About Level Best Painting · Huntley, IL
One owner, one standard
Level Best Painting is owner-run by Tim — a lifetime in home services, three companies of his own before this one, and years of hiring painters as the paying customer. He built the painting crew he could never find.
Founded 2026 · Huntley, IL · Independent — not a franchise
Tim grew up in his father’s carpet cleaning business — in the van, on the jobs, hearing what customers said after the crew left. He has been in home services his whole life since: before Level Best he started and ran three companies of his own, a restoration business, a carpet cleaning business, and a house-flipping business.
Two things came out of those years. First, painters. On the flips and the restoration jobs he hired painting crews over and over, paid the invoices, and walked the finished rooms with a flashlight because the buyer’s inspector would. He knows exactly where corners get cut — thin prep, skipped caulk, one coat sold as two, dust left for the homeowner — because he’s paid for every one of those shortcuts on his own properties. He never found the crew he wanted, so he built it. That’s Level Best.
Second, franchises. All three of those companies were franchises, and they taught him what a franchise puts between a customer and the person responsible: a territory office, a script, a standard set somewhere else. Level Best is the first company he’s built entirely to his own standard — one local owner, no middle layer, and the person who quoted your job is the person accountable for it.
The company is new — Tim started it in 2026. The standard isn’t. Being new means you get the owner’s full attention: Tim quotes your job himself, runs the crew on site every day, gives you his direct number, and puts everything — scope, price, schedule, warranty— in writing before we start. The standard doesn’t change when the owner isn’t looking, because the owner is there.
Who shows up at your house
Tim, and the crew he runs in person — on site, every day. Your job isn’t handed off to a subcontractor or a foreman you’ve never met: the owner who quoted it is the one on the ladder, and he does the final walkthrough with you. When you call (224) 263-4747, you get the same person.
What you get in writing
Illinois doesn’t license painters, so a license isn’t what protects you — paperwork is. Every estimate Tim writes itemizes the prep, the coat count, the paint by brand and line, the schedule, and the price. Every job over $1,000 comes with the written contract Illinois requires and the Attorney General’s “Home Repair: Know Your Consumer Rights” brochure. And our 2-year workmanship warranty is printed on the estimate, not buried in a PDF: if our work peels, blisters, or flakes, we come back and fix it.
How a job runs
- 1
Walk and written estimate — Tim looks at every surface; you get an itemized price.
- 2
Protect — floors, furniture, landscaping covered; hardware and fixtures masked.
- 3
Prep — patch, sand, caulk, prime, exactly as itemized.
- 4
Paint — two coats, cut lines by hand.
- 5
Clean up — every day, not just the last one.
- 6
Walkthrough — with Tim, in raking light, before we call it done.
What you can count on
- Owner on every job — Tim runs the crew on site, every day, and answers the phone
- Itemized written estimate — prep, coats, paint by brand and line
- Two coats, in writing
- Floors, furniture, and landscaping covered; cleanup every day
- 2-year workmanship warranty, printed on the estimate
- Callback within 24 hours
- Owner-operated · Huntley, IL
Where we work
We’re based in Huntley — Tim’s home town — and work McHenry, Kane, Lake, and northwest Cook counties: Painters in Huntley, Painters in Lake in the Hills, Painters in Algonquin, Painters in Crystal Lake, Painters in Cary, Painters in McHenry, Painters in Woodstock, Painters in Barrington, Painters in Lake Zurich, Painters in Elgin, Painters in St. Charles, Painters in Carpentersville.
Questions people ask before hiring us
Are you licensed?
Illinois has no painter license — nobody in the state is a licensed painter, whatever their truck says. What protects you is a written contract, an itemized estimate, and a warranty with a number on it. You get all three from us.
Is Level Best a franchise?
No — and that's on purpose. Tim started and ran three franchised home-service companies before this one and learned what a franchise puts between you and the person responsible: a territory office, a script, a brand standard set somewhere else. Level Best is one local owner with one standard, and the person who quoted your job is the person accountable for it.
Who actually runs my job?
Tim. He quotes it, then runs the crew on site every day — he's the one on the ladder, not a foreman you've never met — and does the final walkthrough with you. You'll have his direct number for the whole project.