Avid Construction (Joe Tracz) is nothing more than a complete scam. Joe will give you a great quote, and tell you everything you need to hear until you give him a deposit. Once he has your money, he will do as little as he can to string you along for as long as possible, and even try to get more money before doing any work. He has no credit anywhere, and any of the trades that need work bad enough to work for him, require money up front the day of job. That is almost unheard of in this industry (especially for someone with 25 years in the business), but gives you a good idea of how many people he has burned in the past. If you want to end up in court trying to sue a deadbeat contractor, go ahead and hire Avid Construction, otherwise, you would be better off with just about any other Lake County contractor. You should also remember the name Joe Tracz, because I am sure he will need to start a new company soon! It is a shame that someone can do business like this with very little repercussions.

Every nightmare you hear about bad contractors is Avid Construction and then some. Avid Construction Inc. has left my home uninhabitable. My addition was quoted at 4-6 months and is not finished after 19 months!!! No heat or running water to parts of the house, no working shower/bath! After getting your money Joe Tracz and his crew will only work one or two days a week to not showing up at all for weeks! Calls and texts go unanswered and if he does answer it’s only to give excuses and drag it out further. I’ve lost count of dates given and no one shows up. Avid has NO respect for your property! His crew used my personal items and left my property unsecured on numerous occasions. Many broken items in my home. He will not return calls to the city building department. I have received letters from sub-contractors about non-payment from Joe! I’ve had to hire an attorney and will have to turn to the courts to right all of Avid Constructions wrongs! Dealing with Avid Construction was the WORST contractor decision I have ever made! If I could give a negative rating I would.

Every nightmare you hear about bad contractors is Avid Construction and then some. Avid Construction Inc. has left my home uninhabitable. My addition was quoted at 4-6 months and is not finished after 19 months!!! No heat or running water to parts of the house, no working shower/bath! After getting your money Joe Tracz and his crew will only work one or two days a week to not showing up at all for weeks! Calls and texts go unanswered and if he does answer it’s only to give excuses and drag it out further. I’ve lost count of dates given and no one shows up. Avid has NO respect for your property! His crew used my personal items and left my property unsecured on numerous occasions. Many broken items in my home. He will not return calls to the city building department. I have received letters from sub-contractors about non-payment from Joe! I’ve had to hire an attorney and will have to turn to the courts to right all of Avid Constructions wrongs! Dealing with Avid Construction was the WORST contractor decision I have ever made! If I could give a negative rating I would.

After the walls and ceiling were finished, I had difficulty contacting the company. I left messages that weren't returned. Or they would call and say they were coming, but they never showed up. This went on for more than 2 months. It was very stressful for me. Finally, a subcontractor came to lay the carpet. Then back to no response. I finally left a message and then sent a certified letter telling them their lack of resonse and not finishing the job after 6 months breached the "to be finished in a timely manner" part of the contract and I would be hiring someone else to finish the job. I told them I considered them paid in full. They didn't respond, so I hired someone else who finished everything within 48 hours.

JOE TRACZ WAS EASY TO WORK WITH, RESPONSIVE TO MY NEEDS, AND NOT AT ALL HIGH-PRESSURE. HE HAS MANY GREAT CREDENTIALS, INCLUDING CERTIFIED AGING-IN-PLACE SPECIALIST. I HIRED HIM WITHOUT GETTING ESTIMATES FROM ANYONE ELSE, BECAUSE HE WAS SO LOW-KEY, HONEST, AND QUALIFIED. ALL HIS WORKMEN WERE PLEASANT, HIGHLY COMPETENT, AND RESPONSIVE. THEY HAD TO WORK AROUND THE MANY CONSTRAINTS OF MY HEALTH PROBLEMS, WHICH WASN'T EASY FOR THEM (OR FOR ME), BUT THEY MADE IT AS EASY ON ME AS POSSIBLE. JOE AND DAVE WERE ALWAYS QUICK TO REPLY TO MY CALLS, ANSWER MY QUESTIONS CHEERFULLY, AND TREAT ME WITH RESPECT AND FRIENDLINESS. THEY NEVER SUGGESTED THAT I DO OTHER THINGS UNLESS I ASKED ABOUT THEM. I NEVER FELT PRESSURED TO ADD THINGS TO BE DONE. THEY ALWAYS CLEANED UP AFTER THEMSELVES EACH DAY, AND THEY HAULED AWAY ALL TRASH FROM THE JOB. THIS WAS MY FIRST EXPERIENCE HIRING SOMEONE FOR SUCH A LARGE JOB, AND I'M GLAD I FOLLOWED MY INSTINCTS AND WENT WITH JOE AND AVID CONSTRUCTION!