I had a back porch violation from the city on a newly acquired house. I was very stressed out as I…read morehad to work with the city inspectors, alderman's office and appear in the court for the violation hearing etc. Hiring Tom for the 2 story porch reconstruction was the best decision I took. I talked to five other contractors for the same job. While Tom was not the cheapest I could find, he was the most credible and knowledgeable of all. He was able to explain how his cost was broken down and what my choices were with respect to reducing the cost of construction. After a few discussions, we were able to get the cost to match my best offer. He came across as the most skillful, patient and considerate during my interactions and was willing to work with my budget and constraints. During the work he was professional and punctual His crew was quiet and no nonsense workers. Having worked with other crews for different projects, I can very well say that Tom's was the best. I always able to feel comfortable to leave them at work without me being around. They were very well organized during their work, completed the work on time and left the work area clean and safe. Tom managed the city inspections. When the city inspector came back with additional items to be furnished related to the porch, Tom helped me complete the parts related to the porch and provided me suggestions to resolve the other unrelated ones. More than general contractor Tom is passionate person with genuine interest in his work and his customers. He is also actually a very interesting person who can speak intelligently about a wide a variety of subjects. Definitely a good sounding board if you want to bounce off your ideas. I would work with Tom on any of my future projects and I would highly recommend him to anyone as well.

Mastercraft built our 3 story back deck on a 100+ year old condo building. Everything went…read moresmoothly, from providing detailed plans through construction. Tom was especially responsive to any questions that arose during construction. He was also very accommodating on any changes or special requests we gave him.

Once we connected, Fred was extremely accommodating scheduling our job; his carpenters very…read morecareful, on-time and installation of fence was professional. I would recommend using Fred. Our townhouse association was also very pleased with his work

I'm a property manager and I recently hired the Fence Doctors to make repairs to a parking lot gate…read morethat had an unfortunate accident with a truck. Fred and his crew did an excellent job on the repair at a price that was very reasonable for the amount of work that was needed. I highly recommend them.

We were very happy with these guys. They were a referral from our next-door neighbors, who used…read morethem last year. We live in a bungalow and as far back as when we bought the house two years ago, our inspector flagged for us that the front walkway and side walkway were problems (incorrectly graded and sent water towards the foundation instead of away from it). Mario's Concrete did our side walkway straight through to the back alley, including the concrete pad in our backyard where the concrete wraps around to meet the back steps. They did it in only two days (with a team of five men) start to finish. I was amazed.

Shady business practices - I have them on video taking a piece of cracked concrete sidewalk and…read morepicking it up to create more damage, and displacing the chunk of sidewalk to put their flyer under and exaggerate the destruction. Shady, unethical, unnecessary and potentially dangerous.

Replaced a rickety enclosed back porch with a fantastic new deck. Frank and his crew did a…read morespectacular job and even repaired a post that exhibited some notable "checking" a year later free of charge. I highly recommend Mr. Porch.

This company took a month to do a job that took 2 days, I got an estimate for my back and front…read moreporch, the technician finished the back porch and then left I called the company back they didn't know he left It took weeks to reschedule in the meantime I failed my city inspection and had to reschedule that then came the incessant calls for payment on a job they didnt finish I am talking to multiple people that aren't talking to each other, worst experience ever! I will never use or recommend this company and I'm being generous with the 1 rating!

Absolutely would not recommend. The work done does not look professionally done. The mortar is…read moreoverlapping all of the bricks, there are chunks of mortar throughout so it doesn't have clean lines, and bricks were not replaced like my quote indicates. Ernie was a very nice guy and I've tried to work with him for the past month to get it corrected but despite him being immediately available to do the work initially, has not showed to come back now three times and will not return my calls or texts. Too bad these other reviews are so inaccurate or I wouldn't be looking for a new mason to fix this job. Update: I filed a Better Business Bureau complaint to help mediate this issue and the company has simply ignored it. I am now going through the process of taking this company to small claims court. What a nightmare this company is to work with, neve Response: My text was to the cleaning of the brick not the finished product. Ernie only replied to my BBB complaint after I posted an update to this review which has been the only means to get this businesses attention. I'm looking forward to getting this resolved. Happy to post more pictures than what is already shown below of the absolute abysmal quality and total lack of detail in the work. Huge chunks of space are absent in my wall as his team didn't replace bricks as the quotes indicates. Sections of the wall were not completed entirely with the response "Unable to reach or inaccessible". Explanations of him not coming out to resolve the issues included: "I lost my phone, couldn't come out". "Another excuse, Have another job at site won't be out" Which I received 2 minutes after the scheduled time. My review, details, and photos of the work speak for themselves. One of the worst contractors I've ever worked with.

I am disappointed to report that I had a very poor experience with this company after having high…read morehopes based on a few positive reviews. I sent them a yelp message around 4/11/18 and after hearing back from Donna, an owner, that Ernie would contact me for a proposal I never heard back. I followed up about three times to let Donna know Ernie hadn't contacted me and she indicated he had a personal situation that he was tending to. I understand things like that; however, it speaks volumes about the way they perform business when after so many attempts by me, the consumer, to follow up and the owner never contacted me. Worth noting, I believe Ernie is the owner / operator of the business. They have had my contact info (email and phone, as well as address) since the original correspondence yet never tried to make amends for blowing off commitments to come estimate or not calling when they said they would. I contacted them on 4/11 and after a month of back and forth messages from Donna saying that Ernie would call me, then not calling me, I tried once more. I messaged them on 5/7/18 and said I was willing to give it one more opportunity for an estimate because their other reviews were good and because I was trying to be mindful to whatever Ernie was dealing with but THEY NEVER REPLIED or called as of 6/2/18. I hope the owners see this message and take ownership for their actions and that they improve upon fulfilling the commitments they make moving forward as a result. In small business America you cannot lead people along regarding when you will come out or call back. It was a blessing for me in retrospect - imagine if I'd have given them my business and had an issue that needed their attention after they had been paid. If it was this difficult to reach them to obtain an estimate imagine how hard it would have been to get them to call me about a potential work defect or warranty issue.

