Red Level Improvements

The Team at Red Level Improvements did an amazing and timely job installing a very large in-ground basketball post for me.

From scheduling to install, I was always kept up to date and well informed during the process. Very professional folks and I will not hesitate to call them again for my next home improvement endeavor.

Thank you guys!
Chuck

On June 2, 2024, we had a water pipe burst between the upper and lower lever of our split level home. We had damage to our kitchen and dining room on the upper level, and to our family room and bathroom on the lower level. We contacted numerous local contractors to provide an estimate. Several contractors agreed to provide estimates, but never showed up. After several frustrating months, Red Level Improvements showed up upon first contact. A first class operation, and owner, Charlie Engen, was the absolute best at crunching numbers and providing the best possible estimate. He even returned and provided a second estimate, that enhanced our insurance adjustment! His employees were the most gracious and honest workers you will ever meet. Christian, what a wonderful young man and a man with an absolutely charismatic personality. Jimmy, an excellent brainstorming mind, and a perfect counterpart to Christian. Alex, a brute strength reliable sole with a great sense of humor. And last but not least, Ike, a young enthusiastic go getter. Red Level Improvements showed up and provided the perfect professional support, and readily adapted to changes on the fly. Our kitchen and dining room are now a showcase, and the downstairs bathroom is state of the art. The alterations in the downstairs family room were transformational. If you need a contractor, do not hesitate to contact Charlie Engen and Red Level Improvements. Timely, and professional! Thank you, so very very much, Charlie Engen.

If you want quality work done Charlie is your man. He has always been fair and work has been excellent. Thank You Charlie You are the best.

Helped me fix the damaged drywall and insulation in my garage ceiling after a water leak. Was very polite and professional, on time and easy to work with. Good value for the great quality of work done. Highly recommend.

Red Level Improvements took care of a very specific project I needed done at a fraternity house I advise, and they did it perfectly, did it quickly, and the results were perhaps even better than expected. I have and will continue recommending them for all small to large projects. They're even going to do a full bathroom remodel for me early next year. But contact them ASAP because they have customers lined up out the door!

I would like to thank Charlie and staff for the nice job on replacing our skylight. Staff was very professional and I think you will be very happy with the level of quality work you will receive from Red Level Improvements!

Part 2 of 2

So here we are, eleven months later. Almost a year of living with rotting subfloors, crumbling foundation, a growing mold problem, and a general state of disrepair in the only bathroom in our house. We have cancelled a scheduled visit from my mom. Our military kids only get a few days out of the year to see her, and Red Level has taken those away. If Red Level had been honest and upfront about their capacity and availability, we would have been on some other contractor's waitlist long ago. So again I'll say that regardless of what personal or professional difficulties Red Level may be facing behind the scenes, they owe their clients honesty and reliability.

We don't even invite people over due to this bathroom, but I'll sacrifice my pride and post photos for public viewing.

Part 1 of 2

If anyone has any recommendations for a reliable contractor, please reach out to me.

We reached out to Red Level for a full bathroom remodel in August of 2023. That was eleven months ago. We were dealing with a rotting subfloor hidden under a shoddy tile job, a crumbling foundation, a rampant mold problem, and general disrepair. We are a military family and bought our house sight unseen. These issues were discovered shortly thereafter. Based on the glowing reviews for Red Level, we were very optimistic. We must have blocked out the one star reviews of others who were completely forgotten or ignored. As you can see, no one at Red Level responds to those reviews.

If you'd rather not read my detailed timeline and exhaustive list of grievances, the heart of the issue is this: Regardless of what personal or professional difficulties Red Level may be facing behind the scenes, they owe their clients honesty and reliability and have failed on both counts.

August

Back in August at our first consult, Casey (no longer works for Red Level) told us we would soon have some estimates on cost and a timeline. To this day, we have received neither. The foundation under our bathroom is in pieces, with only the corners holding it up. We hoped that would be completed before the winter, but we understood when it didn't happen.

