Chicago Tiling Experts

" , the owner of the franchise, came to my home to give me an estimate on my original request.  As he looked over other areas of the bathroom (shower, corners and floor) he suggested that the be sealed with clear caulking and I agreed.  He then asked if I had any other tiled areas in the home and I showed him the kitchen.  ...more He immediately pointed out the crumbling grout toward the bottom on the back splash and I agreed that it needed to be done.  He gave me a written estimate and a $25 discount for finding him on-line and made an appointment for his man to come the following Monday to do the job.  He called the Sunday evening before the appointment to confirm everything. His worker was prompt and efficient and performed the tasks very professionally.  I am very satisfied with the work that was done."

"In 2008, my wife and I purchased a top floor condo that was built in 2001. we've had nothing but problems with the building's poor construction ever since. It's a great-looking, well-designed unit, but we've had constant leaks in every room and have been consistently disappointed with the cheap building materials used by the building's developers. They ...more cut every corner imaginable. (We are similarly disappointed in our pre-sale home inspector.) What followed was three years of endless carpenters and roofers and masonry experts flowing in and out of our place. As a self-managed association, this has

to a crash course for this first-time home buyer in the evaluation of residential contractors. Some have been excellent, some have been expensive, some have been passable and some have been horrible. I add this because I feel it puts me into a good position to write this review. We contacted

at

after reading positive reviews in this forum and hoping to find someone that could solve a leaking problem that had already stumped a door guy, a roofer and a siding guy. We were tired of using people with limited areas of expertise and needed someone with a general contractor's background like

who could see a project through to completion no matter which specialty it touched.

met with us on a Friday(!) evening(!!), which was a pleasant experience for us -- normally one of us has to

home during the workday to meet with estimators. He brought his inspection equipment, including an infrared camera, to examine the problem area. He took the time to explain how he would address locating the source of the leak and fixing the problem, including a full remediation of any mold or mildew. His enthusiasm and competence was immediately apparent. We were so impressed with the initial consultation, that we also asked

to give us an estimate for a partial remodel of our second bathroom. He took a look, asked some very helpful questions and provided thoughtful advice concerning vanity and tile selection, including recommending a few places to source the materials. He provided his proposal the next Monday and we were pleasantly surprised (again) with his pricing. In fairness, we did receive a discount for doing both the leak fix and the bathroom work. Still, we were happy to sign the contract given the estimates I'd received from other firms to do similar work.

and his crew got to work immediately. They hauled a garden hose up to our roof and tested and re-tested until they'd found the source of the leak. They had to replace a poorly-installed door on the roof deck and custom engineer a new door stop to prevent additional leaks. More water testing. More tinkering with the sealants and structure of the door jam. More testing. Satisfied, they closed up the ceiling in the second bedroom, installed new drywall and expertly taped and painted it.

was up front and honest that though the new door would prevent 95% of Chicago weather from entering our home, there was no 100% foolproof solution given the way the roof deck door and doghouse were initially constructed. I appreciated his honesty and we agreed that should we see any further sign of water,

would come back and take further action. At this point, do I even need to mention the bathroom remodel? After my wife and I quickly selected a new vanity and marble tile,

installed them beautifully. The results are especially impressive given how little we spent. We're still enjoying guest's compliments on our design sensibilities. Finally, we asked

to take care of some mold we'd noticed in our basement storage unit. Here again, his price could not be topped and the work was completed quickly and professionally. After working with

and

for the last few weeks, my wife and I believe that we've found our go-to complete-solution home repair problem solver. It's been a great relief. We even contemplated having him keep the extra set of keys, knowing full well that the poor construction of our building would provide additional opportunities for us to work together. I highly recommend this company."

"After inspecting our balconies did not provide an estimate for the work in the time that he promised. We had to call a couple of times. We were shocked that the quote when it did arrive was twice what another company was asking for."

"We recently purchased a home built in 1885 with various 'improvements' implemented on it over it's years. All the improvements needed revision. We started to tear things out in hopes of replacing them ourselves but soon realized we were in way over our heads. Any improvements we might have made would be erased by a poor structure that didn't allow ...more us to add value. We needed a Contractor. Catalyst came in for the estimate shortly after I contacted them.

made an excellent sales pitch showing his team's qualifications, experience, certifications and insurance. Had several other GC's in the house for estimates but none came in that left me feeling at all confident they were up for the job. I've been in homes with contractors run wild in the past so my nose is tuned to sort out promises that can't be kept. Glad that my sense of smell is still working fine as Catalyst did great work. Work started soon after I signed the contract. Partial payment was made on the first day of work and they didn't leave the job until the contract was complete. A timeline was provided upfront in regard to what we still needed to pick-out and finalize in order to keep them busy - we kept up with those timelines and they kept busy.

was my Superintendant on the job. Over 20 years in the field that he expertly brought to working on our house. His practical experience was invaluable in helping us make difficult and sometimes mundane decisions. It's nice when you don't have to tell a contractor where electrical fixtures go. Typical interaction...

: "Do you have a preference where I put the switches for the lights?" Me: "Put

where you think they should go." Result: Things are perfect where he put them - where they belong. Did I mention we were living in the house throughout the entire project? We'd move ourselves to whatever part of the house wasn't being worked on at the time,

kept this to a minimum.

did most of the work on his own but he would occassionally have an assistant stop by to install heavier things (think 20 foot beams). Everyone that came to my home from Catalyst was polite, pleasant and professional."

"Overall the project went well. KB was always on the job and always kept an open line of communication between us and the architect. KB always responded immediately to phone calls and e-mails with answers to all my questions. KB often had solutions and ideas to any problems or issues that unexpectedly came up. KB's employees are very talented, professional, ...more knowledgeable and courteous. The finished carpentry is amazing. We had lots of built-in shelving, wood trim detail and cabinets added to our home and KB did a fabulous job constructing them according to the architect's specifications. The tile work in our bathrooms also was done perfectly according to the plans. We changed our siding to

board and KB did a phenomenal job installing it. We added stone to the porch and other exterior locations and again we were extremely happy with the results. 10 months of construction can be stressful and there were times that it was but KB always listened and did what they could to make things run as smoothly as possible. We had a 1 year walk-thru with KB and there were only very minor things on the punch list. KB stands by and is proud of their work and has repaired/adjusted all of those items. I have recommended them and will use them again for future projects. We are very happy with our "new" home."

"My carpet is now crunchy. It feels like you are walking on a brush when you walk on it. You can hear it crunch when you walk. My carpeting is not cheap it cost me $58.00 per square yard four years ago.When I tried to call them, all I get is a message saying they are on the phone helping other customers. I cannot get anyone to call me back. I will never ...more reccomenmd these people to anyone. Unless you want your carpet to scratch your feet, don't use this company"

" did a professional and meticulous work in insulating my property's crawl space. arrived on time, organized his work and from start to finish he did it on his own without taking any breaks. I would recommend Stalle ( ) to do any handyman's work as well as ...more any cabinet or kitchen remodeling as

would be the perfect man for the job because of his attention to detail work."

"we've used for several projects over the years from a gut rehab of a master bath to replacing the back door. He repaired a disastrous shower leak that also corrected problems from a previous contractor. He's a problem solver. Latest project involved upgrades to the kitchen and small bath and repair and refinishing the floor under ...more a radiator in our

Park condo. This job lasted about three days and we are very pleased with the results.

is conscientious and meticulous in his work and works hard to finish in a timely manner. He sometimes needs nudging on clean up, but is reasonably priced and a charm to work with."