Thomas Restoration Painting

We got 4 quotes for painting the exterior and trim of our 100 year-​old stucco home, and Pete’s was in line with the others and even a little cheaper for the higher-​quality thorocoat quote for stucco.
We set up a start date, and his crew arrived right on time and began immediately. I cannot say enough good things about the workers. They were polite, respectful of our time and property and worked non-​stop even in the summer heat. Pete consulted with us at various times throughout the project to discuss how colors would work and which parts of the trim to paint in each color to make the final product as beautiful as possible.
The best way to describe Thomas Restoration’s work is to say that they treated our home as if it were their own home, putting in the extra effort on each detail to make sure things were perfect. Our windows are 100 year-​old wood and needed a huge amount of work to sand, scrape, strip, and even cut open the painted shut frames, and by the time they were painted, they look like new and function again. The work is impeccable and our house looks like new!
Because they were doing such a nice job and working so quickly (8 guys painted our house in 6 days), we asked them to paint our garage as well, which they not only did, but also replaced many rotting boards for us at very little cost.
Even though they ended up putting in some extra work, Pete stuck to the quoted price. The project was done and cleaned up in about a week, and I the finished product is better than I had imagined going into the whole thing. Definitely worth the price we paid. I highly recommend you go with Thomas Restoration Painting.

I can’t say enough good things about Pete Thomas and his crew. He just painted our house, and it looks GORGEOUS. His crew was careful and courteous, and Pete went above and beyond to make sure the end result was exactly what we wanted.
He even came over to talk my husband out of making a bad decision regarding painting the window trim.
If you are getting estimates from the high-​end folks, don’t worry that Pete’s lower numbers signify lower quality. Far from it – his bid came in about 10,000 less than his competition, and I simply cannot imagine a better experience or a more beautiful outcome.

Thomas Restoration has painted our Victorian house three times. They are excellent painters, they do no damage to our plants and the prices are very reasonable. We would recommend Thomas to anyone.

Peter left me a message here on Unilocal and apologized for missing my message. I haven’t called him back yet so I can’t review the overall service so that’s why 3 stars.
Left a message two weeks ago. I need my porch rehabbed. Not really a small job on a 130 year old house with aluminum wrapped on the old wood and rust from the rot underneath. I want a traditional beadboard ceiling and uncover the old wood. Wanted to add some interior work too, but no return call.

Peter is a really nice, honest guy who is not trying to rip you off. He is reliable, trustworthy, and has really great painters working for him. His company painted the entire exterior of our 1920’s stucco house and wood garage, including many, many windows, and did a great job. He suggested a slight color change that really made the house look significantly better. We also used Peter for the entire upstairs of our home a few years ago and were very pleased with how the job turned out, and with how it proceeded. They took good care to protect our things and made it as minimally invasive as possible. Recently we hired Thomas Restoration for a one-​day leak repair job. It turned out to take less time than Peter thought it would and he charged us $ 150 LESS than the estimate! That’s rare indeed!

Peter Thomas and his crew are the best painters we’ve had work our house for the 35 years we have lived in River Forest. They’ve done the outside and the inside, refinished floors, done repairs — and the work is outstanding. Woitek (sp?) is amazing; he trained as an engineer in Poland. THey show up on time, clean up after themselves, and are done on time.

Pete Thomas just redid all of the trim on our Van Bergen. They striped all the wood, replaced tons of rotten wood and re-​caulked with 45 year rated caulk. This crew doesn’t cut any corners. They were not the cheapest, but this work is done for long term results.
If your going to be in your house for any period of time, don’t skimp. Can’t say enough good thinks about them.

