Berwyn general contractor for the bungalow belt
Bofran Builders is a Berwyn general contractor focused on the housing this town is famous for: solid brick bungalows from the 1920s, sturdy two-flats, and the full basements underneath them. From fire and water restoration rebuilds to whole-home remodeling and basement finishing, we bring 27 years of Chicago-area building to homes that were built to last a century — and are now due for their next one.
What we build in Berwyn
One licensed contractor, one contract, one crew responsible for the whole job — structure, systems, and finishes. These are the services Berwyn homeowners call us for most.
Restoration and insurance rebuilds
Fire, water, and storm damage in a masonry home is its own kind of project: the brick shell usually survives, and the rebuild happens inside it. We work from your adjuster's scope of loss, flag what the scope misses, and carry the rebuild from demolition through final inspection.
Fire & water restoration →Whole-home remodeling
Gut renovations and phased remodels that keep the bungalow face the street knows and modernize everything behind it — layout, kitchen, baths, electrical, plumbing, and insulation, sequenced so the house stays structurally sound at every step.
Whole-home remodeling →Basement remodeling
Nearly every Berwyn bungalow sits on a full-footprint basement, which makes it the cheapest square footage in the house to reclaim. We handle moisture assessment, framing, insulation, egress, and finishes so the space works as a family room, office, or in-law suite.
Basement remodeling →Kitchen remodeling
Original bungalow kitchens were built small and closed off. We open walls where the structure allows, add proper lighting and ventilation, and rebuild the space around how your family actually cooks — with finish options priced at three clear tiers.
Kitchen remodeling →A Berwyn general contractor who knows solid masonry
Berwyn's bungalow belt holds one of the largest collections of 1920s Chicago-style bungalows anywhere — block after block of face brick, limestone sills, art glass, and low hipped roofs, most of it built between the 1910s and the 1930s. These are solid masonry houses: the brick walls carry the load, often with structural clay tile behind the face brick, and there is no wood-stud cavity in the exterior walls.
That construction changes how you remodel. Insulation goes in from the interior. New openings need steel lintels sized and set correctly. Repairs and infills have to match brick and mortar joints or they show forever. A contractor who treats a masonry bungalow like a frame house will make expensive mistakes — we plan the structural side first, then the finishes.
Age is the other reality. Behind original plaster you will often find galvanized supply lines, undersized electrical service, and ductwork added decades after the house was built. When we open walls for a remodel or a restoration rebuild, we bring what we find up to current code rather than burying it again — and we price that honestly at the estimate stage, not as a surprise mid-project.
Permits run through the City of Berwyn's building department. Structural work, electrical, and plumbing all require permits and inspections, and most remodeling projects need drawings for review. As your general contractor we prepare the drawings, submit the application, and schedule inspections so the project keeps moving.
What we watch for in Berwyn homes
- Brick and mortar matching on repairs, infills, and new openings in solid masonry walls
- Moisture, grading, and drainage checked before any basement build-out begins
- Galvanized plumbing and aging electrical service hidden behind original plaster
- Original framing that has sagged, or been cut up by past remodels, under attics and porches
- Permit drawings, applications, and inspections handled with the City of Berwyn
Home remodeling in Berwyn, from kitchen to attic
Most home remodeling in Berwyn starts with a house that is structurally excellent and functionally dated: a small closed kitchen, one bathroom for the whole family, an unfinished attic, and a basement used for storage. That is actually good news. A bungalow or two-flat with a sound masonry shell has room to grow without an addition — the attic and basement alone can add usable square footage on the footprint you already own.
Our crews open kitchens where the structure allows, add second bathrooms, finish attics and basements into real living space, and rework layouts for how families live now. Framing is done by our own in-house crew rather than a rotating cast of subs, which matters in older houses where every wall you open has a story. Browse the recent projects gallery to see the standard of work we bring to every job.
Questions from Berwyn homeowners
Yes. Fire, water, and storm restoration is one of our core services. We work from your adjuster's scope of loss, document existing conditions, flag items the scope misses, and rebuild the interior within the original masonry shell. You get one licensed general contractor responsible for structure, systems, and finishes from demolition through final inspection.
That is the goal on most of our older-home projects. The face brick, limestone details, art glass, and oak trim are what make these houses worth keeping, so we plan around them. Kitchens, bathrooms, layouts, and mechanical systems get modernized behind the original shell, and where trim or masonry has to be disturbed we match the existing profiles and mortar as closely as possible.
Yes, and we start with the parts you cannot see. Before any framing or drywall goes in, we assess moisture, grading, and drainage, check ceiling height against code, and look at how ducts and plumbing runs will affect the finished space. A basement done in that order stays dry and usable; one done in reverse becomes a tear-out.
We do. As your general contractor, Bofran prepares the drawings, submits the permit application to the City of Berwyn, and schedules the required inspections as the work progresses. Structural changes, electrical, and plumbing all need permits on projects like these, and handling that process is part of our job, not yours.
Yes. Bofran Builders holds Illinois general contractor license TGC136082 and carries full insurance. We have been building in the Chicago area since 1999, our framing crew is in-house rather than subbed out, and our structural work is backed by a 5-year warranty.
About 11 miles. Our shop is at 3922 N Ashland Ave in Chicago, an easy run down to Berwyn, so site visits and material deliveries are simple to schedule. Call (773) 969-9097 for a free estimate on any project in Berwyn.
Planning a project in Berwyn?
Tell us what you are looking at — a rebuild after damage, a dated kitchen, an unfinished basement, or the whole house. We will walk the property, talk through options, and put a real written estimate in your hands.