M&M Home Remodeling Services
The primary task of any home is to give its occupants shelter from the elements - snow, cold, rain, blazing sun, wind and even hail. It functions for its owners like a shell functions for the turtle.
M & M Home Remodeling Services has been providing homeowners with roofing since Mike Yadron began the company in Chicago's South suburbs in 1976. He added the other essential elements of shelter - siding, windows, doors, gutters and attic insulation - beginning in 1999.
"We have been around as a company for more than four decades and currently have 110 employees. And that means we have also had thousands of satisfied customers," said Nick Yadron, president and son of the founder. "We have always been very efficient and have paid a lot of attention to the details and that has allowed us to grow and progress with the times."
M & M is also a family-owned firm so, Nick said, it offers a more personal touch than many of its competitors.
"My dad and I are here on the front lines of the business because we care. It is our name and our reputation on the line so we go to a lot of trouble to offer a personal touch and to show a level of care and concern that most firms don't demonstrate and our customers appreciate that," he said.
Ninety percent of its business starts with a salesperson stopping by the house to give an estimate and scope out the parameters of a job. Today, M & M representatives go armed with iPads that allow them to make electronic presentations to prospective clients and to prepare a cost proposal and contract on the spot, Nick Yadron said.
But M & M also has four showrooms around the Chicago area and Northwest Indiana that allow homeowners to go somewhere convenient to them to see bigger, harder-to-carry items like doors and windows. Those showrooms are located in Addison, Mokena and Crete, and Crown Point, Indiana.
"Because of this, when a customer is ready to go, we can go from A to Z in a relatively short period of time," Yadron said "and we can do windows, doors, roof, gutters - whatever the homeowner wants - all at one time and under one warranty, if that is what they want."
M & M installs both asphalt and cedar shake roofs using well-known names like Owens-Corning, as well as quality suppliers whose names are not as well-known. The same is true for siding, windows and doors. Hardie Board cement siding and vinyl siding are the clear favorites when it comes to siding these days, Yadron said.
Roofing has evolved also. The days when homeowners opt to add a second roof over an existing layer of shingles, for the most part, are a thing of the past.
"Only 1 percent or less of our customers today choose to add a second layer on their roof. Doing a roof is a big investment and homeowners today understand that when they get a new roof, it is the time to pull off the old and take a look at the plywood underneath - replacing it, if necessary - and also to add an ice and water membrane for added protection of the home," Yadron said. "You also get a longer warranty on the new roof when you do a total tear-off."
A roof on an average, 2,000- to 2,800-square-foot home only takes a day to execute, he said, and the weather simply needs to be above freezing. Similarly, all of the windows in the average home can be replaced in one day and that kind of work can be done year-round because windows are removed and replaced, one at a time, limiting a home's exposure to outside temperatures.
"We offer some of the strongest warranties in the region, like lifetime warranties on both labor and materials, that are transferable to a new homeowner one time," Yadron said. "We know our customers don't want to pay to have the work done again, so those long, strong warranties are a real advantage for us."
M & M's local stores are located at 1732 Armitage Court, Addison, (630) 769-1700); and 9432 W. 191st St., Mokena, (708) 478-1076). For more information, visit www.m-mcorp.com.