Windy City Handyman, Inc.

He spent 2 hours cocking the bottom of our shower, the clear c*** was all over the shower shield and the pan of the shower. He spilled lacquer all over the floor, I stepped in the lacquer and had foot prints all over my hardwood floors. He said he did not spill it. He said he was not going to take the supplies back. He was swearing at me and threatening me. He told me to write the check, I didn't want to fight with him in front of my daughter so I wrote the check but then stopped payment after he left. He has been texting me all day threatening me and telling me he will take me to court. He brought grout that didn't match our original grout. He did not bring a contract with him or proof of insurance. All he did was pick up materials from Lowe's that I could have picked up in 10 minutes.

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UPDATED 11-12-2012  Still no refund and my keys have not been returned. But as his email says..."When I get to it" .
Please do not confuse this Windy City Handyman with the one in Edgewater.

The pros: Plastering work is surprisingly good. Sink install to wall is sturdy.
The cons: On the Saturday he and a partner began the plaster work I stopped them at lunch time when I went toinspect and asked them why they did not close doors or cover furniture and beds. They seemed genuinely surprised. The entirety of the upstairs was covered in a think plaster. Although the owner of this company believes all of the plaster dust came from previous handymen (which non were working plaster) there is no way I would sleep in a bed covered in dust. He did cover with sheeting . I forgave him and expected after the job he would help clean up. No such doing.
There was a miscommunication on the two quotes he sent. I accepted quote one for the plastering but not his painting quote. He still purchased paint and supplies and stuck me with the cost though he never painted.
Plaster spots and dust were everywhere on 2nd floor and it cost $300 plus dollars to clean (see Soto review) .
There was a lull for a couple of weeks as I injured myself and he went on vacation. But before going he ripped out old sink and replaced it with another. I had asked in the beginning for him to purchase, but his inability to make a decision drove me to do the research on the sink and what was the right faucet that worked with that sink.....something I hired him to do.
Part of this job was to replace the sink and install a new one. Yes that did happen. BUT and this is sort of like if you crash your car and take it to a body shop and they fix it by only painting it and to add insult to injury they paint the dented part wrong.
When you remove the old sink there are holes left. Fix them. No one want a new sink if it means they look into a wall.
In the assembly process many black rubber washers were caught in the drain and it blocked the sink from working.
This cost $150 to repair (see Reyes review)
So now, I have a working sink with gaping holes behind it and a facet that when you move the head side to side the whole mechanism twists ( an o ring nut that seats the faucet to the sink is missing and on order)
Charged for and paid for but not done was the install of the attic fan and ceiling light. I was promised a refund along with the return of my house keys.... nothing forthcoming. I probably need a lawyer.
Finally, the deck. The front veranda is a 15k hand made porch whose decking is hardwood spruce and is like the hardwood floors in a home. The facia and railing are hewn cedar and hand cut and fashioned dental pattern. The back deck is pressure treated. These were installed in 06, 08, and 10  and are in excellent condition as I stain every two years.
I admit the first power washer did a poor job. I hired this company to remove the rest of the stain and to stain the veranda, back stairwell, and back deck.
What I ended up with was splotchy work in front and in back funny designs in the wood where the tip of the washer was stop start stop start way to close to the wood. Some of the wood in back was damaged and disintegrated. Wood pulp was flung against the house. Some of the ends od the planks were blown off and look like damaged teeth now.
The end came when I got voicemails that I needed to come home right away from a neighbor. On my way home the owner called and began to argue with me about staining the deck the following morning even though he had just pressure washed and it was raining. When I explained that no one stains wet wood he became defiant.
As I got home a neighbor greeted me to say the cat was out and a man was in the back yard. He left fortunately when a coworker confronted him. That night I stayed up till 3 am until we found the cat. The next day when I terminated this company the owner first adamantly denied then admitted to leaving the property unsecured but his attitude was so what not like anyone got hurt or anything stolen even though my wife was too petrified to leave the garage as a man was in the back yard. Fortunately an apartment dwelling friend could see into our yard and alerted me to come home as she also saw the cat. run amok.
I asked for my keys to be returned and a refund for the supplies bought but not needed, work charged for but not completed, and I believe I am owed for damage to the back deck and the hours it took to clean since he did not see fit to help out. Like I said I probably need a lawyer.
Finally, I asked 6 times for a quote for siding my garage....nothing.
Thats it . The whole sad truth. And yeah I got tons of before and after pics. I also have the invoice that was paid , the returned checks , for work billed but not installed. Seriously....install this or return my money.
Current repairs to work done by this contractor and install of closets and siding being done by M Reyes and Sons. will review when work over.

Everything went great!