CONNEELY CONTRACTING

Partnered with Marty Conneely and his crew to complete a full home restoration and refurbishment of a wonderful property located in Arlington Heights – the results are stunning, the craftsmanship exceeded expectations and the service and support by his Team throughout the project were exceptional (we lived in property throughout the project). In the end Conneely Contracting gave new life our 1905 home by incorporating modern technology and building materials into a seamless design to accommodate today’s family lifestyles. The results speak for themselves. This was an extensive, once in a lifetime restoration project where quality and craftmanship mattered. We interviewed over a dozen design/build contractors and chose Marty because of his straight, no-nonsense approach – we agreed with a handshake. Trust, integrity, service, quality, craftsmanship, value – Marty and his Team delivered.

Marty Conneely and the entire Conneely Contracting team were an INCREDIBLE pleasure to work with from start to finish on our home renovation project. I truly cannot say enough about how phenomenal they are, by far more professional and reliable and thorough than any other contractor we have ever worked with. The warm, intelligent, and generous owner himself provided expert and intelligent design consultation to start the project off and was always available for questions or consultation throughout the process. Our project manager was always on the ball, very kind, and seemed to be an efficient and expert manager of his team. The team of specialists they worked with (drywall, framing, plumbing, electric, etc.) were consummate professionals and highly skilled. The Conneely team provided computer designed/measured layouts, including virtual representations of the space including paint colors and tile design that allowed us to tweak things in advance of construction, and also allowed for clear communication within the team about exactly what needed to be done. They showed up when they said they were going to, communicated well, worked efficiently while there, were unbelievably clean (amazing containment of dust, even mopping at the end of each day!), completed the project in a timely way, and were always friendly and patient. I recommend them unequivocally and enthusiastically and have already hired them again!

End result was exactly what I wanted, and the whole Conneely team was great to work with.

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Connelly is a little more money but they do really good work and respond to emails!
They took longer than expected because they were doing such a good job. The painting guy was immaculate. Carpentry was good. They sub contracted the drywall out to Patrick Hourihan (local) but it was handled well and Hourihan's guys were excellent.

They were really great. After a large storm took down a tree and damaged our deck, they helped us out with the repair job.

Conneelly was great to work with and they are first on our list for any future projects. We are thrilled with the bathroom and have received many compliments on it. Eric the project manager was very professional. We had a few strange requests and had some trouble deciding on a few things. Eric + the team were very patient and helped us understand options and limitations. The work was completed on-time and on-budget. The subcontractors including electrical, plumbing, and tile were all friendly, punctual, clean, and professional. As with many large projects there were a few glitches (in our case, the main one was related to the house's steam heat). Connelly resolved the problem quickly and completely. Paula in the office was wonderful to work with. Like the rest of the team she was patient, punctual, and professional.

They estimate came back and was summed. They were very thorough. They kept to the budget. It was good. They were prompt with their service. They were kind of hard to get booked. When we got the estimate, we had to wait for 2 or 3 months; but once they did the work, we were happy with the results. They did leave a tiny bit of a mess, but we asked them to come back and cleaned it up. They did come back. They are a more on the expensive side.

Conneely Contracting's work was excellent, from the on-staff carpenters and laborers, to the the sub-contractors, Conneely's project manager, and Marty Conneely himself, who brought his terrific design sense. Highlights included: Marty's reconceptualization of our third-floor attic space, which greatly improved upon our architectural plans; very high quality finish carpentry, which included some tricky trim work and several built-in elements; the responsiveness, attentiveness, and attention to detail of the project manager, who was easily reachable by email and phone; attention to budget, so that we were able to squeeze out the most for our money and make informed decisions about potential changes to the plan; very high quality work by all the subcontractors (plumber, electrician, plasterer, and painter); responsiveness and willingness to redo work when we raised questions or concerns; and a very strong customer service orientation by all involved. As I imagine it to be with most big projects, the work didn't always stick to schedule, but we were extremely pleased with the result, and would recommend Conneely Contracting without reservation.