December

On December 10th, we asked for an update and cost estimate, and for reassurance that we were on their schedule for the spring/summer.

January

Their response three and a half weeks later: "...we may need to schedule another visit to refresh the project in our minds."
They came to check on the foundation and found the corners still in tact. Following this visit: "We are going to put a plan together for the foundation and some numbers for that portion. We will tackle the bathroom there after." A plan and some numbers is all we had been waiting for at this point.

February

On the 16th of February, we asked again to be let in on this elusive plan. Four days later: "Hi, I know it feels like Spring us here, but we need to wait until it really is before we dig in to your project. We will keep it on the radar and take a closer look when things warm up." We had not intended to beat mother nature or rush Red Level. We only needed some semblance of a plan.

April

Two months later, we requested an update. At this point (and long before), we should have cut our losses and jumped ship. We had invested so much time, and we were still hopeful - albeit naive. My message:

"Hi Casey! I wanted to clarify that in my previous text, I wasn't suggesting we rush anything. We were just wondering if you had a rough estimate on when we could start. We want to be sure we will be on your schedule, whenever that may be."

Red Level's response: "You will be on the schedule soon. We do have to wait for the frost to come out prior to doing anything."

May

Request for update. No response. (May 29)

June

Request for update. No response. (June 9)

On the 11th, I spoke with Jan for the first time. Jan began working for Red Level in May. She is kind, respectful, and diligent. She told me Charlie would visit the next day. I understood we had been forgotten about for the second time (at least). If not forgotten, then ignored.

Charlie visited on June 12th and let us know Casey no longer works for Red Level. He was apologetic and insisted we would have a real update that Friday, the 14th. Four weeks have passed, and we have not heard from Charlie since then.

We are disappointed, angry, and full of regret. Red Level does not begin projects in the order they were initiated - not even close. It seems they handle the simple projects (which generate five star reviews) and easily and repeatedly lose track of others. I spoke with Jan a few times after this, though I knew it was a waste of time. I practically begged Charlie to call me back. All I got was a meaningless promise that our bathroom would be completed this summer. He didn't even take the two minutes to tell me this directly, but instead relayed this through Jan.

On April 17th, I accepted an estimate to have doors installed in my home, and paid half of the estimate to be put on the schedule. So far, I have not received any phone calls or text message as apart from one on April 25th were I was told "We should be able to install next week. I'll keep you posted". Well, it's been multiple weeks now and a follow up text from myself last week on the 16th yielded nothing. This is beyond ridiculous and I would like my money back please.

I had a number of repairs that needed to be done. They came out and fixed everything from my garage door not closing, to my closet door rubbing on the rug to replacing the tile in the shower, leveling the dishwasher, and replacing water damaged ceiling tiles. Very knowledgeable, well rounded service.

We desperately needed a new exterior door replaced and Charlie and his son, Austin were able to squeeze us in in such short notice. Not only did they provide top notch service - they came back on a Saturday to finish the job. They definitely know what they're doing!! We will be repeat customers for sure! Thank you both for all your hard work!

Very responsive and professional. They answered all my questions and were able to get the job done. Very easy to talk to, will be using their services again in the future!

I am so disgusted with this company. Communication was very poor. I set up an appointment and nobody showed up. Called the secretary to ask why nobody showed up and then Charlie showed up the next day. That should have put up the red flags right away.

