We hired Bildwise for a renovation of our 1965 single-family home that included complete electrical rewiring and updating, roof replacement, light kitchen and bathroom remodeling, new flooring, new interior paint, and masonry repair. The total cost for the renovation was $96,000. We were very unhappy with the timeliness and quality of the work on this project as well as the quality of our communications with Ryan Poske (CEO at Bildwise and our primary point of contact). We hope that future potential clients of Bildwise will benefit from our experience and proceed with caution.
Our contract specified that Bildwise would not cease work for more than 30 consecutive days and that the project would be completed within 6 months of the closing date of our home purchase. At the time that we signed, Ryan and his construction manager estimated that the project would take about 3 months. The actual completion time was over 15 months, including at least two periods of inactivity that lasted longer than 30 days. Ryan offered various reasons for the delays, including difficulties in obtaining permits, scheduling subcontractors, and obtaining supplies; even making allowances for these factors, we found the delays to be extraordinary.
While we were pleased with some of the subcontractors (e.g., the roofers, the fireplace repair crew, and the carpet installers), there were numerous instances when Bildwise and its subcontractors did not complete tasks in a workmanlike manner. Some specific examples include careless installation of vinyl flooring in our kitchen, resulting in irreparable damage; leaving an exposed nail in remodeled kitchen cabinetry that scratched our new range; installation of bathroom sinks with improper plumbing connections; and multiple instances of failure to remove cigarette butts, food trash, and construction waste from our property. We had to request correction of multiple other items that we did not feel were finished with sufficient attention to detail.
We were told early on that Bildwise’s preferred form of communication was the messaging function in their web-based client portal. We found that many of the messages we left in the portal were incompletely answered or not answered at all. We held an in-person meeting over 6 months into the project to express our concerns with the timeline and to request weekly check-in calls. To his credit, Ryan complied with this request; we felt that communications somewhat improved after that, even though progress on the project ultimately did not. However, there were also multiple instances when one or both of us felt dismissed or disrespected during our written and verbal exchanges with Ryan. In our last conversation with him, Ryan accused one of us of "nickel-and-diming" him when we questioned the charges for tasks he had volunteered to complete outside the scope of the project, falsely stated that we had delayed the project for weeks by not signing paperwork, and refused to discuss or even acknowledge the extraordinary delay in completing the project and its impact on us.
In conclusion, we were very unhappy with the timeliness and workmanship of Bildwise's work on this project as well as with our communications with Ryan Poske. Please note that the opinions expressed in this review are based on our personal experience and should not be taken as a definitive statement about the overall performance of Bildwise LLC. Should Ryan Poske respond to challenge this review, as I have seen him do elsewhere, you may find yourself wondering whether our expectations for this project were typical and reasonable. In that case, we encourage you to learn more about Ryan Poske and Bildwise from other available sources, including word of mouth, other online reviews, and Indiana's public court records.
