Be very cautious with IL Home Improvement. The owner, Eric, is professional, but will take your money. I provided Eric with detailed architectural plans of a deck and mudroom addition, which were drawn by a professional. I received 3 quotes. Eric was the highest. I told him that we wanted to work with him, but that his cost was higher than his competitors. He said that he had been doing this for 30 years and had completed 100 projects like mine. His quotes were accurate, unlike his competitors who will raise their price during the project.
I told Eric that we were willing to scale back our project to fit it within our budget, but needed him to tell us how we could adjust the quote. He said that he could look at the details, but would need $500 to cover the cost of producing an itemized quote (I received detailed quotes from the other contractors).
When I met with him again, I very clearly communicated that the original price was over budget. He acknowledged my desire, and gave me his word that he would be within 5-10% of his original estimate. I reminded him (several times) that we would scale back our project to hit the budget.
Eric's itemized quote came back 20% higher than the original, AND he removed several large items (finish carpentry, painting, electrical installation, tile installation, heated floor, electrical fixtures, exterior locks and hardware) from the quote that he led me to believe were in the original.* If you add all of these back into the quote, except for the finish carpentry and painting, his cost WENT up 40%. With the carpentry, it would have gone up even more.
When I asked him why the big price increase, he didn't have a good reason. I asked him if he could get his cost down. He said he would cover the paint costs, and that I could change some materials and get rid of the mud room foundation, which would knock the costs down about 6-8%.
In summary, this was a very frustrating experience.
*In Eric's first quote, he wrote, "Having examined the drawings and the site for the project I hereby propose to furnish all labor, material, equipment, service and incidentals necessary to perform and complete the work for the project according to the drawings provided by (architect), dated 10/26/2016 (permit) and per Trade Descriptions outlined below.
To be fair, I told Eric that I was thinking about doing the trim for our project to save money, and I may have another contractor do the electrical. It is possible that he misunderstood me and thought that I didn't want those costs included in his response; however, it is doubtful.
Even so, his cost went up at a minimum 25%.
I asked Eric for a refund. He would not give it. read more
