VIP Construction Services Inc.

It went very well. Darek and his coworker showed up on time each day, the work took as long as expected and was pretty much within budget ($30 over, actually, due to a few extra parts needed). The finished work looked great. They cleaned up after themselves very well, too. My only complaints, which were so small that it didn't affect his score, is that he didn't ask me in advance if I wanted him to paint the wall where my existing drywall was patched to the new backer board (I did it myself, which is what I expected anyway) and he didn't ask me about sealing the grout (I had to ask him about it, and he then told me I could do it if I want -- sealing the grout makes it more waterproof, making the grout last longer -- which I also did). Neither was a big deal since I planned on doing both myself anyways rather than pay someone else to do such simple tasks.

Chicagoland finest does excellent work. All the jobs were done to perfection. The company pays particular attention to detail, and always researches and recommends the best products for the job. For example, refinishing the cedar deck. We had used the standard products in the past and the finish never lasted even a few weeks. Darek researched out the newest products, recommended a new multi-step finish that has had excellent results. It was more expensive, but the result is absolutely worth it. Darek and his crew are friendly, professional, and well-qualified. This is not the first time we had used Chicagoland Finest, and I will use them again.

They were great, but I think we'll be using a different company to perform the work.

Two members of Chicagoland Finest, Inc, did all of the work described. I was very pleased with the results and how it was done. The contractor and helper were courteous and considerate. I am older and my brother, on whose home the work was performed, is handicapped. The home was in bad shape but now looks so much better. Chicagoland Finest is one of the best experiences I have had with contractors. When I asked them to do extra repairs, they always did so without complaint. I highly recommend them to everyone. Their work habits and craftsmanship are perfect.

Darek gave us the best price out of four quotes I received. He and his workers were prompt and professional, and did great work. He initially told me he thought the work would take three days, but they finished it all in two days. They really paid attention to detail. They covered everything with plastic and closed off doorways when sanding so the plaster dust would not get all over the house. When sanding the closets, his workers closed themselves in the closets to keep the plaster dust contained. I have never seen anyone do that before! They cleaned up after themselves when finished. Both closets, the stairwell ceiling and the kitchen looked great when they were finished. I was very happy and would definitely hire them again.

I called on a Monday, spoke to Darek, and he came out the same day to look at the job and give me a rough estimate. Then he emailed a detailed estimate to me. He took the trouble to contact his insurance agent and arrange for her to fax me a certificate of insurance. His was not the lowest estimate, but he gave me the feeling that he knew what he was doing and would be careful not to damage anything. He and his associate came and did the job on Friday that same week. He brought all of the necessary materials, including textured paint for the popcorn ceiling. They did a very professional job, and managed to finish in one day by using quick-drying materials. They were careful not to get paint on the unpainted woodwork.

The project went very well. Darek and his team showed up when indicated, did the demo (including taking several tons of concrete and tile, as well as the old cast iron tub, etc. out), coordinated inspections with the villiage, upgraded the electrical (including installing a box to make it easier to update the other bathroom in the fuutre), upgraded the plumbing, cut and installed the marble, installed it all, installed the new vanity, new toilet, new medicine cabinet, new sconces, new overhead lights, etc. During the demo portion, they happened to crack the plaster on the walls in the adjoining bedrooms (Darek was very unhappy that his team had done this, wasn't that big a deal for us). Also, during the "fishing" for the electrical lines, they damaged plaster in another bedroom. Darek not only patched and repaired the walls, but also went to two different paint stores to ensure the paint matched exactly . Additionally, he patched another area of previously damaged (not by him or his crew) plaster and re-painted. We are extremely happy with the job Darek and his team did. They are skilled, do a great job, and are exceptionally nice and respectful people.

