We fell into a family owned 75 year old house after my husband's great uncle passed away and…read morecouldn't pass up the good deal. COULD do without the pink kitchen and yellow and black bathroom tiles. Aesthetics aside, there were some serious layout issues with the house that made it seem smaller than it actually was. Before just hiring a general contractor, we talked to Jereme to see if he had some design ideas that would be more interesting than just "knock down some walls and put new drywall up." Jereme worked really hard to keep within budget while still adding some fun touches that everyone comments on, like a reclaimed wood soffit that defines the kitchen area. He also used every square inch of the home to make sure we didn't have any wasted spaces. We used barn doors to make old bathrooms feel bigger and built ins to make the most of slanted attic walls. Overall, everything was on time and any extras were clearly laid out. Communication over email was great and he was very organized as we went along with the to do list and keeping all of the contractors on task. I would highly recommend Design Insight and will definitely use them again if we buy another house.

As a dedicated Yelp fan, we scoured the reviews to find an architect to renovate our 1950's ranch…read morehome. Our main goals were an open floor plan and a larger kitchen. We got so much more! A gorgeous, spacious, cook's kitchen, open floor plan, open curved staircase to basement, mud room and outdoor BBQ station. Jereme is a creative architect with a keen eye for details...not to mention a great, easy-going guy! We had a couple of initial meetings to discuss our wants and needs and then Jereme dove into the design and ultimately presented a few design concepts. We quickly zeroed in on the one that seemed best and collectively tweaked the design and components to best suit our needs. Jereme hired the construction crew and personally directed and supervised their work. He was on the site every day and in frequent contact with us. The end result is FABULOUS and more than we hoped for!! Jereme was great to work with. Very responsive to all of our questions, concerns and ideas...and he never showed any ego. He was also extremely budget conscious and economical. The project took longer than quoted, but the end result is a 10!! Highly recommended!!!

We were in London when Martins did the rennovations on our home. We didn't know exactly what we…read morewere coming back to. We opened the door . . . and walked into paradise. We felt like we were in someone else's home. Someone who had a lot more money than us! Martins isn't just a builder, or a designer. He's an artist. When you bring someone into your home to change it forever, you have to trust that person. When Martins came by for our first free consultation (something other people had charged us for), he stayed for two hours. He wanted to get to know us, and figure out exactly what kind of home we wanted. To say he cares about his work is an understatement! Other people we looked at charged us for that first visit, came in, took measurements, were out in 30 minutes, and then provided some cookie-cutter recommendations. Besides his off-the-charts talent, he is honest, flexible, responsive and easy and fun to work with... not to mention reasonable. He even provided us with guidance and recommendations to bring the overall costs down. If you're looking to do renovations on your home, that not only are beautiful, but also unique and specific to you and your family, your search is over. Martins Buka will not only deliver, but exceed your expectations!

My family hired the Martin family to do some work on my aunt's house in the suburbs. They were a…read morepleasure to deal with. Reliable and honest. Phone calls were returned and we always felt we were in the best hands. We remodeled our aunt's basement down to the studs and when the job was done, it was AMAZING. Highly recommended for remodeling jobs!

He was responsive, fast, and reliable. I have already recommended him to several people I know that…read moreneeds architectural plans. So easy to work with.

We're not big spenders. Last time I redid a bathroom (in my single-girl condo) I just hired a…read morecontractor. But if you want to add a bathroom, and you live in a town with strict requirements, you're going to need an architect. We interviewed four and chose to work with Frank. It was a great experience (and he was very tolerant of me nitpicking and memorizing every last thing)--I never would have done it if not forced, but he made things run so much more smoothly. Despite paying his fee, his expertise was well worth it not only for the detailed plans, but for taking care of the permitting process, getting bids from multiple contractors and meeting with us & the contractor weekly to review progress. Not to mention the reduced stress, since if the contractor had a question or wanted to charge us extra for something (or even wanted to get paid) it went through Frank first. We ended up having him do the plans for our existing bathroom redo as well. We don't have anything else to remodel in our house, but if I did I would definitely give Frank a call.

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!

