Great Lakes Builders Inc

We were experiencing quite a bit of stress as new homeowners with potential foundation problems. Martin did not recommend any unnecessary work, though he could have quite easily taken advantage of our anxiety. He was direct about the repairs that needed to be done and gave us options regarding how we handled repairs that he felt were not mandatory. The work was completed in 4 days and the workers were respectful of our home. He took his time explaining to us what to watch for in our home in the future and was a pleasure to work with.

I left messages for several companies detailing a repair problem we have in our home. Mike called back promptly, even though he knew from my detailed message that his company does not perform this type of work. He could have ignored my message. Instead, he took time to answer my questions, which were many and detailed, giving solid advice on possible options to pursue. Although we have no current need for his services, his professionalism and empathy were outstanding! If we have a need, Great Lakes Builders would be the first company I would call. While I know Angie's List does not give the same credibility to reviews where no service was performed, Mike did provide a real and needed service and did not charge anything! He gave me important guidance that set us on the right path to getting the correct repairs. In fact, he told me to call back if I had any more questions. Impressive!

I first submitted an email to Great Lakes Builders through their website, and an hour or two later got a response from Mike. After a few back and forth emails he told me to call him later that day. After talking with Mike, it turns out the repair I likely need to my house foundation is a technique they do not perform. Not because they can't do it, but because it is a service many other people provide and Great Lakes chooses to focus their work on other issues. Mike answered all my questions, took time on the phone to explain our issue and his opinion, and he gave me a reference for someone who could help me further with our foundation problem. He was very helpful and generous with his time.

Builders were great. Easy to talk to and reasonable prices. We obtained multiple quotes and they were the cheapest. Work was quick and they were very professional. They used higher quality concrete then they needed too and they cleaned up after themselves. They obtained all of the permits and did so quickly. The finished product was inspected and quickly approved by the village inspector. All in all a positive experience. This is the second time that I have used this company and I will use them again in the future.

I was very impressed with Martin - his subject matter knowledge & professionalism make Great Lakes an ideal contractor to work with. The only reason we did not use Great Lakes is because our home required a gut rehab and we chose a contractor who provided end-to-end house remodeling services. If resolving structural integrity issues was the only task on our project list then hands down we would have chosen Great Lakes.

Martin and his crew came on time everyday. The total project took about a week and a half. They first supported the existing column with jacks and leveled the beam. They then removed the old supports and dug holes for the new supports. Then they put in the new beam and supports and poured concrete. Came back to pour additional concrete to level off the floor around the support beams, clean up, and finish up the staircase. Martin was very easy to work with, explained everything they were doing, and answered all of my questions. He is very knowledgable with engineering, yet he was still able to water things down so I understood what he was doing. His crew was equally professional and did a great job. I liked that Martin came everyday and that they even repaired the staircase at no additional cost. Great company with great results!

I got a call the next morning after inquiring for an estimate so the response was very quick. He asked a couple of questions and determined that it would require a service they don't provide but he would refer me to a company that does. First, I don't think this is the type of thing to determine over the phone (floors sinking, walls cracked - possible foundation issues). I had another top notch company come in for an estimate and even with all of the inspection he did, he couldn't determine for sure the issue (unitl they explore underneath the house). I don't see how it could be determined via phone. Secondly, I never received the referral. I didn't feel they wanted to help me solve my problem, so I can't say much about what type of service they would provide, much less recommend them.

I spoke with Michael about what we thought was a foundation problem. After describing our situation, he asked me to send pictures and then called me back in about 30 minutes to let me know what I really needed. He was responsive, helpful and saved me a ton of time. Definitely an A+ re: communication and helpfulness. If I do ever have a structural issue, I know who to call!

I emailed Great Lakes Builders asking if the street damage could in fact lead to cracking in our foundation. Mike responded very quickly and professionally. Since he didn't know the strength of the vibrations, he couldn't give me a realistic answer, but he did say that we should encourage the city to repair the street regardless.

