Fair Trades Home Maintenance & Inspection

23/05/2026

22/05/2026

Our daughter is purchasing her first home , and we are in the market for a few good, used items to make the move as affordable for her as possible:

-large kitchen worth of good, used cabinets. We can come remove them before your kitchen project if necessary! She needs a lower blind corner cabinet that tucks in to the right➡️
I need enough for her small kitchen plus a long wall in the sunroom and an island - so, a bunch!

-corner bench with storage similar to the photo and preferably a small round table to match. We’ll refinish!

-18” dishwasher, black and reasonably priced. Don’t you remember what it’s like to wash all those sippy cup parts!🥴

If any of our local clients have these items to let go of, LET’S MAKE A DEAL!!! 🎉

20/05/2026

Someone PLEASE go buy this at Rockford Habitat Restore so that we can design a bathroom around it. Nobody appreciates art anymore. This is phenomenal!!! 💙. The glaze is in the porcelain and the seat & lid were hand painted to match. I can’t believe someone removed this!!! 😍

20/05/2026

Brad’s Aunties shared these photos today - his Uncle Greg in his Grandfather’s truck in Chicago and a photo of his grandfather.

3rd generation tradesman, and his great grandfather was a farmer. Brad comes from a long line of hard workers!! 💙💙💙

18/05/2026

Final inspection APPROVED ✔️🎉

Thanks so much for the business, Gwen & Chris! We appreciate it very much!

14/05/2026

Should be finishing this one up in time for the homeowners to enjoy it this weekend! 🙌🏻

12/05/2026

Post hole inspection ✔️🙌🏻

Brad & Magnus pretty well completed the framing, tomorrow the stringers go on and then we wait for inspection again!

08/05/2026

We are VERY thankful to have our nephew, Magnus come and help with some of the heavy lifting for a couple days while Brad gives his back a couple days to recover. He’s not a spring chicken anymore!

04/05/2026

When your hired help doesn’t show up, you pivot and help with DEMO DAY!!!💪. I didn’t really want to do the taxes today anyway.

Stay tuned!!

03/05/2026

Thank you for the work, Tarnowske’s! 💙

5 days and their shower is safe, clean and accessible with a refreshed floor! Mrs. put a fresh coat of paint on the vanity & mirror overnight and we finished this one up today! 💪

-new shower surround
-3 grab bars with in-wall bracing
-new shower valve & drain kit
-new flooring & transition
-remove & re-install toilet
-prime & paint ceiling & walls

01/05/2026

Some jobs come with lessons attached and this lesson is useful for other contractors.

This custom shower was completed about 1 year ago. Large format wall tile, marble herringbone pan tile, built in bench, custom framed multi tiered niche, shave station and finished w/ brushed gold Schluter. The craftsmanship speaks for itself.

What the photo doesn't show is the fight that followed. After delivering work like this, the Homeowner refused to pay. No dispute over quality, simply didn't care to pay the bill.

What protected us:

This particular project was a combination of our work and Fair Trades Home Maintenance & Inspection. We worked together to ensure a mechanic's lien was filed on the property. When a contractor files a lien, the lien becomes attached to the property and must be satisfied prior to the sale of the home. We just got paid in full on an invoice that was nearly 300 days past due.

Three things any contractor needs to understand:

Collect a deposit prior to beginning work. It qualifies the client, protects materials costs and establishes a commitment from both parties.

Know your lien rights and use them. A mechanic's lien is a powerful tool.

Always ensure a contract that clearly spells out work scope / payment terms is used and signed by both parties, regardless if they are considered friends or family.

We do beautiful work and we know how to protect it.

Custom Shower Installation - Artisan Tile Creations, Inc.