41 North Builders

John's crew gutted our three bathrooms with a beautiful high-end result for a reasonable price. John's professionalism and help on the front end is an industry advantage helping you navigate your options before you begin construction. We were very happy with the results. I would definitely rehire and strongly recommend.

First of all, let me start by saying that this was the first time that I have done a remodel.  When I made the big decisions about cabinets and floors, I was doing it from photos that I took.  So, when I signed the contract and John was ready to place orders, I had a moment of panic.  Do the cabinets REALLY go with the floors that I picked?  Did I just make a HUGE mistake in my choices.  Well, John was able to get me a cabinet sample pretty quickly so I could go back to the flooring store just to be sure that I was making the right choice.  He offered me a bit of advice during the process "Go with your first instinct."  He was right.  I went with all of my first choices and my place looks amazing.
I live in a high rise.  Anyone who lives in a high rise knows that there are rules about construction, scheduling elevators, and what can and cannot be done.  John was great in working with my building and not forcing me to deal with that headache.
The project was completed on time and on budget.  I am so excited about my improved space.

The house turned out fantastic! Very high quality work. John is a good guy to work with and genuinely cares about the product he is delivering. This was a big project to take on, and I was very lucky to have had John and his crews take it on. 

Would highly recommend 41 north builders for any home renovation needs.

I've been working with John and his sub contractors on this property since August of 2013, and they have been patient, responsive, and transparent throughout, especially appreciated when my property insurance had to get involved and they worked with them to get them details, quotes, and insight, as well as being a much-needed professional advocate that I never would have been able to accomplish on my own. I have no doubt that John's professionalism helped speed the process along.
When I realized I would have to switch contractors from my first GC, out of everyone I called, John was the only one who brought someone with him for a second opinion on his assumptions, and even sent additional subs out to ensure the accuracy of the quote. I have had nothing but great experiences with him and everyone he works with since.

Let me first say that this isn't the first time I've hired a contractor.  Being that I'm a vendor myself who is self-employed in a different industry, I have always been shocked at how every contractor I've hired thus far has shown a serious lack of professionalism.  I'm referring to being late, not being responsive to phone calls or emails, instances where instead of owning their mistakes they'd rather blame other contractors... I could go on and on.  I've been amazed that most contractors act like they have little time for you and it's an honor to be graced by their presence.  They all seem to be swamped and not want your 30,000 dollars, which makes me believe I'm in the wrong industry and wish I could be more of an a******.  With all that being said, 41 North Builders were by far and away the best team I've hired so far.  I knew at the end of our first meeting that they were the front runners for the myriad of projects I needed done because not only did they thoroughly walk me through how the projects would be executed, but they also offered solutions to left over problems from past contractors.  For instance, we tore out the rugs in our apartment and added hard wood to all of the stairs.  Since our house is old, our stair heights were uneven and cumbersome to go down unless you were familiar with the footing.  John was the first person to give us a solution that wouldn't involve redoing the entire set of stairs and costing us a crazy amount of money.  I could tell that they weren't trying to oversell us, rather get us what was necessary at a fair price.  Who doesn't want that?
I lost some wind in my sails when it took 6 weeks for John to give me an estimate, which brings me to the negative portion of my review.  I would have normally walked away at this point and hired someone else, but I was so impressed by the initial meeting that I wanted to wait and see where the numbers came in at.  I was surprised to find that the estimate was on the lower side of the 5 we received and was excited that they were very reasonable.  Even though I waited 6 weeks for the estimate, the team was able to start the project in 2 weeks and from that point we hit the pavement running.  The downside was that we were still always in the dark as to when people were showing up in the morning, what days they'd even show up to do the work, and when the project would be done.  If you're looking for a contractor to work within your tight schedule then this may not be the best team for you.  If you're able to be flexible, don't mind an average of 48 to 72 hour response to a simple email, and your top priority is the quality of work, then I highly recommend them.  I found John's subcontractors to be very professional, EXTREMELY hardworking, and experts at their craft.  Everything was done to our liking, nothing looked rushed, and to our amazement, was finished ahead of schedule.
Our final project was to replace the deck and decided after seeing how great the team was that we wanted to use them to replace our pressure treated deck with a composite decking.  John hired a different contractor for this project and started after the inside was complete.  We were getting a little anxious because the project was held up due to us switching from wanting a pressure treated wood to composite.  The surprising thing that happened and is why I would recommend 41 North Builders a hundred times over is that John unbeknownst to us, stopped by to check the deck at about 90% completion and noticed that the workmanship was lacking.  Before we ever said anything to him, there was a new crew working day and night completely replacing the deck.  Rather than hoping that we'd never notice their faulty work, which we may have never had, he took it upon himself to make them start completely over and made sure it was done properly.  The deck now looks beautiful and I'm so thankful for John's honesty.  It is clear that he takes pride in his company's work, and wants it done to his liking no matter what the cost may be.  This is why I would hire 41 North Builders again in a heart beat and have recommended them to redo my parents condo as well as one of my coworkers.  