After 2 kids, we outgrew our 2 bedroom, 1 bath ranch-style home. Knowing that we wanted to stay in…read morethe neighborhood, we decided to add a second floor. When we initially met with Mark Klancic of Klancic Architect, we were pleased with the questions he asked to get a feel for what we were looking to accomplish. Mark is such a pleasure to work with -- he has extremely creative ideas and always has an open ear. I really enjoyed that he engaged us in his design process - that made decision-making so much easier for us. He helped guide us through the whole process and worked to keep us within our budget. His attention to details impressed us so much. One of the best features in our bedroom is a gorgeous inverted open "cut out" square in the ceiling of our bedroom. (I couldn't tell you the architectural term for it so I hope my description is enough to visualize!) In the center of the cut out square is our ceiling fan and around the perimeter is some very romantic lighting. It truly is a beautiful feature and every time someone enters the room for the first time, I usually see them looking up and ALWAYS comment on it. I had never seen anything like this before and absolutely love it. It truly is our "wow" factor! When it came time to redesign our first floor, we didn't hesitate to contact Mark for this next project. We had a galley kitchen that was too small and very outdated. We blew out some walls and opened up the floorplan. Again, Mark listened to our needs and the final result is beyond what I could have imagined! We have a wonderful open space to entertain with plenty of storage. He introduced us to a wonderful cabinet-maker company to get the perfect cabinets. Our kitchen island gives me plenty of space to spread out when baking. What felt like a chore because we had no counter space, has become something I enjoy. I love that there is room enough to get the whole family involved in making meals. We totally hit the jackpot by having Mark involved in our home designs and would highly recommend Klancic Architect in a heartbeat!

Mark was recommended to me by a trusted friend. We contracted with him to create plans for a…read morekitchen remodel and a new deck with a pricetag roughly half the value of our house. Weird, right? I think Mark was amused but he is a complete professional. I came to the table with some very strong ideas (translation: tough customer). Mark came up with far better ideas, staying focused on our goals of high functionality, easy to clean and a great space for entertaining. We now huge, functional kitchen that is the envy of all our friends and neighbors. Everything is nicely at hand and even though our house and kitchen are small, there's counter space for miles and more pantry and storage than we have stuff. There is no way we could have navigated the whole process without Mark's plans, insight and guidance. Pretty sure we'd have ended up with the back half of our house falling into the yard if Mark hadn't shown us the necessary structural amendments. Best of all? Mark helped us maintain marital harmony.

Let me tell you a story.............a while back actually years ago we decided to make the basement…read morein our rental building into a apartment. So we did........Mexican style. Of course we got some dudes that work on the cheap and do a awesome job and yes they are legal hehehehehe. Anyway that basement came out fabulos! Fast forward to last year.................summoned to court for having an "illegal"unit. We needed to obtain Permits to deconvert and architectural plans etc......WTF is a Dude to do !!?? I dont know anything about permits other than maybe slipping a $100.00 in the inspectors hand. But shit is hot now adays with these inpsectors........so I turned to Windy city to hook me up with what i needed.... they did! I wne to court and everything as all good! Ceaser is awesome!!!!!he can make it happen! shake & bake seal of approval!

Joe and his team at Windy City Consulting have helped me and my partners with many issues at a…read morenumber of properties. I have learned a lot in the process. They have helped me with multiple violations including porch issues, code violations, and an illegal addition and that was only one property. I continue to work with them today and I will into the future. I figure that the bad review arose from someone who had problems for which there was no "easy" fix. Anyway, when dealing with real estate in this big city it's good to have people on your side, and I'm glad to have these guys on mine.

After exhausting and many frustrated interviews trying to find a GC to tear down our old garage and…read morebuild a new Coach House and garage, we finally hired MK Construction. Yet we were not sure how the experience would be but I am happy to share we had a wonderful experience that exceeded our expectations. The Project Manager We worked with Greg S. who has been very responsive since day 1, via text, phone, email and in person meetings, as needed. Constantly updating us. Workers and Partners Very professional team. Excavation, electrical, cement, hydraulic, carpenter, installations and others. They are all very knowledgeable, respectful, polite, and focused on what they were doing. They were working constantly even on snowy days and unbearable low temperatures. Budget It was top-notch. MK has met timeline and budget with fair pricing on any extras, which is extremely rare in constructions. Materials. High quality materials, and I could choose what I wanted as brands and models for siding and interior finishing. I am still and denial my project went so well. MK Construction is a very serious company that I highly recommend for your project. See before and after pictures.

Update Nov 2021, over a year after the projects were finished and we're still very pleased with the…read morequality of the work. Our architect recommended and specified a fair amount of detail that MK did very well. Work included adding new bathroom, relocating and rebuilding the kitchen, adding new windows, new electrical, water and ductwork, structural including steel and LVL beams, new columns and joist reinforcements, a 2-car garage, a second bathroom remodel, floor and wall tile work, electrical, new flooring... whew I can't write it all. It's a completely new house! This 100 year-old house is an absolute delight. (Here are some process photos to show some of the things we appreciated)

Amazing intuitive design by Chris Bremer on our attic renovation. I sent him a Pinterest image and…read morehis work made it come true and more. He also helped us sift through contractor offers and was with us all the way to the end (12 plus weeks). We were blown away so we hired him again to design our tree house. Thank you Chris!

I called on a weekend, expecting to leave a voicemail with a question I had, but to my surprise,…read moreChris Plummer answered the phone immediately and spent time answering my questions about Chicago residential code and reassuring me about a small project we were contemplating. The project was far too small for Compass to even consider, but Chris's generosity with his time left an impression. We will definitely use them for larger projects in the future!