Element Worx LLC

We are VERY pleased with our new fireplace and built-in surrounding bookshelves. Brett was attentive and creative, helping us solidify our ideas for design and finishes. He noticed existing details in our home and suggested ways to make the new addition fit in seamlessly and match, as if it been a historical element and not a new build. He was patient with all our questions, not to mention friendly and punctual. His team did great work, were timely, and kept everything clean. We have gotten loads of comments from friends and family about how well the new fireplace/mantle fits into our home/style, and how it looks like it belongs there and could be original to the house. This is exactly what we were going for, and we couldn't be happier with this project.

Brett was fantastic to work with. We had a dated curled iron entryway replaced with a whole new design. They were reliable, creative and thorough. I will definitely think of them for any larger projects we have down the road. Highly recommend.

Great! Everything went according to plan. Project was estimated to take 6-8 weeks and it was finished during week 8. The workers were nice and respectful - and my admiration grew when one carried our bathroom vanity up a ladder and in through a window because it was too big to come up the stairs! The workmanship is very high quality and the finished product is beautiful. Brett was always available and quick with answers/solutions/feedback. I am looking forward to hiring him again for a kitchen/family room remodel.

We have seen Brett's work throughout Oak Park, and have been impressed for years. Working with Brett was wonderful every step of the way. He came to our home and heard our desire for a patio. He offered many choices of material, and discussed ways to meet our needs while keeping costs in line. Brett used his aesthetic sense to create a beautiful outdoor space that is both useful and lovely. 
His team of cheerful and polite workers executed the design within days, and we enjoyed our patio all summer long. Now we find it easy to maintain and navigate as the snow falls.
When we saw how much this contributed to the beauty and enjoyment of our home, we called Brett a week after completion of the project and asked him to repave our front walkway using the existing old brick. Brett found matching brick to complete the project, and for the first time in 20 years, we have a reliable front walkway that looks gorgeous with our historic home.
We intend to use Brett over the next couple of years to complete a few other things. We will turn to him first in any project that he is able to do (he has a huge range of expertise), and we know we will get a top-notch job done in a timely and polite manner, and the job might be better than anything we would have dreamed up without Brett's input. 

The process from beginning to end was fantastic.  Brett has a great eye for design and layout and was a huge help in coming up with plans, etc. The kitchen renovation was completed prior to our move into the house.  He did a great job keeping us informed throughout the process and hit every target date - the work was completed as promised so we could move into the house. 
The quality of the work is fantastic and Brett is great about coming by to deal with anything that comes up (or in our case, finishing up little details that were delayed b/c we couldn't make a decision).  He stands behind his work and makes sure everyone is happy.
We love having someone to call that we trust when new projects come up and intend to continue to work with Brett and his team on all of our future home projects.  

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Built the most beautiful garage.  Flows so flawlessly with the house.  Worked, hard and fast.  Cannot recommend this company enough.

Brett was great!

After receiving a referral from a good friend, seeing his work and ultimately meeting Brett, it was obvious that he was a great fit for this fairly sizable project. Brett managed all aspects of the project, including ensuring that the design of the garage fit the style of our home and the historic significance of the neighborhood. The finished product has more than surpassed our expectations. Additionally, all of his contractors, both subs and his employees were courteous / professional, highly engaged, and responsive even to the constant interruptions by my lurking family, onslaught of visitors, and my particular and nit picky involvement. We appreciated Brett's patience and trusted him to not only do the job with high quality but we trusted him and his team to have full access to our property and home.

Brett Williams of Element Worx and his crew did a fantastic job with the installation of my outside deck. He added excellent ideas to the architectural design to ensure it complemented our home, offered several artistic options for consideration, and provided important guidance on the decking material to ensure the integrity of the structure, and to eliminate deck maintenance. I was originally interested in Ipe or Cumaru materials because of their density and beauty, but he provided an excellent product by Azek which was as beautiful as Ipe and Cumuru, but required none of the maintenance. Brett was adept at obtaining the required building permit, meeting building codes, and passing inspection. Brett?s crew was made up of professional, courteous, high quality craftsmen, and they attended to details that resulted in a deck that exceeded expectations. Brett also did a great job of estimating costs for materials, and the entire project came in at the planned budget. Brett and his crew are consummate professionals, and I would highly recommend them.

Brett came with great ideas and pointed out things we had not previously thought about (like matching some of the mantel design with shapes found in stained glass windows we have in our house).  It was obvious to us that he knew what he was doing.  We are impressed with the craftsmanship and the finished product transformed our living room.

The finished floors are fantastic.  The four bedrooms previously had carpet.  Upon removing the carpet, the floors were in ok shape.  One room had a missing section of hardwood.  This missing section was replaced as part of the floors refinishing.  In addition, the floors were sanded down and stained to match the hardwood floors in the hallway.  The work was done during a week and the amount of dust throughout the house was minimal.  We are thrilled with our floors.

Their work was great.

