Professional Home Improvement Inc

When Mal arrived at my house to talk to me about new siding he had a 10 page list of referrals that I could call! Mal is very knowledgeable and personable. I was also considering the company that did one of my renovation projects because I was very happy with their work. However, I felt that Mal really knew what he was talking about and I did contact 3 of his referrals who could not praise him enough. In the end Mal and his guys did a phenomenal job and paid attention to every detail. They removed aluminum siding and the underlying original cedar siding, installed an insulated vinyl siding in two styles, trimmed out the windows with aluminum, and installed new soffits and gutters. There had been a couple of remodeling projects done to my 1950 house and windows had been replaced at various times resulting in not all of them having the same trim or being set at the same depth. Mal's crew built out all of the window frames so they would all be at the same depth and have the same trim width once they were wrapped in aluminum. While they were working on the siding I asked if they could build a portico over the front porch for some architectural interest and to provide shelter from weather. I showed them a picture of what I wanted and they did a great job of building it and tying it into the house. The workers thoroughly cleaned up the work area every day. My neighbors were impressed with how thorough the guys were and the attention to details. The project took about 6 weeks to complete overall and that included weather delays and wait time for my new front door to arrive. I am very particular about workmanship on my house but Mal and his guys were patient with me, answered my questions, and explained what they were doing. My house has little insulation in the walls of the rooms I have not remodeled and the insulated siding did make a difference this winter. It has also helped muffle noise from outside. I would not hesitate to recommend Professional Home Improvement. Their work was the best and I have gotten so many compliments on my house--it looks like new!

Mal and the entire crew of Professional Home Improvement were wonderful to work with. I wanted to change from a Tudor style cedar and stucco to vinyl (many reasons, don?t judge!). I also wanted to add gutters to the front of the house where there hadn?t been any before and the design made it tricky. Because it was such a drastic change I wanted some guidance and ideas. Mal was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable and had great ideas. The nasty fall weather delayed the start but Mal kept me informed. When the project did start, they only removed whatever siding they could cover that day. The crew was wonderful and really took pride in their work. My neighbors who were having work done on their own house were impressed with the hours Mal?s crew spent and how prompt they were each morning. My house is beautiful now, no more rotting cedar, and I?ve received glowing praise from the neighbors. Hopefully I?ll never need this again but I?d definitely recommend Professional Home Improvement.

Overall a positive experience. The team that completed our job was professional, respectful, and responsive to our requests. Mal was highly responsive to our questions and concerns to ensure we had a good outcome. Price was fair for the extensive work we had done. There was a delay in finalizing the trim coupled with PHI trying to wrap up multiple jobs, but overall we are satisfied with the work. Additional note as of 11/10/14: The previous review was written after our project was completed. We are upgrading our overall review from a B to an A. We had a problem finding the exact color match to coordinate our front door (painted) with the vinyl shutters. Our crew foreman came over to the house to remove the shutter so I could take it to the paint store, and came back a few days later to rehang it. Both the PHI crew, and Mal Graifman have been extremely responsive to our requests throughout the project - even after it was finished!

Mal and his crew (George, Marco, etc) are all wonderful. They were always on time, worked even through their lunches, worked very hard, asked me questions to make sure they were doing the job the way I wanted. The guys treated my house as if it was theirs, we exchanged ideas on how to do things and they were very respectable and honest. I would highly recommend them and if I ever need any work done again I will most definitely use them. I can't say enough of how pleased I am. I have had two random strangers stop me outside the house and tell me how nice it looks, as well as the compliments I have received from neighbors. Thank you guys!

Mal and his team were awesome! Mal took his time during the initial meeting to educate us about the products we were considering and provided both the pros and cons of each. He also gave us his suggestions, which we valued given his significant experience. What impressed me from the beginning about Mal was his attention to detail. There are no short cuts in the service he provides. Everything is expertly finished, and even hurdles and challenges in the project are completed and resolved to look just as professional as the easy parts. The crew was polite, friendly and clean. They were also the hardest workers I have seen in a long time (and great examples for my teenage children!) They were at the house by 7, and many nights there were workers there until sundown. Everything was always cleaned up at the end of the day. We would definitely use Mal again, and would recommend him to friends and neighbors. He is extremely personable, and a great guy to do business with. He even had to deal with me changing my mind about a few items in the beginning of the project and did so without any problem at all. Thanks for everything, Mal!

