Yikes!!!! STAY AWAY FROM THIS CONTRACTOR…read more We contracted with them to do a very simple job of installing trim on our kitchen cabinets. However, when they were done they left a very large and unsightly gap at the top of the trim that was installed. I was told this was due to the unevenness of the counter tops. Normally, irregularities would be discovered and addressed when the field measurements are taken. But apparently there were some miscalculations, so we ended up with the gap. I offered to compromise and provide some additional trim to cover this gap in lieu of tearing out the newly installed trim and starting over. Unfortunately, when I brought this proposal to New Prairie Construction's attention, I was told it would cost me over $200.00 to repair their mistake. I'm unsure how this became my fault, but I'm very disappointed. In addition to the workmanship, we agreed to a not to exceed, time and materials contract. However when I got the bill, it was hundreds of dollars in excess of their original not to exceed limit. They eventually adjusted the bill, but it took several e-mails and discussions for then to own up to their mistake.

We moved to Urbana last year into a lovely old home that needed bathroom and kitchen updates. We…read moredecided on New Prairie to perform both bathroom remodeling projects, after seeing their good work at my sister's house and hearing others recommend them. Our experience was outstanding! Jill and Julie are very customer-oriented and extremely competent. They helped us flesh out the basic design, which was a great start. Their crew did great work and the whole process was pleasant. My husband picked out all these non-standard fixtures but they adapted beautifully to do the correct engineering to make it all work. After the work was completed, we found one issue, which they came back right away and fixed for free. We look forward to working with them on our kitchen remodel this year.

Called him. After many tries he stopped by, late. Frustrating. Gave me a verbal quote. Said he…read morewould send a written quote that night for bathroom repairs. Never got it. Never heard from him since. Called and emailed. Nonanswer. Finally, decided he wasnt worth it... I decided to hire someone who shows up and follows through.

Hired him to finish installing click and lock vinyl plank flooring. It was terrible. He couldn't…read moreget the boards together so he was jamming them, they were breaking and not snug together. It took a long time to get just a little bit done... I had to get the floors redone. He might be great at other things but shouldn't have said he could do something if he clearly had no experience and couldn't. Plus he was charging me per the hour so it was getting costly.

Very disappointed! I called with a real concern about a potential fire hazard based on electrical…read moreissues. I was glad when told someone would come inspect the same day. A time was arranged, but no one ever showed up!!! This from a 5 star company?

Dominique at A+ Mechanicals has stolen $125 from me. I contracted him to do consulting work to give…read moreme an estimate on installing walls inside a house I have in Urbana. He made multiple failed promises to give me an estimate. Kept saying "I'll get it tonight," then "sorry I'll get it tomorrow", about 4 separate times he told me he'd send out the estimate but he never did. I asked for a refund on the 27th of July and he said no problem, I'll give it to my accounting department. A week passes by and no refund. I texted him multiple times. He said his accounting processes refunds on the 1st and the 15th of each month. I said okay, the 1st of August has already passed. Why don't I have a refund? "Sorry you'll definitely get the refund by the 15th". The 15th comes around and apparently the refund he sent got returned for an invalid address. I gave him a valid address. Now he claimed he would give me the refund through CashApp. I made a cashapp account and gave him my details to process a refund. Silence. I called him and he gave me his typical lie "oh I'll get it sent tonight." Tonight comes around and no refund is sent. Do NOT use his service. He is a liar, a fraud, and steals your money. I'm filing a small claims lawsuit against him to get my money back. All he had to do was send me a refund and all this would have been avoided, but he's dragging it out hoping I won't push it.

Very (by that I mean unfuckingbelievably) expensive, but quality constructed cabinetry, furniture…read moreand miscellaneous wood solutions. Victor is a whisper-talker and at times rubbed me the wrong way. One of these "I am an artist, not a businessman" type of aloof craftsmen. Somewhat difficult to deal with professionally. He writes everything in pencil on letterhead he makes one page at a time by writing "Timberline" longhand at the top of each page. He asks precious few questions during the production phase of your piece. That's great, don't bother me if all the dimensions and styles are agreed on beforehand. But don't show up with the whole thing built having never asked. If you don't like it, you end up with a bad taste in your mouth and without much recourse. Avoid this frustration, somehow. The bottom line is that Victor is very skilled, his prices reflect that fact, but at times poor communication can leave you, the customer, feeling like you paid too much for what you ended up with.

I have used Victor on at least a dozen projects at various properties. The workmanship was…read moreexceptional, Victor's suggestions and ideas were both imaginative and practical and I found Victor amazingly accommodating and easy to work with. Pricing has been fair and reasonable. I think there is no finer craftsman in our area.

We contracted Charles and his team to do a remodel of our bathroom in Jan. 2021 and are happy with…read morethe work he did. From the estimate forward, he did a great job communicating with us about pricing and process, and he offered a much more reasonable quote than many other contractors in central Illinois. When any work that deviated from our original plan arose (such as replacing the drum trap in our older home), Charles explained what needed to be done and why. Our final invoice was right in line with our estimate and we felt that he was honest and straightforward with us throughout the remodel. He was also very considerate being in our home and maintaining masks/distancing during covid-19.

From the owner: Decks, Fences, Remodels, Windows, Doors, Skylights, Room Additions, Sunrooms, Flooring, Siding,…read moreHauling & Debris Removal, Tree Trimming/Removal, Gutter Cleaning, Carpentry, General Contracting, Handyman Services, Painting, Mold Remediation

Our window updating project was in good hands with the skilled work of long-time local contractor…read moreMel Fros. Mel is a considerate worker with whom we didn't hesitate to leave a key. He's conscientious, attentive to detail, and careful not to leave a mess. Price was more than fair. Mel's preferred first contact method is email: froscarpentry@gmail.com. His deafness was not an interference with our on-site communication. It's been a pleasure to have Mel around.

