We completed a major home remodeling project with LaMantia recently and are thrilled with the…read moreresult. They did a beautiful job and were a pleasure to work with! We were especially impressed with our designer, Jackie (and her assistant Katie). They had fantastic ideas: from designing the overall layout, to help in choosing materials, to even how to paint a difficult area to enhance the design. One of the unique parts of our project was the desire to keep some beautiful existing components (specifically some cabinetry, stone countertops, bamboo woodwork and a sauna) but move them to new locations. Jackie did an excellent job in designing that arranging. We lived onsite throughout the project, so we were able to see the process "up close and personal". All of the construction personnel from LaMantia and subcontractors they used were very skilled and personable. Our project manager, Mike R, kept us informed on progress and who was coming each day. The initial schedule was "almost" met. We got delayed by lighting and electric (more our fault than theirs) in the middle, but they did a great job of an extra push to make sure a critical section was usable prior to a wedding brunch we were hosting. We would HIGHLY recommend LaMantia to anyone looking to remodel their home.

I could not be more pleased with the excellent work LaMantia did remodeling my kitchen and master…read morebath. From start to finish, they exceeded all of my expectations. Nancy and Natasha patiently guided me through every detail of the design and selections. Mike was a fantastic project manager, and all the subcontractors work was of the highest quality. They even finished ahead of schedule. You can tell this is a family owned business because they treat their customers like family. Thank you LaMantia for helping me create these wonderful spaces in my new home!

Rick and his team do excellent work. We remodeled three bathrooms and they do a great job managing…read morethe project on time and on budget. What was most impressive was the space that Rick found that was not being utilized in our 100+ year old home. It was a small amount of space, but wow, what a difference incorporating that made. A fresh approach and great eye for design created an amazing master suite.

We hired Stonecrest for a major renovation to our home. They damaged our home, endangered our…read morefamily with toxic fumes, the new section of the basement that they put in leaked in 17 places when they "finished" that phase of our home, the GC was verbally abusive and they walked off our job when he had his final meltdown. They were "up charging" us throughout the job. Our experience with this company was a total nightmare not to mention extraordinarily costly. We have since met others that have had similar terrible experiences. I'm posting this as a public service.

After exhausting and many frustrated interviews trying to find a GC to tear down our old garage and…read morebuild a new Coach House and garage, we finally hired MK Construction. Yet we were not sure how the experience would be but I am happy to share we had a wonderful experience that exceeded our expectations. The Project Manager We worked with Greg S. who has been very responsive since day 1, via text, phone, email and in person meetings, as needed. Constantly updating us. Workers and Partners Very professional team. Excavation, electrical, cement, hydraulic, carpenter, installations and others. They are all very knowledgeable, respectful, polite, and focused on what they were doing. They were working constantly even on snowy days and unbearable low temperatures. Budget It was top-notch. MK has met timeline and budget with fair pricing on any extras, which is extremely rare in constructions. Materials. High quality materials, and I could choose what I wanted as brands and models for siding and interior finishing. I am still and denial my project went so well. MK Construction is a very serious company that I highly recommend for your project. See before and after pictures.

Update Nov 2021, over a year after the projects were finished and we're still very pleased with the…read morequality of the work. Our architect recommended and specified a fair amount of detail that MK did very well. Work included adding new bathroom, relocating and rebuilding the kitchen, adding new windows, new electrical, water and ductwork, structural including steel and LVL beams, new columns and joist reinforcements, a 2-car garage, a second bathroom remodel, floor and wall tile work, electrical, new flooring... whew I can't write it all. It's a completely new house! This 100 year-old house is an absolute delight. (Here are some process photos to show some of the things we appreciated)

Thom and Dan designed a gorgeous porch for our 1892 farmhouse. It completely changed the look of…read moreour home to add timeless beauty to a rather boring facade. Thom listened to what we wanted and incorporated design elements according to our preferences (even when he had a different initial idea). We highly recommend this architectural firm.

