I’ve Remodeled Hundreds of Chicago Apartments — Here’s the Ugly Truth
Chicago keeps expanding surveillance with Flock cameras, data tracking, permits, inspections, and regulations for regular people… but why are management companies and slumlords still able to operate with almost zero accountability?
At this point, every building should have a transparent digital history attached to it. Blockchain technology already exists. Imagine if every permit, failed inspection, code violation, utility issue, lawsuit, noise complaint, insulation upgrade, plumbing repair, and remodeling job was permanently attached to a property record before someone rented it.
Because right now tenants walk into apartments blind but landlords have every little thing about you that they can dissect and check into your history.
You think you found a “deal” until the first weekend hits and realize the walls are paper thin, neighbors are out of control, utilities are insane because the landlord cheaped out on insulation, or maintenance requests suddenly disappear after move-in. Some landlords overpromise everything just to get someone in the door, then drag their feet for months once the lease is signed.
Where am I coming from with this?
From 2009–2020 I remodeled more Chicago multi-unit buildings than I can count — 3 flats, 6 units, larger apartment buildings — mostly for management companies. Some owners absolutely cared and wanted things done right. But a lot of them? They cut corners constantly to protect profits.
I honestly regret working on some of those buildings.
My crew always did extra work because we knew someone was eventually going to live there. We brought places closer to condo-level quality while others were doing the bare minimum to pass inspections and collect rent checks.
Nowadays I mostly do exterior work and work by myself. I burned myself out dealing with crews, landlords, and the constant “push, push, push — finish faster so we can rent it faster.”
And even now I still see the same mentality.
An old contact reached out to me back in March about a problematic roof. Furnaces and ductwork were exposed on the roof, and later I found out the tenants had been dealing with leaks since last September.
I finished the work a few weeks ago.
Today he called me saying they discovered mold and asked if I could handle it. I told him yes — I know exactly how to do it safely, what products to use, and that the tenants would need to be out of the unit for the entire day while we sealed the area, wore respirators, and ventilated the place properly.
He literally laughed on the phone and said:
“Forget it, I’ll have my maintenance guy do it.”
That bothered me more than it should have because now I just feel bad for the girls living in that unit.
Then a few weeks ago the same guy asked me for a quote to add laundry into another apartment unit. I said sure, thinking the lease was ending at the end of May and we’d have a month with the place empty to do it properly.
Then I get a text:
“We rented the place for June 1st and the tenants are okay with you doing the work around them. Should only take a month…”
Excuse me? Occupied unit?
You want walls and ceilings opened up while people are moving in? I’d need to cut into the kitchen for gas lines, open bathrooms for water and drains, drill through ceilings and exterior brick for venting — and somehow people are supposed to live normally in the middle of that?
I sent him a cold response back telling him that’s illegal and to never contact me again for jobs like that.
People need to understand:
if we let these management companies walk all over tenants and contractors, they absolutely will.
Not all landlords are bad. Some truly care. But there are way too many greedy people in this city treating housing like a pure extraction business with zero concern for the people actually living there.
Fresh paint and staged photos hide a lot of problems in Chicago apartments.