The house was in need of a complete transformation. The old, rotted, cedar siding was in bad shape. Mal came out and gave us a very surprising estimate after months of estimates that were double their price. With some trepidation (due to the considerable price difference) we agreed. No need to have worried. The crew of two men came out and did a fantastic job. They were polite, neat and responsive to any and all of our requests. The treated us with patience and respect. The completed work has made us very proud of our house. It sure is nice to drive up to the end of the street and see this beautiful house. I still can't believe it is the same house. Would we use them again? Absolutely. A bargain and quality work!

We chose to do business with Mal because he had great reviews, was very personable, and he also addressed any complaints immediately on Angie’s List. The fact that his company (Professional Home Improvement) was versed in all types of siding made us feel comfortable using him. We hired him to install Hardie Board fiber cement siding. Although the cost was higher than other siding, Hardie products came with a 15 year color warranty on its siding with “Color Plus” technology, i.e. factory applied baked on paint. Unfortunately, our experience with Mal and PHI was extremely disappointing and we would NOT recommend his services. Originally, our house had horizontal siding everywhere except for the garage which had vertical siding. We discussed the aesthetics of our home with Mal and made the decision that we wanted to keep the same look. Mal ordered both horizontal and vertical siding with “Color Plus” technology in our chosen color. The horizontal siding looked great, however, when the vertical siding was being installed we immediately advised Mal that we did not like how it looked and it was NOT what we had discussed. The vertical siding looked nothing like the siding that we had. While we were disappointed that the vertical siding didn’t look as expected and that Mal did not disclose this to us before ordering the product ,we agreed, without hesitation, to pay an additional $2800 to change to horizontal siding. Mal said he would place the order with Hardie, but that it would take a week or so for the siding to be colored and shipped (This was on a Friday). That Monday we discovered that the crew came with white fiber cement siding that had NOT been treated with the ColorPlus technology. They proceeded to paint the siding with Behr paint while it was raining and as a result the paint did not cure properly. In fact, there are even several areas that weren’t painted at all. This was NOT what we had agreed upon with Mal, nor what we had ordered and paid for. When confronted, Mal he stated that the paint siding would last longer than the siding with “ColorPlus” technology which was contradictory to what he told us when he sold us the initial product. We showed him all the different painted areas and the paint adhesion issues and sloppy paint job. Regardless, there is no question that the siding with the “Color Plus” baked on color and the painted siding would wear differently on the house. We explained to him we were not comfortable with the product he installed and painted, and that we wanted the product we originally agreed to or $2000 off the final invoice. Mal was not willing to do either of these and said he would give us a month to let the paint set and then he would expect final payment. In that months’ time we called the James Hardie Company, Behr Paint, and two professional painting companies and they all agreed that the color would fade differently and that the painted siding should not have been painted in the rain or installed wet. We are now left with a house in which is half covered with ColorPlus Hardie siding and half covered with hand painted siding which is still tacky and the paint scratches right off. We never agreed to this. The two professional painters we spoke with both agreed that the current paint job was not done properly and additional work would be necessary.At this point we want PHI to reimburse us for the cost to have siding with Color Plus technology in our chosen color installed properly by a contractor of our choosing (as we have no confidence in Mal’s work) on all the areas which have hand-painted siding. Lastly, we noticed just this weekend that there are large gaps between the siding and the top of our windows. We are investigating whether this is sloppy work that also requires attention.

The overall experience with Professional Home Improvement (PHI) was positive. Mal was responsive from the first time we spoke and his crew performed the work as represented. This was a time consuming and, at least I would say, complicated siding job given the number of corners on our home. The crew did a very good job with installation of the materials. Any issues with the work or crew were addressed by Mal in a timely and effective manner. I would recommend PHI and would utilize them again in the future.

The job was completed in less than a week. The quality and the finished appearance exceeded my expectations which seldom occurs. The brown trim / cladding around the windows and the corners turned out great against the tan siding. The work crew did a high quality job and left the work site very neat at the end of day. The owner Mal was very patient and helpful in providing houses in the area that were previous jobs. These previous jobs provided examples of siding colors and references.All of the references were quite positive and mentioned that follow up and follow through were excellent with Professional Home Improvement.. I am very happy that they were the company that I chose. I would recommend them to friends and neighbors.

Things went well. The crew was on time and very professional. Mal was great to work with. They weren't the cheapest option, but, their quality was worth the extra money.

