Global Home Improvement

I'm very please with the final outcome. Stanley remodeled our master bathroom about two years ago, so we had every faith that he would do a good job on our kitchen. We had no intention of using anyone else once we were ready to move forward. I didn't want to pay for expensive cabinets. The estimates ranged from $10,000 to $18,000. I refused to spend that kind of money on some cabinets. I wanted to put that expense into upgrading our appliances, the back splash and some special touches. So, I convinced my husband to go with IKEA cabinets, especially since they were having their semi-annual 20% off kitchen promotion. Anyone who's familiar with putting together IKEA anything knows that everything comes in a multitude of parts and pieces. The thought of how many of these would be included in a kitchen was well beyond anything I could have imagined. Initially, we were going to let IKEA install the cabinets. They quoted us $3,300 for a kitchen that is 15' 1/2" by just over 11' 1/2". This was installation only and didn't include the cost of the cabinets or any other materials. Stan saved us that money by having his guys put the cabinets together. There was more than 700 lbs in the first delivery. There should have been only one delivery, but then that's a hole other IKEA story. Stan even drove out to IKEA, 35 miles from our house, to pick up the brackets used to attach the cabinets to the wall, which was left out of our order. Our original kitchen sink had double bowls, but we sacrificed this convenience to gain additional corner cabinet space with a lazy Susan. The sink we purchased was deeper than the standard IKEA sink, which after it was installed, bumped up against cabinet door's hinges and prevented them from closing. The guys moved the hinges down and filled in the pre-cut holes in the door, which I thought was a nice extra touch that I didn't ask them to do. We felt comfortable enough to leave the workers in our home alone on almost a daily basis. The only stressful part of the remodel was it took longer than we had planned, but this was due to issues and delays that were beyond Stan's or our control. We are now planning on remodeling the living room and two bedrooms on the floor as the kitchen, and hope to have Stan do the work. I've seen complaints about Stan not getting back to initial inquiries in a timely manner, which is true. I've experienced this withe kitchen remodel. There was some delay in Stan getting back to us when we initially reached out to him. I told him he needs some admin help. However, he's very responsive once you do make contact. All I can say is that the quality is worth the initial wait. If you can be patient, you will be glad you were.

Things started off slowly as it took awhile to start the job from the initial contact. But, once it began, the worker, Mario, was wonderful and was diligent and creative in laying the tiles and creating a beautiful, eye-popping new bathroom. The hiccups that marked the start of the project were all forgotten with the beautiful final product and the overall professional job. I carry pictures of the bathroom on my I-Pad to show it off as if it were a child. That's how proud I am of it.

We had multiple estimates and they quoted the best price for what we wanted done and Stanley was very responsive at returning email/calls so we chose to go with him. As mentioned by others, the costs mentioned above were installation only so we had to pay for the fixtures. The project was delayed for about a month due to their scheduling difficulties, but once it began, Pauel was punctual about coming every day to make sure the project moved along and got done right. Pauel worked overtime to get the bathroom to the point where our kids could have a functioning toilet and sink when they visited for thanksgiving. The overall project included removing all existing fixtures and replacing with new. This included new shower, shower fixtures, bench in the shower, toilet, vanity, sinks, lights, medicine cabinets, and fan as well tiling on the floor, in the shower area, closet, and a backsplash. This required new wiring for the new lights and new plumbing to switch from a single sink to dual sinks. We also switched from a tub to a walk-in shower. The project also included several "extras" that we were not expecting but definitely made the project turn out better. Pauel installed a new subfloor to make sure everything was level and even for the floor. He added some trim to the tiling that made the edges look perfect (much better than we got in a previous bathroom done a few years ago). He added an extra electrical outlet to make it more convenient relative to the second sink. When he built the bench he built a metal structure to make sure it would not settle and crack over time. He also took the time and effort to make sure all of the tile lined up exactly; everything is level, every line is straight, every partial tile in the closet is balanced symmetrically. We are getting a custom glass shower door installed from a different vendor and he commented how well our contractor did in making everything square and level. Pauel also made sure to give us a warning of what he was planning at each step. Rather than saying "I need to know how high you'd like the shower", he'd say, I'll need to know how high you'd like the shower tomorrow, so think about it this evening". He also was careful to warn us in advance of when he needed to turn off the water. We had a few small changes from the original quote, but these were very reasonable and consistent with the price and quality of the project. There were no surprises when it came time to settle the final bill.

