The Smart Houses Solutions

porch and fence replaced

Went according to plan - no surprises!

Work was completed in a fair amount of time and more or less satisfactory, however communication and customer service was horrible. I should have know something was up when they offered to directly discount the cost of the project (for a comparable albeit lesser amount) instead of honoring the Angie's list offer I was intending to purchase and use. Anytime we needed to contact the company we were met with intimidation and coercion. We gave instructions to not use our water spigot until it was repaired, this was ignored and as a result our basement was flooded. Debris from construction was left in our yard for days at a time and completely killed large sections of our lawn. Changes were made to the original design without consulting us due to the need to reroute overhead power lines. On the final day of work/clean up, the contractor left the hose (which had become broken and leaky from being stepped on, dragged, etc.) running for hours after they left for the day. This was not a barely perceivable slow drip but a gushing/spraying leak. This caused flooding to not only our basement again but also our neighbors' basement. Neither Mike from J Sitko or the contractor Greg (The Smart Houses), took responsibility for any of the issues above. In fact we were blamed for the condition of the hose and the ensuing damage it caused. Neither myself or my wife were home at the time and had not used the hose, yet we were at fault? We were eventually given a $100 credit for the first incidence of flooding. We were treated as though we were untrustworthy and nagging for asking for liability and basic communication for a project of this caliber. The level of disrespect from Mike was off the charts. Essentially, he would change his personality from day to day, depending on whether he was talking to me or my wife, and if he was communicating via email or phone. He went from, " I'm just absolutely sick that Greg and his crew would disrespect your house like that. It's an honor and a privilege to be invited into our home especially since you're the paying customer." to, "Why should I trust you? I don't know you, I've known Greg for 8 years". There is no excuse for this kind of behavior in any business transaction but especially one that requires the level of trust and money involved in a home improvement project. Additionally, we have yet to receive the copy of our keys back from the contractor and have been unable to get a reply from either Mike or Greg.

Minor redos needed (some boards had to be replaced), but done promptly once reported, and if need be a quick phone call resolves any problems.

Very well. it was a solid days worth of work, but they got it done and stayed late on a Friday afternoon. I feel much better having a lot of the little things looked at and fixed in a my house. I recently moved in and the house was built in the 1940s. I wanted a lot of the electrical things fixed to prevent bigger problems in the future.

It was great! We had delays due to weather (can't replace the outdoor fence and porch supports when its raining so hard that trees are being knocked down) but as soon as the weather was down to even lightly raining, they were back and finishing the job. They were very clean, didn't leave materials laying around, and removed all debris quickly as they went along. Porch work was the extensive part of the work - the iron railings were rusted off the bottom and horrid paint job from old owners. We asked them to replace with wood supports that looked similar to the neighbors so there was consistency in how it looked with the block, and they knocked it out of the park. GREAT paint job on the stairs and the porch structure, and they even power washed the front of the house before they painted as they washed down our stairs. Bay window repair and plaster work was great - smooth, great paint job, and brought in his own tarps to cover our furniture. Matched bay window roof to main roof without issue. Replaced rotting wood fence with white vinyl fencing. The alley fence door gave them trouble - they were able to return and replace it, and install it correctly. Front gate door is a nice pick me up in terms of looks, in comparison to old gate. They picked a high quality gate (we realized afterwards we didn't specify which fencing material to use, just vinyl, but they picked one of the better quality ones and didn't pad the price). All in all, really professional. Were quick to come out and review the work that needed to be done, got the estimate back quickly, and were able to start the job quickly. Broke the payment into 5 parts for us, so we could pay as they finished, so they weren't worried about being stiffed and we weren't worried about putting down a huge deposit and then ghosting. Very responsive and happy with product. Also - for the photos - the work shown is Smart Homes completed work for porch. We are redoing the door and windows ourselves so don't judge their work to our soon to be DIY paint disasters :-). Also included a before and after stichpic.

Performed the work well. Communicated well through the entire process.

It has been approx. 6 months since the work has been completed. Water is pooling on the threads (individual steps) and causing rust to develop. We contacted the vendor and the owner, Greg, came out in a timely manner to inspect our observations. Unfortunately, he recommended repainting the stairs. We proposed that the pitch of the replaced threads may not be correct because water was in fact sitting on the threads for several hours after it rained. Greg was adamant that his only solution was to repaint our stairs. In addition, he stated that salt was causing the rust. We disagreed since eco-friendly salt was used twice since the work was completed. Further, if salt were the problem as the vendor is alleging, it appeared illogical that part of a landing would rust and not the entire landing. Is it possible that salt was only placed on half of a landing to prevent slipping after a snowfall? The vendor has refused to work on resolving the issue of water pooling on the threads and landings. A very disappointing outcome after the cost of the project.

