“He spent an incredible amount of time with us determining our needs and wants in order to be specific in his estimate as well as familiarize us with what the project would entail.”
Penny L., Highland Park

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“You suggested further improvements logically and gently.  You listened to how hard this was for us and helped mitigate our issues with dust.”
Linda T, Deerfield

Bathroom Remodels

Complete remodel of two bathrooms.

Short story -

  • Friendly, courteous, prompt, reachable
  • Designer; understands the “big picture”
  • Flexible – met with us based on OUR schedule
  • Experienced and detail-oriented
  • Asked the right questions and followed through
  • Narrowed our choices from infinite to what we wanted
  • Works only on one project at a time so that our remodel was completed quickly
  • Final cost almost equivalent to original quote
  • We are VERY HAPPY with the remodel.

Long story -

So how hard can it be to remodel a bathroom? It’s practically a like for like trade, right? Just give me a toilet, a sink, and a shower, and I’ll be fine. Color choices? Pfft; just don’t be ugly. Sigh… turns out, it isn’t that simple.

Fortunately, Jay Lovett is a contractor AND a designer. He met with us at our convenience, working around our schedules to go over design plans, updates, and timelines. He asked numerous, leading questions to figure out what would work best for us, and then he used that information to narrow down choices so that we weren’t overwhelmed by the thousands of decisions that could be made. For example, after we indicated clean, straight lines were a must, he sent us links to check out spigots and handles and lights and towel racks that met the requirements. Based on our interactions and review of his previous work, we trusted his judgement and never needed to stray from his selections because he had already weeded out the things that wouldn’t fit the design. He brought accent tile choices to us; we picked our favorites, but then he found a better one for the master bath, and we ended up going with it instead. We felt like we were his most important customer. We found light fixtures that we thought would work, but he gently steered us away from our first picks because he could see the “big picture” design when we could not. We really appreciated having the “big picture” explained, why our first pick wouldn’t work, and the details narrowed down. Jay is serious about his work and truly wants his customers to be thrilled with the final product. Which we are.

Both bathrooms were gutted and overhauled. Jay has the experience and attention to detail to suggest things that we wouldn’t have even thought of – the master bath now has a zero threshold shower – you just walk right in. I love it, but probably wouldn’t have thought of it on my own. The lights and fans are now on dimmers and/or timers. Another detail that I had mostly shrugged off, but now that we have it, I love it. The remodel updated the hodge-podge of trimmings to brushed nickel, and Jay remembered to also switch out the hinges and handles on the doors as well as all of the drawer pulls and towel racks and such that we had already picked out.

Most of the basics – plumbing and electricity – were not to be moved. However, in the guest bath, the dryer’s venting was overhauled, and the incandescent light/pull string in the wash closet was updated to a fluorescent light and switch. Both of these changes were designed to meet code. Our house is only ~20 years old, but it seems like there are always things that need to be brought up to code. Jay included that work in his original estimate. The final cost was within 2% of his original quote. We liked that too.

The team who performed the work was courteous and respectful of our home – they were there when they were supposed to be, the inherent mess of remodeling was kept to a minimum, and our dogs were not unduly stressed.

Not suprisingly, there were a few last details to take care of after the general remodel was completed. Jay followed up on his short punch-list as well as cross-checking with few things that we had found. We were glad that things happened according to schedule and within the designated time frame.

We are very happy with the final result, especially considering we couldn’t have even designed such beautiful work.

Sherry B., Gurnee, IL