Licensed & insured general contractor · Chicago · Since 1999
☎ (773) 969-9097·bofranbuilders@gmail.com
Additions, custom homes, gut renovations and commercial build-outs — one contract, one schedule, one builder who answers for all of it. Family-owned since 1999, with our own framing crew on the structure of every project.
A construction project is really thirty smaller projects — drawings, permits, demolition, foundation, framing, plumbing, electric, HVAC, inspections, finishes — each with its own crew and its own schedule. Our job as your general contractor is to own all of it, so your only job is deciding what you want built.
Bofran Builders is a licensed Chicago general contractor working across the city and the North Shore on home additions, custom homes and teardown-rebuilds, whole-home renovations, structural framing, small-to-mid commercial build-outs, and insurance restoration & rebuilds after fire, storm or water damage. Want numbers before a conversation? Use the project budget tool below or browse the 2026 cost guide.
Tap through what we take on as a general contractor — typical Chicago cost ranges, timelines and where to read more. If your project spans more than one of these, that's exactly what a GC is for.
Room additions, second stories, bump-outs, kitchen extensions, sunrooms and ADUs — designed, permitted and built by one team, with the structure framed by our own crew so the new space reads as original, not bolted on.
Ground-up custom homes and teardown-rebuilds across Chicago and the North Shore. Our signature build — a 9,000 sq ft Lake Forest home — was Realtor.com's most-viewed listing in the country for a week in 2020.
Gut renovations, kitchen and basement remodels, and full-floor reworks — the projects where a general contractor earns their keep, because plumbing, electric, HVAC, framing and finishes all have to move in the right order.
Most Chicago GCs hire framing out. We built our company on it. Our in-house crew handles structural framing, beam and load-path work, sistering and structural repair — for our own projects and as a standalone trade for architects and builders.
Office and tenant improvements, medical and dental suites, retail, salons and restaurants for experienced operators — small-to-mid commercial projects where your lease clock is running and the opening date is the contract.
Chicago porches are structural, code-regulated builds — not weekend projects. We build and rebuild porches, decks, rooftop decks and exterior stairs with the same framing discipline as the rest of our work, permits included.
Ever wonder what you're paying a GC for? Click through a real project's six phases — what we handle, what stays your call, and the one thing worth knowing at each step before you hire anyone.
Pick a project type, set the size and choose a finish level — and get an instant 2026 Chicago-area planning range, with the typical timeline. It's the same math we use to sanity-check scope in a first conversation.
Planning ranges based on 2025–2026 Chicago-area pricing and your inputs — actual cost depends on design, site conditions, materials and permits ($500–$5,000 for most residential projects). Structural changes typically add $20–$40/sq ft on additions and renovations. Building a commercial space? The commercial build-out calculator breaks it down by space type and lease condition. For a firm, itemized number, request a free on-site estimate.
The honest answer to "what does it cost?" is a range — and the range depends mostly on what you're building and the finishes you choose. These are the same 2026 planning ranges we publish on each service page, in one place.
| Project type | Cost / sq ft |
|---|---|
| Office / retail build-out | $60–$175 |
| Basement finishing | $70–$155 |
| Whole-home gut renovation | $100–$250 |
| Home addition / bump-out | $150–$300 |
| Second-story addition | $200–$400+ |
| ADU / in-law suite | $200–$400 |
| Restaurant build-out | $200–$450 |
| Semi-custom home | $225–$325 |
| Kitchen extension | $250–$500 |
| Full custom home | $325–$475 |
Deeper dives: the Chicago home addition cost breakdown covers additions line by line, and each service page above carries its own 2026 tables. Ranges are planning figures — your written estimate is itemized to your actual scope.
Most construction horror stories were preventable at the hiring stage. Here's the checklist we'd hand a family member — tick each item off as you verify it, whoever you're interviewing.
Every Bofran estimate meeting starts with the paperwork most contractors hope you won't request: license, insurance certificates, a fully itemized quote, a milestone draw schedule, our lien-waiver practice and the written 5-year warranty.
In 2002 we completed a 9,000 square foot, four-story custom home at 1130 Gavin Court in Lake Forest — designed, framed and built by the same crews that run our projects today. When the property was listed in February 2020, it became Realtor.com's #1 most-viewed home in the United States for a week, and was featured in Crain's Chicago Business and by Sotheby's International Realty.
We tell that story for one reason: the structure a general contractor puts up in year one is what the market judges twenty years later. See how we build custom homes.
The six phases above are our problem to manage. From where you sit, working with us is three steps — and you always know which one you're in.
A free consultation and site walk. We listen to what you're trying to build, flag what your structure and zoning allow, and give you honest first numbers — including whether the project is right for us at all.
You get a fixed, itemized quote and a real schedule. Once you sign, we coordinate drawings, pull permits under our license and lock in materials — everything buttoned up before work starts.
Our crew and long-time trade partners build it, with the owner on site and updates all the way through. We finish with your walkthrough, final lien waivers, a 30-day check-in and the written 5-year warranty.