John and 41 North is great to work with and very client-service oriented. His prices are fair, the estimates are detailed, his team's work is of high quality and he is very communicative. He did some remodeling work for us on our siding, deck and windows and we were very happy with the results. He also upgraded our electrical. We then re-engaged the next year to do our hardscape patio and back landscaping. When rain delayed our progress, he rushed the job to get it done in time for a party we were having. We intend to continue working with 41 North as we continue to upgrade our older Chicago home. I highly recommend this company.

Since 41 North did the complete rebuild of our gutted condo 3 years ago, I have called them multiple times for repair work on our 3-flat in Rogers Park. Things go wrong and break and need touching up in a building ALL THE TIME. No matter what the issue has been, John and his team have been able to fix it quickly and at a very reasonable cost. I've had them in to address problems with plumbing, heading, electric, general maintenance, painting, landscaping and more. I recommend them highly and without reservation.

John and Robert were very easy to work with and very responsive. The price was fair and John's original quote came in several thousand under other similarly qualified contractors. The project was completed on time even though the scope of the project more than doubled after we started. We are exceptionally happy with the workmanship and the project turned out better than expected. I would definitely recommend 41 North Builders.

John did an excellent job working with the building's association to get the scope of work approved and scheduled.  He also did a very good job abiding by the association's rules. 
I also am extremely happy with the work performed by John's team.  They partnered very well with the other construction team to ensure the project stayed on schedule and that the best overall solutions were implemented.  I was very impressed with the ideas that his team recommended and implemented with the plumbing and electrical work.  They guided us on the best products that would work for our project as well as doing a very professional job.  His team listened well and showed a very caring approach.  It was very apparent that they were highly skilled and had a significant amount of experience in their field. 
John and his team exceeded my expectations for our project.  The kitchen is done, looks, beautiful, and functions well. 

I sent an email to John and he responded right away. He came out for an estimate and within a week or so we started the work. Pretty straight forward.

41 Builders helped me plan, then managed several different specialists to
make it all happen, and got it done quickly. Several times they even
found ways for me to save money when I asked for things that turned out
to be unnecessary! My kitchen was a challenge - the building is over 100 years old and
floors and walls just aren't even anymore. Despite some surprises 41
North was able to figure out how to make it all come together, and to
get my large sink into a challenging corner space. Very professional and I'm so happy with the results, I
keep walking into my kitchen just to stare at it. Gasps from visitors
who can't believe the difference.

I called john and he gave me an estimate to have a backsplash installed in the kitchen. He gave me a very fair estimate and his tile guy was able to come out the following week. His tile guy did an excellent job. It makes our kitchen look so much nicer and cleaner. My only regret is that I did not do this years ago!!!
I would definately recommend John and 41 Builders, and plan to use them again next time I make home improvements.

They completed the work on time and on budget and when one of the garage door openers failed shortly after the work was completed, John has his guys back out here on a couple hours notice to fix it.  I was most impressed.

John was a pleasure to work with.   His team was punctual, neat and fast.  The end product was excellent.

I hired 41 north builders in 2010 to remodel my first floor bath. Right off the bat I liked working with John. He did a good job of listening to our wants/needs and helped us maximize our budget. He went with us to several stores to help us find the right stuff and help us with us ideas for the bath. They did the work while we were on summer vacation for a week, and when we came home we had a beautiful new bathroom and a clean house. We loved how it turned out. We got lots of compliments on the new bathroom and feel we got a great value working with John and his crew. We liked the work on the first bathroom so much that when it was time to remodel the upstairs bathroom we called 41 north builders again. Once again, John was easy to work with. He worked closely with us to understand our budget and what we wanted and we once again felt we got great value for our remodeling dollars. Both bathrooms included new tile floors, new tubs, shower tile, lighting, sink, vanity, toilets, bathroom fixtures, etc. John and his crew did a good job of working around our schedules and keeping the house clean. They kept the disruptions to a minimum and if there were any small issues, they quickly and professionally dealt with them. I would recommend them to anyone looking to do a remodel project.

