Need General Contractor in Glen Ellyn/Lombard Area

Updated on December 09, 2009
D.G. asks from Rockford, IL
8 answers

We're looking for an experienced, highly recommended General Contractor in the Glen Ellyn/Lombard area to help us renovate a 30+ year old duplex. I need someone that is insured, licensed, and above all is reasonable & experienced. If anyone has used a Contractor that they've used personally & has recommendations, please let me know. We've been having troubles finding the right person for this job. Thanks as always Moms!!! :)

What can I do next?

  • Add yourAnswer own comment
  • Ask your own question Add Question
  • Join the Mamapedia community Mamapedia
  • as inappropriate
  • this with your friends

So What Happened?

Thanks everyone for your referals! I did find a contractor who comes highly recommended & we are starting with something small & seeing how he works out. If for some reason he doesn't work out, I will begin going through the contractors that were suggested in the posts. Thanks again!!!

Featured Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.M.

answers from Chicago on

Hi D.,
You might try RS Remodeling,he dose remodeling kitchen,bathroom, all woodwork ,windows and he dose also roofing plambing and electric work.
Give him a call ###-###-####
Good luck, A.
He lives in Streamwood

More Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

K.A.

answers from Chicago on

Universal Construction and Home Restoration is a great company. The phone # ###-###-#### or ____@____.com The owners name is Frank. Their mission statment is: To provide a construction sevice that exceeds the needs of their clients, withknowledge, skills and credentials that are needed for the effective and efficient contruction practices. Give them a call.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.C.

answers from Chicago on

Call Mark at Midwest Construction. They do amazing work!!!
###-###-####

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

K.L.

answers from Chicago on

I love using the online service Service Magic to find any help I need around the house. I've used them to find a cleaning service, to replace our furnace, putting in new hardwood floors, and for several other things.

Go to www.servicemagic.com --it is FREE to use. You just enter in what you are looking for and they will match you up with pre-screened people that will contact you right away. You can see and read all the reviews of others online before you make your final decision.

The screening process to participate in the service magic program is pretty high from what I understand. We have been very happy with every person we've hired through this service.

good luck!
K.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

K.N.

answers from Chicago on

We live in Lombard and had our whole house renovated and an addition put on our house in 2006. We used Steben Builders ###-###-####. They are a family company in business for years, very affordable, reliable, and dependable. They work all overy Glen Ellyn and Lombard.
Tell them Steve & K. Norton referred you :)
Good Luck.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.H.

answers from Chicago on

Both my mom and I have used Chris Hilman (Hilman Construction). He has remodeled my full kitchen and done a few other things around my house. He did the siding on my mom's house and gutted and remodeled my mom's bathroom. We only paid for the labor. He was extremely reasonable. Not sure if Lombard is one of his territories, but he definitely is worth a try. ###-###-####.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

L.S.

answers from Chicago on

Hi D. - Someone asked a similar question a couple of months ago, so I'll send you the recommendation that I wrote to them. Before I do that though, I just wanted to comment about ServiceMagic's referral services.

I have used ServiceMagic about 5 times, 4 times with success and once with such disasterous results that I am leery of ever using them again. The 5th and last time, I hired 1 of 3 contractors to whom they referred me. I met with and got bids from each of the 3. The one I picked (Belmonte Electric) was the cheapest, and the owner, Matt Belmonte, said that his bid was firm, not merely an estimate. Well, he ended up sending an untrained, unlicensed (except through him) 20-year-old guy to do the actual work (electrical wiring to install a generator) AND charged me more than the original bid. Worse yet, the work was so poorly/incorrectly done that it had to be re-done by another electrician who I hired through a referral from a friend, since Matt Belmonte said he wouldn't come out to my home to fix the problems unless I paid him. ServiceMagic's "dispute resolution" people agreed that he was in the wrong, but said that they have no control over the contractors that sign up with them, including forcing them to take any corrective measures or refund any portion of a customer's payment. Accordingly, to call themselves a "dispute resolution" department is definitely a misnomer since they have no ability to resolve anything, nor does ServiceMagic in any way stand behind the contractor's work. There is no screening process. Any contractor can sign up as long as they are willing to pay per lead from ServiceMagic (even if the lead never materializes into communication with the prospective client, let alone the actual work). ServiceMagic can be a useful source of referrals and customer reviews, but don't have a false sense of security that it is any more than that.

Here is the recommendation that I previously posted on Mamasource:

Call Vern Elton ###-###-####). His company is Beth-Shar Construction (named after his 2 daughters). I live in a house in Wheaton. After trying many handymen over the years and dealing with no-shows and cancellations and feeling like I was getting ripped off and/or getting sub-par work, I hired him since my aunt and uncle knew him from having attended church (Calvary Church in Naperville) with him for many years to this day. He recently oversaw all aspects of Calvary's construction of their new church in Sugar Grove. So far, I have only found 2 things that Vern has told me were not within his expertise (replacing rotted wood on the exterior of my house, and building a $100,000+ addition on my friends' house), but he found someone else to do the work for me, and he gave my friends referrals to 2 other people, one of whom they ended up hiring and were very happy with.

Vern's workmanship is excellent (he'll work with you until you are 100% satisfied), and his prices are so low that they have honestly shocked me (but I'm not complaining!). Once he gives you a quote at the beginning of a job, he will not increase it, ever. I did not find that to be true of other people - they would either refuse to give me a binding quote, or they would give me a range (and of course it would end up being the highest number at the end of the project), or they would encounter "unforeseen expenses" along the way that they would add into the original price.

Vern is also one of the sweetest and most honest, humble, compassionate, and helpful people I have ever met. He and his wife of 30-some years live in Warrenville and have 3 grown kids, all of whom have turned out great and have families of their own. Because the quality of both his work and his character are of the highest caliber, I do not hesitate to recommend him to others. He is in his 50's and has two younger guys who work for him, but he personally comes to every job and works alongside them. They have both told me that they can't imagine working for a kinder, more skilled employer.

I have hired Vern to do everything from finishing my basement (twice, actually - it massively flooded and was destroyed 3 months after they had just finished it in 2006) to most recently replacing my front storm door. He even did the shopping around for the door for a couple of weeks until he could get an exact match with my newly-painted (by him) reddish/maroon wooden front door.

Vern is probably the only thing that my husband and I (we're separated) agree on, LOL. He recently converted a large closet into a full bathroom in my husband's VERY old two-story home in Oak Park and replaced all of the original, ancient plumbing in the house to increase the water flow/pressure throughout, which required walls to be cut away and rebuilt as well as other significant changes to the home. My husband initially got quotes from other handymen and construction companies who his Oak Park realtor recommended, and they were so expensive that my husband ended up using Vern after all. After Vern and his crew were done with all of the work, my husband commented to me that he can't believe he even considered hiring anyone else.

Good luck,
L.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

K.S.

answers from Chicago on

You might try Ron at ###-###-####. He is a licensed electrician and does remodeling. I recommend him highly as he is very thorough, and I think you would be pleased with him. He gets very high praise on the work he does.

For Updates and Special Promotions
Follow Us

Related Questions