Contracted with MILMAR POST BUILDINGS in December of 2014. I wish I had done a little research about this company before contracting with them. They lost their accreditation with the BBB for failure to respond or resolve many customer problems in July of 2014. I am now one of those unfortunate customers.
I have many issues with my barn, the least of which is that it is not complete. I have been threatened, lied to, and insulted. The attempts to intimidate me by the owner, Marvin Miller, are countless. He has stated that he has placed a lien on my building for failure to make the last payment. The payment that was contracted to be made after my barn was complete and any punch list items have been addressed.
The barn was contracted to be completed prior to the end of March 2015. The first crew of 9 Amish workers proceeded to install the lean to incorrectly. They also installed the roof without the moisture barrier that was contracted. They also installed one support post visibly crooked. Once they were made aware that these issues would have to be resolved, they did not return. A second crew of 3 Amish workers finally showed up weeks later to fix these 3 issues only after a representative of the company drove to my house to view the issues himself. All the while materials are being strewn about my yard, killing the grass where ever they lay. These 3 workers attempted to fix the issues. Once they had had enough, they left never to return. Another 2 weeks later without hearing from MILMAR, I called and inquired as to when my barn would be complete. MILMAR sent a 3rd crew of 5 workers that were not Amish. These 5 worked 3 long 11-12 hour days to mostly complete my barn and pour the cement floor. This 3rd crew was very capable and should have been sent to construct my barn from start to finish. I would probably be leaving a much different review if they had built it. My opinion of Amish workers has been irreparably damaged by this experience.
Now, my barn is mostly complete. Nearly all of the trim is dented or visibly damaged. There are still about 1/3 of the fasteners missing on 2 sides. The moisture barrier on the roof is not intact at all the seams. The damage to my back yard is substantial in the form of unrepaired ruts and dead spots from where building materials lay for over 6 weeks. Gravel that was supposed to be used for the barn floor, under the cement was used by the 3rd crew to fill ruts made by the first 2 crews. There is still a bobcat shovel in my driveway! Site prep work for which MILMAR demanded me to pay for (the stripping of sod) was never done. This was at my request since I wanted the barn to be elevated. No other site prep work was done but MILMAR expects me to pay for this work.
Now that Marvin Miller (the owner) understands that I will not be intimidated by his $450/hr corporate attorneys, he has stated 'If you are more satisfied with not paying us and living with the barn as is and that is completely fine with me.'
I have repeatedly stated that I am not satisfied with the barn and I am happy to make the final payment (approx $1400) once the barn and the punch list are complete. I do not expect to see anyone else from this company again and as of today, I have not received notice that a lien has been placed on my barn even though Marvin Miller claimed in an email to have already placed one on it. I have paid every draw promptly as requested as soon as the benchmarks were reached (over $32000).
I will continue to document my experiences with this company where ever I can so hopefully I can save others from dealing with this very unprofessional company from northern Indiana. I can only hope that if this is how they conduct business that they eventually will have no business to conduct.
David Orosz read more