In short I would NOT recommend Chicago Decorative Concrete. Chris came out and I showed him the…read morefloor in the office NEXT door and asked if they could do the same. A simple concrete overlay with minimal natural texture. Here is what transpired next. Floor #1- Day one none of the equipment was working (grinder and vacuum). the job was to be 3.5 days and already would be 2 days over due. The 1st floor had lots of "fan" pattern texture. Clearly Chris had not told Jake and the team what I wanted. 20ft away was a whole office with what I was wanting. ** Not listening to customer wants/needs Floor #2- Jake was nice and agreed with Chris to redo the floor using a different material. This batch was "bad" and was overstock from another job. Fair enough, they have to buy minimum amounts. They agreed to redo it a third time. ** Poor material management. Floor #3- Floor was better but had HUGE swirl marks and major color contrast issues in 3-4 areas. Basically the whole floor was grey and in 4 spots there was dark grey swirls and drips. At this point I was fine to let it go. Not what I really wanted, but was willing to move on. ** Was not honest about what they can actually do. The breaking point issue was with the clear top coat. Jake and crew put down the clear coat and I paid the remainder thinking all would be ok. Jake agreed on a discounted price as the job took weeks to finish instead of the agreed upon 3-4 days. ** DO NOT pay until the final coat is FULLY DRY! However, the top coat dried with white spots and roller marks all over. I called/text to tell them how it dried and that it did not look like anything we agreed upon. In short, after another couple of weeks going back and forth they said I had to pay the FULL amount if I wanted them to come back out and redo the top coat as per our agreement. ** At the end of the day they DO NOT CARE about their customers if the cost of THEIR mistakes are too high. My time and inconvenience was of no concern. Crappy Co. Crappy materials and just a bad Co. to deal with.

I could not be happier with having these guys do work on my unit. I will explain exactly what…read morehappened and why! In the midst of redoing my kitchen on top of about 8-month old hardwood floors there was a pretty massive flood in my condo. About 1000 feet of wood needed to be ripped up leaving an exposed rough, uneven, nail filled concrete sub-floor. I was faced with either getting new wood floors or something else- I went polished concrete. I solicited a few quotes, but ultimately went with CDC due to Chris and his honesty about the job from the start. Their price was fair, they seemed better in my mind- I was right. On time they came in, their crew performed the work quickly. They helped me carry last things off my floor to prep it (not in contract scope) and explained a detailed timeline and what I could expect. Noise, dust, accidental spatter were assumed on my part. Sure, there was dust from concrete grinding, but how could there not be? Anyway- within less than one week from a hellish debacle and not knowing how it would turn out I love my floors. They look great- I have no complaints thus far after a few weeks. The finish looks good, and the attention to detail (they had to pour under cabinets and up to carpeted stairs and to many closet entrances) was superior. Jake (the foreman) ran a tight ship and had his guys cleaning up every aspect of community (condo halls) property after the whole gig was completed. In all, the price was fair. The guys were great. The timeline was on point. The floors look great. I would use them again, I would refer them to anyone, if anyone has a question for me please feel free to reach out and ask. Thank you Chicago Decorative Concrete.

Fast response and friendly. Price is ok for 1 step concrete…read morework. Somehow me and my wife were not happy with the look. We paid in full since they were friendly and worked at night. The workers who did this job called it beautiful step with brushed finished. I think I was expected too much.

Reliable, responsive, and completed the job as promised. They even went above and beyond when they…read morediscovered additional stucco repair needed which couldn't be seen from the street - fixed it for no additional cost. The tuckpointing work matched with the existing work completely and we are pleased with the job overall. Would hire them again!

Quick, what were you doing 130 years ago? Even the nonagenarians I know weren't even a glimmer in…read moresomeone's eye. Well sometime around then, some industrious craftsmen were sawing down oak trees, cutting them into planks and laying down the wood into my floor. So some 47,450 days later (that would be 68,320,000 minutes of steps, weather changes, barometric pressure dips, moving furniture, pets scratching etc, mopping, waxing, insects, new owners, joy, tears and changing seasons), the oak changed into patches of pine and polyurethane stains and here we are. We called in Vintage Flooring to remedy the planks that were cracked, where former patching jobs were failing, and to address the aging yellow stain. They came out quickly, presented us with a quote to replace planks and to replace the entire floor. We selected to replace the damaged section only. They started work but informed us that the floor was too damaged and the entire floor needed to be replaced. Entire process from start to finish was 4 days. Floor looks gorgeous. Minor deductions: change from sections of floor to entire floor (although they cautioned us) shoebase will have to be redone and I found a Budweiser can (empty) outside the room. Nicest floor in the house now. Spoiler alert: more work to come!