One of the installers came out to assess the work. I informed them it was not a big project. J Sitko Construction (now known as The Smart Houses) assessed the project and came back with an estimate. We were ok with the estimate. However, in order to do any construction in a condo building, it typically requires the unit owner to get Board approval and a copy of the contractor's license and proof of insurance. They refused to provide their business license or proof of insurance until we signed a contract. I have called and emailed on multiple occasions with very slow reply (a week to reply with no call back / only email). They eventually refused to do the work (sent via email) b/c we wouldn't sign a contract until they provided business license and insurance. A phone call and/or timely responsiveness (basic professionalism) would have gone a long way.

Smart House Solutions was recommended to me by Mike Friedman who is also a salesman for another Angie's List member who was not liscenced in my community. He arranged for Greg to come out on a Monday for an estimate. Greg seemed knowledgeable and said he would have me a quote on Wednesday which never came. I never received a courtesy call or email to update me? I waited till Friday and emailed Mike and Greg about when I could expect the Qoute. Greg said he would email me the qoute that day. I received an undetailed estimate the next day which did not break the cost per item being done. I emailed back questions to Greg and Mike and asked for a new estimate that itemized details and cost. On the following Tuesday, after not hearing anything, I again emailed back asking when I could expect a new estimate? I got an email from Mike that Greg is a busy man and I would have to wait till he gets around to it. I waited over another week and no correspondence. Is this poor customer service what I could expect if I hired them?

Showed up on time. Removed damaged flooring. Replaced and stained to match remaining flooring including removing and replacing molding. To say the experience was excellent is an understatement.

I am pleased with the results. Project was completed on time and on budget.

Excellent. The hardest part of this was coordinating my schedule (due to lots of biz travel) and theirs. Once date locked in they showed up on time, advised how they were going to handle the project, Went to work on the roof for hours and got it done. Didn't disturb neighbors, no complaints from association, no complaints from me. Not an easy task but they approached with innovation and sweat equity and got the deck dismantled, all the pieces of wood removed from roof and even cleaned up after they were done. Could not be more happy with what they delivered.

The back porch was completed on time and well. The front porch was an extremely frustrating experience and was not completed to our satisfaction. First, it turned out that the original estimate did not include replacing the four stairs leading up to the porch, even though we explained that the whole purpose was to change the color of the porch from gray paint to a brown stain. The revised estimate for the stairs was $1700--almost 30% of the cost of the entire rest of the job. Greg, the contractor who came to our house, refused categorically to give a breakdown explaining why the work would cost so much, although Mike, the manager we spoke with on the phone, did give us a $200 deduction for "being a good sport" -- his words, not mine. Then, when the porch was replaced, the boards were about 1/4" thinner than the original boards, which meant that they did not meet the existing railings--the railings hover about 1/4" off the floor. Worse, there were grease pencil marks and a burned insignia imprint on the wood that the contractors did not sand or remove before staining, and which are still visible through the stain. When we took photographs and sent them in, Greg came out again, and categorically refused to take any action to repair the issue, blaming the problem on the way the boards came in (as if he and his workers had no ability to avoid using the 4-5 affected boards, or to sand them before staining). He refused to resand and restain the surface or to replace and restain the boards without a substantial additional charge, even though the mistake was his. Finally, he refused to answer the question "would you want your own porch to look like this?" although it seems like a straightforward standard to apply. I have to say that in 20 years of homeownership, I have never spoken with a contractor as rude and condescending as Greg. Quite apart from the substance of our disagreement, he shouts at people when he disagrees with them, he absolutely refuses to listen to any other points of view, and acts as if the people he's talking to know nothing about home repair. Even if the work had been completed satisfactorily, it's hard to imagine I would ever want to work with him again. I did contact Mike and offer him some different solution options: he could send out a different contractor to repair the porch and bring it up to "finished" status, or he could just pay me to have somebody else do the work. We spoke on the phone and I followed up with an email, but I haven't heard anything back.

Every appointment was on time. We would of liked more communication on delays, for instance, I had to reach out to find out about when our wood would be in, rather than them providing me with that information upfront. I was made aware of everything else, which is more important. The quality of work was fantastic. They let me know when they arrived and left. Did not have to check on them or babysit them or look for them.

Greg has typically been the most reasonable price, and he has a group of the hardest working guys that I've seen. The quality of finishing is good. Any issues he usually addresses. I will continue to use Smart Houses in the future. Sometimes the work takes a bit longer than is quoted, but much of that has been my fault. There were a couple issues where I had them do some more specialized work such as roofing and metal railings, they were not up to the standard of the rest of their work. Going forward I will make sure to hire specialists for such type of work or explicitly insure that Smart Houses has done the type of work in the past. Overall though for 95% of work I am very confident with Smart Houses.

