Chicago Custom Remodeling

Read this review before contacting Chicago Custom Remodeling!! Wait. Before you read this review, first go schedule some time to meet with Al, because his schedule fills up quickly...FOR GOOD REASON. He is hands down the best contractor you could hire for your home remodel project. I really wish there were a better way for me to explain to you how good he is. Just put it this way: I am currently looking for a holy candle with his photo on it. Too far? Come on. I have seen them even with local celebrities and this guy saved my life. Still too far? Let me tell you the story. My wife and I bought our DREAM HOUSE. Well, maybe not hers, but it was for sure mine. I had always dreamed of buying a house to gut rehab that I would do with my dad. That was this house. It was a perfect prospect for a gut rehab. The only thing I thought I couldn't do myself was remove a load-bearing wall and replace it with a beam. That is how I met Al. I called him for a quote on the beam. Our first meeting was awesome. He walked me through how he would replace the beam and it was great. He then showed me that I would probably want to replace the main beam running the length of the house. At the time I didn't know how he knew to go check that beam. Soon I would learn that his years of experience serve his customers in many different ways. As he was wrapping up the first visit, he asked me about the rest of the project. I told him that I was taking care of it myself. He asked me what I thought it would cost and then he told me what he thought it would cost. His number was much higher than mine, but it made sense that it would cost that much more if I left it to a professional (remember this for later). I felt good that I could get this done, so I stuck with Al for the beams and decided to keep the rest for myself. So we moved ahead in the project and then things got a little tricky. My dad got sick. Thank goodness he is still with us and funnier than ever, but he was in no shape to be my driving force through this project. I had no clue what to do. I was working on the house on my own and dealing with a couple of contractors that weren't the best. Without my dad (who is a carpenter and had been for 40 years), I was lost. Then I thought of Al, and I remembered how great he had been with the beam and how he seemed pretty confident with how he would approach the project. I sat down with him and asked him to take on the carpentry work that my dad would have driven. He gave me the quote and how he would work the project, and light came back into my life. While he was working on carpentry, he gave me some great ideas on how we could make this project even greater. He also worked well with other contractors that I had hired. Although I didn't hire him as the general contractor, he guided me through the silly mistake I made in trying to GC this thing myself (DO NOT MAKE THAT MISTAKE). So the weeks and months passed, and the project is clipping along, but we are behind the schedule I had wanted (all self-imposed). Al knew how much my wife, kids, and I wanted to get moved into our new house. Then Al put his cape on. He worked hours that I have never seen a contractor work before. He put our project on his back and brought it home. He saw me cry when I didn't know what to do, and he saw me cry when the drywall went up and I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. I now live in the house that I had always dreamed I would have. My wife and kids love everything about the house. Many of the things that they enjoy on a daily basis would not even be here had Al not said, "how about we do this?" He has an eye for all things no matter how small or how large. The dream house that turned into a nightmare that turned into my forever house would never have been possible had I never dialed the number that I hope you did before you read this. If you have not, please call Al right now! He will treat your home as if it was his. I have actually heard him tell his team that. "Build this like you would want to live in it" Oh right, back to that number I asked you to remember. Outside of a little variance for my silly missteps. Al was dead on with how much it would cost to make this dream a reality. Finally, I would like to say thank you to Al. You changed my life. You gave me the place that I am proud to walk up to every day and call home and the place in which I will raise my kids until I send them to college. You are truly the best around.

When we moved into our new home our plan was to completely remodel the kitchen: we wanted to take down a wall between the kitchen and the mudroom behind. In addition we wanted two windows added, new hardwood flooring, new cabinetry and a lot more! We contacted Al Zamm of Chicago Custom Remodeling after a Yelp search because we were impressed by the great reviews. We have just bought our new home (May) and Al spent three hours with us during the consultation listening to our ideas and advising about practicalities. He was very realistic with us from the start advising us not to stretch ourselves and get into debt with multiple projects in our home, but to focus on one at a time to allow time to save in between. He suggested we get a couple of other estimates for our own peace of mind - his honesty and integrity was refreshing from the start! Al informed us from the start of our kitchen renovation project that quality work takes time. We were very naive about the amount of work that goes into a kitchen remodel, but having watched the incredible transformation - and all the stages in-between (including complete removal of dry wall and ceiling) - we are so grateful for Al's perfectionist work ethic, and creativity. He is more than a contractor: he is capable of advising about design nuances that will ensure a superb finished product. We were constantly impressed by Al's talent; there seems to be nothing that he cannot do. It transpired that the wall between our mudroom and the kitchen was load-bearing (our home is 120 years old, and Al warned us from the start that he wouldn't know the exact scope of the work until he removed the wall). This created a lot of additional work, but Al's solution resulted in an incredible addition to our kitchen: a gorgeous wooden beam to hide the support structure which replaced the load-bearing wall, and which fitted perfectly into our kitchen design. Some examples of Al going above and beyond: Spending hours with us one evening to get the electronic design right for our kitchen prior to commencing the work Driving a four hour round trip to Michigan to collect our countertop to ensure there would be no seems when it was fitted Walking our dog in the day when we were out Adding a gas line outside for our grill whilst he was moving the gas line for the double oven Helping us with multiple DIY projects elsewhere in the house when our expertise failed (putting up blinds, light fittings, wood trim, shelves) Working longer hours than any contractor I have ever heard of Working weekends Getting to know our style better than we do, and therefore picking out better tiles and window casements that our original efforts Al is honest, extremely hard-working, and he has a great sense of humor. He will not leave a job until the customer is 100% satisfied, and his standards and expectations for his own work are very high. Although, Al's business model is the customer is always right, and to provide excellent customer service, we learned to be realistic with time expectations - great quality work takes time and it is not productive to rush him. Our finished kitchen was 1000% worth our patience to ensure that Al was able to get the best parts from the best suppliers.

