We went with this company because Mike Branner wrote a plan to accomplish demolition and removal of home debris without damaging the much loved tree in front of our home. He expressed complete understanding of the importance to our family of not removing or even damaging the tree in our front yard. However, he made no effort to complete the project as promised. He did not communicate with us. Mike Branner only "completed" the job by removing the tree he promised to leave, and leaving much debris in our yard from his incomplete work. It will cost thousands of dollars to complete the job he would not complete. read more

Branner Builders - a picture of a yard with a brick wall - General Contractors Near Me - Bridgewater, Virginia

Branner builders used an out of state crew to assemble my modular home and stick build the garage which in my opinion was problematic as they appeared to be in a hurry to get the job done in order to get home, and they knew they wouldn't be called back to address any workmanship issues. After receiving the Certificate of Occupancy I never saw Mike Branner again, he never returned to inspect any of the significant issues on the punch list. Some minor punch list items were resolved promptly by the Branner Builders handyman, one significant item required two complaints to the Better Business Bureau to obtain action and is still not resolved. Some of the more significant issues on the punch list included a chimney leak, the source of which was never found by the handyman resulting in me having to hire a chimney company to find and stop the leak. The drywall installed by Branner Builders was a problem from the start and is still a problem 3 years later; shortly after installation, we experienced separation at the seams and cracks at multiple locations as well as the walls in the stairwell leading to the second story bowing inward. After a significant amount of time and effort on my part to have the drywall issues addressed, Mike Branner sent his drywall guy out several times over a 3 year period each time resulting in thick drywall mud being applied only to have the cracks, separations, and bowing reappear in a matter of a few months. All of the drywall issues have returned since the last attempted repair and I'm still waiting to hear back from Mike Branner on a final resolution. Shortly after the 1 year warranty expired, I notified Mike Branner about a previously unseen leak above my garage door that was causing mold and wood rot so while his handyman was on site repairing other outstanding punch list items, he applied caulk around the garage door in an attempt to stop the leak, however it did not fix the leak. Frustrated that it was still leaking, I had a different builder inspect the garage door opening and he found a gap in the J-Channel with no sealant, and no flashing around the door opening; after providing this information to Mike Branner he said his attorney advised him not to fix the workmanship issues. My advice to anyone hiring Branner Builders to assemble a modular home or stick built custom home is this: play a very active role in all stages of construction; visit the building site often; demand quality work - if something looks like a shortcut it probably is; don't rely solely on the city/county building inspector, hire a third party building inspector to assess workmanship at various stages of construction (can't stress this enough, it will cost more initially but will pay huge dividends in the end); remember to continually inspect the home to uncover any issues as soon as possible. Most, if not all workmanship issues are the result of shortcuts and tend to not show themselves until after the warranty has expired and the damage is done, leaving you holding the bag. I also recommend not distributing the final payment to the builder until all the significant punch list items are repaired. Once you've distributed the final payment you have no leverage in getting satisfaction on the repairs. read more