When we contacted Darek, we were thinking about remodeling the 8' x 22' breakfast room and building a deck onto the rear of the house, just off the breakfast room. Also we wanted to convert part of the breakfast room into a laundry room. It was a complicated job, involving removing the existing door from the side of the room and installing a new double french door on the rear, installing a new garden window, drywalling the laundry room area, and finally building the deck outside of the new door. Relocating the door was complicated by the fact that the structural support for the roof needed to be relocated. The deck that we wanted to build was an unusual shape, with all sorts of interesting angles, matching the octagonal shape of the front of our bungalow-style house. Darek worked with us all through the job, modifying the plans along the way as we discussed how we wanted it to look. The final result was excellent. The remodeled breakfast room is now a garden room, opening onto our beautiful new cedar deck. We had worked with Darek's company previously, in two other houses, and we have always been pleased with the results.

Darek and his team did a great job. His estimate was very detailed which called out flaws in other quotes we received. He called out things that we had not considered. Overall, the job went very well and there we no major surprises. The guys were very considerate and tried to clean up and sweep as best as they could before leaving every day. The guy that grouted the floor tiles did not do a great job and Darek called this out to us and redid the grout. He was supposed to be done that day so he came back the next day to seal the tiles and grout. We very much appreciated his honesty. I don't think there were 2 guys on the job every day - if there was, the job might have finished a little sooner. But this wasn't a big deal as the job only went a day or so over. We would definitely recommend Darek to friends and will be calling him for our next remodeling project.

I didn't hire him to do the work, because I need job done sooner than his availability and his price is higher than others.

Darek and his workers were extremely professional, polite, and easy to work with. They were very clean and we are very pleased with the job that was done. A day or so after the job was completed, my husband and I noticed a fixture that felt a bit loose. Darek arranged a day with us to come back and make it more secure. I would gladly recommend this company and I look forward to working with Darek and his workers again.

As before, no problems and outstanding work.

Outstanding. Great job. Great work. Professional!

The company is small, but out of several experiences I've had at 3 homes/condos with various contractors, Darek was the most trustworthy and highest quality. He doesn't oversell, fluff up his bid or later add on hidden charges. He gave us honest recommendations, sometimes telling us he didn't need to do something, or it wasn't worth it for us to do it (even though it would've meant more work for his company) or recommending a way to accomplish the same effect we wanted in less time (and less money). He was punctual and got the job started and completed when he told us he would (ran a couple days longer because of projects we added to the contract). When we ran into an inevitable but unexpected glitch not covered or anticipated in our bid and contract, he gave us straight answers and a reasonable estimate for how much extra it would cost because of the extra time and he didn't try to take advantage of the situation by charging a lot more. The same goes for another addition or two we made to the project after he started--just because he was already hired, he didn't try to take advantage and charge any more than it would take him or cost him (using the daily rate he had told us he used in building our initial quote--which also lends a lot of credibility to his estimate, because it's a reasonable rate and is transparently directly related to the time it takes to do a job) to do the extra. He's fair, friendly, and dedicated to the work. We thought he was very committed to doing the job right and to the quality. He took extra time and trips to suppliers to make sure everything looked good, even when he had followed our original instruction but something didn't look as good as we thought it would. He fixed it anyway. His guys' workmanship was overall excellent and where there was one or two things we didn't like, they were fixed ASAP to our satisfaction. Our renovations took about 10 days. As for the bidding, he was far and away the least expensive contractor we got bids from but we couldn't be happier with the experience and workmanship. Highly recommended. Quite seriously, everyone deserves a hard-working, honest contractor like Darek.

Darek and his guys were on time everyday. We replaced a bathtub with a shower stall and added a tiled floor and shower-surround. They kept the house neat despite having to cut sheet rock and tiles outside in the ice and snow. Their craftsmanship looks incredible. We've had Darek work on several projects for our home, this one by far the largest. He continues to impress.

Derek is a terrific young guy. Prompt and courteous he (and his guys) were a pleasure to do business with. When he came over for the estimate, there were several options of varying prices to choose from. Derek explained them and made various recommendations. I was allowed to purchase my own fixtures--this is a significant savings--and they began work around the busy holiday season. With the holidays and some illnesses, they overran the schedule a bit, but they kept in touch. The work was well designed and executed near-perfect. These men are serious tradesmen. The other trades on the job commented on the quality of the work and collected business cards from Derek for their own work and referrals! When the job was done, I was given an excruciatingly detailed accounting of the costs. The job came in at the expected price. The 2 minor problems were fixed within a day. Great job and experience! I wish I had another bathroom to remodel!

