Interior · Exterior · Cabinets · Drywall · Commercial
House Painters in Crystal Lake, IL & the Northwest Suburbs
Interior and exterior painting, cabinets, drywall repair and commercial work across McHenry, Kane, Lake and northwest Cook counties. You get a free written estimate and a call back within 24 hours.
Free written estimate · no pressure
Hi, I'm Tim Dodaro. I own Level Best Painting.
I grew up working alongside my dad in his business, serving customers in their homes. He taught me three things that have stuck with me: do what you say you'll do, answer your phone, and pay attention to the details. Those same principles guide how I run Level Best today. My goal is simple: earn your five-star review by providing service you'll be thrilled with. Call me today for a free estimate.
Locally Owned
Not a franchise. One local owner, one standard.
Everything in Writing
Itemized estimate and a written contract before we start.
Two Coats, Every Job
Paint brand and line named on your estimate.
2-Year Written Warranty
If our workmanship fails, we come back and fix it.
Painting Company Serving Crystal Lake, IL and the Surrounding Areas
Level Best Painting paints homes and businesses in Huntley and the towns around it. Every job starts the same way. We come out, look at the work with you, and hand you a written, itemized price. The prep is spelled out on it, and so is the paint brand and line. You know what you're paying for before anyone picks up a brush.
Level Best is owned and run locally. The owner prices your job, our crews do the work, and he walks it with you at the end. We're not a franchise, and there's no call center between you and the people doing your job. When you reach out, you hear back within 24 hours.
Exterior House Painters
Northern Illinois is hard on paint. Freeze/thaw opens up joints, summer humidity gets under loose paint, and snow sits against the trim for months. A good exterior job is mostly prep. Our crews wash the siding, scrape and sand the loose paint, recaulk the gaps and prime bare wood before any color goes on. Then siding, trim, doors and shutters get two coats.
The exterior season here runs about May through early October, when the weather lets paint cure the way it should. Calendars fill up early, so late winter or spring is a good time to get your estimate.
Interior House Painters
One room or the whole house. Walls, ceilings, trim, doors and stairwells. We move and cover your furniture, cover the floors, patch the nail holes and dings, and caulk the trim before we paint. You get two coats and clean lines where the wall meets the ceiling. We clean up at the end of every day, so you can still live in your house while we work. Interior painting runs all year.
Cabinet Painters
Painting your cabinets keeps the boxes, doors and layout you already have and changes the color and finish. Doors and drawer fronts come off and get labeled. Everything gets degreased, sanded and coated with a bonding primer. Then it's sprayed with a cabinet-grade enamel, not wall paint. The boxes are masked and finished in place with your counters and appliances covered. A lot of cabinet work happens November through April, when it's too cold to paint outside.
Drywall Repair
Doorknob holes, cracked seams, nail pops, water stains, and the patches left behind after a plumber or electrician. We tape what needs it, mud and sand in thin coats, match the texture around the repair, then prime and paint so it blends in. If you're painting the room anyway, we fix the walls first and it all goes on one estimate.
Commercial Painters
Offices, retail stores, restaurants, medical and dental suites, multifamily buildings and HOA properties. We start with a site walk and give you a written proposal with the scope by area, the products and the schedule. We can work nights, weekends or in phases so your business stays open and your tenants know what's coming. You have one contact from the first walk to the punch list.
Deck & Fence Staining
Decks and fences here take humid summers, months of snow and freeze/thaw all winter. We wash off the dirt, mildew and failing finish, brighten the wood, sand the rough boards and set popped fasteners. Then the stain gets worked in so it soaks into the wood instead of sitting on top. If a board is rotted and not just weathered, we'll tell you so it can be replaced first.
What Sets Us Apart?
- 1
Free Estimate
We come out, look at the job with you, and you get a written, itemized price. No pressure.
- 2
Color Selection & Schedule
Pick your colors. We can help if you want it. Then we set a start date and tell you who's coming.
- 3
Prep, Paint & Clean-Up
Our crew covers your floors, furniture and landscaping, does the prep right, puts on two coats, and cleans up every day.
- 4
Final Walk-Through
We walk the job with you before we call it done. If something isn't right, we fix it.
What You Get With Level Best Painting
- Free written, itemized estimate
- Paint brand and line named on the estimate
- Two coats
- Floors, furniture and landscaping covered
- Clean up every day
- Final walk-through with you
- Locally owned, not a franchise
- 2-year workmanship warranty in writing
Painting Crystal Lake, Huntley and the Towns Around Them
Level Best is run from Huntley, with our office in Crystal Lake. We paint in Huntley, Lake in the Hills, Algonquin, Crystal Lake, Cary, McHenry, Woodstock, Barrington, Lake Zurich, Elgin, St. Charles and Carpentersville, plus the smaller towns in between.
The houses change a lot across that area. Sun City ranches in Huntley. Subdivisions off Randall Road that are coming up on their first repaint. Older homes in Woodstock and Elgin where the old paint needs careful prep. We price each house for what it actually needs, not off a chart.
Local Resources
What It Costs to Paint Kitchen Cabinets in McHenry County (2026)
Cabinet painting quotes for the same kitchen can differ by thousands. Here are the published ranges and what actually moves the number in a McHenry County kitchen.
What House Flippers Know About Hiring Painters (That Most Homeowners Don't)
I hired painting crews for my own flip houses for years before starting a painting company. Here's everything that experience taught me about hiring well.
Common Questions
How much does it cost to paint a room or a house?
It depends on the size, the ceiling height, how much prep the surfaces need, how many colors you want, and whether trim, doors and ceilings are part of it. That's why we don't quote off a phone call. We come out and look, or work from photos for small jobs, and you get a free written estimate with every item listed.
How fast will I hear back?
Within 24 hours. We call you back, ask a few questions about the job, and set a time to come out and look at it.
Who will be working in my home?
Our crews do the painting. They're vetted before they work for us, and we tell you who's coming before the start date. You also get the owner's direct number for the whole job, so you always have someone to call.
When can you paint the outside of a house around here?
Roughly May through early October. We paint outside when air and surface temperatures are between about 50 and 85 degrees, overnight lows stay above 35, and humidity is under 70 percent. Exterior calendars fill up by spring, so book your estimate early. Interiors, cabinets and drywall run all winter.
What kind of paint do you use?
Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore, picked for the surface and for Illinois weather. The brand and line go on your estimate so you know what's going on your walls. If you want a specific product or color, we can use it.
Do painters need a license in Illinois?
No. Illinois doesn't have a state license for painters. So ask every painter you talk to for a written scope that lists the prep, the coats and the paint, and ask who will actually be doing the work. You'll get straight answers from us on all of it.
Are you a franchise?
No. Level Best is locally owned. There's no territory office or national brand between you and the people responsible for your job.
Proudly Serving McHenry, Kane, Lake & Northwest Cook Counties
Run from Huntley, with our office in Crystal Lake. Pick your town to see what we do there.