Brett was terrific to work with and he and his crew did a fantastic job.  We're very pleased with the results.  We started with a messy, partially finished basement with a very low drop ceiling.  Brett had great ideas about how to open it up, clean it up, and make it much more functional.  They did such a great job downstairs that we contracted with them to do three other upstairs projects - refacing the fireplace and adding built in bookshelves, modernizing the kitchen by replacing the counter tops and back splash, and building another closet and hallway on our second floor.
Brett was great at helping us make decisions about the design and materials we wanted to use.  He's got a great sense of design and came to the table with lots of good ideas.  His crew was efficient and professional.  We ended up adding a number of smaller items to their scope as the work progressed (replacing light fixtures, adding crown moulding, fixing doors that didn't close properly, etc.).  They were great about getting to those smaller jobs in the midst of the larger work scope.
We will definitely work with Brett again for future projects and would highly recommend him and his crew.

Brett was very professional.  He was considerate of our children and easily accessible via 
phone/ email.
We are very happy with the end result.

I had worked with Brett and his team before on a renovation of the main floor of my home and was impressed both the the skill of the team and their professionalism.  They then rebuilt my bathroom which went from skanky to luxury in a matter of weeks.  Brett is very pragmatic but also collaborative and open to new ideas.  His team is professional and shows up on time and cleans up after themselves.  Once again, I'm impressed by the team and will use them on my next project - the basement...

Brett, the owner of Element Worx, is very detail oriented and encourages clients to review the progress & ask questions every step of the way. As we saw the room coming together we recognized a handful of changes that would make the space even nicer & Brett & his crew were quite willing to make on-the-fly adjustments to meet our needs/requests.
Some of the design elements we were eager to incorporate (a sliding queen trundle bed that disappears beneath a knee wall) required the utmost in creativity to engineer & execute well; the crew of workman designed & constructed a flawless mechanism for this purpose. 
Brett also takes great care to minimize the impact to daily living when your house is a construction zone. My wife, who was loath to take on another household project while she was pregnant, was very please by the courteous & mindful crew that transformed our third floor over the course of ~2 months.
In the end, the look on the faces of our visitors as we set them up in their 3rd floor suite says it all; they know just how much we appreciate that they have come to stay with us. My mother in-law even referred to it as the 'Waldorf Third-storia' last time she was our guest.

We had a fabulous experience with Brett and Element Worx.  He has done work for us in the past (built closet; replaced all the windows in the house; designed and built three-car garage) and we were happy to put him in charge of the blowing out the back of the house.  He gave excellent advice and guidance throughout the process. Neither my husband nor I are terribly detailed-oriented, and relied heavily on Brett's design sense in the design-stage and beyond, and other more technical recommendations throughout.
Brett is well-respected in Oak Park's Village Hall, which is an asset to any Oak Park homeowner trying to get a permit!
The entire project took four months, without the delays that we expected!  
He created a temporary kitchen in our dining room, complete with refrigerator, sink with running water, and oven.  It was awesome, and allowed for pretty much normal living throughout.  
Scope of project: we expanded the back of the house by 13 feet.  Brett worked with our architect to streamline the foundation design,  saving us a significant amount of money.  Enough, in fact, that we could replace the front concrete stoop with a beautiful front porch.  
Brett's associates are top-notch: the framers, electrician, plumber, and handymen (for lack of better term) were friendly, cleaned up after themselves, and were responsive if we either had questions or a last-minute request to change something.  We are very happy with the cabinet supplier - they were easy to work with, delivered goods on schedule, and proved a great value.  
We understand from friends who have gone through this that the punch-list can be problematic as most contractors have lost interest or have already moved on to the next project.  This wasn't an issue with Brett.  He work through our list without complaint.
He stayed on budget, and kept us informed about any changes due to unexpected issues or changes we asked for that deviated from the original proposal.  
Brett pulled off a total transformation.  We are thrilled with the new space.  We've had numerous people stop by and comment how fabulous the house now looks.

Brett Williams is beyond trustworthy, competent and conscientious.  He is an artist from vision through execution--without ever taking a keen eye off the budget .  His design for the project was beyond expectation and execution was quite flawless.   The vision applied to this project not only added much needed square footage to our home, but really created a wonderful space.  I never thought I'd 'love' a basement, but I do!
Element Worx blends off the shelf solutions--take advantage of Ikea cleverness, special finds, etc.--with hand milled elements for truly affordable yet custom solutions. Ikea workspaces, capped with custom butcher block (matched throughout the space) and corkboard wall covering are perfect for my school age girls.  A clever, custom built cabinet with sliding doors created a  beautiful laundry disguise.    Old radiator piping disappeared with the use of innovative tubing.  Element Worx provided solid electrical, plumping and structural skills and incorporates into really special areas.  The team was very open to my ideas, but transformed them above and beyond..
I have loads of cabinets, closets and cupboards and yet the feel of wide open space was created. Details such as molding, window casements, column design and lighting blend with other selections for a unique room.  It is functional, well-built, and truly lovely.    I really can not articulate the level of pleasure I have with the outcome of the project.  My friends and family are blown away, never having envisioned that this "after" could have been created from the before.
Once work commenced, the team was there everyday through completion.   The team moved items to the garage, built custom shelving to accommodate my junk and got right to work.  The work was done quickly, thoughtfully and neatly.  The crew is diligent, responsive and flexible.    Brett is patient, knowledgeable, and highly responsive.  Work was done faster than expected, the outcome was beyond my wildest dreams, and the budget stayed intact.   Really, Straight A work!

