I have been doing business with Ed Baker for 35 years and believe him to be a man of the highest…read moreintegrity, with fair prices and quality work. I recently called him when a shingle blew off my roof to examine the roof and repair the resulting "drip." What followed was nothing short of amazing. Three years ago I paid a tucking pointing company to rebuild my chimney. Second City discovered that the work had been poorly performed and in fact GARBAGE had been stuffed in my chimney before a terrible repair job was covered with a layer of mortar. They completely rebuilt the chimney for half the cost of the previously poorly performed work. Before & After photos attached.

DO NOT WORK WITH THIS COMPANY! I DO NOT RECOMMEND THEM!…read more Stay away from them if you want to save money and time. Mike first came to give me an estimate by walking around the house while I explained what needed to be done. He gave me an estimate of $10,000 and mentioned that if I wanted to fix the small roof in the front, it would be an additional $1,000. I told him I would think about it and get back to him. When he returned for a second look, he said the first chimney if nothing connects it we will close it if something connects it we will rebuild it (which he refused to rebuild it and he said if I want to rebuild it I need to pay extra $1400) and the tuck pointing under the second chimney required the chimney to be removed and rebuilt, raising the total to $14,000. Even though I received lower estimates from others, I trusted Mike and decided to go with him. We went to his car, where he wrote the proposal, but I didn't realize at the time that he left out the small roof area we had previously discussed. I signed the contract, and he told me they could start the following week. After I handed him the check, Mike suddenly said his foreman had called, and they couldn't start next week, but in three weeks instead. I was frustrated but decided it wasn't a big deal since the work was outside and wouldn't affect my tenants too much. After that day, Mike never called to give me updates. Three weeks later, I called him to ask when they would start, and he said he would call me back, but never did. I called again four hours later, and he said his foreman would call, but that didn't happen either. I called the next day, and Mike's phone went straight to voicemail. I contacted the Second City Roofing office and explained the situation. Someone there said they would get back to me, and a few hours later, Mike called saying they couldn't start that week, but would begin mid-next week. I was still patient, trying to keep things cool. When I called again the following Tuesday for an update, Mike said he would come by with his foreman to inspect the bricks needed for my place, and they would start Thursday. At this point, I had waited almost a month, so I told him if they didn't start by Wednesday, I would want my money back. They finally started on Wednesday, but Mike never inspected these bricks with his foreman as he said. When the work was done, Mike didn't offer to do a walk-through to review the job. He came to collect the final check without a ladder, so I refused to pay until he did a proper walk-through. The next day, he brought his foreman, and we did the walk-through, after which I gave him the last check. This whole experience was incredibly frustrating. The delays, poor communication, and lack of professionalism were unacceptable. I will never work with them again.

This review is not about work as we were unable to hire Chicago Porch Experts…read more We called and someone came out to our house to review our screen in porch and go over work we wanted done. The person spent time going over the work and left, saying he would have quote in few days. Waited till end of the week and no quote. My wife reached out on Friday and was told they would work on the quote and have by Monday. Well this was few weeks ago and no response. I don't understand why you guys waste my wife's time looking at project, then don't follow up. If the job is not big enough just tell us, don't waste our time. I would say if you have big job they deem it is worth their time, give them a call, otherwise find contractor that actually wants to do the work.

I do NOT recommend hiring Chicago Porch Experts…read more I'm the president of a condo association for a 6-unit building; we have a three story deck for all six units. We recently hired Chicago Porch Experts by Emtrak Construction to redeck the third floor and then power wash and stain the entire porch. We had a terrible experience. The primary issue is with communication and organization. The actual work, primarily the redecking, is good, which is saving them from a one-star rating. But they lack the organizational skills to work on a project of this scope. I'm not going to list out every single incident, but there was a lot of miscommunication throughout the entire process that caused a ton of strife for the building. Lots of my emails went unanswered, and they refused to schedule anything, even when I'd ask for tentative dates, in favor of either showing up unannounced or only giving me 12 hours notice of when work would start. I have to give ample heads up to the building so that they can move their furniture and so that they know they won't have access to the deck for the day. Despite telling them this, Chicago Porch Experts would not/could not accommodate this. They tried to make things right, I'll give them credit for that, but it was not sufficient for the amount of issues created. Out of all the contractors I've worked with in my role as president, this is the worst of them by far. I don't recommend using Chicago Porch Experts if you're a condo association or anyone looking to have larger work done past simple decks for single family residences.

