Get matched with top guest house builders in Northbrook, IL

"The two men that handled our claim no longer work for Laurens. I was really disappointed in the lack of communication from the estimator/project manager and his attitude of "that's just the way it's done" when comparing line items to real-world values. As this was an insurance claim, I was closely monitoring the work performed vs. what was being billed. There were discrepancies in their favor, and I needed to go line-by-line to ensure that monies paid out were being put towards services rendered. In the end, I made their jobs difficult, but I felt the work performed was satisfactory, but not outstanding. The other half of their services required packing out, storage, and return of our furniture and items. The pack-out and storage crew was 5 stars."

"Excellent!!! It was a pleasure to work with Chris on the design and layout of the deck. He designed a superior layout for the deck boards and a railing system that surpassed what we had with the old deck. He designed two new staircases that met building codes (the old ones didn't). And he used CAD software to create multiple views of the deck to help us visualize the deck before the project commenced. Pricing for the deck was based on the CAD models, and the pricing was very fair (IMO). While we were working on the deck design and corresponding bid, our town (Wheaton) decided to install a new water main for our neighborhood. The city tore up the entire length of our street along with our driveway and front lawn. Chris was very accommodating in scheduling the project around the activity on the street. The crew that tore off the old deck and replaced it with the new boards and railings was awesome! Ian (the crew chief and master carpenter) really knew what he was doing. His crew was talented and very easy to work with. They were neat, cleaned up after themselves every day, and hauled the components of the old deck away throughout the duration of the project. Ian did a very solid job of preparing the deck framing for the new surface. He repaired sections of the framing that had rotted out, and re-aligned sections of the framing that were not built properly when the deck was originally built. This was very important to me: a deck surface needs to be installed on a solid and level frame. I wanted to install rubber water shields on the top edges of the framing to prevent future rot. Ian worked around my slow pace and gave me time to do that as he made progress on other areas of the deck. Finally, Ian upgraded the framing so that it would support these improvements: a 'picture frame' around the edges of the desk surface, a 'parting board' that improved the layout of the deck boards, and the new railing system. The new deck surface is awesome. Deck Solutions used "camo fasteners" to fasten the boards to the framing. There are no screws or nails on the surface of the deck. The fasteners are completely hidden. Ian's skill and professionalism in installing the surface matched that of the best finish carpenters that have worked at my house. It looks beautiful. The new railing system is perfect. Ian routed grooves in the upper rail of the railings to accommodate the wiring that I needed for the low voltage lighting. He drilled a hole through the center of one railing post so that the wiring could be run under the deck and then routed to the grooves. (that is not easy to do with a four foot post!) And he drilled pockets into the rest of the railing posts that I could use for stuffing the wires and wire nuts that would be associated with each of my lights. A week after the deck was installed, Deck Solutions came back to apply a coat of stain to everything. I really like the material they use. It is a transparent, oil-based stain that soaks into the wood. It does not create a layer of finish on top of the wood. We had a choice of 5 or 6 different colors. The man who applied the stain was very meticulous in his work. It looks great. NET-NET: I know that this is a very long review. But I felt it necessary to describe the details of the work that was done so you can appreciate the quality of the work. My wife and I are both very pleased with the new deck. And we will be using Deck Solutions each year to clean and apply a new coat of stain to the deck. One last thought: Chris is very knowledgeable about the various technologies and materials available for building decks. We asked him to quote the cost of replacing the deck that is off of our second floor. Chris examined the situation and recommended a solution of deck panels and support pedestals that would rest on the flat roof of the house that is below that deck. He designed the layout of that deck and its supporting infrastructure and gave us a bid for the cost of replacing that deck. But he also suggested that the deck system was simple to install and that I could probably do it myself. He gave me his CAD drawings for the design. I decided that I will be installing that myself next year. I was very impressed that Chris offered me that very cost effective option and actually made it easy for me to proceed on my own using his design and CAD drawings."

"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)"