This company is led by Martin Conneely who is an extraordinary carpenter in his own right. He is hands on and leads a kind and responsible crew. He has a great business ethic and I have always felt that I could find him for any question during the course of the projects.
I also find his office manager, Paula, indispensable. She always answers the phone, and on the rare occasion you have to leave a message, she calls you back asap.
His staff is talented, respectful, and timely.

They did beautiful work! They had been recommended by the local Arlington Coal and Lumber people, so that was a good recommendation. The double hung windows went in very quickly indeed. They are Harvey tilt-in vinyl windows, and we love them! They are clean, easy to clean, and don't leak, and no peeling paint. The other windows were big heavy things, and they had to be framed in. Their carpenters were very competent, even down to matching our trim paint to the actual colors of our existing walls. They look like they've always been there, we should have done this years ago. I would hire them again, and in fact, I am trying to get some other jobs done around the house. I would say that you should hire them, but give them some lee-way around scheduling. I gave them the key, and they just came and went at their convenience for a month or so, as things tended to come up. They always cleaned up after themselves, always left the house in a completely usable condition. Be a little flexible with them and you will like the results, in my opinion.

They were excellent. They cleaned up after themselves and all that good stuff.

We obtained four estimates for the two projects - enclosing the porch and re-doing the kitchen/bath. Conneely's estimates were very competitive with the others, but what we really liked about Conneely was that Martin talked through the job thoroughly and offered ideas that we hadn't considered. The other contractors we interviewed merely recorded what we said and priced out the materials plus labor, whereas Martin considered the design challenges and offered solutions that added value but not cost. For example, when we were enclosing the small porch, he suggested a cathedral ceiling and a ceiling fan to help the space feel bigger. When we discussed the bathroom, he suggested rotating the layout to allow for the more open feel in the hallway that we wanted.

All of Conneely's crew were friendly and professional. If any detail was lost track of, a quick call to Paula in the office or an email to Martin righted everything.

Conneely's responsiveness didn't end when the job was finished. Several months after the kitchen project was completed, when our heating came on for the winter we had a heating pipe leak in the new space. Although it was not an emergency situation, Martin replied to the email within an hour on a holiday weekend, and the plumber arrived Monday morning to fix the problem.

After reviewing several proposals from various contractors, we choose Conneely Contracting to do a total renovation of our kitchen.  We were impressed by Martin Conneely's easy going style and his creativity and new ideas that the other contractors did not bring to the table.  Rather than give us a price for what we thought we wanted, he asked "what if we do this".  His ideas showed that he had taken the time to assess the space, our objectives and provide options he thought would best meet our needs.
We have been totally satisfied.  The job was done on time, within budget and we are thoroughly satisfied. We have received numerous compliments on the finished product.  Martoin's team was very professional and did thier best to minimize any disruptions to our family.  Even in the demolition phase, there was minimal disruption, dust, noise, etc.
Since the kitchen renovation, we have asked Martin to do two more projects.  Both exceeded our expectations and we are extremely happy with the results.

I fully endorse Conneely Contracting.

Overall, we are happy with the work. We've lived with it for 2 years now and have noticed some small problems, but nothing too major (see below). Concrete footings were dug and poured, the deck was framed with pressure treated pine, and either ipe or garapa was used for all visible surfaces to create a two-tone effect. We had originally wanted a cable system beneath the railings, but Martin (the company owner) talked us out of it in favor of metal balusters. I'm not exactly sure why he decided it was a bad idea (cost? difficulty? safety?), but we are happy with the result. A few minor issues came up along the way (as they would with any contractor), but they were dealt with quickly. We are also fairly particular about details, and Martin's team responded to all our concerns very politely and professionally. Over the past 2 years the only negative things we've noticed are a couple of minor carpentry issues, but they are really just cosmetic. Also, the HVAC subcontractor did kind of a sloppy job; if we had noticed this 2 years ago we would have pointed it out to Conneely and I'm sure they would have fixed it. Basically, we really love the deck and our only regret is that we did not build a bigger one!