We worked with Greene & Proppe for a whole house renovation project that included: finishing the…read moreattic, adding an HVAC system, restoring and adding doors and trim work, remodeling the kitchen, painting, and finishing the basement. We ended up terminating our contract with Greene and Proppe halfway through the project. Here are the pros and cons: Pros: - Responded in a timely manner - Nice - Nice office and location was convenient - Creative designs for kitchen that incorporated our aesthetic ideas Cons: - They designed a kitchen with 9" square cabinets. The blind corners were non-functional, as well as many other aspects of the cabinet designs - Knowing the timeline and scope of our project, they casually mentioned to us 2 months before our anticipated completion date that our custom kitchen we had created with them could not be built by their cabinet makers, who were 3 months out from taking any new projects. They wished us luck on finding another custom cabinet maker ourselves so late in the game. This was the first that they ever discussed this with us. Our custom kitchen plans we created were useless and we spend thousands upon thousands of dollars creating them with the architects. - There are no actual measurements on our plans. When we want to look at our plans to get a better idea of our space, and ask ourselves questions like "how big is this room and what furniture can fit in it?" there are no actual measurements on any of the plans. - The basement bathroom vanity was designed to be a size that was unconventionally long and difficult to find. The plumbing was designed to be all the way on the left of the vanity instead of in the vented of the vanity, like most vanities are. We had to pay the plumber extra money to redo the plumbing for the vanity because of the architect's design. There is nowhere convenient on the wall to put a toilet paper holder or to hang any towel bars. - The office in the basement is much bigger than the bedroom. We didn't say we wanted this and would have assumed the bedroom would be a bit bigger than an office room, as they typically are. It will be difficult to even fit a queen sized bed with two nightstands in the room. - The light switches in the basement are in such awkward spaces that you literally have to wrap your hand around an entire wall corner to turn on a light as you enter a room. It's an annoyance every time we have to turn on the lights. - We strongly expressed that we did not want any spray foam for insulation in our home. Their response was to use soy based spray foam. When we said we did not want that either, they did not provide any further suggestions or recommendations. Overall, we feel that we paid far too much for the services that we received (or didn't receive). I'm writing this review because I thought it would be helpful for someone considering to work with the company to know about these details before signing on with them - I wish that we had this kind of information beforehand.

Normandy has dishonest and incompetent people at all levels. If I could give negative stars,…read moreNormandy would be the company. Initial timeline from Normandy, written in the contract, was 9 months. After 5 months, Normandy could not produce accurate architectural drawings - they initially estimated drawings to be complete in 4-6 weeks. Basic items like location of existing windows, elevation labels, and incorrectly placing 2nd floor bathroom layout on 1st floor, are a few examples of Normandy's incompetence. Normandy reported having requested a building permit, until I asked for confirmation, then Normandy admitted the request for a permit was not made (one of many lies). When issues were escalated, each next "manager" blamed the previous person's incompetence. After 5 months, there was not one person that could answer basic questions from Normandy's drawings (Danny, Leslie, and Ashely are equally incompetent). Troy Pavelka (Normandy's Vice President) is the most dishonest and incompetent of the group. Troy's response to every issue was to ask for more money and time. When I insisted Normandy adhere to the contract budget, timeline, and statement of work, Troy requested to cancel the contract. Only a dishonest company like Normandy would cancel a contract they wrote. I should not have ignored all the other reviews of Normandy showing the pattern of dishonesty and incompetence.