Mr. Klimes had contractors do the work but they were excellent. Mr. Klimes went with me to select the tiles and faucets but he paid for it with his credit card which was unusual. He took the measurement of the space for the vanity cabinet . However, he didn't consider the area where the vent on the floor by the vanity cabinet. So I had to purchase several vanity cabinets to fit in the area. The last one was special order. I kept all boxes of products purchased in case of returns. The one vanity that he pick up that I couldn't use he said that since I didn't have the box I was stuck with it. I told him I had the receipt and box so he deducted the amount from the final bill. I am still waiting for the second coat of paint for the bathroom. He wanted to apply the second coat but it was real, real late at night and he was there since morning. Therefore, I said no it's too late come back later. The workers were exceptional and meticulous . You just have to save all receipt and boxes before the work is complete.

Angies List is here for HONEST reviews and I intend to give my full review. They are not bathroom remodelers they are bathroom installers. What I mean by that is they install whatever you bought. If you don't have it you need to buy it. I bought tile, grout, paint, sealer, toliet, mirror you get the picture. This is fine and totally acceptable. What isn't fine is them not discussing placement of anything until they do it. Not looking over everything we bought to see if it is going to work. The job took 4 weeks and we still don't have everything done. When they ran into a problem they said this is no good and everything was pushed back a day or two. Its like they did it on purpose to buy them time. They made me feel like complete s*** and my fault for every problem they encountered. It was super stressful and not professional at all. I am not a bathroom installer and i am pretty sure they come across all the problems I had with my bathroom in other houses. All they said was no problem we fix..... sure you fix it but it took another week and then another week and each time they had to fix something they told me I needed to communicate with them...... Almost all the problems could have been fixed if they would have took 30 minutes before starting the remodel to look over everything and make sure it was correct or even to discuss placement. Below is the problems. I bought a rain shower head and when they installed it was too low and I had to call to make them move it up. I bought the wrong size toilet but they never said anything just installed it, but never turned the water on or bolted it to the floor, i had to call to get that fixed. I ran out of tile multiple times and had to make 5 trips to the store, again i am not a bathroom installer they are. I had them take down a cabinet because it looked wrong and they made me feel terrible for it. Then I had to sand and repaint. Had to move the outlet because it was too low. Not once but 3 times for the outlet, cause the tiles were in the way. Had to move the mirror lighting lines up because when the were putting the mirror up it was in the way... again should have seen it way before the day they were going to hang it. Never painted behind the mirror just put the mirror up and covered it up. There is a hole behind the sink you can see downstairs but since the sink covered it up they didn't do anything... they could have put a board up or something so their wasn't a hole. Plumber never cleaned up after running pipes and got purple plumbers adhesive on my bathroom floor downstairs and on my tiles. When they installed the new subfloor they never cleaned out the exhaust fan from the downstairs bathroom and it is filled with wood and debris. Never sweeped up after running electric lines and pipes in my laundry room adjacent to my bathroom i had to clean it all up. What they didn't finish..... 5 weeks later... When I bought the new toilet they installed it but never caulked around the base and it rocks when you sit on it... I would have to call to get this fixed but I am done, I am calling a real plumber. They didn't install my toilet paper roll. They didn't caulk around the tub, the shower corner walls, sink, toilet, and around the one wall. They said they would come back but I am done. UPDATE: Been two weeks and the tub is now leaking into the laundry room.

We arranged with Stanley to remodel a full bathroom -- did not relocate any fixtures, just updated it. We had a built-in cabinet adjacent to the shower plumbing, which I wanted to keep, repaint and reinstall. I wanted to add electrical outlets and lights, I added a built-in wall shelf beside the vanity and a built-in tile shelf in the shower. We raised the height of the showerhead and removed the shower soffit. We replaced the ceiling fan/light with a more powerful one, and added or replaced insulation. I also wanted ambient lighting placed underneath the vanity. Raphael did most of the work. He emptied the room and removed drywall and tiles on 3 walls, and removed the ceramic tile floor. He removed the built-in cabinet for repainting. He even removed the bathtub -- all by himself! It went very quickly. He protected our hardwood floors and stairs and cleaned up daily. They stored the tear-outs in our garage and removed them at the end of the job. I chose the tub, vanity, toilet, vanity top, faucets, towel bar, tiles, TP holder, etc. I carried some of the small things home with me, but Stanley picked up the large items after I gave him the purchasing information. Stanley chose the ceiling fan/light and he chose exactly what I liked -- fan, light, nightlight. Perfect! GHI wired it all up and upgraded our switch. Raphael installed the ambient lighting under the vanity and added a hidden touch-switch that is convenient for our grandson. Never having done a bathroom remodel before, Stanley and Raphael gave me advice on picking some of these things out. I chose the wall tiles, but wasn't sure how to use them to show them off at their best. There were 2 styles -- some were small mosaic glass. Raphael said, don't worry, I'll make it look nice. He really did! It was better than I would have guessed it would be. I have seen some bad glass tile installations, so I know that there's a right way to put these in. Raphael put them in the right way. He also wrapped tile along the floor edge instead of using wood moldings. For the final touches, we had Raphael install the TP and towel bars. I wish I had him put up a permanent shower curtain rod, but I hadn't thought of that. He would let me know what time he will be back and there was only 1 time when he was sick and didn't show up. Stanley came out every couple days and checked on the job. They finished as they promised, just before our family reunion about 3 weeks later. They cleaned up all the debris and wiped down the bathroom dust/dirt before they left. The trap under the sink leaked about 2 weeks later, but I called Stanley and he came right out. He said that this occasionally happens with new plumbing. It hasn't leaked since. We are very happy and enjoying our newly updated bathroom. We took advantage of his bathroom special, and because of the upgrades, it was more than the special allowed, but we knew what the costs would be and still well worth the upgrades. We plan to have GHI update our master bathroom in 2015.