I was nervous redoing my floors but Jason and Nathan and their crew really made it easy. My…read morerefinished floors look fantastic! We removed that oak 90's orange color and chose a warm walnut shade. What a difference. They stuck to the estimate and finished the work earlier than agreed upon! The new balusters look modern and it's great! They instructed us how to care for our new floors and are available for any questions in the future. I will refer them to our family and friends! Thanks to Vintage for our new home!!!

I posted a bad review recently and would like to update it. Araceli contacted me immediately…read moreafter the post and within a few days returned my deposit. I believe she is an honorable business woman and probably does great work (they were recommended to me by Tim Samuelson, the retired cultural historian of Chicago), but I no longer had the time to navigate their business practices. It seems these may be trying times for the office of Peter's Wood Refinishing and I am sympathetic to that but Araceli, if you are reading this, people have a lot of understanding if you will just communicate with them.

I'm sure the work is good (they came recommended) but if you actually want anything done to your…read morehome I'd suggest looking elsewhere - I've been waiting almost three weeks for a quote. Was told I'd get one about two weeks ago and haven't heard back since, and I certainly won't beg anyone to take my money. Based on other reviews it seems like they need some additional admin support.

I asked for the leak to be stopped, but instead of addressing the actual source of the problem, the…read moresolution provided was to heavily apply caulk across my porch roof. Unfortunately, the roof is still leaking. The situation has actually become worse, as the water is now getting in behind the siding instead of just dripping from the roof. This not only fails to solve the problem but also risks causing further damage to my home's structure. I expect a proper repair that addresses the root cause of the leak--not just a cosmetic or temporary fix.

We needed to replace our flat roofs on our home and a pitched roof on our garage. I got the card…read morefor them when the company did work on a neighbor's roof. Benjamin came out and gave us a very good total quote on the roofs that also included taking away an old rooftop deck. The quote was far under the other quote that we had from another company. It included all work and labor. I was initially skeptical of the low price, but we went with them. They did a fantastic job on all of the roofs and even added a few services that were not in the quote at no additional cost. The quality seems excellent. No leaks after the first rain. Extremely hard working crew. Benjamin was honest about everything and really earned our trust. I plan to have them come out next year to work on a pergola that he said needed securing and repair (they did the securing and repairs) and will need replacement. I plan to have them do replacement next year. I've also given a recommendation to our homeowners association that it be added to the list of potential roofers and deck construction and repair. It's an honest company with integrity that I teust

Great masonry repair by Dan and his son. The exterior of my building above my entrance had been…read moredamaged by ivy and inclement weather but they took care of it. They're very friendly people and are offer fair prices for their services.

Overall, we're happy with the quality of our new fence. The workmanship was good, the finished…read moreproduct looks great, and we felt the pricing for the fence itself was fair. Our only concerns were with communication and project management. Our signed contract included replacing the fence as well as demolishing and removing a concrete step. A few days after the project began, we were told the concrete removal would cost extra because the step was concrete. We didn't mind paying the additional cost--we understand unexpected situations can come up--but it was frustrating that this wasn't identified and communicated during the initial estimate or before the work started. The concrete step was identified on the day work began, and he mentioned the extra charge 3 days later. Once the fence was completed, we were asked for full payment even though the contracted work had not yet been finished. We ultimately agreed to pay the remaining balance because we didn't want to go back and forth. It also seemed like multiple jobs were being worked on at the same time, which delayed completion. We were told a jackhammer needed to be rented to complete the concrete removal, but it wasn't arranged until later, adding to the delay. Overall, we're pleased with the final product and the quality of the work. I would hire Danny again because the workmanship and pricing were good. However, I would make sure the contract had more detailed terms regarding change orders, payment milestones, and project completion timelines to avoid any misunderstandings. Better communication throughout the project would have made the experience much smoother.

Totally disappointing and frustrating experience with Vera Specialty Concrete…read more We hired Tony Vera of Vera Specialty Concrete to put in a poured cement floor for 2 rooms in our basement (about 500 Sq Ft). He promised a smooth, grey-patterned cement floor as shown in the pictures he sent us. Timeline of events: 1. They removed yucky old carpeting and the tacking holding it to the cement substrate. 2. They ground down the floor to even it up. He failed to put up any plastic sheathing and did not cover the HVAC vents and returns as he had promised. Our basement and half of the main floor were covered in dust and debris. Horrible. 3. They added material to cover the cracks in the substrate and it sat for a while. 4. At this point he should have realized that the substrate was rough and uneven and would require more work to cover properly. 5. They troweled on a micro-thin layer of micro cement which didn't cover the floor well and showed all the underlying cracks, holes and lines from the carpet tacking and did not match up to the level of surrounding tile work as he had promised twice. 6. After a week of curing, they sealed the floor with a floor mop type implement and left with little notice. They failed to clean up afterwards. We received demands for payment of the final balance. 7. After weeks of communicating that we were not satisfied with the coverage, thickness or smoothness of the surface, he ghosted us twice and we assumed that he had abandoned the project. 8. Weeks later, he texted that he wanted to do another pass, consisting of micro-abrasion to remove the sealer, additional layers of micro-cement and final re-seal, we agreed and scheduled him to return. They never showed up and he has ghosted us for the 3rd and final time. No further communications of any kind since. Lessons: watch every move, ask lots of detailed questions and ignore the bulls**t he dishes out. Highly not recommended. Do not hire them!!!

