Brooks Home Renovations: Turning Your Dreams Into Reality
Brooks Home Renovations: Turning Your Dreams Into Reality
turn your dreams into reality with the team you can trust
McKenna Scherer
When Brooks Home Renovations hit the scene back in 2006 thanks to owner Tony Brooks taking the leap to go solo, he did so knowing it would cost him about everything he had: time, money, and most importantly, his full dedication and expertise. More than a decade since then, Brooks Home Renovations has made a true name for itself based on hard work and transparency, living and learning right alongside the Chippewa Valley.
As Andrew Hrabe, Brooks Home Renovations’ Marketing Manager, explained, the local company offers design aspects and components others in the area don’t, but more than that, their smooth and detail-oriented process is what keeps clients coming back.
While most folks would agree that finding a renovation team that prioritizes transparency and ease is a no-brainer, renovating any space can – and usually does – come with its own unique set of details to work out and bumps in the road.
From nailing down a budget, working up designs, and going through a plethora of different product options and components, it can all start to feel overwhelming whether it’s your first time working on a renovation or not. That’s why having a team with in-house designers, project managers, and their own estimator, proves to deliver a more seamless experience time and time again.
“Such a big part of our process is, it’s been designed by our clients,” Andrew explained. “The whole renovation process can sound really big and monotonous, but as people go through it, most really like it and enjoy how we don’t hit those snags caused by disconnects between architect, builder, and designer.”
With a client-made process fine tuned thanks to almost 20 years of experience, Brooks Home
Renovations primarily focuses on remodeling – kitchen and bath remodels, full-house remodels, you
name it – but also offers roofing and flooring services, siding, electrical and plumbing work, HVAC services, custom furniture and cabinet work, and more. Having diverse design aspects is crucial to the local business, and it’s something clients appreciate too.
“The biggest part is trust; It’s so key,” Andrew said. “We want clients to trust us and us them. We live here, work here, and see our clients out and about all the time, so we want them to be as proud of our work as we are.”
And trust Brooks Home Renovations, the Valley does. Since 2018, Brooks Home Renovations has been recognized in the Volume One Chippewa Valley Reader’s Poll, earning the No. 1 spot for Best Carpentry or Remodeling (non-homebuilder).
While some shy away from homes and buildings from the 1800s and early 1900s, often finding it easier to push away the old and build new, the Brooks Home Renovations team gets that a house isn’t just a house, but someone’s home. “We like to shine homes up, and often times projects have sentimental value and a story. When it makes sense for the client, for us, and for the budget, we take that time and put in the work,” Andrew explained.
The veteran-owned company makes the intentional effort to make a positive, community-wide affect too, and not just by renovation work. There’s something to be said about the art of the trades, and Brooks Home Renovations is aiming to remind the area’s next generations of that.
“We want to get kids excited about trades again,” Andrew said. The team goes to area high schools to talk with kids about the work, and they don’t just swing into shop classes, but pull their weight at career fairs as well to reach even more kids.
The company currently has a marketing intern from Altoona High School, who plans on continuing on to CVTC or UW-Eau Claire after graduating. With another high school student who works hands-on with renovation work, Andrew explained how much talent there is in the area’s youth, and it just needs to be fostered.
As a member of the Chippewa Valley Home Owners Association, the team continues to support community projects, including their continued work at Boyd Park which Brooks Home Renovations “adopted” years ago. They also work with a county and state program that allows folks with income restraints and accessibility issues to work on projects, and are in the midst of completing additional projects for the Eau Claire Children’s Museum.
“Being veteran-owned, that experience bleeds into the business; that integrity the army values, it’s
a huge pat of what we do,” Andrew said. “To be honest with our work, think about others, and help through selfless service. It’s what our life was all about then, and it’s how we work here too.”
Check out Brooks Home Renovations’s website to get in touch and see some of their work. Give the team a call at (715) 797-1711, located at 1592 118th St., Chippewa Falls.