I received several estimates from members on Angie's List. The decision came down to a final 2, both seemed very good, the difference being the other company's estimate was 50% higher and they needed 3 weeks for the work verses 1 week for Brick and Wood. The work entailed gutting and replacing a bathroom on the second floor of a 1920 s 2 flat while the tenants were still living there. The other companies told me it would not be possible to complete the work in less than 3 weeks, Darek said he could finish in 5 days. It took 5 1/2 days, but only because I added a tile floor to the work after we started. Darek replaced the toilet each night for the tenants to use, finished on time and with-in budget which is almost unheard of in construction. I have recommended him to do work in a friend s condo. Good work Darek.

Given the issues with a 95 year old building, where every turn can be a new surprise, extremely well. Darek came and gave an itemized quote and estimate for materials, we discussed the workplan and he and his crew began. He was directly involved every step of the way and communicates well. He has an excellent eye for detail and he approached this project with diligence and care.

Darek and his crew were extremely professional and very diligent. They came to our house every day at 8:00 am, and if Darek could not be there, he would always let me know. They did an exceptional job with painting our house. If they noticed something was out of order, they would fix it (like loose towel bars in the bathroom, etc.). One of the bathrooms that had wallpaper was a real headache to work with - the paper was just impossible to peel off. Darek went an extra mile to make sure he could finish the assignment to our full satisfaction, including removing the pedestal sink, and all other fixtures so that he could completely remove the wallpaper. They left their work very clean and neat at the end of the day - it looked like they weren't even there! We are very happy with the work Darek and his team did, and will hire them again at any time!

Derek and his team showed up on time from day one. They made a detailed estimate that explained the work to be done and how i was going to be executed. They were on time, clean, professional, paying great attention to detail, coming up to solutions as problems were coming up, Derek was approachable, realistic and understanding. They made what it could have been a painful and frustrating experience, something almost enjoyable. The bathroom looks great despite the complexity of the items we wanted to install.

Another outstanding job by Brick & Wood Construction at our rehab. The crew's work was a better quality than any contracter we've dealt with while we've been rehabbing our old house over the past couple years. The crew was professional, punctual and reasonably priced - and there was no headaches or remorse for hiring them. Also, they were able to get us fit into their schedule and have the work done within a couple of weeks after we gave the go ahead. I've said it before and I'll say it again - We wish we had found this Company at the beginning of our rehabbing - it would have saved us a lot of money - we would have had a better overall outcome with the results of our rehabbing and more importantly IT WOULD HAVE SAVED US A TON OF HEADACHES from dealing with poor work and responsiveness!

Darek was very nice on the phone and stated that he usually did work only in Chicago. He said he might come out to talk about our project on the weekend but never showed up. I think it was because he decided we live too far out. I haven't heard from him since the first contact.

Darek and his crew are just wonderful. I interviewed several contractors and am so happy to have found Darek. The other contractors quoted me some of the most ridiculous and inflated estimates (I wonder if it was because I am a woman). Darek is very HONEST and respectful. His estimate was very reasonable, there were no hidden charges, and he did not inflate the final bill (he presented all receipts for any materials needed). He and his crew are very professional, timely, skillful, clean, accommodating, and hardworking. I highly recommend Darek and plan on continuing to hire him for the rest of my remodeling projects, including installing my new kitchen cabinets.

Derek Cronoski was prompt in keeping the appointment on Tuesday. He was supposed to drop off some literature on the following Friday. However, we have not heard from him since.

The job done was outstanding. We have been working on our fixer upper for the past two years(an old house built in 1895). We only wish we could have found this company right from the beginning. We are now moving onto the living room and having Brick and Wood Construction do that room too.