Filter by project type to see the range of what one general contractor and one in-house crew can cover — more project photos are added as jobs wrap.
You shouldn't have to project-manage your own construction. Tell us what you want built and we take it from first sketch to final walkthrough — on one contract, with the owner on your job.
Family-owned and building in Chicago since 1999. Frank — trained as an architect before he ever swung a hammer here — is on your project, not in an office across town.
The structure of every project is built by our own framers — a rarity among Chicago GCs, and the reason our buildings stay straight for decades.
Frank walks the site, answers your calls and makes the judgment calls in person. Decisions don't wait for a project manager to relay them.
A licensed, insured Chicago general contractor — permits pulled under our name, inspections passed on the record, paperwork you can verify yourself.
Line items, named allowances and a draw schedule tied to milestones. The number you sign is the number you plan around.
Drawings, applications and every inspection, city or suburb — you never set foot in a permit office, and nothing gets covered before it passes.
Every project closes with final lien waivers, a 30-day check-in and a written 5-year warranty — and we still answer the phone in year four.
We work across Chicago's neighborhoods and the near suburbs — and we know the difference between pulling a permit at City Hall and getting one through a North Shore village review board. Local rules shape budgets and timelines; we price them in from day one.
Don't see your area? Get in touch — we likely serve it too.
"Our architect recommended Bofran Builders and we couldn't be happier. Frank and his team worked with us throughout building our new home, making excellent suggestions. Built on schedule despite permit obstacles — and more affordable than other contractors. The craftsmanship is phenomenal."
"The deck and staircase construction on a residential building was completed fast, under budget and with high quality. Even the city inspector was impressed with the workmanship."
"They did a great job replacing both support beams on our rooftop pergola — a tricky job with heavy materials in a tight space. I appreciated the attention to detail matching the existing accents and the timeliness to finish."
A general contractor owns the whole project: pricing and budgeting, permits and inspections, hiring and scheduling every trade, ordering materials, quality control and the final punch list. You sign one contract and make one call when you have a question. On our jobs the structure itself — demolition, foundation coordination and framing — is built by our own in-house crew, while licensed plumbing, electrical and HVAC partners we have worked with for years handle their trades under our daily supervision. For the parts most contractors will not say out loud, read what general contractors want you to know.
Chicago general contractors typically price projects one of two ways: a fixed price built from itemized line items, or cost-plus, where you pay actual costs plus a management fee that commonly runs 10–20% of the project. Bofran Builders quotes a fixed, itemized price, so the number you sign is the number you plan around. As a planning range, most Chicago residential projects land between $70 and $500 per square foot depending on the type of work — see the cost guide on this page for ranges by project.
One trade, no permit, a few days of work — hire the trade directly. Bring in a general contractor when the project involves structural changes, a building permit, or three or more trades that have to be sequenced: additions, gut renovations, kitchen extensions, basement build-outs, custom homes and commercial build-outs. Coordinating trades yourself usually costs more in schedule slips and rework than a GC's fee.
Chicago licenses general contractors by class based on project size, and the city offers an online license lookup where anyone can check that a license is active. For insurance, ask for a certificate of insurance showing both general liability and workers' compensation, sent to you directly from the insurance agent — not a photocopy from the contractor. We hand both over unprompted with every estimate. The full eight-point checklist is in the hiring guide above.
Both, deliberately. Framing, carpentry and structural work are done by our own in-house crew — we never sub out the bones of a building. Plumbing, electrical and HVAC are performed by licensed subcontractors we have worked with for years, scheduled and supervised by us daily. Either way, everything runs under one contract and one accountable builder.
You should never pay a large amount up front. We work from a written draw schedule tied to completed milestones — you pay for work after it is done, and every payment comes with lien waivers that protect your title from subcontractor and supplier claims. The final payment is only due after final inspections pass, the punch list is complete and you have signed off on the walkthrough.
The contractor should pull the permit under their own license. Be cautious of any contractor who asks you to take out an owner's permit — that shifts code responsibility and liability onto you. Bofran Builders handles drawings, permit applications and every inspection on all of our Chicago and suburban projects. More on this in why permits matter.
Home additions and second stories, custom homes and teardown-rebuilds, whole-home and kitchen or basement renovations, structural framing, porches and decks, and small-to-mid commercial build-outs like offices, retail and restaurants. We are honest about fit: we do not chase ground-up high-rise work or single-visit handyman repairs — if your project is not right for us, we will tell you and point you in the right direction.
Take these with you — no email required. The same checklist and budget math on this page, in files you can print, mark up and bring to any contractor you interview.
The full 8-point vetting checklist, what a GC does phase by phase, the red flags to walk away from, and the questions to ask at your first meeting — a field guide for any Chicago build.
Download the checklistAn editable spreadsheet that runs the same budget math as the tool above — pick your project type, square footage and finish level and it estimates your range, then plan it out line by line with an auto-summing total.
Download the worksheetDescribe the project and we'll reach out within one business day — with honest first numbers, the questions you should be asking, and whether we're the right fit for the job.
We'll get back to you within one business day.