Kansas Siding & Home Improvements

Bill Rowe

2019-04

Martin Jacobs of Kansas Siding and Home Improvements had done a couple of small projects for me over the years. Martin is a soft-spoken, and friendly guy, and I have always liked him.I hired him to tear out and re-build my concrete and brick front porch which had sunk a couple of inches due to a den of foxes burrowing under it (I know that’s weird...but that’s what happened).Arriving home from work one day, I saw that he had created a form for pouring concrete for the new porch, and expressed significant concern about the lack of a foundation. He has formed it with a ”thickened edge” (common for sidewalks...but not for a heavy structure). Given that the weight of the new porch would be around 25,000 pounds I urged him to re-work the excavation to include a trench footing below the frost line, and with piers drilled to undisturbed earth (I have some construction experience, and I was pretty sure that this would be the correct way to engineer the foundation for such a structure). Martin waved me off, assuring me that everything would be just fine. I acquiesced (regrettably). I’m a bit passive, and really busy.Fast forward a year. The brick trim started cracking (brick has a much lower tensile strength than concrete, so it was the first thing to crack when the structure began to sink), and I called Martin to advise him that the sinking had begun. He refused to do anything about it, saying that it was the brick mason’s fault (a separate contractor). Again, I backed off (regrettably...as this is an absurd assertion), as I am a small business owner, and work about 80 hours a week, with a lot of stuff to manage...so I just didn’t have the juice to do battle at that time. Expensive decision.Fast forward another few years. The porch had sunk roughly 2 inches, with brick crumbling, and cracks everywhere. Attached are photos of the porch that Martin Jacobs built for me.Then it was time to get the home ready for sale, and I had to address this problem. Martin refused to do anything about this failed structure asserting the tortured logic that somehow it was my fault. I hired a structural engineer to study the situation. He analyzed the soil below the porch that Martin built, the construction techniques that Martin used, and all the other conditions around the site that might have an impact on the project. He completely refuted Martin’s claim about me being at fault, and his conclusion was: the porch sank due to lack of a foundation, and uncompacted earth.Also attached is a photo of the site after we tore out Martin’s work. You can see that it was built on grade with no foundation (and was on uncompacted earth)...a recipe for exactly what ended up happening.Even with an engineer weighing in, Martin refused to do anything about this...so I hired a lawyer, but found out that that there is a very short window of time for holding contractors accountable. Given the one-year phone call, I might have a case, but the attorney advised me that the statute of limitations would almost assuredly prevent me from winning. My Bad for delaying action and being passive. But...Martin’s bad for being ignorant, doing shoddy work, and then not having the character to own up to his mistakes. Not counting attorney’s fees, I’m out $9,321.48. I’m not a fan of Martin Jacobs.

nathan williams

2019-04

I met with Martin Jacobs from Kansas Siding and Home Improvements - what a phenomenal, honest individual! He was referred to me by some other satisfied homeowners he's worked with on various projects over the years. I am excited because I wanted to find a contractor to handle several projects for me - from my concrete slab driveway that I thought couldn't be saved to the front porch and walkway that just needs some TLC.Mr. Jacobs came out and provided an incredibly reasonable estimate and timeframe (weather permitting) and got to work. I am excited to do more work with them in the future, and am so glad I took the time to meet and learn about some of the project items I hadn't thought about.If you are considering general contractor work for home improvement or have any siding needs (we have some issues) including repair, definitely call Kansas Siding and Home Improvements to meet and discuss your project. It saved me a lot of headaches and money.