The workers were on time daily and kept the workspace quite clean. They provided the floor tarps, sheets of plastic (used to partition off space), and floor paper covering that provided the extra protection from all the dust and tracking. They were very accommodating when asked to remove or change some subtle details to the project. They purchased all the plumbing below the dry wall and flooring. They also provided all sheets of plywood, drywall, and cement board (durock), as well as the electric materials and lumber needed for wall construction and floor supports. We provided the rest.

First meeting to look at job and estimate work. Work to start when weather permitting. First day of work majority was done, Outside Service pipe installed and Service panel. Two days later electrician returned to resume work. Installed circuit breakers, removed old service panel and rewired to new panel. Expect power to be out for several hours (luckily temperatures were in the 50's outside, inside house was still warm). Contractor did a good job of placing conduit pipes professionally in the right places and complies to Chicago Electrical Code. Contractor cleaned up all debris and materials. Power was back on and everything works normal. To make things easier, quicker and safe, clean and move everything that the electrician will need access. I cleaned before work was started and it helps a great deal.

We originally contacted JSitko Construction for the job because they were listed as contractor for Timbetech underdecking. Mike Fredman was always prompt in his messages and calls, and arranged for Greg to come out, look at our water leakage issues, and provide a proposal. Greg was quite prompt as well. The bid, however, came from The Smart Houses Solutions, so I guess we were passed off to a subcontactor. Greg's crew got the job done on time, and so far we have had no new leakage. Our main concerns have been that his final approach ended up being more simple than originally discussed. As such, we cannot justify the high price we paid. The secondary roof material is much more cheaply constructed than the Timbertech product we originally inquired about. They did not specify the type of material in the quote, so we are partially to blame for not doing due diligence. The quote also specified "rebuild existing piping system". They may have moved it slightly, but we see no evidence of work on that and saw that as one of the primary reasons for the quote. Overall the job still got done and we believe it has taken care of the garage leakage issues we had. We feel the materials and steps taken do not justify the price though.

This provider came out, on date and time promised, for a FREE quote. Job was to replace old decking, stair treads and shore up walls (and they offered other options, as well so we could make an informative decision). Once contracts were signed, they came out, again as scheduled, to demo old decking. They even went so far as to move ALL of our deck furniture off our decks, laid tarps down and placed furniture neatly on the roof. wow! They were extremely neat and respectful of our building property. They stacked old wood in a pile, in prep for hauling away, out of the way of any mechanicals and on top of 2x4s they placed down to avoid damaging our roof's membrane. They hired a crane, again on the date scheduled, to bring up new decking and haul away old decking so my neighbor and I had no worries about getting rid of anything ourselves. The work was done exactly as requested and contracted. Materials were of premium quality, as contracted. Once work started, it was done and completed quickly. it actually took them a while after completion to call to collect the balance due. Who does that these days?!!!!! Keys were returned promptly and without having to hound them. This company stands behind their work and I feel very comfortable recommending them. In fact, I just referred another neighbor to The Smart Houses Solutions.

It went perfectly. Greg came out when he said he would, and the job was finished on time. He responded in a timely manner to my questions and requests for updates. He cleaned up after the job. The tenants were happy with the work, even though it was disruptive to them. I would gladly use Greg again for future jobs. He is an honest, professional, reliable contractor, and those aren't so easy to find. He understood the impact the job had on the tenants, and adhered to his timeline. Very friendly, too.

The job was promised to take three weeks and it took five because of a supply issue. Not a big deal. The work was great. These guys were the lowest bid out of twelve inquiries and next time I have a home improvement need, they are my first call.

There was a communication problem between us and Greg Gruba, who gave us the estimate. Half of the deck we were replacing was professionally done; the other half was thrown together haphazardly by a previous owner. On that half, there was no foundation and the boards were laid at odd angles. One support beam had broken and boards had popped up. We wanted the deck redone the right way with all of the wood facing the same direction. There was a language problem as Greg does not speak fluent English (we didn't know this). We think when we said that we want the wood going the same direction, he heard, "make the deck the same". To make matters worse, the work was delayed as there was a delay getting a permit from the village. I had hoped to be at home when the deck was being done, but had to be back at work by the time he started. When we realized that some of the wood on the deck was going to be placed at the same weird angle as on the previous deck, we called Mike and he had Greg stop working on it until we could meet with him, and it was straightened out. My recommendation is that in the future, Mike should also go out to the customer's house when a contract is signed to be sure that everything has been communicated correctly. Greg did a fine job of adding supports for our deck and the deck top is the work of a true craftsman, so overall, we are very pleased with it.

They did a good job and their price was very good too. I was happy with their service overall and would recommend them.

They did an excellent job. They finished the job in a reasonable period of time. They finished it in two days with a gap of couple of days in between as they had other projects to complete. They came back finished the job and cleaned up well. They were very clean and very professional. The workers were obviously highly skilled and were good craftsmen. I?m very satisfied with their work. The price was very reasonable.