About us
4 employees. Uses subs for electrical & plumbing. Cost is determined by the job. No travel charge. No extra charge for 24 hour emergency service.
Business highlights
Services we offer
Residential new construction & remodeling: bathrooms, additions, basements, ceramic tile., garages, kitchens, sun rooms/patio enclosures remodeling
Amenities
Emergency Services
Yes
Free Estimates
Yes
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 81% | ||
| 5% | ||
| 5% | ||
| 3% | ||
| 5% |
When we met, Danny seemed to understand the jobs I wanted done, made a suggestion to add one more (bathroom vent), and gave me reasonable estimates on each job, so I hired him. Unfortunately, once I did, Danny was inconsistent about responding to calls or emails. For example, I had to keep contacting him about when he could start. He finally let me know but, the day before he was set to start, he informed me that I needed to buy the thermostat myself. Perhaps I should have asked what was included when he did the estimate, but usually when I hire for a service, it includes parts and labor. Honestly, it did not occur to me to ask if the estimate to replace the thermostat would include the new thermostat. So, I did not say anything, but this was the first of many examples of poor communication.
Once Danny and his team began, I tried not to bug him. However, I needed to schedule my painter after all the work was finished (which I had told Danny). However, I had to call back again when I did not get a response. I found it unprofessional that he did not call or text me back especially when I explained in my voice mail that I needed to schedule the painter and had a tight window before moving in to the unit.
The worst part of this whole experience came when Danny yelled at me over the phone?and I mean Y-E-L-L-E-D!! I had left him a message about a big hole in my bathroom ceiling next to the new vent. My message simply asked when he planned to have that completed since I was unaware that there would be a hole twice the size of the vent. I again got no response so the next day I called again. Eventually, Danny called me back. He claimed that he told me that he was not going to patch the ceiling after installing a new vent. I told him that he never mentioned making a hole in the ceiling, let alone NOT patching it. He asked me how I thought they replaced the vent. I said that I assumed the new vent goes into the spot where the old vent was. This is when he started yelling - asking me how did I think they connect the exhaust for the new vent without making a bigger hole. My response to him was that if I knew the answer to that I would not need to hire someone to do the work. Keep in mind, this job was not even on my list from the inspector, but rather Danny was the one who suggested it. UGH!
I tried to reason that perhaps he assumed he told me since he knows what the job of installing the vent entails. I said that if he had told me, I would have included the ceiling on the job for the painter, but I am 100% certain he never mentioned leaving a hole in the ceiling. Regardless...I couldn't even finish a sentence when talking to him on the phone about this situation because every time I tried to say something, he would interrupt me and start yelling at me not to call him again or give his name to anyone?and on and on. I have never dealt with a service provider who behaved in that way. I had to calm him down because (a) he had not finished the job at that point (even though it was supposed to have been done) and (b) he still had the keys to my condo. I finally offered to pay him a little more money just so he would finish the job even though I still feel I was in the right and that he did not tell me about leaving the work unfinished.
In summary, the actually work was done well. However, Danny was unprofessional and a poor communicator and I personally would not work with him again. If you decide to go with Destiny, make sure you ask a LOT of questions about what exactly is included in the job and give yourself a open window for him to get the job done.
June of 2013. However, before that time. I decided on ceramic tile instead of vinyl. Since this was an insurance claim, I had to stay within a certain limit so I agreed to pay the difference in installation price for the ceramic versus the vinyl. It was agreed that I would pay 50% of the total at the start of the job. On June 3, 2013, I gave Danny a check for $5544, which afterwards left a balance of $5545. Danny and his team began tearing down the old materials. On June 4th Danny informed me that his estimate did not include interior walls and that it would be an additional price. At that time I mentioned that I would like to have additional electrical outlets. Danny informed me that he would be able to do them, but at an additional charge. I asked him how much. The Interior walls were an additional $300 and the outlets would be $75 each, which I wanted 3 additional outlets. The total additional amount was $525.00. I again gave Danny a check for $262.50, which was half. I would periodically go into the
basement the see what they were doing. Danny had a problem with my checking on them and asked me if I could save my questions until the end of the job. I told him I would not. Here are the things that happened while they were remodeling my basement. (1) They took the gate off of my fence and set it in the alley, the gate was eventually stolen, (2) they busted the pipes
on my brand new sump pump, (3) they cut the wires to my home security system which I had to pay $154 to repair, (4) and I had to asked them about a wall that they intended to leave undone. Danny wanted another 30% payment once the drywall was complete. I told Danny he would get the money once the drywall was inspected by me and two more family members. At that time I also asked Danny if he had a receipt book. He told me my cancelled check would serve as my receipt. I asked him again and he said he would get a receipt book. On Friday morning, Danny was expecting the 30% but the dry wall was not completed. I asked him about the gate and he stated he forgot to buy it . He left and came back with the gate that he was replacing and pick up the check for the 30%. I told Danny I would not be giving him the check until the drywall was complete. He went into the basement and began to help the guys finish the drywall. I showed Danny some things I thought were imperfections with the drywall and he assured me once the job was complete I would not be able to see the imperfections. Once the drywall was complete, Danny came for the check. I asked if he had the receipt book, he said he forgot it and he would bring the receipt back. I told him, when he came back with the receipt, I would give him the 30%. At that point Danny lost it. He said he was done and he had it. He told his men to get their stuff and they all left. He left outlets hanging out of my walls, he left without re-connecting my washer and dryer and he left my basement in mess, wood shavings everywhere; five huge bags of dry wall, wood and food garbage.
