Great Lakes Builders Inc

These folks shine. Good result, quite professional, clearly took pride in work. They did the work after Christmas when we were overseas, and asked our approval when they needed to make a small change that differed from what we'd discussed. The explanation they e-mailed was well-written, and helped us to understand what was going on from thousands of miles away. It transformed the room! Best of all, we have confidence in their work and know the house won't fall down as a result of the change. They showed up on time, returned our calls promptly, asked the right questions and listened to ours. Also, they're good guys: these gents were a pleasure to work with (and believe me, we've seen our share of contractors!)

I had an very positive experience with Great Lakes Builders. They are considered the best, but I was really impressed with their extraordinary service. I had called Great Lakes Builders and asked for their opinion on various concerns pertaining to repair work that was under way on a condo project. Much to my surprise, they volunteered to step in and actively help. They offered to speak to all of the involved parties on the project and explain how the work could be safely performed. Having another contractor get involved was unusual, but Great Lakes Builders felt strongly that it was the right thing to do in this situation. Great Lakes Builders went out of their way on more than one occasion to meet with me last minute to go over key issues that came up during the project. They took calls I made to them throughout the project, even those on the weekends. In addition, they made recommendations on everything from finding a place to relocate to during the project and suggested people in other specialty areas that I might contact regarding other work. They even checked in with me along the way to see how things were going. Great Lakes Builders was a great support throughout and their service went far and beyond expectations. I am thankful to them for that support as it made a world of difference. With their high level of integrity and experience, strong technical and personal skills, they are an unusual group. I highly recommend working with Great Lakes Builders.

The job went very well. From start to finish, Martin kept us well informed, showed me exactly what they would do and went out of his way to make sure I was happy and comfortable through the whole process. The crew was courteous and cleaned up well every day they were here. Martin is a rare breed of Contractor (that I've found) that honestly wants to fix the problem and cares about his work and your house. We intend to renovate in the future, which will include structural work, and we have every intention to engage the services of Great Lakes again.

The source of delays was the insurance company and had nothing to do with the timeliness or quality of Martin's work.Unfortunately , Martin only takes the structural remediation work to the finished structural stage and does not do finish carpentry , painting,electrical , etc. I had to arrange for all that separately, but the bottom line is he saved my porch from the cost of a total rebuild, which would have been dramatically more expensive.These guys are total pros and utterly honest with the customer's best interests foremost in their approach.

Overall it went well. Great Lakes took pride in what they did. They are responsive. I would not have picked anyone else to do the work, and I would use Great Lakes again.

They showed up at 7:15 every day (except when concrete was curing) right on time. Everything worked out fine, and we are no longer worried about the structural integrity of the house. The crew was great and friendly, and Martin and Carlos explained things and pointed out some other issues to consider down the line. We had a structural engineer plot out the loads since we were worried about having sufficient documentation for the city, but we probably could have skipped this and been fine. They followed the plan, and even poured the footings a bit deeper.

Our inspector joked about the floating floor joist, but we bought the house anyway, knowing it had some major support issues. They turned out to be more extensive than we had hoped, but Martin Lewandowski and Great Lakes Builders did an excellent job. The work required shoring and excavating. They replaced the old columns, which were way out of plumb, after installing new concrete footings and columns. The addition was not properly tied in to the old foundation, which required bricks and welding to tie the structures together. The crew was hard working, arrived punctually, and did a carefujl job.

Martin was professional and thoroughly explained the situation with our house. I was very impressed by how quickly he gave us a quote for the job and trusted his judgement right away. The workers showed up on time as planned and got right to work. The foreman seemed to be knowledgeable and was careful not to cause damage as the floor was raised (Martin was here to supervise this crucial part of the job). I was concerned that the basement ceiling was left open and with wires hanging down and one of the water pipes left loose, however, Martin quickly rectified this situation. Our house is very old and Martin and his crew were careful to do what was needed without causing any damage to our stained glass windows that are on the side of the house where the work was done. I believe the work that was done will prevent any more sagging of that area of the house, which has been a big concern. This is an excellent company that really works to satisfy their customers while offering a fair price.

The project could not have gone better. I went with Great Lakes Builders because of their reputation on Angie's list, my previous contractor was not a positive experience, but Great Lakes Builders was outstanding and very professional. Throughout the project Martin made regular visits to ensure I was well informed of the status of the project. During the project we discovered structural issues that Martin brought to my attention and made recommendation. Great Lakes Builders had many relationships with other companies and they were able to bring them into the project as needed, ensuring I was getting not only the best value for my money but also the best talent. In the end I am very happy with the work performed by Great lakes Builders, my house is structurally sound, the stairs turned out awesome and I will be using Great Lakes Builders for my future projects.

I first contacted Martin in 2009 for an inspection of an off-center pier holding up my porch/sunrooms while my house was in closing. He came out the next day and provided me with a comprehensive, written report. I was particularly impressed by his patience in answering my seemingly endless questions. When I finally decided to have the pier replaced in spring 2011, my first call was to Martin. My call was immediately returned (within 5 minutes) and I was impressed by Great Lake’s record keeping. Just using my address, Mike was able to review the report Martin had prepared from a few years ago. Later the same day, Martin came out to take another look at the pier and we set up a time to do the work for the following day. Martin and his courteous crew showed up on time the next day and completed the work and thoroughly cleaned up. I was surprised and happy to see that Martin remained onsite throughout the entire process. Not only did Martin honor the price he quoted me several years ago, he also reduced my balance by the (reasonable) amount I had paid for his pre-closing inspection. While he told me back in 2009 that he would deduct the amount should I decide to have the work done, I did not think it right to press for the discount given the years which had passed. The fact that he voluntarily honored his word spoke volumes to me about his professionalism. I would not hesitate to hire Martin again and enthusiastically recommend Great Lakes, they are fantastic, reliable, and a pleasure to work with. Thanks!