Thomas Restoration was our favorite contractor out of 10 that we used in the work on our 1906 Gunderson. And there wasn’t much of a contest, they’re that good.
Pete Thomas is as direct and honest pleasant a guy as you’re going to find. Certainly a bigger gentleman than 99% of the contractors your’e going to meet. He’s kind of like Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan — a man with another past who found himself in an industry that he didn’t necessarily choose for himself, but he’s flourished BECAUSE he’s so unlike so many contractors. He’s a historian for the Village and seems to have painted half the homes in the Village, with good reason. He loves what he does, he appreciates how ‘easy’ his job is — make things pretty and FINISHED. But he doesn’t take it easy, they do it right.
There are two main crews and we had both do our home — one handled the majority of the exterior, the other handled the reconstruction and painting of our front porch. They also came in and painted ¾ of the interior (2 beds, stairs, dining, living, family, halls) when HVAC and electrical guys had finished swiss-​cheesing the house. And Francisco and friends have been ‘mudding’ since they could walk. They mud like the wind, but not like a tornado — they don’t spew or track dust all through your house.
To a man, every person on every crew is courteous, diligent, and seems to work with incredible efficiency. They have all been with Thomas for years — 8, 12, 20 years. Guys who work with him are devoted and act like it’s their business too. Voicek (sorry if I’m spelling that wrong) runs a very talented crew and he may be the best adviser on color and finish in the entire company — he has an actual developed taste and skill for pairing and choosing colors, in different light, on different surfaces, etc.
Voicek’s crew borrows Francisco from Francisco’s crew to do all the ‘repair’ work. All those little dings and broken bits and stuff that’s got to be put back together just right? The window that doesn’t open? The door that’s not hanging right? The light that needs a little base behind it made from scratch. That’s Francisco territory and he’s the most skilled guy in the company — painter or carpenter. He also works faster than any worker I’ve ever seen in any trade. Francisco is the reason we pushed Thomas to handle the general contracting of the porch work on our place and we were right to do it — he and Manuel (the other full-​time carpenter at their disposal) were artists. The architect can draw it up, the contractor can price it up, we sourced our own materials, but it’s on the carpenter to make it all come together and these guys were incredibly, incredibly skilled problem-​solvers. ZERO shortcuts — they fought to raise the roof when the columns showed up an inch too short when others wanted to try to cut up the columns. It was the harder thing to do, but the right thing to do, and they work so fast that it cannot have affected the bottom line.
And the bottom line may not be the cheapest (although in off-​season, Pete seems to price a little more aggressively). In fact, I’ve been yelling at Pete for a year that he needs to price himself higher because they are worth it.
They show up early when they say they’re going to and they finish when they say they’re going to and they update you along the way. They don’t track junk through your house to the bathroom, they don’t leave cigarette butts and soda cans all over your lawn. Just like super nice guests at your home, who happen to make it look really beautiful before they leave.
They’re welcome at my house any time. We’re at the corner of Jackson and Elmwood, if you want to drive by and see what they did. Knock on the door if you want to talk about them.

I’ve worked with Pete and Voytek several times over the past 10 years and they just finished painting and wallpapering most of our upstairs. They consistently deliver excellent results and have standards for their work that impressed even my meticulous DIY husband. I agree with a previous reviewer who said they are neither the least expensive nor the most expensive, and I’d add that Thomas delivers outstanding value for the price. They are the only company we’d trust with our home.

Thomas painting just finished painting our stairway, 2^nd floor hallway and master bedroom. The owner Pete gave us a good price that included crack repairs and skim coat. They were efficent and timely. Their work was very proffesional and clean up was excellant. Certainly would use them again. JFL

I have searched high and low for painters that I like and trust with our 90-​year old home. I’ve had three different companies through here and we’ve finally landed on a service provider that takes pride in their work. Starting with Pete, the owner, he is patient and spends time explaining the process. He isn’t the cheapest guy on the block nor is he the most expensive, but I’ve hired the cheapest guy and got what I paid for. Probably have to have Pete fix that work. Hiring a contractor is not an easy process, but have no fear these guys will do a great job. His crew is courteous, professional and also patient. They focus on their work and a do a great job. Highly recommend.