We had a wonderful experience working with Oak Brothers to restore basically all the windows in our…read moreturn-of-the-century Victorian house in Chicago. We picked Oak Brothers because they are among the few left who do this kind of work and they are artists of this craft. These days many people choose to get rid of beautiful original windows in favor of new windows. We didn't want to do that because we know the original windows are much better quality and built to last much longer than such new windows, not to mention that they look better, and they just needed to be restored. Oak Brothers is a small team that is in high demand, so there was a significant lead time for our project, but we decided it was worth the wait because we felt no one else in the Chicagoland area could match their expertise, skill, and attention to detail. Oak Brothers restored the main double-hung windows around the house as well as our basement casement windows and several art glass windows. Besides restoring their structure and function (plus installing upgraded weather-seals), they did a meticulous job of removing the paint on both the windows themselves and the window jambs. They stained and varnished everything to match the rest of our newly refinished woodwork. They also replaced rotted window sills, transformed fixed into operable windows, and arranged to have our stained-glass windows cleaned and re-cemented. We never knew how dirty the stained-glass window at the top of our first-floor stairwell were before they were cleaned. Oak Brothers paid as much attention to aesthetics as they did to structural and functional issues. For example, Jeff worked patiently with us to get all the window hardware re-plated so it matches the original copper patina we found on the few sash pulls that still had the original finish. He then went the extra mile to source screws and finishing washers that match the patina on the hardware. The end result is that the windows are a perfect aesthetic fit for the rest of the house. We really appreciated Jeff and his team's care and hard work throughout the process. Jeff has the kind of expert knowledge of his craft that is very rare these days. Pat and Jude, besides the high level of skill they brought to the job, were extremely gracious and kind as they worked on the windows while we and two small kids were living in the house, and they took great care not only in their work but also in helping manage dust and debris. We are greatly enjoying the beautiful results of their work now that it is complete. We offer our highest recommendation for Oak Brothers.

Oak Brothers did an excellent job restoring nine double hung windows in our home, including finish…read moreremoval and refinishing for all of the windows with a stained and varnished finish. A previous owner had painted over the frames and windows, to the point that they were difficult to open and after years of neglect somewhat unsightly. The end result is absolutely beautiful, down to the hardware and chains. They also did a wonderful job restoring the finish on our front door, sanding and painting our railing, and installing upgraded weather-seals in a sunroom door. The most impressive work was their restoration of our second floor facade-facing bay of windows which contains a lovely stained glass design that spreads across three windows. Oak Brothers removed the windows, re-cemented the glass, and fixed some cracked panes. The windows are much improved and we plan to do the same for another stained glass window. Throughout the process, Jeff and his team were attentive and responsive. Jeff is passionate about restoration, and his wealth of knowledge gave us new ideas for elsewhere in the home. He has become someone we turn to when considering other improvements or restorations. He even came back two years later to repair what turned out to be a bent piece of weather-stripping that was causing a sash to be inoperable. While the source of the problem was a misplaced piece of hardened epoxy that had caused a piece of metal weather-stripping to get bent, he did not charge us for the repair. We plan to work with Oak Brothers in the future for more restoration on our home and highly recommend them for restoration work.

Rebuild chimney and fix cracked brick wall. Also inspected fireplace. Excellent work done on both…read moreprojects!

Midland Masonry rebuilt our fireplace. They removed 25 year old mirrors and installed a stone…read moreveneer face, along with a new mantel and hearth. We couldn't be happier with how it turned out. Midland, and their crew, were outstanding to work with. Top quality work.

Fortune was the more economical (vs an architect) but still historically-minded option when we…read moreneeded to restore our 140-year-old home's facade. Still a significant investment (!), but worth every cent. The team was extremely professional start to finish, from the communication with the scheduler/office staff to the artisans actually doing the work/painting. They left the work site spotless every single day, which we extra appreciated after having the opposite experience with another contractor who did the interior reno. The before and after photo speaks for itself-- our home is stunning and we are grateful for the team for their attentive, painstaking work. It was covered in aluminum siding from the 1960s when we got it, wood rotting beneath, and now the original materials (cedar shingles), in the original configuration wow once again.

Needed window work (exterior painting, wells, trim, windows, some glazing and a few panes replaced)…read moreon a 1927 brick 3 story. I called Fortune because, after working in Wilmette for years, I've seen the incredible prep work they do on huge jobs. Prep is EVERYTHING! Pete Fortune came out to look, was very nice, knowledgeable and didn't blow off my (compared to their work I've seen) small job. I had other quotes and theirs was the top but not out of line. Ended up looping in their construction team to fix the garage doors and jambs and they are top-notch! Everything is finished, work is BEAUTIFUL, the crew was a joy and Pete is a mensch! FYI, the 4 year warranty on work, fact that they pay their guys fairly and their workman's comp insurance add serious value for a homeowner. Will be calling Pete about tuck pointing next year.