Based on research done the previous winter, I'd found a manufacturer of pre-fabricated car ports. Based on schematics provided by this 3rd party, I was able to collect multiple quotes for the actual installation of the car port. 41 North Builders delivered the best quote and so I contracted with them to perform the installation.

The process was about as painless as I could have hoped for. The team handled everything, from receipt of the materials off of the delivery truck to prepping the parking lot where the car port was installed, to cutting down a tree on the property line that was in the way. The project was completed in a single weekend without a hitch (other than a rain storm that delayed work for a few hours). All of the scraps and leftover material were discarded at the end of the project. The only thing we had left to do was park the cars under the port. It was great.

John Casserly is an excellent contractor to work with!  After seeing the work he did on our neighbor's building, and being impressed by the quality of the job, we contacted him to replace our three story porch. From our first phone call, John was interested in helping us see through a large task. He always promptly returned phone calls and emails and arranged meetings around our schedule. John is an honest, knowledgeable contractor who insists on a professional, quality job. Throughout the construction of the porch John checked in with us to make sure we were happy with the progress. He immediately responded to any questions or concerns we had. The team of people he works with are trustworthy and care about their jobs and reputation. John went above and beyond our expectations. In fact, we've already contacted him to complete more work on our building.Now that the porch is complete and we've had the summer to enjoy it, I am deeply grateful that our experience working with John was so positive. In fact, the porch that he designed and constructed is beautiful. We've received so many compliments and people have asked us to pass on John's information to them. This new porch has improved our quality of living in immeasurable ways. It's changed my whole attitude about where I live.My husband and I highly recommend John Casserly as a contractor.

Poorly
See above.

Overall it was a great experience.

We were very impressed with his ability to come up with solutions and how he was able to execute them in a timely manner. The scope of the work became larger than we aniticipated and John was still able to complete the job when we needed it finished!! He was also very easy to work with and made the stress of a remodeling project managable because of his ability to take charge of what needed to get done. He was always available to do a walk-thru of the job if needed and returned phone calls promptly. His crew was very reliable and completed everything to our satisfaction. The unit looked amazing when the work was finished. We have recommended John to other clients due to our positve experience.

The units turned out beautiful. 41 North Builders was professional and very responsive, and had a personal pride in doing the work. I will use them again.

41 North Builders was easy to work with and did the job well. The estimate was accurate and clear, the work was done to my expectations, and there was good follow-up to make sure I was satisfied with the work performed. Overall a very good experience and I would use them again for other work.

Very professional, organized, detail oriented, excellent workers, experienced and knowledgeable. John did a great job for our house.

We had the typical junky cement basement and they did a full build out of it. They started in October and were done in December. The quality of the work was excellent.

I bid our project to 4 contractors and John Casserly of 41 North Builders was one of the most responsive right from the beginning as well as the most competitively priced. Just as importatnly John was wiling to work with us. Our agreement was that we would supply some of the materials. We made it clear to John during the negotiation of the contract that some of the items (light fixtures, door hardware and ceiling fan) may not be available when construction began at which point his crew would have to make return trips. He was willing to accommodate the delivery schedule without a problem. We fully anticipated the project to take 2-3 weeks however John said his crew would have it done in a week.As a design professional myself, I was skeptical and told John that although the time frame was not IMPOSSIBLE it was not probable. Yet, he was confident that he could complete the work within a week. Considering that he could begin right away, had positive references and by starting the job n Dec 7th, could be done by the holidays, we hired him. The crew showed up on time and by the first day, had the demolition and new framing complete. I had put together a very detailed scope of work along with drawings so there was no room for interpretation. Although there were a couple of items on the scope that John apparently did not consider as part of his bid, he lived up to his obligation and completed them without question and professionally. Of course there were valid unforeseen circumstances once demolition began and John's price to address them was more than fair. We had ordered plumbing fixtures for a powder room and to our surprised they arrived sooner than expected. Originally not part of the scope, we asked John for a cost to install them and to replace the existing laminate floor with marble tile that we supplied. It again was very fair and they added this work to the scope and completed it quickly. His crew showed up every day and we are generally very pleased with the quality of work. The whole project took about 10 days, which is "on time" considering that we added to the scope after construction began. This does not including the times they needed to come back to install some of the outstanding items that we ordered.. And when they did arrive, he had someone here within a day or two to take care ot the installation. Our punchlist was minimal and it was addressed swiftly and to our satisfaction. This project was the first of three phases. We hope to be working with John again once we are ready to move forward wit the next phase. Good Job, John and we wish you success.