My overall experience was good but in some cases could have been better. I believe that there were several extenuating circumstances and Mal was very good about communicating reasons for the issues we experienced. I am happy with the final look and product and when I voiced my concerns to Mal about things that didn't seem right he corrected the issues to my satisfaction. The workers worked very hard and did an excellent job in cleaning up each day. Initially Mal ordered more wood then he thought we would need to cover the areas that needed replacement, but when we were told the job was finished I still had about 250 sq. feet of cedar siding remaining. Mal sent the workers back out upon my request and then installed the rest of the cedar siding which I am very happy about. We and the village inspector noticed some missing caulking along our chimney so Mal sent the workers out to correct that as well. We were told by the worker that they had run out of caulk and they had planned to come back but this was not communicated to us until after we found it.

Mal said he was behind schedule and the work did not start on time. He said he had extenuating circumstances. The two men who completed the work, Sam and Gregg, were very competent and efficient. The job went well and looks great. Sam and Gregg cleaned the work area each day and after the job was finished. Sam also installed new outside lights on the garage and house. I would certainly recommend this outfit.

Professional Home Improvement is an excellent company to do business with. Throughout the process all communication was with the president of the company, Mal Graifman. Mr. Graifman cares deeply about quality workmanship. He is passionate about customer service and maintaining a great reputation for his company. The men who performed the work on our home were seasoned skilled veterans who work directly for Professional Home Improvement, unlike other siding companies which use sub-contractors to provide labor. It was very clear to see from the start that Professional Home Improvements' employees also care deeply about the quality of their work. The workers were respectful and maintained a very clean work site. Our job took about a week to complete. When the work was finished Mr. Graifman followed up with me to make sure I was happy with final result. Now our house looks so much better than it did before. The quality of workmanship is clearly evident. I certainly made the right decision in hiring Professional Home Improvements to repair our home!

After receiving a couple of quotes from other siding companies we then contacted Mal at Professional Home Improvement. Mal was professional from the beginning and took the time to answer all of our questions. He was very detailed in his explanations and shared several expamples of his previous work with us. Being very comfortable with all received information, we decided to sign a contact with him that same night. Not only was Mal super responsive throughout the entire process, he also had an outstanding crew at our house. Mal?s crew was very polite and professional. They arrived at the home on time every day, weather permitting, and stayed until at least 5:00pm daily. What was great about the crew was that they cleaned up daily. We had the siding, trim and new gutters installed and our place was finished within 7 working days as Mal originally stated. The house looks great and all the materials were disposed as promised. Mal?s stood by his quote at the end of the job even that certain things were added during the project to improve the end result. We could not be any happier with his work and we would hire Mal and his crew for any other furture projects again, without any hesitation. Work well done with a beautiful result! Thanks Mal!

From the start, communication with PHI was quick and easy. I wasn't sure if Mal provided services up in McHenry county, and when I inquired, I had an answer within a matter of hours. Getting a hold of Mal was very easy. He came out to our house to discuss the jobs we needed done within a week of our first contact with him. We were in need of new siding, windows, and roofing. We knew the job was huge and were quite nervous about finding someone we could trust to do good work. Mal is very straight forward and passionate about what his company can do. He came prepared with many photos of jobs PHI has done in the area. He also had a list of homeowners names, addresses and phone numbers (with the HO consent of course) of whom he has done work for. We were able to drive by these homes and see the quality of work for ourselves. Mal is not your typical "Car Salesman"..... One thing that impressed me the most was when I asked Mal about the very few negative comments he received on Angie's list. I think I saw 3 of them, and they were in regard to the same thing, about Mal dropping the ball in communicating with them....Mal stepped up to the plate, and was very honest about the fact that he screwed up those few times, and that his customers deserve better communication. Not everyone is perfect, we all slip up sometimes, and anyone who can admit fault, is an honest person in my book. That being said, I never had trouble getting a hold of Mal. I always had an answer almost immediately to my questions. We felt the cost of the service was very reasonable. Compared to other estimates, PHI wasn't the lowest, nor was it the highest. However, the detail we were given regarding what would be done, and how it would be done was the most thorough explanation we received. Between that, and seeing the other homes PHI has worked on gave us the courage to take the leap of faith in hiring PHI. Once we signed the contract, Mal had his staff out to take final window measurements within a week. The windows were ordered the following business day, and 3 weeks later, they arrived for installation. His team of workers is OUTSTANDING. The very first day of work, we had a new roof, and 9 of 24 windows replaced. I was amazed when I got home from work to see the gaggle of people at my house working. It was like a well choreographed dance. Everyone was doing something at any given time. I don't think these guys stopped to take a breath. The remainder of the windows, and the siding was up within a week and a half time. (There were 2 bad weather days that they were unable to work.) We can't say enough good words about these guys. They are meticulous with their work, and anything you might have a question or concern about, they are on it making sure it is done to your satisfaction! They were extremely professional, courteous, and considerate. They made sure the worksite was completely clean before they left for the day. Mal came out to the house several times during the construction to make sure everything was going to our satisfaction. Once the job was done, we did a walk through with both the foreman, and Mal to make sure everything was taken care of. PHI takes a lot of pride in their work, and it shows. Mal made sure we had all the proper warranty paperwork, and made sure we knew we only needed to call if we had any problems or concerns, and he would be on it. Obviously in this economy with home values down as much as they are, making the choice to do home improvements on this scale is very scary and hard. This wasn't a small job, and we invested a good chunk of money into it. Prior to contracting PHI, we were worried on many levels about many things. Mal made us rest easy. We are so happy with the work, it was worth every penny spent! We highly recommend PHI, and would not hesitate to contract them again if ever needed.

