Get matched with top tile: ceramic and porcelain installers in Naperville, IL

"I recently had my windows replaced, and the entire process was smooth from start to finish. The team worked efficiently, and treated my home with care. They explained each step clearly and made sure I understood all my options before beginning the installation. Highly recomended!"

"Ed Eichele has stated to us that he stands by his work and that he will do whatever it takes, that they are accommodating, open and transparent. Beware, Ed knows all the right things to say, just don’t believe any of it. Following are the issues we had with Eichele & Valene Remodeling: • Needed to hire a second contractor to rip out and replace our newly installed tile floor and takeover our project. • Had to remove and replace wood trim • Paint quality grade with option of 2 brands stipulated in our contract was not followed. An untrue story was given as to why a cheaper grade had to be used. • Promises of a building permit and an inspector appointment never materialized (3 months). After blaming the City of Wheaton building department for an unexplainable lack of action it turned out that the city never received payment for the permit we paid Eichele & Valene to execute as part of the contract. • Our walls were painted and floor installed before the plumbing and electrical work had been started let alone the drywall being finished. Our second crew took advantage of the floor being exposed to perform plumbing and electrical work by removing floor boards vs. access through the basement ceiling as was planned by John Valene. • Lack of a consistent work schedule; multiple no-shows without warning. • They still owe us money per their own records. Details: Tile – Through research of manufacturer’s websites, the Tile Council of North America, and consulting with a member of National Tile Contractors Association, we were able to confirm that the tile floor was laid improperly and needed to be 100% replaced. Some of the installation related issues: Our warranty for the subfloor and the tile was void due to the use of cheap drywall screws used to fasten the Durock subfloor rather than the required “1-1/4" USG Durock™ Brand Tile Backer Screws for wood framing (or equivalent) or 1-1/2" hot-dipped galvanized roofing nails”. As a result of improper installation, there was so much unevenness and lippage all over the floor that we were tripping while walking on the tile. Nothing sat squarely or level on it. The lippage of many tiles was the same thickness as a quarter or thicker. (See photos) Trim – We upgraded our family room from carpet to tile. It may not be obvious to all homeowners that the baseboards are installed prior to installing carpet, thus touching the floor that the padding and carpet are rolled over. For tile, the baseboards should be installed on top of tile, which put the baseboards noticeably higher on the wall. Since the baseboards were never removed prior to installing the tile the end result was a family room with oddly short baseboards as they did not sit on the tile where it should be if installed correctly. Furthermore, the staining and varnishing of the shoes was dreadful. Application of conditioner, stain and urethane was performed outside in 40 degree weather all within 6 hours. Per the Sherwin Williams website one needs to, “Let dry completely (usually 24 hours)”. In addition, the site states that one should; “Apply stain only at the proper temperature. For most stains, 70 degrees Fahrenheit is the optimum, with the safety range from 50 to 90 Fahrenheit.” The worst part about this baseboard fiasco was the calculated deception exercised where the eating area meets the family room. They removed baseboard from the eating area where it was installed at the correct height for tile to rip ¾” off of the bottom in order to match the height of the baseboard of the family room which was at the correct height for carpet. (See photo) Paint – We believe that painting before the drywall, plumbing, and electrical work were finished was a tactic employed to give us the illusion of progress after weeks of no work being performed. It was an obvious ploy to distract us from the fact that no progress had been made in weeks. We have since had to repaint all surfaces but 3 walls. Windows – There is an entire fiasco with regard to undersized windows being installed. The additional framing required to install windows that were too small led to the threat of additional “Change Order” costs. One might question why someone would install the wrong size windows. Menards remade the incorrectly sized windows as ordering the wrong size windows was their mistake. Eichele & Valene told us that we owed them the cost of a second installation even though they should have stopped when they realized that the windows were the wrong size. (See photo)"

"The installation went well, the installers were on time and performed the work in an expeditious manner. Their "after job" cleaning routine was outstanding which included clean all the surrounding molding. The installers were able to retain the existing molding that surrounded the six windows which eliminated the need to replace it which saved their time with the installation We were certainly use Gilkey again for any future window or door needs"

"Our condo sits on the 3rd and 4th floor of our condo building and we have floor to ceiling windows with patio doors in each of our three bedrooms on the 4th floor. We discovered that they were leaking in March 2017. We attempted several "quick fixes", but inevitably came to the conclusion that we would need to replace all of the windows to stop the leaking. The company came out to give us an estimate and we signed a contract with them in May 2017. The windows/doors were installed over a two day period in October 2017. We paid 5 figures to have these windows/doors replaced. In the winter of 2018, we discovered that the windows were still leaking from the same spots that were leaking before the windows were replaced. Brand new windows shouldn't leak, emiright? This company sent a Service tech out on Feb 13 to assess the situation and he said that there was oversight on the part of the installers and that they did not properly seal the exterior of the windows where the windows meet the frame. He completed this work and was 99% sure that it would solve our problem. It rained some more and the leaking did not stop so this company sent two service techs out on Feb 27. They said that they may need to remove the windows to see what is underneath them. They said that "we will figure it out" and that they would "try a few things" to attempt to solve it. It was this same visit that they discovered that the concrete on the outside of the window was not level and it was, in fact, pitched inward instead of outward and that was more than likely the reason for the leak. Cue more rain and more leaking. I sent follow-up emails with photos illustrating that the windows were still leaking and no one replied. I finally contacted the company over the phone and was told that the second service team had found that that the issue wasn't the windows: it was the concrete. The rep also insisted that they don't "do concrete" and when I asked if that meant it was my responsibility to find someone to fix the concrete, she diverted to "These are our findings." I requested to be contacted by the Owner of the company and was told he would call me in a couple days. He did not call. I sent follow up emails with video showing that the windows were leaking. I called back and kept being told "these are our findings." Today, the conversation ended with the office manager, Valerie, hanging up on me. I asked to speak to the owner and she said that the owner was aware of the situation but that I will only be dealing with her. I asked why the installation team did not check that the floor was level PRIOR to installing windows and she seemed to think that wasn't a relevant question. She insisted that they have been "more than helpful" sending someone out twice to review the installation and that there was nothing more that she would do. She said that was that and she hung up on me. My final note to them was that they should either: Install LEAK-PROOF WINDOWS or that they should have disclosed to me that my 5 figure bill wasn't going to solve my problem. They did NEITHER of these things. Dissatisfied is not a strong enough word to cover it. I am appalled that a company would treat a PAYING CUSTOMER in such a way. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY. THEIR WINDOWS ARE GARBAGE AND THEY DO NOT VALUE CUSTOMER SERVICE."

"Great work by Tim Armstrong at my new apartment. Tim recommended paint and other tips for quality at a reasonable value, was very communicative, and was extremely efficient. The work was excellent and made my new place feel like home. Pricing was very competitive."