My house was built in 1912, and has gone through many remodeling cycles prior to my buying it 18 years ago. I had noticed that the steps going from the first to second floors had started to pull away from the outside wall of the house, and that this process had not stopped. Before I got windows replaced and carpentry work done, I wanted to be sure that my house foundation would stop moving! I had trouble figuring out what search terms to use to find someone on the list to address the problem, so I called Angie's directly, and they found Great Lakes. When I called Great Lakes, the guy who does intake on the phone asked questions that were more technical than I could answer, however when I explained that I needed someone to come out to evaluate the job for me to even know what was needed, he scheduled Martin (the owner) to do so. Martin determined that I needed to have the posts supporting the central beam of my house (front to back) replaced, and explained in detail why. I'm someone who needs to know a lot of detail about what is going on, so this was very helpful! Martin also explained that a contributing factor to my stairs issue was that a previous owner of the house had removed interior steps going from the first floor to the basement, but had not replaced the structural support under the first floor that got removed in that process. This resulted in the need to add additional support posts directly under the steps. I am still working for a living, and have a very limited amount of vacation time. It was critical to me that Martin be able to accurately predict the amount of time it would take to complete the job, and to actually finish the job within that timeframe. Martin did this!!!! This may be the only contractor I have worked with to-date who was actually able to finish their work within the time we agreed to at the start of the job:) I also appreciate that Martin does his work with his own employees - I have been consistently disappointed in work done by sub contractors. When Martin determined that I would need a new beam and 2 support posts built to support the stairs, he offered steel and wood composit options for both needs (support posts and the beam). I chose steel for the posts to maintain resale value (buyers feel better seeing steel support posts than wood or composite, even though either option will functionally do the job), and composite for the beam. One last wonderful thing that Martin did - my basement floor is made of plywood that's installed over the dirt floor. When the steel support posts were installed, Great Lakes needed to cut holes in that floor to access the ground to excavate the holes needed for the footings for each pole. That left 5 gaping holes in the floor, one for each support post. Even though it was not part of the agreed-to scope for the job, Martin decided to have his carpenters repair these holes for no extra charge, so that I did not end up with a trip hazard right after the job was completed. That unexpected courtesy was much appreciated!

It went surprisingly well. i called 3 Angies List contractors and they were all great and responsive and I believe all 3 could have fixed my problem, but what I liked about Great Lakes is that Martin and Mike answered ALL of my dumb questions, they were patient with me, AND came out to my house a second time after I just didn't understand how they planned on fixing the problem. The other contractors wanted me to do more "radical" work at a much higher price, but Martin explained to me why that wasn't necessary. I also showed him my joist problem and i lamented how i had another contractor try to fix that. He was kind enough to make that repair for me gratis and it turned out reallly, really well. He knew I got burned by another contractor and had the crew there anyway so, while he couldn't gaurantee the work, his crew did repair for me anyway. Jake also checked all my sill plates for me to make sure I didn't have any other issues. It was a pain to crawl around the crawl space but he did. He took a picture of one area where there was some prior water damage, but it didn't look too bad. I also went onto their website. You may need to go through it through Google, but I had some issues with it before, but they show you pictures on how they do things. In large part, structural contractors, I found, are not cheap, but Martin reminded me of a surgeon, trying to fix the specific problem with as little disturbance and high cost work as possible. It's only been a few hours since they left, but i'm very satisfied. I know that another member gave them a "D" because that person felt they were "talked down to," but I thank them for that review because these guys could not be further from that. They were bending over backwards to answer my questions and such. In the end, I saved thousands of dollars, I hope. So far , I will strongly reccomend this firm.

Job went well. They weren't the cheapest but within range. Only firm to actually take pictures of inside of the chimney to show us the damage. They came in everyday and did some work and cleaned up after themselves daily. Spent extra time on the flashing to cut it right.

The gentleman was polite. Worked within in my time limit. He was very efficient.

They are busy so it was hard at first to get a hold of them. After a few missed connections we were able to set up a time for Martin to come out and look at the columns. He was on time, totally professional and was a genuine pleasure to have in my home. The work was scheduled for a few weeks later and they workers were on time, professional and total competent. There was basically no cracking and the floors are much closer to level and the more than that our columns and beam are no longer in a precarious state. Wonderful experience all around.

Mike responded very quickly to my inquiry about structural issues to my house foundation. After a brief conversation, Mike stated that I should probably talk to a structural engineer, and referred one to me. This brief conversation and referral might have been small and insignificant for Mike, but was a huge help to me. I remain most grateful for his time and the referral he made.