Aside from the workers who performed the work on my house all of my contact was with the owner Mal Graifman. Mal was great to work with. He spent time during the initial visit talking about my project and showing me pictures of other projects he has done. He took measurements during the first visit and took some time before providing me with an estimate for the work. I had one company that took cursory measurements and provided a low estimate on the spot - I didn't feel that they put much thought into the work that needed to be done and didn't trust that their estimate was solid. I got four estimates for the work. One was for Hardie siding and Marvin windows which was out of my price range. Then there was the low estimate that I didn't trust and the other two estimates were within a few hundred dollars. I selected Mal's company because he took a lot more time with me answering questions and addressing any concerns. Henry, the head of the crew that did both the windows and siding, has been with Mal for many years. The workers showed up on time each day. They cleaned up the work site after the project was complete. I am very pleased with the results --- the windows and siding on the house were 30 years old - so the improvement was quite dramatic. I don't anticipate having to do this again, but if I did, I would definitely go back to Mal and would highly recommend him for windows/siding projects.

Mal and his team (Greg's crew performed the work on my home) did such an amazing job. First off, we can all agree that the process of large home improvement projects is about as fun as having a root canal. With that being said, it was so refreshing to deal with such a competent and professional company as Professional Home Improvement Inc. The process was smooth and painless. The description of work to be performed went exactly as planned. When Mal tells you something, he makes good on his word. They removed all of the old cupped and split cedar siding from my home. They patched and reinforced damaged underlay and soffits before installing a layer of insulation board around the entire home. The home was then wrapped in Hardy Board home wrap. Greg's crew are artisans when it comes to installing the fiber cement board. They are highly skilled and have a great passion for attention to details. The fiber cement siding was installed perfectly with resounding results. They were at work every day, working hard, and I love the fact that they cleaned up the work area at the end of each day before leaving for the night. One of the reasons I went with Mal and his team was the fact that his crew are not sub-contractors. They work directly for Mal and it shows. They worked on my home like it was their own and kept me involved and informed every step of the way. You could really see the pride they take in their work . We are totally pleased with the work they did and highly recommend them.

Mal's team did a good job. We are pleased with the end result.

I interviewed three contractors for this job. I selected Professional Home Improvements based on the discussions with Mal, the owner, via phone and in person. We had several issues with this job but in the end the work was fairly well done. The largest issue is that the horizontal Cedar siding was somewhat new for PHI. The measurements were incorrectly taken by the material supplier and the wrong size material was custom ordered and delivered. This was discovered after the old cedar was removed from the house. This caused a case where we had to take untreated wood for the job and had to wait a week for the work to restart. It also caused my costs to increase for the staining from another contractor. Once the wood arrived, we found that not enough wood was delivered and we had to wait for another delivery. In the end the job was completed and the work looks good. The job was to take 7-10 days but took a month without the initial order of materials which was three weeks.

We talked with three different Angie's List siding installers and received similar advice and prices from all three. However, Mal Graifman from Professional Home Improvements also provided recommendations for using the aluminum trim around windows and doors and on the soffits and fascia to not just cover the surfaces but to also add detail that made the house look much better. His crew was able to hide outside cable TV and telephone wiring to give the outside of the house a clean, fresh look. Unexpected surprises encountered as the job progressed were quickly resolved at minimal additional cost. The installation crew was friendly and courteous and cleaned up every night before they left. They were willing to take time to answer our questions about the job and how it was progressing. When problems were encountered, they quickly came up with a solution and moved forward. One little thing that impressed me was the care taken to ensure that the gutters had the right slope to allow rain water to quickly and completely flow to the downspouts; this was an issue with my old gutters and downspouts. I would not hesitate to call on Professional Home Improvement to work on other home projects in the future if the need arises.