Our project was to completely remodel the kitchen of our Downers Grove house. We shopped around…read morequite a bit across the well established builders in the suburbs of Chicagoland area. We decided to go with Normandy Builders and we couldnt have been happier with the overall experience - from design to completion and post completion support! Our designer, Bryan Brisky, was one of the reasons my wife leaned towards Normandy, she felt very comfortable with the relationship she built and the straight forward and well established grounding the designer brought in to our project. The overall vision my wife had for the project was quite different and part of creativity was successful because of the insight Bryan provided. He not only listened to what my wife wanted, but also provided fiscally responsible decision points that helped us ensure we didnt go over/above what we should spend (bang for buck). Once the project kicked off, one of the best things that happened to us was we were assigned Chris Tomko. He truly was the most amazing person outside of our designer from Normandy that made the process completely seamless. Case in point, we had a pre-planned vacation for a week and Chris was checking in daily with the progress of our project as he normally did but was very extra involved to ensure we werent nervous all while construciton was ongoing during our vacation. There were several timelines within our project that were hit right on the time as planned, if not earlier, all while supply issues happened - Normandy has a very good reputation and flex with their vendors so it was good to get proper results even when things didnt go well since they made things right. Example, some of our cabinetry wasnt fully perfect, minor flaws but they re-ordered and replaced them. Our project entailed several plumbing, electrical, drywall, etc. milestones and Normandy worked seamlessly with the village permit department and pre-post inspection approvals. During construction there were no problems, at all, Normady fixed any issues as needed that impacted our existing house if anything happened. Example, we had a minor drywall scrape and they fixed it. Of course, we paid as part of our fees the use of air filters, coverings for furniture, close out of rooms so dust doesnt go to those rooms, etc but we definately GOT WHAT WE PAID FOR in the end. My project also included adding a new sub-panel in my basement for electricity for my higher grade appliances, new coffee station with built in cabinetry, bigger exaust output and input for air, electric car supply to my garage via basement. Normandy continues to ensure quality is of utmost improtance - backed by 5 years of warranty for workmanship. I had them stop by to re-caulk the kitchen area and they are very good at just standing behind their work. Yes, it was a bit more than other builders but i was happy parting away with a small percentage extra because it turned out to be the best way to put my money to work. Had I gone with other bigger builders or smaller ones, I am not sure if I would be given attention AFTER THE PROJECT WAS COMPLETED! If you need any further questions answered, feel free to connect with me on google (zoobearz@gmail.com) and would love to help you make the decision. My official name is Mohammed Khan from Downers Grove if you want to reference me so they know you decided based on my review and feedback! Overall our project was over ~120K ish in cost, appliances were seperate via ABT.

We hired Richard Chuk of Richlind Architects to design our deck and provide plans for permit…read more Richlind did a great job. Richard provided us with several design ideas, from simple to complex. He worked closely with us to ensure that we were happy with the final design and that it would meet our budget. He visited the site, took comprehensive notes and planned a deck that would work well in the allotted space. Once we selected a design, Richard drew up plans, which were accepted by the village for permit with no hitches. In addition to the plans, Richard did extensive research for building materials and made several recommendations. All in all the experience was excellent, the deck was built and everything passed final inspection. I found Rich's approach professional and thorough, and his designs were creative yet functional.

We fell into a family owned 75 year old house after my husband's great uncle passed away and…read morecouldn't pass up the good deal. COULD do without the pink kitchen and yellow and black bathroom tiles. Aesthetics aside, there were some serious layout issues with the house that made it seem smaller than it actually was. Before just hiring a general contractor, we talked to Jereme to see if he had some design ideas that would be more interesting than just "knock down some walls and put new drywall up." Jereme worked really hard to keep within budget while still adding some fun touches that everyone comments on, like a reclaimed wood soffit that defines the kitchen area. He also used every square inch of the home to make sure we didn't have any wasted spaces. We used barn doors to make old bathrooms feel bigger and built ins to make the most of slanted attic walls. Overall, everything was on time and any extras were clearly laid out. Communication over email was great and he was very organized as we went along with the to do list and keeping all of the contractors on task. I would highly recommend Design Insight and will definitely use them again if we buy another house.

As a dedicated Yelp fan, we scoured the reviews to find an architect to renovate our 1950's ranch…read morehome. Our main goals were an open floor plan and a larger kitchen. We got so much more! A gorgeous, spacious, cook's kitchen, open floor plan, open curved staircase to basement, mud room and outdoor BBQ station. Jereme is a creative architect with a keen eye for details...not to mention a great, easy-going guy! We had a couple of initial meetings to discuss our wants and needs and then Jereme dove into the design and ultimately presented a few design concepts. We quickly zeroed in on the one that seemed best and collectively tweaked the design and components to best suit our needs. Jereme hired the construction crew and personally directed and supervised their work. He was on the site every day and in frequent contact with us. The end result is FABULOUS and more than we hoped for!! Jereme was great to work with. Very responsive to all of our questions, concerns and ideas...and he never showed any ego. He was also extremely budget conscious and economical. The project took longer than quoted, but the end result is a 10!! Highly recommended!!!

Very easy to communicate with, reasonable fee and quick turnaround on the report.read more

We have hired Yaz Consulting to review and update our plans for our build out. They efficient and…read moreprofessional.