All Around Restoration Contractors

We had these canvassers come around. They inundate the neighborhood this time of the year for storm damage to your siding. I kept waving them away, waving them away, and finally this one says oh you know, yeah, we can help you. The name of the company then was All Around Restoration out of Antioch; that was the name of the company. And at that time there was a transition in ownership and the owner that we dealt with, his name is Mike Basenak. And he convinced us that he could do a good job and he convinced us that there would be no cost to us, that the insurance company would pick it up. We went through so many hoops. We signed with him in July. Nothing happened until December. Every time I called to talk to him, his brother was sick and his brother was dying and he was back going to Florida and this and that and the other thing, and he stalled and stalled and stalled and stalled. And we had not only siding but we had contracted to have the windows in the front of our house done also. And the supplier for the windows and the siding was a building supply company in Lindenhurst. And what happened was this Mike Basenak, the day that they came finally, it was December. Now we signed in July and it was December when they came out to do the siding. I mean it was snowing when they came out. This was December of 2015 when they came out and there was all kinds of drama because the crew that this Mike Basenak had, he owed that crew $20,000. And the foreman of that crew wanted us to get some sort of a note from our bank, saying that they would only disburse the funds to the foreman of that crew and not to Mike Basenak. So then it came time - you know, they did the work and I'm still amazed because the work that was done on the house and the installation of the windows - the windows themselves I'm pleased with the quality of everything that happened. But we got a dunning letter from the building supply. The thing was, I just had that feeling that there was a money issue and I called the building supply company and I offered to pay directly to him what was owed so that I could get the project moving, and the manager of that store told me to mind my own business. And so six weeks later, it was in January, we started getting letters from the building supply company that we owed over $5,000 for the siding because this Mike Basenak had not paid his bill. And we had held back a little over $2,000, and they were charging us interest - this Richards Building Supply was charging us interest and they were going to continue to charge us interest. Fortunately, my daughter-in-law is a lawyer and she talked to him, and we still wound up paying interest on something that we didn't even know we owed. We had held back $2,000 so it wasn't quite the full $5,000 jolt. But it was like this guy was on a timetable, this lawyer was on a timetable. We had no recourse but we had to pay this lawyer. It was probably one of the most dreadful experiences. My husband and I have been married 50 years, we've owned 12 homes, and I've never had an experience like this. And that lawyer, when we tried to call - between the lawyer and the manager of that building supply company - we were made to feel like we were felons. I tried calling, contacting the Better Business Bureau - we got no recourse. I even contacted a person down in Springfield, and nobody would take an interest and take our side. So I would like that baby posted. All Around Restoration is out of business now, but I understand that this Mike Basenak is working in the area. I have no idea what the name of his company is. I posted something on the building supply company's site and the owner had a conniption fit and demanded that I take down that posting, when what I told was the truth. They were suing us and we had no recourse. When my daughter-in-law looked into it, we had absolutely no recourse but to pay. I just always thought that there was some kind of a scam. And then I talked to another contractor and that contractor also had a very negative experience with that building supply company. I still feel lucky - because this was December of 2015 that this happened, and it started in July, that was when we contracted, and then it was December of 2015. Our siding and everything looks wonderful; we've not had any problems. We did have one little bit of fascia on the one side, we had a wind storm about two weeks afterward and we were lucky enough that he was still around and he did come back and he did take care of it for us, and so far we've had a couple of really terrible wind storms since then and it's not been an issue. What we were on the hook for though was the cost of the materials, the siding. If you're talking about the company, it's an F. If you're talking about the sub-contractor that did the actual work, I have to give them at least a B. When I called just recently, I talked to the building inspector for Lake Villa, and he said to me, we knew that he was a con artist and I instructed the girls to stop issuing him building permits. We published that information along with the water bill in July and we got complaints from people because they thought we were just badmouthing this guy. In the grand scheme of things, it was not a pleasant experience but we got away a lot better than other people did. I think you just have to give them F's across the board so that nobody deals with this guy. He's a con artist; I didn't know this guy from Adam, and anyone that worked with him last Summer, if there was anything was left unfinished, it's still unfinished. All Around Restoration, definitely Mike Basenak, and definitely that building supply company - all three of those, totally negative. F's across the board on everything.

It was very hard to set up a time to install the work. We went back and forth for a few months before they finally performed the work. Then, when they did come out to do the work, it took them almost 2 weeks to finish. Lastly, not even a year has passed since they have completed their work and some of the poor workmanship is starting to show. I have reached out to this contractor for over two months now to replace the Fascia as it is bubbling and bending, and even coming off of our home, and all I get is the runaround. They tell me they will replace it, but have given me excuse after excuse as to why they have not completed it yet. First it was too busy, then it was their supplier didn't have the color of Fascia they installed, then the color got discontinued, etc... I told them that they can install a different color, but even then they have failed to replace it. First it was too busy, then it was their supplier didn't have the color of Fascia they installed, then the color got discontinued, etc... I told them that they can install a different color, but even then they have failed to replace it. To tell you the truth I am not sure how comfortable I will be if they ever get around to replacing it. A refund would be best, so that I can hire someone to do the work correctly.