Bate Remodeling

John was wonderful. He arrived on time and did the work carefully, Our biggest concern was to be sure the new holes were level, and they were. We were very pleased, and would use John again. Outstanding work.

Through Angie's List I inquired about John's availability and interest in doing a number of jobs for us. He was quick to respond and flexible regarding scheduling. We really wanted the work done on a Saturday, just a couple of days after we got in touch with him. Though he indicated he had other commitments and tried to get me to schedule the work for a week later, when I told him I'd have to try to find someone who could be available on our preferred date, he offered to come over that Saturday afternoon. I appreciated his willingness to squeeze us into his schedule on short notice. John called ahead of his arrival on Saturday and showed up reasonably close to the scheduled appointment time. I showed him around the house and summarized the task list: towel rod/ring/hook installation in three bathrooms, the assembly of a piece of IKEA furniture, the installation of one anti-tip strap, as well as child safety latches in about a dozen drawers and cabinets (in the kitchen and two of the three bathrooms), and the lowering of a crib mattress. He began with the installation of a towel ring and rod in one of the bathrooms. I would have guessed this would take on the order of 15-20 minutes; I believe it took him about 30 minutes. Okay. John proceeded to work on the other two bathrooms. After discussing the placement of two rods and one double-hook in each of those bathrooms, I left John to it. Sensing that things were not going to go as quickly as I had anticipated, I did the lowering of the crib mattress myself while he was working on the first bathroom. I then decided to go ahead and get started on the IKEA piece while he continued the towel rod/hook installs. Time passed--a surprising amount of time. John emerged from that third bathroom at approximately the three-hour mark. To me and my wife, the time investment seemed out of line with the results achieved--three hours to install 8 towel rings/rods/hooks. By this time I had the piece of IKEA furniture pretty much done, so that left only the installation of child safety devices in our kitchen and two bathrooms, plus the installation of a safety/anti-tip strap in our dining room. John got to work in the kitchen. It took him about an hour to install 6 of those "can't open this drawer or cabinet unless you press this latch to release it" devices. Ten minutes apiece... I would have guessed a handyman could install one of those latches in under 5 minutes on average. I chose not to point out to him we wanted more of those installed in our bathrooms. Lastly, John installed that anti-tip strap to secure a large cabinet to the wall. This consumed about 15-20 minutes, which seemed reasonable. John was diligent about cleaning up after himself, was professional throughout the whole engagement, and rounded his time down by 20 minutes when all was said and done. Whereas I had anticipated 3-4 hours of handyman time to accomplish our entire to-do list, John ended up charging us for 4 hours (of the 4 hours and 20 minutes he was on-site) to get done about half of that to-do list. I wasn't upset at the outcome--just a bit surprised and perhaps disappointed. Now it may be that John is very meticulous and thorough compared to others, and perhaps my expectations were a bit unrealistic--but honestly, I don't think so. Would I recommend John? Yes, I would. But I would recommend him to someone who is more concerned about getting things done perfectly, or nearly so, with little concern for cost...

John is excellent! Timely, very neat, and attentive to detail. The work he did is very good, and I am glad to have found him. Will definitely use for all my handyman needs and have recommended him to others.

Great as always! I am an out-of-town property owner who is currently renting out my condo. This is the second time that I have called John to assist me with minor maintenance issues. I called him on Monday morning and immediately spoke with him about my problem. My renter saw a mouse in the condo and I wanted to see if John could pull out the stove and dishwasher in order to determine the points-of-entry into the unit. He came late in the evening on Friday because that was the only time available for my renter, and we found the entry point behind the dishwasher. He also swapped out the shower head. Unfortunately, I have since needed to hire an exterminator to properly deal with the mouse issue, but I really appreciate that John is always available as a first-option for my condo's minor repairs/maintenance. Thank you!

Showed up exactly at the time agreed upon and stayed late on a Friday afternoon to complete the job. Diagnosed problems very quickly. Suggested simplest, least expensive fix for sink. Suggested more comprehensive, long-term fix for leaky toilet (to avoid future repairs and damage to adjacent wall) and performed thorough, high quality work.

It's very difficult to find a handyman that can accomplish a wide scope of tasks and John is rare in that regard. He is very professional and considerate and is the only person I will call to undertake any work that has to be done in my home. His fee was very fair and earned.

(See above)I was not happy with John nor with the overall experience of The Handyman Services. Again, before agreeing on work from John, get it all in writing and ask for documentation that proves his IL license and insurance. I wish I would have done this in advance.

John was fantastic. He was very understanding with the difficult parking situation at my condo and did a great job installing the shower curtain rod. It looks amazing. He was very patient and explained everything he was doing. He ended up charging me less than what I thought it was going to be, especially for the amount of work and attention to detail he spent installing the fixture. I have no hesitation recommended him to friends, family or anyone else!

