Mako Renovation

We hired Mako Renovation to replace our kitchen tiles on 1/15/2020. It took about three weeks total for them to complete the tear-out and installation, including several days when they didn't show up to work when they said they would. A few days after completion, the grout between several of the tiles began to crack and crumble. Mako sent Lukas, the man who had done the installation, to repair the problem, which then recurred and continued to get worse and worse. Mako's owner Andrzej Makowski came over and inspected the work and realized that the installation had been done improperly. Lukas had used a layer of mesh between the floor and the tile for the sake of expedience, and due to the nature of the materials, this didn't work. At that time, mid-February, Andrzej promised that he would re-do the job, including paying for new tile—because the tiles they installed would be unusable once removed. Then the pandemic hit. We didn't get in touch with Andrzej again until August, when it seemed safe to have people in our home again. He explained that his business had suffered losses due to the pandemic and asked for some time to recover. I understood and gladly told him that was OK. He told me he'd call me in a few days to find a time to “get us on the schedule.” It is now early December. I have emailed and texted Andrzej several times and he has not responded. He was never good about communicating with us after we signed the contract and now he's completely unresponsive.

I ordered 2 doors and had Andre install them. So right off the bat I explained that it would be a good idea to double check the order and make sure he thought the dimensions would be ok before we started work. Instead of checking or measuring any of this beforehand, Andre ripped out the old kitchen door, then realized the sill was too short on the new door. He made good on that fact by waiting for a new larger sill and reinstalling the door. But this work was easily avoidable by just double checking dimensions before ripping out the old door. However the rest of the install was full of areas where Andre tried to cut corners (not replacing rotten wood framing, not installing corner seal pads, asking to just cap over old existing cap). When I called Andre out on these things, he then became upset, telling me I was insulting him and asking too many questions. This is of course after he gets his first payment for the job. At this point, I have 2 doors in place, but still need trim work on the inside, and totally exposed framing and insulation on the exterior. So I apologized to Andre and asked if we could just finish the job and go our separate ways. Neither of us were happy at this point, but Andre gave the impression he would finish the job. This however turned out not to be the case, and after a couple days it became clear that Andre simply just quit in the middle of the job, leaving some brand new doors with no exterior protection around the frame and me scrambling to find someone to finish the work.

We needed a renovation to our bathroom, and went out to get a few different quotes. We ended up going with Andre at Mako Renovation. Once the project started, they were prompt and and did a fantastic job. They were there every single day until the project was complete. We are very happy with the work product, and the communication was great... We are also replacing the tile on our fireplace, and will be using them again soon. I will suggest them to any of my friends or colleagues needing work done. A+ for Mako! Thank you, Andre.

The worst project in 20 years. Rude, unprofessional, not reliable, yes, he does basic OK job. We would not recommend Andre.

I hired Mako Renovation to build a wall in our basement to create a walk in closet. Andre reached out to me in a matter of hours and came to do an estimate that night. It wasn't a giant project so a lot of other contractors had blown me off or tried to schedule my project months out. Andre gave me a very fair quote and told me he could have the closet finished by the end of the week. I could tell right away he knew what he was doing and he did not disappoint! He and his guys were here two days later, and after working on my project for three days straight (including Saturday, which I did not expect), the project was complete and looks amazing! He and his workers even installed a new light switch so the closet has two dedicated lights, something other contractors tried to avoid doing because of the extra work. I would highly recommend Mako Renovation for any home project you have. I'll certainly be using them for my next project!

Our original contractor had to back out of our project last minute because he didn't have the workmans comp that was necessary to work in our mid rise West Loop building. We phoned around and found Andre/Mako Renovation. Along with five other contractors we had interviewed, we went with Andre because of his enthusiasm for our project and price point. Andre's company immediately contacted the building, got the paper work together for our building, and we were ready to start in a week. Our project was almost a complete overhaul of a dated condo that we had bought. We had to redo the flooring, convert our small shower to a walk in closet that opened from the hallway, and turn the current tub to an elegant tub/shower combo. There were some complications from our building limitations but Andre helped us find solutions and gave us really honest cost effective solutions for the problems that did come up. One thing I really liked was that he wasn't trying to drive up our costs by making us buy new cork/other materials at an exorbitant cost. He even was able to reuse our current baseboards, where most other flooring specialists we interviewed were trying to get us to replace and charge even more to paint. The tile job itself turned out beautifully. He does ensure that the work gets done well and we would gladly use him again. Also, he told us at the end of our project that he gives free touch ups for the next year of our project. He also helped us install our closet organization tracking for free. I thought that was a really nice help. Also, I will update this post with pics of our flooring once we unpack our living room.