Overall the work was good, but took longer than expected. The bathroom looks beautiful in the end. Stanley addressed any mistakes and made sure it was perfect in the end.

Gutted old fixtures, pipes and installed new pipes, created a shower – laid floor tiles, new bath, toilet, sink, mirror, painted, installed door. Fantastic job!!

Great value for the price. Took a little longer than originally anticipated due to the need to remove layers of old tile. Performed job in a professional manner.

Rafael is great at tile work. He is polite, professional and respectful of my house. He cleaned up his mess every day and told me of his progress and next steps.

The remodel required some changes to our plumbing. Walls and floors were removed. They installed tile floors and even painted as well. It went wonderfully. I really liked the worker that was in our home as he was very trustworthy.

I thought the guy was very nice and knowledgeable and hopefully it will be reflected in his work. They quoted me under $5,000.

I was very happy because Stanly always answered to my phone call, was ready to fix any mistakes and apologized when the work was slightly late. definitely I will recommend his service.

Here's what went well: Replaced and leveled floor. Rerouted baseboard register to be a floor register. Removed soffit above the tub/shower. Rerouted ventilation fan out of tub/shower to middle of bathroom ceiling. Replaced old, nasty window in shower with new, slightly larger one - installation seems well done (Note: GHI will leave you no time to order anything, including a decent window. If you want something other than the cheapest stock item at Home Depot, work that out in advance.) Removed two can lights, installed a nice light fixture. Tiled tub surround and one wall. I am mostly pleased with precise cut and placement and tiny grout lines. Installed new toilet. Installed recessed medicine cabinet. Installed new door and framing. Everyone that came into my house (total of 4 men) were nice and trustworthy. Here's what didn't go as I would have liked: -My biggest disappointment with the job concerns the tile. Along every edge, where the bullnose tile (should) meet the drywall, there is a 1/4" to 1/2" ledge of grout/tile compound/I don't know what. None of the bullnose pieces come close to meeting the drywall. It is particularly bad on a wall that needed to be "leveled." It looks weird and like I did the work instead of a professional. To make matters worse, the sandy-ness catches dust, dirt and paint. I've come to terms with the fact that this is how my bathroom turned out, but for this reason I would not recommend this company. -The bathroom vanity was not centered under the mirror. -The sink faucet was not centered on the sink. Stanley hit it twice with his fist and told me the sink was drilled off center. I removed the faucet myself, today, in order to begin the return process. The sink is not drilled off center. -The painting was one of the last things done and it was not done well. The lines are not straight and we have paint on our new travertine floor as well as splattered on the aforementioned grout ledges. -The very last thing they did was "install" a new drain in the tub. They yanked the center post out of the previous drain and sealed a new one on top. Despite waiting 24 hours for "sealant" to dry, it came right off. I felt like it was poorly done, and the worker was just ready to be done with my job. -The original job took 14 working days. Much longer than originally quoted. -The original quote said they would take care of all the trash which they did not. Lastly, this happened: several days after the bathroom was "finished," I noticed paint bubbling in room directly beneath the "new" bathroom. Stanley came out right away and yanked off the tub faucet pieces (never resealed them back on) before finally determining that it was the plumbing in our drain that was at fault. Stanley and I disagreed over whose "fault" it was. Me: it was working fine before the work, now it's not. Stanley: the plumbing was old, could have gone at any time - I should pay. I paid. But not happily. Yet again, I was stuck at home waiting on workers to show up, new workers who showed entire hours after I was told they would arrive. Yet again, we could not use our main bathroom and the work dragged on for another week. The "plumber" who came did in fact install a new drain this time, properly, but not before he left permanent scratches on my tub. And again I got THE CHEAPEST item sold at Home Depot. The screws on the overflow drain are already rusting. You get the point where you don't even care, you just want them out of your house. Summary: Our tiny, heavily used bathroom looks a much better than it did previously, but due to a lack of attention to detail, I cannot recommend this company.