Awful awful company. The buildings are not secure, one apartment would freeze on the inside during…read morethe winter and did not have heat, a car was stolen from the parking lot in front of their building (no cameras). They would ignore emails and dodge phone calls, take forever to deal with maintenance, and were flat out rude and deceitful and will do ANYTHING to charge you extra. Even lying about not receiving your keys once you've returned them. Thankfully they have cameras in their office at least so we could prove the keys were returned. I would give zero stars if I could. Pathetic company with crap workers and terrible buildings.

I'm a couple years late but I rented from them from Fall 21' - Spring 22'. There was no set up for…read morereceiving mail and packages safely (got things stolen), we deep cleaned our apartment when we moved out and got charged for things that were not our responsibility, the workers who entered our apartment for tours or cleaning stole from us, we know it wasn't our friends cause we had few guests over and did not leave people alone in our apartment. I rated 2 stars cause my unit was cozy and it was in a good location.

Bad company. Bad Communication. Stay Away!…read more I had an estimate scheduled for 8 AM on October 10, 2022, and no one showed. I called at 8:10 AM with no answer so I left them a voicemail. I called them again on October 13, 2022, to just clarify and get things straight as I did not want to leave a bad review. An hour after I left the voicemail, I receive a call from the owner (Brett Shaw). He began talking to me very aggressively. He proceeds to tell me that he thought my inquiry was a joke which is why he never responded to my messages or showed up. My request was for trim work and baseboards to be painted in my bathrooms but also stated that if this project is too small that other jobs could be done as well. As a consumer, it is not my job to know the expenses or the prices of this company. I was looking for an estimate while trying to support a local company. Brett has since responded to my review on Google calling me a scam and a liar. I do not appreciate his actions or business practices. Overall, I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt and even put on my Google review "Would love for them to get in touch so I can change my review and support a local business". Cannot encourage customers enough to stay away from this company.

Shaw's (ShawLux) Premier Painting is the absolute best painting business in East Central Illinois…read more He every job we have asked them to do has been quality workmanship and on time. The crew is clean from start to finish, always on task until the complete job is done. I highly recommend this business for you interior or exterior painting needs.

You know those annoying things in reviewing, right? Like... "I'd give this place NO stars, if I…read morecould" or "I'd give them ALL the stars." The overzealousness can sometimes read amatuer, less-than-thorough, so I get it, I do! Problem is... if I could, after working with Jon, I'd give Finest Home Inspection, Jon Ellis, owner, and his gorgeous wife, Jennifer ALL. THE. STARS! I'm buying a home as a newly divorce woman returning to Champaign after 12 years away! Part of the problem is that I'm doing this sight unseen. The other part? I've only ever purchased property with another human being! A compulsive, drill-down-fact-checker who basically built life to fit the way he wanted to live! Nothing wrong with that in theory, it just kinda left me without a ton of tools to do this on my own. First thing I learned in this process -- you CAN'T depend on anyone but yourself to do the legwork! My real estate agent, a fine enough person, said he'd hook me up with all his best people. I fell into the routing I lived for years pre-divorce! I let him make the decisions, let him set the appointments, and just got along to get along. The issues started when I got the first quote from his home inspector -- $600 to inspect a 1500 sq ft condo! That sounded high to me, so I went to everyone's best friend -- Google! -- and looked for awesome home inspectors in the Champaign area. I'll the truthful, there are plenty. But there's only ONE Finest Home Inspection. Only ONE Jon Ellis! So, the reviews (glowing as they are!) weren't wrong. For less than almost every other single home inspector (almost $200 less!), Jon went out to my property, went EVERYWHERE, took pictures EVERYWHERE, sent me a report that knocked my socks off (and did so in like... less than a day!), and then... offered to go over every single page of the 40+ he sent me so I understood all terminology, all requirements, all spaces and all his notes! Clearly this is my first home report on my own! If it wasn't obvious from the earlier read, with a pretty tightly controlling ex, this was my first chance to see the depth and breadth of everything that goes into choosing a home, buying a home, maintaining a home. I was concerned, immediately, when the report came back with a laundry list of fixes. But, later, when Jon and I spoke on the phone, he put my mind thoroughly at ease! Telling me that the repairs portion of a report usually looks like that -- or WORSE, MUCH WORSE! -- and so we went over the things I might wanna mention and the things I might just want to have a go with on my own, and Jon was nothing but kind, patient, understanding, and educational! You can tell that he was a home builder before he was a home inspector! And that's such a great thing I'm wearing out the !!! key. I also had the privilege of talking to Jon's wife, Jennifer. She's the other half of Finest Home Inspection. She was insightful, informative, generous with her time, and genuinely sweet. If she's got room for a new BFF, I mean! ;D There's still work to be done, for sure, but after the prior owner makes the adjustments and changes necessary, I'm happily spending the -- and yes, get this! -- less than $100 to have Jon go out and reinspect! One thing I know for sure in this process is this... I've never been so happy to spend like $450 (and that's all in, inspection AND reinspection with a report that came in less than 24 hours!) in my life! As a newly minted person, on a new path, with a new adventure ahead, I'm really looking forward to picking Jon's brain about making changes to my new home. Jon's like one of those all purpose tools you pass up your wrench, your screw driver, your hammer for! He's the whole package, like one of the most valuable members of your team. I promise if you trust him, you won't go wrong! =D

We used Finest Home Inspection for our recent home purchase in Champaign, Illinois and they were…read moregreat. Professional, thorough, competent and knowledgeable. Jon contacted us quickly to go over our inspection report and the inspection report told us so much more than just what needed to be repaired. We could not be happier with Finest Home Inspection and would recommend them to anyone who needs a home inspection done now and in the future!