Andre's worker ultimately did a satisfactory job with our kitchen backsplash, but Andre himself was rude and unprofessional. His comment on this review just makes that clear. And his comment doesn't say anything about the shoddy caulking work he did, as illustrated in the attached photo, which his own worker had to come back and redo. Also, he claims he had three people on this job. Nope, just one. The first day of demo work went well. On the second day, however, Andre realized his worker needed more tiles than we had purchased. We had gotten enough tiles for the square footage of our backsplash, but he was going through more tiles than that. Andre immediately became very belligerent about it. He could have just politely asked me to get more tiles. Instead, he was instantly hostile about it and announced that I had to get the tiles right away, that he couldn't get them himself or wait a few hours for the tile store to deliver them, and that I had to take two hours out of my workday to drive out to the suburbs to pick them up. I asked him why he didn't tell me to get more tiles than the square footage when we first communicated about the job or on the first day when he saw how many tiles we'd purchased. This is his line of work, after all. He just replied that I was the one who got the tiles. Right before Andre and his worker finished, I asked him if he'd like a check or electronic pay for the final payment. He said electronic pay would be fine. About 15 minutes after he left, he started sending me several texts and calling asking why his money hadn't yet shown up, then he finally stopped once the money appeared in his bank account. Typically, contractors ask their customers if they're satisfied with the work and provide a final invoice before the last payment is made. Andre never did either of those things. While the tile work overall looks fine, Andre's caulking between the two walls was messy and amateurish, so he had to send his worker back the next day to redo it.

We hired Mako Renovation to remodel our bathroom by installing a new tile floor, vanity, shower, and free-standing tub. They protected all of the floors and walls in working areas and cleaned up daily. Andre is very knowledgeable and patient offering suggestions throughout the project while explaining each part of the process. If you want quality craftsmanship and a great-looking finished product, hire Mako for your next project.

We're blown away at how fantastic our new subway tile backsplash looks. Andre was great to work with, he and the other installer wasted no time and were in and out in a few hours. He gave me the initial quote earlier in the week and was out here Saturday morning to knock it out. Will recommend him to any who ask!

We hired Andre to remove a mirror wall in the living room and also update kitchen hardware. We needed the work done as soon as possible and Andre was able to squeeze us into his schedule within a couple days. The project was completely quickly with good quality at a very reasonable price. Andre also provided good advice and professional opinion when we asked about other things we were thinking about doing with our house. I would recommend Andre and Mako Renovation to family and friends.

So after looking for multiple contractors to completely tile my hallway, kitchen and living room, I sent Andre a message on yelp to see if he wanted to provide a quote. I got an immediate response back and booked a date so that he could see my apartment. Andre and his wife had to cancel that day due to some unforeseen circumstance at another project but contacted me via cell and email to make sure I was able to reschedule for the following day which wasn't a problem. After showing the scope of work, I got a quote very shortly and after verifying the insurance with my building, contracted Mako Renovation to do this giant project. I was quoted 10 days to complete the project whereas all the others had quoted 14 days. Even with some unexpected problems, Andre and his team were able to complete the project in 11 days which was amazing. Andre was there every day to make sure everything was in order and was extremely professional about the job. The end product looked fantastic and my wife and I are extremely happy. Even though Andre is the "Tile Doctor", he also does everything else (Painting, hardwood, electrical). I had issues with the contractor for the hardwood installation in my unit and when I decide to re-do that project, I will only use Andre and his team. It's hard to find a good reliable contractor who doesn't try to rip you off and make you pay for extra expenses. When you find one, you keep using him. I hate writing this review and showing how awesome Mako Renovations is because I want them to be available for me whenever I need to use them but it won't be fair to them if I kept them a secret.

Andre and his crew did an outstanding job on my bathroom. They were clean, quick, and affordable. As you can see from my before and after pics, my ugly duckling of a bathroom was completely transformed—and it only took about two weeks. I have also included some of the mid-progress photos so you can see the scope of the project and the meticulous nature of the work that was done under the tile and the paint. I would highly recommend Mako Renovation, especially for tile work, and will gladly hire them again for my future home renovation projects.