He was very punctual and did an excellent job. If I had questions he called me immediately and answered them accordingly. He was extremely dependable and very friendly. The kitchen is beautiful and was exactly what I had envisioned. I could not have asked for a better outcome.

High quality conscientious workmanship at a reasonable price. They added some tasteful color to the mortar mix and went over the entire front of the house rather than just repair the cracks, so the result looks better than I was expecting. Did some patching on my detached brick garage I had forgotten to ask for, too! Cleaned up after themselves.

They did an excellent job on the bathroom and I was very impressed on how wonderful it looked when they were done. They gave me an estimated time frame in which they would be done and hit that target. Mario stayed late one day to finish some things and even came back on Sunday to finish everything up. I had a problem with a small leak in the bathroom sink and after getting touch with Stanley he told me Mario would be in contact with me to stop by and take a look. Mario came back and took care of the leak and also told me he was working ten minutes away if I had any more issues. The bathroom looks amazing and everyday when I walk in there it brings a smile to my face to see what a little remodel will do for a room!!! I would definitely recommend Stanley and his crew for any projects that you may have!!! I wish I had the ability to attach pictures of the before and after as I believe it is simply amazing!!!

My main disappointment on this job was that after making a downpayment in February, the actual work did not start until May. We had to wait an extra three weeks in that time for parts that should have been ordered earlier. I know that this company has a very busy schedule, but I think the parts ordering could have been done better. Once the parts were on site, the work moved along quite well. Pavel installed the bathrooms in a professional and high quality manner. When there were questions on the bathroom layout, Pavel brought them to me and we came to an agreement before proceeding. The two bathrooms were done in a little over three weeks doing one at a time which I thought was a reasonable construction time for this job.

Very good. Replaced cast iron tub with new tub and wall shower. Replaced toilet and sink. Installed cabinet. Tiled tub enclosure walls and floor and painted rest of walls. Excellent job.

Excellent! Outstanding work, especially the tile work! Could not be happier with results. Stanley and Paul were great to work with. Paul worked very hard and to build the bathroom of our dreams. He made recommendations on the flow of the mosaic and advised us on the stain for the trim. The attention to detail was astounding! He made sure we were absolutely thrilled with each days' progress. We highly recommend them and we will definitely call them in the future. Other companies wanted to charge unreasonable sums and some said they were willing to cut their prices in order to get our business. Stanley was straight forward from the start and based on reviews, we felt this company would do a good job; but they did an excellent job at a very reasonable price. We highly recommend them and we will definitely call them in the future!

When had inspection to buy the property, the inspector made me notice that bathrooms needed some caulking and grauting repair. Although I could have done the caulking my self I was not confident about doing the grauting. The worker came told me that only caulking was needed. I hope that what it was. It took some time to be able to arrange for the service.

I bought this deal 2 months ago and it has been three weeks since the last time I was able to get ahold of them. They said their services covered the whole area, but they must strictly work in the Chicago. It seems like they are over booked or I must be out of their service area. I am going to find another contractor to complete this work.

The end result is nothing short of amazing. The workmanship and precision is outstanding, and we couldn't be happier with the work, thoroughness, and materials used. Excellent attention to detail - I tend to be very picky and exacting, and I had no complaints; if anything the work was more comprehensive than I'd expected. Work was also completed extremely quickly. Many contractors will string out a job for weeks as people come in and out and work other projects in parallel. Not Stanley - his crew had everything done from start to finish in five days, and no corners were cut along the way. It really shows what a consistent crew working in earnest can accomplish. Not only would we use him again, but we have on a separate project (painting an entire floor). The only downside to such singular focus is it may take a while to schedule the work - Stanley is one busy guy. For this project it took a month and a half to schedule, although the other project was scheduled next day (!), so there's definite variability. However, I'd much rather wait a bit for work to begin and have it done right and fast, than have people arrive quickly, but then drag out the working period or cut corners along the way. Stanley's a gem, and he'll be handling all of our future home improvement projects!

The service provider stated that he cannot look at my project for about six weeks. I have accepted these terms. I did not know Big Deals are prepaid to Angie’s List regardless of whether the customer has agreed to the contract with the service provider. I am not comfortable with this situation and have requested a refund from Angie’s List. I will work with the service provider directly regarding this deal. I am only disputing the step from Angie’s List of prepaid service. It’s an inconvenience. The man was honest up front and he stated he had other projects to complete before looking at mine. He was personable. Based on the recommendations from Angie’s List I would use the service provider in the future.

Was on time, Mario worked very hard and was very meticulous to get things done perfectly. Cleaned up everything when job was completed.