Our experience with them was excellent.  We are very happy with them.  This is the second time that we used them and the first time was two years ago.  They do great quality work.  They are really professional and all the subcontractors that they use do very high quality work.  We are really happy with the experience.  Through the course of any renovation, stuff come out but they are always very upfront about it whenever anything would come up.  They would kind of talk through potential solutions and work out a plan going forth with us which was great.

Great experience overall!  Brett communicates very clearly and has a great design aesthetic.  This was important to us as we want our house and garage to be in keeping with the style of the neighborhood, with a nod to Franky Lloyd Wright. 
Brett was prompt and professional and very fair in terms of pricing.  The garage was in sad sad shape and has been completely transformed looks new (once we powerwash the garage door).  They had the work done quickly and more importantly done right.
I look forward to working with Brett again in the (hopefully) near future.  I will recommend him to family and friends. 

The project went very well. It was much less invasive than we imagined it would be.
Brett is a collaborator, a creative thinker, and a careful problem solver. He is excellent to work with--he brings enthusiasm to his work, he is reliable, honest and trustworthy. What few small problems that did arise, Brett handled them calmly and without stress. We really couldn't think more highly of him than we do, and our appreciation for him grew as the project grew.

My husband and I purchased our first home together knowing that it needed extensive exterior renovation.  We have done light cosmetic work on our individual condos, but we had never engaged in a major renovation/restoration project. 
The home is a late 1800's Victorian.  It had a major renovation in the late 1990's, but the exterior work was of poor quality and was not maintained.  We almost didn't purchase the house because of the estimated repair cost to the exterior (up to $100,000 just for the outside!).  
We had multiple contractors bid out the project prior to even purchasing the home.  We went with a painter who worked with Brett, and that's how we were connected with him and his business. 
Brett has always been very practical and cost-conscious without sacrificing quality.  We would have broken the bank had we replaced as much as was recommended by other contractors.  While he did under-estimate the amount of repair that was going to be required, we also increased the scope of the work.  
We had to go back and make some repairs that we didn't anticipate as more wood was found to be rotted.  Some might fault him for not  picking this up the first time around, but our home is very large, and it would have been impossible to know how much damage was there from the start without inspecting every foot of the wood.  It would have been much easier to replace all the wood (which some people suggested), and probably more correct to replace more than we did, but we didn't fault him for trying to do only what was necessary.  When more was needed, or if there were problems with the first try, he came back to fix it.
We didn't anticipate renovating our living room up front, but we're really glad we went to the extra expense.  He was able to fit a band of crown molding to match the existing crown in our dining room that looks fantastic and like it's been there the whole time.  The fireplace is a true showpiece of wood paneling and marble, of which we're very proud.  The stone fabricators did fantastic work.
He was also thoughtful when dealing with little projects, like putting an access panel into our third floor.  He took an antique door and cut it in half.  It goes perfectly with the rest of the home in both style and finish color.
As first time renovators, we learned a lot.  The process was mostly as we expected, but we had an issue between our contractors that turned into an absolute nightmare for us. It involved a "he-said, she-said" fight regarding some major damage that was done to our new roof.   In the end, Brett was the most professional, reasonable, and reliable of the three.  We appreciated that he remained calm and straightforward during the very tense discussions.
We have quite a few projects left, and we will use his business again.

This was our first renovation and based on our experience with EW, we would do it all again. The whole process was smooth and as stress free as these things can be. The EW team was always punctual, responsive, honest, straight forward. The workmanship was top notch and they were incredibly professional.

We had just a vague sense of what we wanted for a new deck, but Brett
listened and came up with a beautiful and functional design. His workers
did great work, the materials look first-rate, and we really like the
look of the fence design. The big swinging gate we asked to be installed
ended up sticking after a few weeks, but soon after we called, his guys
came back out and fixed it. Very happy with the work.

Fantastic!  Brett and his team did exceptional quality work throughout the house.  They were clean, polite and very prompt.  Brett was able to point out opportunities to improve my plan or potential pitfalls in them.  Brett has a great eye for design and is happy to work with the style of the owner.  I will and have recommended Element Worx to several neighbors and will be using them again for my bathroom remodel.

Brett and his team are incredibly professional, efficient and talented. They exceeded our expectations and went the extra mile. I will hire them again for future projects.