I had three rooms inundated with water due to ice damning on my roof this year. The rooms were gutted and dried. Charlie came by and I told him that I needed insulation and drywall in all three rooms and I needed the electrical checked as water had run into the light fixtures in all the rooms and my bathroom fan didn't work because of possible water damage. I was supposed to get a quote the next day. This didn't happen. But the electrician subcontractor came and reviewed the lighting fixtures etc to see what needed to be done. He put a fan in the bathroom because the water had short circuited and said he would be back. The following week I still had not received a quote so I called and I was told the quote would be ready by the end of the week (it wasn't). However the electrician came back to added an exhaust pathway for the fan and also decided that instead of just checking the light fixtures he would put more outlets in the kitchen. He was pulled off mid-job and I never heard from the electrician or Charlie. I called and left messages with the secretary and on the machine. Still wanting a quote and asking for a rough estimate of when I could get on the schedule.
After 4 weeks of not hearing from anyone, I started looking for another contractor and found one but here is what happened because of the electrician:

The electrician was working in my house without a permit. He also put the wrong outlet boxes in (apparently they needed to have a vapor barrier). Not sure if this is accurate. Also the extra outlets were on all one breaker. That is all 8 of them! And to top matters off, because extra outlets were installed this negated the grandfather clause to my house and I had to get the entire 3 rooms re-wired. Thankfully no fires occurred but talk about scary!

This month (3 months later) Charlie finally got around to giving me a quote for the work I would need done.

I have never dealt with such unprofessional individuals in my life. Please watch out for this company!

Red Level Improvements got us in when no one else would/ could when we desperately needed a project done and we’re on a time crunch. They juggled us in and made sure we were taken care of! Casey is superwoman whenever I called to check on things or schedule she was always kind and courteous and went above and beyond to make sure we got taken care of! During clean up they even shoveled part of the sidewalk so they wouldn’t track snow in.

RED LEVEL IMPROVEMENTS
Very poor communication. Asked for estimates on numerous projects, we walked through and around the house together, they sent me one estimate on one project (siding). They stated that they had many customers and it could be a little while, I said that's fine as long as siding and shingles are done before the snow flys (had to remind them about shingles). No problem was the reply.
Apparently they didn't remember any of the other projects we talked about.
Months later they called and said we can do siding today, they showed up and after looking around said they didn't have the right equipment with them to do the job and left. They even took the siding I supplied with them, said they would be back. They asked me to leave my bundle of shingles on front steps, that way they could come by and do the siding/shingle projects at same time, if I wasn't around. The shingles sat on the steps for 3 weeks. 3 weeks later I'm calling them again. They said they would be there Thursday or Friday. 2 weeks later I'm calling them again, but this time I had to remind them of who I was. They said they would call me back that evening. They guaranteed me they would, they did not. So, (at least) four months later nothing is done and at that time they still had the product I supplied.
I called this company based on the reviews online. If they didn't have time to do any of these projects, they should have said so. I would have called someone else.
I thought they would have realized my disappointment and remedied the situation. But they decided to just return my siding (dropped it on my front steps) with zero communication.

Charlie and his team installed a large fence in our backyard, they were professional, courteous and worked late to make sure the job got done, I would recommend Red Level Improvements for any job, no matter how small or large of a project, you won't be disappointed, I will be using them again and again for all my projects in the future.

Installed new door. Super friendly and professional. Did an excellent job from start to finish. Very pleased with their work. Highly recommend!!! Thanks Charlie

I needed a new front door and frame on my house. Mr. E. And his crew were prompt in their response to giving us a quote, in ordering the new door and frame, and the install. The work was of great quality, and Mr. E. Was very pleasant to work with.

They sanded down and restained my deck and it looks amazing. Also replaced my walk in garage door which I am also pleased with. Covid slowed down the work but it was worth the wait

Contacted charlie through his website and described my problem, he was very quick to respond and gave me a good estimate and informed me of my options, the company completed the work very quickly and did a great job.

Highly recommend hiring them, great service.

I went with Red Level to put a black chain link fence in my yard and it turned out great! Charlie does great work and at a better price than the big companies.

Professional from start to finish on our project!
We look forward to doing more business with you in the future.

I highly recommend Charlie Engen with Red Level Improvements!! I reached out to him a couple months ago in regards to a couple display racks that were needed for my craft show last month. His craftsmanship was absolutely remarkable and the displays were perfect! The turn around time for the project was extremely quick! Thank you so much for your quick and amazing service!