Needed immediate service, since the foundation caved in. They were very prompt. The job was good, but a bit pricey.

Martin and Michael at Great Lakes Builders are a rare breed. Its reassuring to know that there are people out there that still believe in good customer service. My wife and I purchased a home and had negligent inspector. To our dismay we had some significant foundation issues. As first time homeowners we could have been scared into expensive repairs from other contractors and engineers. Martin took the time to meet with the engineer and come up with a solution that would solve our foundation issues and meet our budget. And that is what makes Great Lakes Builders so great. They do not have stock solutions, rather they look at what solution is best for the issue and the customer. The team was a pleasure to work with. They noticed some leaky pipes and replaced them for no extra charge. I can?t say enough good things about them and am grateful that my wife and I can finally start to enjoy our new home. Job well done!

Everything went very well. Mike and Martin came out several times to make sure they had everything perfectly prepared before the work began. They were prompt with the proposal, scheduling and the work, and the job. They are structural experts that put an emphasis on the details and keeping the homeowner well informed. I feel like if I had used anyone else to do the work I would have been shortcutting. Probably the most satisfied I?ve felt about any home repair I?ve contracted for so far.

They arrived promptly and even called when they were on their way. They were very professional, knowledgeable and friendly. It was very apparent they knew what they were talking about and were passionate about doing the very best for their clients. They did a thorough examination of the basement and afterward, they discussed what they saw in layman's terms so my husband and I could easily understand. They had a few questions for my husband following the visit and then provided us with a detailed estimate within a couple of days of the visit. Overall, it was a great experience.

These guys were great! We had a little incident in which a neighbor drove his car through the corner of our brick garage, leaving my car stuck inside the garage and the roof looking like it could collapse any minute. Great Lakes initially came out to take a look and said they could do some emergency shoring the next morning to keep the roof from collapsing and allowing me to get my car out. Later that day, after hearing reports of strong winds and possible tornadoes, Martin called me back and said he thought they should come out that evening because he wasn't sure my garage would make it through the storms. They came out during the rain, with the tornado sirens going off, and put in the necessary supports to keep the roof up! Thank you! My garage survived. Several days later (after approval from the insurance company), Great Lakes came back to do the repair work to the brick walls. They were able to clean and reuse much of the original brick (which was important to me). The crew was friendly and efficient. They finished up within a couple of days. Martin came by several times to check up on things. The garage looks great and they left the job site cleaner than it was prior to the accident! They seem to be incredibly knowledgeable about structural repairs as well as the construction business. I would definitely call on them again.

They were very thorough and I am very impressed. The owner came out and then gave me the estimate. They had great customer service. They did a great job, called me back properly and answered all my questions. They even put on an additional quote for another issue.

We had a structural engineer draw up specifications. Great Lakes Builders was recommended to us and I had difficulty locating other companies that wanted to do residential structural work. Mike & Martin were great. The work was done quickly with no problems. There pricing was not inexpensive, but they definitely build value into their services. When dealing with contractors I would much rather pay a little more for top quality fast service. This year (2010) we are having them perform some foundation repair work.

They looked at everything I wanted to be looked at. The structural engineer said he would go and get another opinion and he thinks it's just due to shifting. They didn't charge me anything for the estimate. They came really quickly and were really terrific. They knew what they were talking about. They recommended I put something malleable in between the gap. They said to watch it and that I didn't need it fixed right away.

Everything seemed to go well with them. They were there on time, he did the drawings quick, and everything was fine.

The work cost us $24000. They put in a new steel support beam in our basement. The work went well. The guys that did the work were good guys. They followed through with everything and were helpful. The basement is a livable and useful space now. We will use them again in the future.

We were in the process of trying to sell the house and we didn't have any work done. They were fine as far as showing up and pleasant enough to work with as far as the quote goes. It was a matter on how to raise the thing. It was more expensive than what we wanted to put into it at that time.

They came out and gave an estimate fairly quickly. The guy seemed to know what he was talking about. I think the solution that they had was fairly sound. They were doing some tuckpointing on my basement, which is masonry, and the guy forgot to do some of it and I had to call them back to fix it. I was generally satisfied with their work. I didn't have anybody that pitched the same kind of work, so it is hard to grade their price.

They were good, just a little pricey.

They did the work over the last 3 weeks due to weather restrictions. I mostly worked with Martin and he was really responsive. They came when they said they would and there was a lot of starting and stopping all weather related. They were very responsive, clean and prompt. I think they did a nice job. They were more expensive than others, but based on the reviews we read and after talking to other companies I felt most comfortable with them. I really liked them, they were great.

I was very impressed Martin came personally to estimate the project. He and Mike spent 30 minutes measuring with a laser to identify which members were sagging. In addition to the primary problem, they also identified an additional beam in need of replacement that we decided to spend on at this time. We received a bid from a second contractor that was significantly less, but the Great Lakes team seemed so meticulous we decided not to penny pinch with a key structural element in our house. The job itself was painless. A team of about 6 guys came in the morning , got the primary work done in one day, and kept things clean. This was not something we wanted to spend money on, but we're confident it was done right.