Open Range Construction, Ltd.

This review is from two perspectives. I am an energy rater/inspector and also a very happy client of Open Range Construction. First, I will review as an energy professional. As an energy rater I have inspected and tested the performance of thousands of homes throughout Colorado. The first inspection I ever did for Open Range Construction was several years ago. At the time I had no aspirations of building my own home. In fact, I didn’t think it would ever be an option for me. I do however remember thinking to myself, “if I ever build a home Dan and Martine are the only two people I would trust to build it.” They build with ICF (insulated concrete form). In Colorado ICF is not just a better energy performing home but is also a more wildfire resilient home. Unfortunately, this is something we all must consider when building homes in the urban wildland interface. ICF homes out perform stick frames for several reasons. One, the insulation is continuous, there is no break every 16-24” for framing fraction. Two, they are air tight. Every ICF home I have ever run a blower door test on, has tested exceptionally well for infiltration. There are several other reasons from an energy inspector perspective that Open Range Construction and ICF buildings are some of the best homes I have inspected, but I would like to talk about them from a homeowners perspective as well. Everyone told me how stressful building a home would be. In fact some people discouraged me from it. My experience with Dan and Martine and the whole crew at Open Range Construction was so positive. Yes there are stressful parts to building a home. Ex: picking out so many plumbing and lighting fixtures, how far will they have to drill for the well… anything in life that is worth having and doing will come with a little stress. Most of what I experienced throughout the home building experience with Dan and Martine was excitement, adventure, and an extreme feeling of pride. From day 1 of working with Martine and Sylvi on the floor plans and window designs to the day I walked into my new house, they have been there to answer questions and take care of everything. I would call or text them even after hours if I was anxious about something. They always responded because they care not just about building the home, they care that it is special and good experience for the person they are building for. They were able to take all the things I wanted a house to be and make it a reality. They were on time with their schedule and always had great communication. They stand behind their work. There is a difference and a special quality in someone’s work when they are passionate about what they do. I encourage anyone thinking about building a home to think about Open Range Construction. Dan and Martine and the crew at Open Range love what they do. They are passionate about what they do. They built me a house, but they gave me a home. I will always be forever grateful to them.

This company is awesome! They are folks with knowledge, integrity, common sense, ability--everything good ... for any construction need that you have. They built our ICF house, which is nearly done, and it is spectacular. We absolutely recommend them to anyone looking for a super quality construction company.

We had Open Range build our home and although there were many set backs due to material procurement, the build took months longer than quoted. The problems compounded with bad communication and knowing we had a specific loan timeline, they did not sit down and try to see how can we ensure they met that timeline. Schedule dates moved month after month and we begged them to get crews and subs in to finish on time. The original finish schedule was by December and our date of July 1 was not met. It cost us thousands of $$. The boiler was having issues before the first year was up and then major problems occurred after 15 months and no response when I asked as the problems occurred before the warranty was up. There was a leak in underground pipes to heat our drive. We had to pay to put in a valve and shut off the drive heat. When you spend that kind of money and have it become useless in 15 months with no help from Open Range is not the quality you pay for. The costs over runs with no firm budget updates of the final costs, ended up costing us well over $100k then what we were told. We paid for many items out of pocket to save overhead. There were numerous issues and it was not a pleasant experience for my husband and I.

I have been in construction for over 40years and Open Range Construction is a company I would work with again anytime . From fox blocks to framing / finish work. They are a pleasure to work with and always professional.I have recommended to several friends. Thank you guys.

By going to YouTube and typing in, "Open Range Construction Defects Dan and Martine Vogel Colorado" you will see a series of videos of an actual building built by ORC. These videos show what ORC self-promotion efforts do not show: Extreme construction defects and LIES, even lies under oath in their pre-trial depositions. I blame myself for ever hiring the Vogels and for not supervising them more closely. Hopefully others can learn from my mistakes. You can also read about OTHER PEOPLE'S EXPERIENCE with Dan and Martine Vogel of Open Range Construction in Woodland Park, Colorado on both the Angie's List and BBB listings for Open Range Construction. Turns out I am not alone.

Open Range Construction built our home and continue to provide quality service for all our contracting needs. Highly recommended.