The Situation: My wife and I got married in July 2015, and closed on a condo in early October. We purchased a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom loft-style condo in River North. It's a newer unit, but we wanted the following work done prior to our move-in: (1) enclose 2nd bedroom by adding walls, two, custom made four-panel windows, and an extra wide bedroom door (2) hang and install stainless steel pot rack above kitchen island [ceiling is made of concrete] (3) mount flat screen tv on wall in living room (4) install custom designed closet pieces for my wife's closet [shoe racks, poles, shelves, etc.] (5) install lighted ceiling fan with wall control panel. The largest task was closing off the 2nd bedroom. There was roughly a 4 foot gap between the walls of the bedroom and the ceiling. Rather than simply build up the walls with straight drywall, we opted to include two custom made (by Al) four-paned windows. This would allow natural light into the 2nd bedroom. After adding the door, this would create a sound-proof second bedroom for when guests come to town, for studying, for working, etc. My wife and I depleted much of our life savings for the down deposit on the condo. As a result, we didn't have a whole lot of 'wiggle room' financially, so we couldn't afford any mistakes in our remodel. So, we researched every single home contractor/remodeler in the Chicago-land area. That isn't to say we wanted the cheapest contractor out there. Rather, we needed someone who would get it perfect the first time around, and would do so at a price that wouldn't make our jaws hit the floor. The Decision: We called Al, and it was one of the smartest investment decisions we've ever made. His quote was reasonable, his management of the project was stellar, the lines of communication were always open (day or night), and his crew produced magnificent results. Al promised to have all of the work complete by our move-in date (Halloween), and he delivered as advertised. Not only does the unit look incredible, but Al offered me an education on how to maintain and care for my home (when and how to switch out air filters, clean the garbage disposal, etc). As a customer, I received great work AND an education. You can't be that. I have no reservations in recommending Al and his team to others in my building, or to friends and family. If you need work done, and you want it done beautifully at a reasonable price, give Al a call.

I bought a property in Hyde Park and decided that I would do a complete a reno before moving in since it had previously been rented for several years. I had always been more of a one improvement at a time and DIY homeowner before. I asked around as I met people at my new job and received no recommendations for contractors so I turned to Yelp and other online sites. I had a short window to complete work and move in, and as a woman, I was terrified that I would be taken advantage of. I relied on reviews and contacted Chicago Custom Remodeling and met Al. Al and his team were amazing - from start to finish. Al and I toured the property and I had my spreadsheet of repairs/upgrades. He listened, made gentle recommendations and was always accommodating. I added most of his recommendations and they were just what were needed to make my new property look like it should be showcased on apartment therapy or HGTV. He worked closely with the building staff and the condo guidelines so everyone was in the loop. When the tenants moved out and I saw the condition of the hardwood floors, he found a way to squeeze the floor refinisher into the schedule. When other unforeseen problems surfaced, he found a way to make suggestions, get my input, and take care of them. Every suggestion he made was just what was needed to make my new place perfect. He suggested replacing the bathroom counters with remnant quartz that looks like Carrera marble to stay in my budget and both bathrooms are now amazing. Al is smart, professional, has a great sense of what can be done in a renovation, never promises what can't be done, has a team that does good work, and worked within my schedule and budget. Al is a great person as well - he obviously has a good relationship with his team - and has a calm approach to what can easily turn into a stressful experience. I would recommend Al and Chicago Custom Remodeling to anyone. If Yelp allowed more than 5 stars, I would give 10.

I found Al through a friend-of-a-friend's referral for a small (under 10K) remodeling job in my Old Town condo. I wanted to convert my reach-in closet to a walk-in and update my boring ventless gas fireplace installed by the builder to something more appealing. Plus a bunch of other small jobs like painting rooms, update the recessed lighting, and routing Internet & TV cable to new TV locations on a couple of walls. I had three different contractors come in for quotes and Al really stood out. He understood my vision for what I wanted the space to look like with the products I picked. He was quick to show me pictures of his past work on his iPhone and I really got a sense that he could handle anything that I may throw at him. Al really came through when the company I hired to install new hardwood floors in a couple of rooms tried to cut corners during the install. Al gave me some timely advice on how to handle the push-back from the flooring company. It's nice having this guy in your corner when dealing with other contractors. I didn't give Al a definitive schedule since I was flexible. In hindsight, I should have picked a firm project completion date since I wasn't prepared to wait that long. Al is a one man show where he can be - makes sense so he can keep more for himself. I was expecting Al and his crew, but it was just Al. He did bring in someone to help with demo on the first day, though. One minor thing: he was insistent that I pick a paint color from Benjamin Moore's color pallete. I had already stopped at Home Depot and picked out the colors I wanted. I caved and went with Ben Moore. But there are so many colors to choose from that I found something similar. I think contractors must have a 'frequent paint program' with Ben Moore. In the end, Al really wanted me happy with the work and he made sure I was. He called a week after he completed to check in to see if everything was OK. He's a good guy too. Very personable. Very sharp.