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Unfortunately, my message to the company went astray. However, when the company owner found out that had happened, I received a personal phone call and an apology. I could tell that that phone call was not an empty gesture and it meant a lot to me. It told me about the company's and the individual's personal and work ethics and that this incident was simply an accident. I applaud him for being a big enough man enough to do so. Unfortunately, it was too late to consider them for this project, however, if we have additional work in the future we will certainly consider Great Lakes.

Unless you're a contractor or have extensive experience in structural repairs and terminology, I would pass on this company. I'm actually fairly experienced and bright and have rehabbed many homes. This company was condescending and snippy. Maybe being a male would make a difference but I would never want to become involved in any type of working relationship with a company that treated me this way on the initial phone call. Because I didn't tell the person exactly what was in the basement currently (beams, joists, etc...), he acted like I was an idiot.

Always on time,very smooth & on time performance-everything explained in details before starting of work.Mr.Martin & Mike Lewandowski are "JUST THE VERY BEST-RECOMMENDED ALWAYS FOR CHALLENGING AS DIFFICULT TO OTHER CONTRACTORS WORK AND VERY KNOWLEGABLE"-THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH MR. mARTIN AND MIKE LEWANDOWSKI-GOOD BLESS YOU FOR YOUR EXCELLENT WORK ETHICS AND PERFORMANCE"

I was really impressed with Martin and the whole crew. They started the project immediately, showed up every morning on time, finished early and kept the house as clean as possible (granted there was major construction going on). The work was impeccable and we've had other contractors compliment the work since completion. On a personal note, I was really impressed when Martin showed up one morning and I heard him come into the house, greet my dog and assure her that everything was ok.

Great. Mike and Martin came by for the estimate and were very professional from the start. The problem that we had is common for a bungalow style home: at some point, the an exterior front porch was converted into an enclosed porch and made part of the living space. The trouble occurs underground when insufficient foundation is in place. As the ground freezes and thaws, the porch area will rise and fall. Usually, the porch will sink past its original level. Over time cracks in the interior will appear, and could lead to more serious damage. To remedy this, Great Lakes poured a series of piers across the front of our enclosed porch. The dig occured completely inside a crawlspace. Holes were dug down to a depth of 48" (at least) and filled with hi-strength concrete. Timbers were then mounted onto the piers and attached to the existing frame of the house. The crew worked in a very clean fashion. Some dust remained, but that was it. There was very little evidence of work going on. The men on the crew were always friendly and curteous and extended that to our dog who did his best to get underfoot whenever possible. Originally, we discussed that the job could take a week. Basically, the job was done in two and a half days. Professional, competively priced, clean and nice. I don't know what else anyone needs from contractors. I hope we never need their services again, but they will be my first call if the need arises.

When I called Great Lake Builders, I wasn't really expecting to get any sort of answer from them. I had read the other reviews and I knew that in order to a cost estimate, I would likely need them to come out and look at the actual structure of the house I am intending to buy. Martin answered the phone and was very patient with me. He was able to explain what the house could possibly need to stabilize the structure. He was also able to refer me to a structural engineer who could evaluate the structure and determine the extent of work that would be required and then from there provide an estimate. Martin was able to provide me with a rough estimate of how much replacing the steel I-beam in the basement might cost and it was within my comfort level ($5000 - the I-beam only runs half the length of the basement). He was also able to tell me that foundation repairs could be done in "waves" so that I could spread the cost out. This made me feel much more comfortable moving forward with the house. When the purchase is complete, I will definitely call them back to come evaluate the home in person!

Great Lakes was able to accommodate my urgent schedule, were prompt and friendly, and completed a major job in just several days. They even did a little extra work and did not charge me. Both the estimate and work were quick and professional and both Martin and Michael were great!

Have not proceeded to have work done, but appreciated the professionalism, punctuality, and responsiveness of the gentlemen who came to assess my project. They arrived when they said they would, and called back as promised with estimate.

They supported and raised the joists a touch and replaced the sill plate. We were afraid we might get some cracks in the walls but Martin assured us that he did not think that was gonna happen and he was right. Very professional group of guys.