Get matched with top guest house builders in Round Lake, IL

"First of all, we are happy with the finished product of our master bathroom and walk-in closet. We are NOT happy with the owner of this business and his handling of our project. Jeff took time to design our space over several meetings. He promised that he would be available to choose tile/granite/light fixtures/plumbing fixtures whenever we needed him. Timeline was discussed with a 6 week from contract start and a project time of 3 weeks. Permit submission was done by myself with plans drawn by Jeff. We failed the permit process with 14 items that were not addressed due to insufficient drawings. Additional time/effort was required by Jeff and us to meet the requirements to meet code, which pushed our project back several weeks. We also paid more for the project due to Jeff needing to insure his workers for our village (a cost he should have known upfront). With new drawings, we re-submitted and were approved for work to begin. I can't say enough about the FANTASTIC workers that Jeff has on his team. They were courteous and did excellent work and even suggested design modifications that made sense. One of our first tasks was to pick out a granite surface. Jeff gave us the name of a granite place and that he'd meet us there. He NEVER showed. We picked granite on our own that day. We ordered tile - on our own. We chose lighting, plumbing, fixtures, and paint colors - on our own. The next time and ONLY time we saw Jeff for the duration of the project was when he delivered the vanity and asked for money (same visit). The total project ended up taking over three months to complete. Due to various project modifications/additions, we had no idea what our final invoice would be. We waited and waited for some type of final figure. 8 months after the project was completed we finally received a remaining balance invoice for over $11,000. We were shocked to receive this invoice so far after the project was completed. Jeff explained that COVID and not having an office manager were reasons behind us not getting an invoice before then and that we fell between the cracks. While we don't argue the price, we did not appreciate the length of time it took him to get the job done, nor the amount of time before we received a final invoice. When we offered to pay $2,000 each month for the next six months we were sent a very threatening email offering us three options for payment in full NOW. Suddenly this money is due NOW when he has carried this receivable for 8 months already? We will NEVER recommend Artistic Kitchen Concepts (Jeff) to anyone in the future. His involvement in the project started out well, but dropped off to the point where we never saw him, had no further input from him, and didn't receive an invoice until 8 months after the project was completed."

"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."