Paul crafted and installed beautiful hardwood baseboard trim and window trim in our 100+ yr-old farmhouse to match existing original wood floors and did a magnificent job. He also finished some other issues encountered from a previous contractor who was not qualified to do what was said could be done. We highly recommend him for your woodworking needs! Very professional & communicative. Addressed our concerns and created a very pleasing finished product. BTW: This farmhouse is near Iowa City, IA. read more

Paul built out my window's trim and jamb extensions quickly and with little hassle at a good rate. I'm definitely keeping him in mind for future projects. read more

Paul did a wonderful job rebuilding our front porch. I would hire him again without question and highly recommend him.

Paul was professional, timely, did skilled work, and also worked really well with our plumber on a bathroom job. He is exactly what you want on a small to mid sized project; low overhead, honest and experienced. My husband and I had a bit of a miscommunication, and Paul talked me down and was patient and got us back on the same page. Really great guy to work with. Barbara L. (Below) seems to do a poor job of vetting contractors and its a pity she took it out on Paul. read more

Cary Carpentry & Construction - Drywall, framing insulation, window and door trim, and molding by Paul. - General Contractors Near Me

Helped with some work on a basement reno. Professional. Great results. Even laid down sheets to protect the floor. Would recommend.

If you need more than a 1 person job, I would not contact this guy. It's apparently a 1 man operation. I called ONLY this 1 contractor and explained to him that he was the only person doing the estimate for me. When he met me in person, he looked bedazzled. I kept explaining the scope of work I needed (repeated same information told on phone) and he said, "well, I can't do it.". It seemed as though he has given up on his career in this very moment. Literally the guy was like, "meh, well I've been going through some issues in my business". I'm like... "Do you need a moment to reflect on your life? This is a freaking estimate! Just write down the information, go home, price it out, then get back to me with a price and time frame!". Long story short... I think he may be closing up shop... you may not want to call and bother him. read more

My boyfriend has recently had a number of contractors come through and Paul was nothing but professional! What I appreciate most about him, was that when he came over to look at the work he didn't just throw out something he knew we wanted to hear. He wanted to do the job right. In addition to some small projects in the condo (new closet doors, touchups, etc), he also built a phenomenal banister. It definitely was a sign of professional work. I would reccomend Paul to anyone that needs quality work done in their home. read more

Paul rocked my house.....he's super reliable and very good at his craft. It's hard to find people that you can trust to do a great job and meet/or exceed expectations. Plus he's a really nice guy who's totally honest and easy to work with. Thanks Paul read more

Paul is the best carpenter/handyman to work with ever! If you need help with something small or large, he is trustworthy, easy to talk to, easy to have around, smart, and most importantly, great at what he does. Part of the problem knowing who to hire for projects around your home is worrying about who you can trust, and that is what I like about Paul. I was referred to him through a friend, so I already knew I could trust him, and I wanted to write a review here to confirm that he is trustworthy. He's creative and won't over price. I actually wanted him to do a project on my roof and he told me how I could do it cheaper another way, not even involving him. He is so great, I'll be hiring him again! read more

Mr. Cary put a new front porch on my home and did an excellent job. He finished within the quoted time frame and was very professional. He is a great man for small to mid sized jobs. read more

After being so pleased with the first time I hired Paul, I gave him a call when I needed my garden apartment renovated. Working largely alone, he demoed, insulated, laid flooring, trimmed, hung cabinets, and finished about 600sf of living space. Because there is hardly a straight line or square corner in my 120 year old house, I needed a problem solver who could figure out how to hide or work around imperfections. Paul was always up to the task, finding solutions where I didn't think they existed. For tasks outside of his trade, like tiling, drywalling, and electrical, he recommended craftsman he'd worked with in the past, and each one was skillful, fast, courteous and reasonably priced. Best of all, unlike nearly every contractor I've ever worked with, Paul is ALWAYS on time and great with communication. So long as I own a house in Chicago, when it comes to carpentry and general construction, I can confidently tell folks, "I got a guy." My guy is Paul Cary. read more

I was looking for someone to help with putting up an interior railing since my stairs make a sharp turn and there is nothing to grab onto. I saw several positive reviews on Yelp and thought he might be able to help.He emailed me back and confirmed "i do a lot of stair rails." When he came by to take a look, he seemed perplexed and mentioned something about doing a lot of work on his own home but agreed to get back to me with some ideas. A week later, I got a follow up email from him "I am not going to be able to get to the project any time soon. Im going to have to decline the bid." ...Seems unprofessional and a waste of time. read more

My husband hired Paul to build a wall-closet in our guest room. While our needs were basic, Paul listened to what I wanted to use the space for and built exactly what I had pictured, but hadn't been able to properly articulate. He came up with perfectly efficient solutions to some of the issues we had with the space (long & narrow) and went above and beyond to make sure everything was sturdy without any stabilizing pieces of wood becoming eyesores. Paul is fast & efficient, yet incredibly meticulous. His work is thoughtful, precise, and solid with a clean aesthetic. It was clear to us after seeing the finished closet that Paul really knows his stuff. He's a true craftsman who takes pride in his work and it shows. He will definitely be the first person I call the next time we want any sort of carpentry work done. THANK YOU, PAUL! read more