John returned my phone call right away and got all the details of the repair work. He called before he was on his way and had the necessary parts with him. He was quite informative and shared a few tips. He was detail-oriented and made sure that the fixes were completed properly.

John was great! He returned my phone call within minutes, and he came to my house in about an hour. He arrived exactly on time. He inspected the toilet, and immediately determined that only 1 small part needed to be replaced, NOT the whole flushing mechanics, and NOT the whole toilet. He quickly went to the hardware store and bought the part, and returned in a half hour to fix it. He also fixed a smoke detector. He only charged me $70. He was very nice, and seemed very knowledgeable. I would DEFINITELY call him again.

John returned our call as soon as we contacted him, he called again to let us know he was on the way, and he showed up on time and performed a simple repair within minutes. He was courteous, knowledgeable, and a pleasure to deal with, and we look forward to using him for more work.

He was outstanding in his plumbing work, which was more of a handyman situation. we wish we had found John much earlier, since it would have saved us so much.

They do not make the color of the chair anymore in the set, so we saved a lot of money by having the chair repaired. He was prompt, polite, did what he said he would do, and did a good job. We are very happy with his services.

Great -- excellent! John is really great to work with and, while some told me that what I wanted to have done couldn't be done, he figured it out and got it done. And it looks great! I highly recommend him for anything -- I will certainly use him!

Need to install a light fixture I brough back from Venice. John shopped for an found US compatible equipment. Even added adimmer!

Before John did the job he came over to give an estimate and instead of charging an hourly rate he gave an estimate for the entire job. John, was very professional, thorough, a hard worker and did it all for a fair price. He was very knowledgable regarding the work he completed and cleaned up after the job as to not leave a mess. I will definitely be using John's handyman services again and will recommend his services to all my family and friends! Thanks for doing an A+ job John!!!

Excellent experience! I'm an out-of-town condo owner who is currently renting my Chicago Northside one-bedroom condo. So when I received a call from my tenant regarding the motor on the bedroom ceiling fan no longer working... I was really dreading having to try to figure out the best and most economical way to solve the problem from afar. I started out going through Home Depot's installation department over the weekend, but 5 days later, I was playing phone tag with HD's Chicago suburban subcontractors, and I knew my minor project of replacing the ceiling fan was not going to be efficient or cost effective through them. So I was thrilled to find John's stellar reviews on Angie's list. I sent an email and within 2 hours he called me to discuss the project. We had to schedule the repair around my tenant's schedule, and John immediately offered to come in the evening after my tenant's work day. And when my renter still wasn't available, John offered up his free, non-work Sunday because it was such a minor project. He also offered to pick up the ceiling fan directly at Home Depot for the same cost as me ordering it online and shipping it. This worked out great because I originally picked out a fan that would have been too large for the room, and it was helpful to get his input on the fan's product specs before committing to it. As it always goes, we ran into trouble when the Home Depot fan had a defective part and John had to return it for a replacement. He took care of this all on his day off! What should have been an easy job (ceiling fan swap), could have easily turned into an inconvenient and costly project if it wasn't for John. I also appreciate the fact that after the original phone, much of our correspondence was through email (very efficient!). It was the perfect handyman project that will give me the confidence to use him in the future when similar minor repairs come up (as they always do!).

The Handyman was very responsive, polite and on-time. His prices were very fair and the bill was exactly as he had quoted. It took him two visits to complete the work at my house because he had to order a part for a light fixture, but he made sure that he got the right part and then came by to install it immediately after he received it in the mail. I will use his services again.

I found John here on Angie's List. He coordinated with my tenant directly, rescheduling when she needed to change at the last minute. Got in and got it fixed. Good communication. When there was a question about the charge, he provided a reasonable explanation and then discounted it anyway. Will use him again.

The man is a genius. He was the second person who came out, and he said that he thought that mine was a caulking problem. Instead of replacing my door for $4000, he was able to re-caulk for $100. I would consider it a smashing success. I highly recommend him.

He was really specialized in it and did everything really well. So I was really impressed. I will absolutely use his services again in the future.

They were punctual, and showed up on time. They did quote me a price of $200 to move my furniture, and ended up charging me $90 more because there was a little extra work involved. They did do a good job cleaning up after themselves.

They were very professional. They were on time and on budget.

John was WONDERFUL! Throughout the entire remodeling process he was extremely professional, hard working and efficient. There was nothing that he could not do and he had his work cut out for him here. I was completely amazed by his knowledge, ideas and improvements and my place looks a thousand times better now. He's definitely the handiest man I've ever met and I am so thankful to John and Angie's list for helping me find and hire such a talented professional! I would absolutely recommend John's Handyman Services and will definitely hire him again (when my husband and I buy a house).

It was an old house. They looked for someone to reseal the window or even make a window. They found someone, but I did not use them. They did research for me, though. They charged per hour. The person who did the work was very knowledgeable, but I would not use them again as they were extremely overpriced. He showed up on time and seemed to be pretty good.