooring from the front door into the bathroom.

  Red flags were: No web presence other than facebook with reviews from Kollette and random other people who seem to be friends or family. Google had a spot for them with 0 reviews. Ashlyne never gave us the name of who was coming out or provided us with her license or insurance info. We later learned it was Ashlyne's "step dad" with '30 years of experience' (Rodney) but still didnt get a name before anyone arrived.

  Rodney Paul Baum shows up later then the dates we agree'd to start work. He works with a Matt Sutherland (labor, husband to Ashlyne) and a John Torres (plumber). According to them the reason for the delay was because some schedule with "their plumber" which we urged to find our own, but they insisted we use theirs.

  All their craftsman ship was poor. The major ones were: trimming the trim to make it fit when if the door was installed properly in the first place (which was a one for one swap, trim and all) it wouldnt have needed it. To rectify previous mistake they filled in missing trim with calk. All the doors are not leveled and leak light/noise in because of it. Installing GFI outlet next to whirl pool motor/piping then installing that outlet line into the furnace line instead of the required 15A circuit. Scuffs. chips and nails through new door and casing. Didnt level the toilet and install wax ring correctly causing it to fail and leak water anytime the toilet was flushed. Extended light switch instead of running new line and then covering the old spots with a blank face plate that sticks out from the mirror. Extended vanity lighting instead of just rerouting which left us with the same scenario as the previous issue.

  It took a while for Rodney to give us his info. He never provided us with LARA info. We have looked up Rodney, John and Matt - none of them register on the LARA website with a 'valid' license. Rodney's was revoked. John looks like he never renewed. Matt wasnt listed. Ram Remodeling and Construction doesnt come up with any results.

  We stopped a payment on a 2500 check - My wife wrote it while i was at work, she was under the impression that everything was installed correctly. She is a first time home owner. I have background in electrical (not licensed) and im a maintenance technician that works with 89v AC - when i arrived home i was shocked at how things were installed. I asked repeatedly for their info and for inspections to be done but that was never scheduled and they thought they could squeeze it by without us knowing. I cancelled the check as a "stop payment" and detailing to my bank the reason why. Immediately after i put a stop payment i messaged Ashlyne they are no longer welcome back to do any work or to try to "fix" their mistakes. When she asked why i explained and asked again for their info which she replied in a nasty text back the only communication i will have would be through her "attorney".

  A little later i received a "bad check form" followed by a letter from the prosecuting attorney economic criminal division asking for 2500 be paid to RAM and ~550 fine to the office. After a little research we were shocked it was Rodney's wife that worked in that office, its listed right on the website. We have told the office that they are working w/o a license and when we did it wasnt long after the RAM vanished on the web - they deleted their facebook and tried to wipe google. We didnt know it was Rodney's wife untill after we talked to the office. We have since called back concerned that the person trying to get us in a legal bind is the same person who works in that office and has worked in that division.

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• By Shelby M.

  December 4, 2016

  house remodel

  $14,500

  152 days

  I hired Rod Baum to be the general contractor on a house rebuild. He hires 3-4 subcontractors who are unqualified and unlicensed and Rod never shows up. I have had to hire a new contractor after 5 months and $14,500 to come in and re-do all the mistakes. Rod says he will make it right but seems to be in hiding at the moment. Very bad professional ethics and all I can say is RUN!

• By Ryan

  February 1, 2016

  Build a Deck

  $4,000

  170 days

  Don't Hire Rod Baum

  I hired Rod Baum, Rod Baum Custom Homes LLC, to build a deck. I paid him for materials upfront so that he could get a contractors discount, approximately $4K, but 5 months later I still have no deck to show for it. He agreed to refund my money, but has only return half of my money. He won't return my phone calls or text messages. I just won a small claims civil suit judgment against him, but still no payment. I'm also filing a complaint through the State of Michigan Licensing and Regulatory Affairs office and will contact my county Prosecuting Attorney to seek criminal charges for practicing a licensed occupation without a license. I feel like Rod Baum is completely un-trustworthy and has swindled my money. I would never refer anybody to him.

  Be very cautious people. Ask him for his license # and verify it with the State of Michigan. Also, you need to be suspicious of his endorsements on other websites. I found a post from Kollette Bordeaux-Baum who is actually Rod Baum's own wife. She cleverly wrote a misleading review as if she had no relationship, even mentioning how her husband (Rod Baum) calls it his man cave.