"As it is mentioned in our Contract, which was signed by the customer, point 8 of the General Conditions is: "Right to stop work: If any payment under this Contract is not made when due, this Contractor may suspend work on the job until such time as all payments have been made". After the installation of the drywall, a payment of $3326.70 (30% of the Contract ) was due. The customer refused to make the payment, arguing for two days that 30% of the contract represents $1663.50 and she needs to ask an accountant. After asking counseling from the accountant she still insists that 30% of the $11089 (Contract total) represents $1663.50. We completed the following work: - demo: $450 - carpentry: $900 - insulation: $160 - drywall: $1650 (a credit of $500 was applied for the portion of the taping and sanding that was not completed) - remove ceiling tile: $200 - debris removal: $700 - electric work: $225 - extra carpentry: $300 - materials: $1782.47 An email with the copies of the receipts for the materials that we bought was sent to the customer. She asked for this receipts, the Contract included $2890 for the materials. Work completed and materials bought: $5867.74 Payments received: $5806.50 We have to disagree with some of the customer affirmations. First of all, we didn't have a problem with the customer checking our work. The main problem was that we were concern that she could get hurt, during the construction process: demolition, installation of the rough carpentry, etc. , since she stayed behind our backs, permanently, 9 hours a day. We like to answer any questions that our customers have, but this customer went overboard with the questions, asking the reason of putting every single nail in the place and giving advice about how we should perform the work. Regarding the debris that were left in the basement, the customer specified not to take that pieces of drywall and wood, that she will use it. We removed two pickup trucks of garbage from there. The pipe that broke was our mistake, which we fix without any hesitation. When we went for an estimate, the customer told us the exact work she wanted an estimate for, the work that the insurance will pay for. When we start the work, the customer wanted everything else to be fixed, work that was not in our Contract. When we mentioned that will be an extra charge, because it wasn't in our Contract, she threatens us. Every time she didn't like something, she was threatening us. Regarding the gate, we were forced to buy a gate that was stolen. The gate wasn't take it off by any of our workers, so we didn't understood why we need it to buy this gate, we cannot guard somebody's gates and fences while we work there. Her liability insurance should pay for this. The customer didn't want to pay us until the gate was replaced. After we replaced the gate, she still refused to pay us."
Danut does what he says he will do. He was honest and straightforward throughout. He takes care of what he installs. So if there was an issue with a new furnace, he would send his guys out immediately to check on things. When you own an old house, it is quite a find to find someone who will do that. Someone available for big and small issues that come up over time is key.
As I work out of my home, I am certain I am not the easiest client to work with. For many months, there were days of the week when work was impossible due to my work. He consistently respected my schedule. And, he has good guys working with him -- who you feel comfortable having around your home and children.
Like all projects something unexpected always comes up. The village "recommended" I needed to bring several things up to code which added several thousand dollars more to the project. Since I was on a budget I decided not to install flooring tiles and new basement windows. Danny was very understanding and even helped "negotiate" with the village inspectors on some of their code recommendations as well as help me "remediate" some of those creatively. The project finally got going and completed as reasonably expected even though there were down times because village inspectors were not available to inspect the project as it went along.
Danny and his crew were very professional, punctual and did very good work. Home improvement projects are usually not fun and this project is not an exception. However Danny made it a lot less maddening. Danny was always available to answer my question and he also kept me very informed throughout the project. I truly felt that he was working for me and that he really cared about his customer. I like him as a contractor and as a person and will definitely hire him again.
"It was a pleasure working with you. We are looking forward to serve you and your friends and family for any home improvements you may have in the future. Thank you."
They did some significant amount of work for which they charged about $4000 - $5000. I had a very positive experience with them. They do both small jobs and big jobs. They have a very strong project manager who is also the owner of the business. Their prices are very reasonable for the work that they do. I would definitely use them again in the future.
"Our company strive to do the best to make all of our customers happy. This client (who is a lawyer), give us a list with all the work he needed a bid on. The contract that we signed was based on the work he requested. We are surprised by the fact that he didn't expect to pay for the additional work he requested after the signing of the contract. In the General Conditions of our contract, point 7 specifies that any alteration or deviation involving extra work has to be approved by the owner and paid immediately. We have a record of all our e-mails that proves that this client was aware of the extra work he requested and the fact that he tried to force us to do electric and plumbing work for which he hired other licensed companies that obtained a Permit from the City of Evanston. This companies are not associated with us and we are not responsible for their work. For the windows and doors capping project we provide an estimate from one of our subcontractors, which was not accept it, the client explain to us that he prefer to use other company for this part of the project. We never claim that we do not have the right tools or that the weather was unfavorable. This client told us about the fact that he has a budget that he will stick with it, even if more work is necessary, this is maybe the reason why he didn't give us the last payment from our contract or the bonus that he mentioned in his amendment to our contract, that we will received if the work will be finish earlier. We finished the work two weeks earlier. We accept this lost, because it was very hard to work with a client who was verbally abusive with us."
"We think that you are mistaking us with another company, because we been at an appointment with you on November 29, measuring your basement, and sending you the Estimate on December 6. And we spoke on the phone after you received the Estimate and you told us that you will use another company. If proofs are necessary we can provide it."
"We appreciate business from anyone, especially Angie's List members and do our best to make all of our customers happy. This is the 1st time, that we learned the customer was unhappy, since we completed the work more than 2 years ago. We are surprised by this review because this customer recommended our company to many of her friends and we strive to do the best we can for all of our customers."
Licensing
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Contact Information
7538 W Touhy Ave, Chicago, IL 60631
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