My husband and I needed to overhaul our bedframe -- it was a somewhat complicated job, that required finesse, patience and care. Paul was the only person who took the job seriously. He came over twice to measure and consider all the options. He then gave me a fair quote, explained exactly what he would do, and got to work. Along the way, he made several minor (but work-intensive) improvements to his initial plan to make sure that the frame looked right after all was said and done. What resulted was gorgeous, and exactly what we wanted! I couldn't recommend him more -- he's a master of his craft. Thanks so much! read more

I recently hired Paul to install a wood handrail in my home. He arrived promptly for both the initial meeting and to complete the work. He was very professional and offers very affordable pricing. I was very satisfied with his work and would highly recommend him to family and friends. Should I need any further carpentry work in the future I will be calling Paul. read more

I have nothing but great things to say about Paul and his work! He is a real pro. We decided to build a wall to divide our living room into two small bedrooms, and wanted it to have some storage capabilities. Paul came over twice to discuss options with us before spending about 6 days building a gorgeous dividing wall with shelves and storage space. His work is meticulous, and we had a somewhat challenging space, but he did a fantastic job! He also framed and hung a new door and put up drywall in one of the new rooms. He clearly takes his craftsmanship very seriously and is invested in doing a perfect job. Paul came to our place and worked during the day while we were at work. He always left the place super clean and we felt totally comfortable having him there while we were out. Our new unit looks amazing and we are thrilled with it. I'm so happy we discovered Paul and would recommend him to anyone! read more

Bought a home built in 1913 with a lot of original wood work. We had to have new windows installed and we had to remove all of the window trim. Which was also in need of stripping and re finishing. Paul reinstalled all the original window trim while fixing the past owners contractors horrible work. Everything looks great and could have not asked for a better job. All done in a timely manner and as he had originally quoted. read more

I recently hired paul based off of these yelp reviews. They couldn't be more accurate. I needed a wall built in a high rise and had no idea what I was talking about. Paul showed up within a day or two of me sending him an email, took some measurements, and gave me a reasonable quote the next day. He was very good about following up on emails, showed up when he was supposed to and did everything I asked for and more in the time frame that he specified. In addition to doing a bang-up job he proved to be a good-natured and trustworthy person as well as very clean. I'm definitely going to reccomend paul for any future jobs, and will undoubtedly use him again if need be. read more

Really responsive. I asked him for an estimate for extensive remodel work that he wasn't available for so he pointed me in the direction of another reliable contractor, who I am now using. All and all really helpful. read more

Paul took on my small job (construct & install 4 sliding closet doors) without hesitation and delivered it quickly and at a good rate. Pleasant to work with and quality work. If I were staying in the area, I'd hire him for other jobs. read more

Paul is a pro and does great work. He recently hung a door in our garage and installed new flooring in our nursery. Our house was built in the late 1800s, so nothing is plumb, but Paul worked his magic to make the nursery look straight despite its odd shape. Prices are reasonable and he's a great guy to have around to boot. Highly recommended. read more

I had the best experience with you guys, you all deserve a raise or something for the effort that I saw on you, that is one fine service you have. read more

UPDATE: I had Paul create a new front door for the garden unit to my building and he did an amazing job. He built the door from scratch and framed out the door and added moulding details, hardware, and painted it. It's perfect!! There's nothing this guy can't do. read more

Paul did finally get back to me to let me know that he can't do the project as he previously promised. I'm very disappointed as I was looking forward to having someone reliable to hire for more projects in the future. I also have a few friends who were waiting to see how my experience with Paul went as they have projects around their condos that needed a carpenter. However, I can understand that he has a brand new business and everything isn't working perfectly yet. read more

Paul is great; on time professional, and simply a nice person. Paul installed crown moulding on my kitchen cabinets and did a great job. I will definitely be calling Paul again! Thanks. read more

had a great experience working w/ paul. we had an odd project, wanting to put up a sturdy but ultimately removable half wall in our basement. i discussed the project w/ a number of contractors who seemed either not to understand my vision or think it was not do-able. in addition, paul's estimate came in below theirs. very happy w/ the final work. the wall is just as i had envisioned. paul was professional, on-time, left the space clean. we will call him again when we want to remove our wall. read more

Paul was great to work with. He was flexible when I asked him to add additional items to the scope. He also paid great attention to detail. I could tell that he really cared that the work was done correctly. The finished product (he installed baseboard, built one new door, and did a bunch of little fixes) looked great! read more

Paul replaced the baseboards in our living room. He worked with my schedule to remove the old trim one day and install the new trim another day a couple of weeks later. Paul used the style/size baseboards and paint that we requested and answered all my questions promptly. Everything turned out great and his price seemed reasonable. Our project was completed a few months ago and we are still happy with the results. Thanks, Paul. read more

I used Cary Carpentry for a number of projects around my condo.

Needed a new basement door installed. It was an old wood door on an old frame that was hard to open and close -- not a simple re-hanging. Paul came out and gave it a look and the next day installed a new steel door on the old frame, saving me money by not having to reframe it. Love having a door that actually works now! Would definitely hire him again. read more