Scheduled a free quote. They never showed up after we had scheduled a time and date with 0 updates…read more Very disappointed & extremely unprofessional

They just did my stairway railing. Fantastic work. Very fast. They very much kept me in the loop…read moreand let me know exactly what was going to happen. They also had the best price out of the 3 places I reached out to. I even had a tiny welding project needed in my basement that they fixed in 5 minutes. (I paid them a little extra as well since it was well worth it.) They can do most anything in terms of home remodel. I need electrical work down the road. I won't even call anyone else. I highly recommend.

I asked JL Contractor Services for a quote to install a power vent in the roof of my Georgian home…read more Jack convinced us that it would probably not solve the problem we intended to address and cause a new problem. I greatly appreciate his honesty and integrity. If I live here long enough to need a new roof, I will definitely contact Jack.

I hired JL Contractor Services to rip out some old concrete from my walkway, and I couldn't be…read morehappier with the results. Even though it was his offseason for outdoor concrete projects, Jack came out right away and did a fantastic job. He was professional, communicated clearly throughout the process, and finished the project faster than I expected. On top of the great work, his pricing was very fair and he is a genuinely nice guy to work with. I'll definitely be calling him again for future projects!

I hired this company to redo my concrete steps and wrought iron railings and they nailed it:…read more * The proposal from Peter was much more detailed than the other quotes I received. * The crew led by Art was very efficient. They demolished the steps, poured new ones along with a new walkway, and got a perfect shape. They also replaced my house's unusually deep limestone door sill. * They redid my railings, extending them to match the slightly higher layout and also repainting them so i didn't have to get all-new ones. Very friendly, professional, and a good value overall.

We hired Edmar Masonry to tuckpoint and seal our split block, and we couldn't be more impressed…read more The crew completed the project over a 1-week span in just 3 working days. They were efficient, professional, and clearly knew what they were doing. Highly recommend Edmar if you're looking for quality masonry and sealing work done right.

At this point, haven't hired the company, but they responded quickly and gave me great advice…read morewithout trying to sell me on anything, which is greatly appreciated.

While the pricing is a little high, the guys are very responsive and experienced. They really…read moretreated our home with care and did a great job.

I had National Roofing and Masonry fix a number of brick joints that were dried and cracking by…read moreremoving and applying new sealant to the joints, plus they redid the caulking around all of my doors and windows. Plus they tuckpointed a number of eroded joints and then applied brick and block sealant as a final step. Great communication from Toni and Josh. Toni was very hands with his crew doing my project. Really appreciated how quickly were fit in to their schedule. Also, really appreciated the quality of work done and the that the price was very reasonable. Will definitely call them first when it comes time to do my roof or other exterior work.

Have had a very positive experience with this company and our flat top roof. We had an issue about…read morea year after they completed it and we contacted them and they came out the same day to fix it. Highly recommend - customer service is excellent.

They installed a staircase for me, and I was later informed that they likely damaged my AC line to…read moresuch an extent that it has disabled my entire central air conditioning system and is costing a lot of money to fix. They have also been grossly unresponsive to my complaints. Go elsewhere.

We contracted with Solid Remodelers in November 2024 to replace 6 sets of stairs and landings for…read moreour condo association. The install went well but several of the step-boards have significant cracks in them, some 2" deep. We did ask if we should wait until Spring to install them, but were assured that the wood would be fine through the winter. The company does have a caveat in the estimate that some shrinkage, twisting, warping, and cracking may occur. We aren't concerned about the numerous cosmetic cracks, but the deep ones are too much of a head start for deterioration and should be replaced. We are being ghosted by Damien after several attempts over the past 30 days to resolve the situation.