Professional Home Improvement was a great company to work with from the very beginning. Mal, the owner, was extremely prompt returning our call and coming out to give us an estimate. He was very knowledgeable and had answers to all of our questions. He had samples to show us and brought us more later to make sure we chose exactly what we really wanted. We had a few other companies come out to give us quotes, as well, before we met with Mal. In the end we were the most comfortable with the quality, options and pricing Mal gave us for the project, and we signed a contract with him at our first meeting. We had a Tudor styled home, and we wanted to maintain that appearance.. Mal immediately suggested we go with cement board to create that look, and it is wonderful, just what we wanted. The crew that worked on our house was great, and Greg, the foreman, was very easy to work with. They were on time every morning and even came out to work on Saturday to finish up. They worked 6 days straight, from 7 a.m. to at least 6 p.m. every day. We did not get everyone's name, but Chris was also fantastic! The quality of the work was superb, and we think the house looks like new. The men on the crew were very friendly and compassionate. We gave them access to our garage to store the materials, etc., and when we had to leave the house, we gave them our garage door remote to close when they left. They cleaned up every day and secured our home for us prior to leaving. We are very pleased with the outcome, and we would certainly recommend Professional Home Improvement. Their craftsmanship is outstanding! This is certainly a job well done!!!

Being an 'Angie's List' member, I went to the home improvement listing and read the the reviews. Professional Home Improvements,Inc. had many A's and smiley faces(I would give Mal Graifman(President) and his crew 3 smiley faces. I called Mel for an estimate. He came over in a day. Mel is a very congenial and knowledge person. When he arrived I told him want I wanted to do. We walked around the house and garage. We reviewed the work to be done. My house is 68 years old and the garage is 55 years old. The windows are original with Sears storm/screen covers-30 years old. Mel showed me the many window and siding choices. He suggested a window type (I am very happy with this choice). The siding is very eye appealing. The crew leader is Henry, a great guy and craftsman. He has been in the trade for several decades. The crew did a fantastic job. They worked through that 90+ degree weather we had in July. I gave them a lot of cold Gatorade and Coke. Work done: Removed all the old siding(40 years old) and windows.Removed all rotted and badly weathered wood and replaced. Removed all the gutters and replaced the rotted gutter fascia. Installed Hi-tech thermal insulation over entire house and covered with 'Tyvek' moisture barrier material. Installed windows then siding (excellent job). Covered all wood trim and fascia with formed aluminum with baked white finish(beautiful looking).Rebuilt an under extension storage access door (rotted) and covered lower section of house extension with siding (no more painting)-this was Mal's idea. Replaced front door(original) and storm door. Replaced inside door trim.Replace back door (original). Henry replaced the interior trim. He designed a new threshold wood platform-my back door opens to stairs going down to ground level to a storm door. Henry did this for safety(more foot stability). He also installed a safety railing(I never thought of that). Replaced basement casement windows set in the foundation. Henry did a fantastic job cutting around the wood frame and installing new windows then placed wood trim on the inside and outside. My garage side door needed to be replaced. The door is not a standard size-small.Henry suggested I get a standard size door. which would cost less. He reframed the door in the time I went to the store and came back. The garage windows(4) are the old style that sit in a well and tilt inward held by two chains per window. Mal suggested I get 2 windows at each end, block the center 2 windows and save myself some money.

Mal was very responsive and helpful through the whole process. If I didn't get a hold of him on the first try, he always got back to me right away. He explained to me all the little details of what he would do and why - he basically wanted to make sure the installation would be of the highest quality without cutting any corners. His price was excellent and he delivered on the quality of the installation, as it was excellent as well. I would definitely recommend PHI to anyone needing siding work done.

Mal and his crew did a great job of siding our house. My mother had a stroke, my husband got West Nile Virus. Both were hospitalized. And a tree fell on the house! Needless to say we were not at our best for making major decisions and taking bids and dealing with the insurance company. I phoned 3 companies from Angie's list. Mal responded immediately and came right out. The others called back several days later but we had already signed with Mal. We usually go through the whole 3 bid process but we felt we could trust Mal to take over and do a great job. And we were right. He handled everything. The house looks great. All the neighbors comment on what a great job Mal and his crew did.

I thought they were excellent and they didn't try to take my money.