We contracted Verafloor to level the concrete sub-floor as part of a full gut rehab. The floor was…read morevery uneven and we wanted it flat so that we could lay wood / tile directly on top of it. Based on this project experience, I could never recommend this company for concrete leveling. They did not deliver a suitable subfloor, and ultimately cost us more than double the budget trying to remedy their mistakes. This review is with regards to concrete leveling, as I did not use them for concrete polishing/staining. The project started off poorly when we tried to get a certificate of insurance from Verafloor for our condo association. Over the course of 2 months, I sent 17 email and text requests, as well as made numerous phone calls trying to get the COI. We would have walked away from the company then, but had already signed a contract and paid a 50% deposit of $6K so we stuck it out. The project quickly spiraled downhill as soon as they started working. No mapping of the sub floor was done, and no targets heights were marked. Pea gravel was spread as filler in the high areas instead of the low areas. Concrete was poured without any strings nor markers. After three days of work, Verafloor scheduled a final walk-through with our GC asked for final payment. The floor was no where near the standard needed as a subfloor. It varied up to 3" in height within an 8' span throughout. The heights of the floor varied throughout and exceeded the maximum target height in areas. The industry standard for a flat subfloor was no more than 1/4" variance in a 10' span. The contract stated we would get a level floor, we would have accepted a flat floor but couldn't accept one with such variances. Our GC and we suggested Verafloor rip up this concrete and start over (in hindsight we should have insisted on that). Instead, we agreed to allow them to grind the floor down and then re-pour the floor. We never imagined the crew would be grinding down the concrete for 2 months. They hauled away 21 bags of concrete dust. When they were ready to pour a level floor again, we requested one room as a test to demonstrate the crew had the technical skill to pour a flat floor. This time they used strings and marked the target height...and poured a flat floor. Unfortunately, they measured incorrectly and placed the target strings 1/2" below target on one side and 1/4" below on the other side of the room. Even though they failed this test, we agreed to allow one more attempt to get a flat floor. This time they didn't use markers or string, and just eyed it. When we evaluated his finished product, the floor was once again not flat to the subfloor standard. We even invested in a $500 laser floor measurement tool to confirm it was not within the standard. At this point, our project was more than 4 months behind due to the floor work that should have only taken 1-2 weeks. We found several independent flooring and concrete professionals to assess the situation, and all agreed the floor was not acceptable. Rather than go to arbitration to recoup our costs and risk further delays, we decided it would be best to call it quits and allow Verafloor to keep the deposit. We then found a different professional who could fix the floor in its current state. I know Verafloor lost a lot of money on the deal, as they poured, ground, and hauled away a lot of concrete. But we lost significantly more. With the cost of the initial deposit, replacement floor contractor, and 4 month delay, we spent more than double of the original $12K budget. Additionally, the work crew was not professional nor respectful of the work site. The other project subs commented on their lack of professionalism, and they even drew graffiti on the drywall and floor.

This. This is the kind of local crew you want!! Art does a great job of managing the whole process…read more He came out promptly for an inspection, made a few recommendations, quoted them in a couple days, and communitcated throughout. The whole crew came on time each day (10 min early in fact), the work is solid, they were quick, and they even put up with neighbors being salty about trucks in the alley (hi nieghbors - sorry, it's city life!) Aside from that glowing overview, the project itself was a garage tuckpointing. Much of the garage is intact but the top few feet of brick wall was completely erroded and one section of the garage was splitting and bulging away. We've wanted to get it all repaired but many contractors had quoted a price that was bordering on the cost of a whole new garage! Art's quote was reasonable and the work he recommended was appropriate. Nothing flashy, just good work. Now the garage is all fixed up, sturdy, and ready for another 100 winters - Thanks guys! The kind of crew I want to hire again even though I really hope I don't need you for a while :)

We had a few issues in which they came out a second time after completing the job. Then we found a…read morefew more overlooked areas. I had written a more negative review, because I had not heard back from Art regarding the issues at stake. I finally heard from him. He had been out of the country for a bit. Anyways, I would like to thank them and edit my review in order to reflect a positive experience. They were always pleasant and easy to work with. The price was fair. Art and crew came out three times to rectify issues we had. The customer service and eagerness to satisfy customer was superior. Thank you for making our house look great.