This is my dad. He started this business four years ago after 24 years in the corporate marketing…read moreworld. One day he threw up his hands and said, "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE," and bravely stepped into the small business world. He has NEVER looked back, and has never been happier. So sure, this review is going to be a little biased, but I'll give you a few examples: When my 3 siblings and I were kids, he built us a kick ass swing set. I mean TOTALLY kick ass, not from a kit, swing set. 4+ swings, a platform, monkey bars, hanging bars, etc. It survived our move from Delaware to Massachusetts! Sadly it's now kindling. Dad/Bob is currently remodeling my parents' house. This house was a dump. Old and trashy. Now, it has a sparkling new master bedroom and a bathroom to die for (among other things), making their lake neighbors oh so jealous. The work is stylish and to the point. I think he really listens to what his customers want (his customer in this case being my mom). Though he's had the business for only four years, he has decades of experience under his belt. He used to make my siblings and me sand, paint, and plaster his various home repair projects.. and now I thank him for it. Bob is available for jobs in the Central Mass/Rte 495 belt area. He can do everything from new windows, fancified bathrooms, and refinishing basements. References available upon request. Go, Dad, GO! PS. He's a deacon in my parents' Unitarian church, so in case you were doubting his integrity before, now you KNOW he's trustworthy!!

I am not one who enjoys writing bad reviews, but after discovering the latest mishap with the…read morebathroom renovation Red Oak did for us, I feel obligated. I'll start off with what is good -- Bob laid out his estimate in a professional manner and did not go over budget or try to sneak in hidden charges and fees. He also has a good head for design and layouts. His work crew was relatively neat and cleaned up after themselves. We had one small scratch on the front door and its screen door --but such minor things are to be expected from the wear and tear of such a job. He is also a very nice guy and easy to work with. However, I cannot recommend him for anything more than a simple job. If you do hire him, make sure that he subcontracts out things like plastering, painting and plumbing. (He does everything himself, which is good for price, but we are ending up paying for that discount by having to have stuff re-done.) Our job included a complete renovation of a bathroom, tearing it down to the studs. The rough in work was okay, but the finish work was left to Bob's crew while he worked on another job. Although they did a good job on some tasks, they were complete hacks in others. The floor tile was not laid flat -- they had no idea how to hang baseboard, and they started painting on the walls before the mud was dry or sanded properly. (Nor did they vacuum before painting either, resulting in dust being painted into the wall--it feels like sandpaper when you run your hand across it.) These were brand new walls and ceiling, and they look like silly putty. There were also paint stains and plaster stains on the tile, which we are unable to clean up. Bob knew we were unhappy, and did take half the cost of the paint job off the price. However, we have since brought in a plasterer, and are going to spend several hundred dollars redoing the walls and ceiling to cover up the job. The plasterer said the job was so bad we should sue, something I really have no interest in. We saved up our money for quite some time to do this job, and feel like we could have done a better job ourselves. Despite all this, I was not going to write a bad review until we found this morning another problem with the base-board heater they installed. The plumbing was poorly measured such that the heater element tilts into the room, making it impossible to put the cover on the baseboard. We will have to have the heating system drained and the bad part of the pipe re-done to fix it. We have not had an estimate on it yet, but I imagine we are now into the four figures to fix a job that cost us 15k all together. I do not enjoy dissing a business like this, but this whole experience has been very stressful, and enormously disappointing. I hope this was a result of the fact we got Bob's second crew, because I cannot understand how someone can call themselves a professional and do such a bad job. I only hope other people have had better experiences.

"Mario and his team are as good as they come. We bought our first home over a year ago and like…read moremost people starting out, our limited funds and experience made us fear all the horror stories you hear about costs doubling, disaster projects dragging on, etc. Having called several companies to compare, Mario stood out from the start and he's been our go-to for everything since. Mario took our visions (some of them pretty unusual) for our total remodel and took the time to figure out how to make them happen. He humored our many clueless requests and plan-changes along the way and always figured out how to work them in, always keeping the costs clear and fairly balanced. Mario and his team are always a joy to work with, as talented professionals and as people. Even during the demolition stage of our gut reno, the space was always cleaned up at the end of each day, they called ahead if plans needed to shift, and updates on the project were always communicated clearly and without delay. Mario is the kind of person you feel really glad to have in your community. He takes the time to explain how something works (even if it's so you can do it yourself if you're stubborn like we are). He offers to lend a tool if you don't have it. During the crazy floods last year my husband was out of town and Mario called to check in and make sure I had what I needed. I can't imagine a better contractor to work with. We're on our next big project, and feel blessed as always to be working with Mario." - Sabrina (Somerville)

From the owner: Full service general contractor specializing in Bathroom, Kitchen, and Basement remodeling.read more

Ruy Barbosa is high off the charts in professionalism. He was responsive to our questions, and…read moreintuitive about our interests. He communicated with us throughout the project of installing a new Timberteck deck. His crew worked straight on through from start to finish without empty lapses of time. The men are so highly skilled. We continue to be happy with our beautiful deck. Therefore, we asked Ruy to install a Timberteck stair rail at our front doors, which also has withstood the test of time. We'd been concerned that installments like this would compromise the brick, whereby requiring a total rebuild, but a rebuild wasn't necessary. He also advise us on an easy and effective fix to divert water from flowing from the gutter and freezing to ice on those brick steps in winter. Based on the outcome of these projects, and our experience in their progression, we highly recommend this company.

Brutal experience with them back in 2022-2024. Would take weeks and, more than once, even months…read moreto get them to come back and do any work (see screenshots of my text interactions with them -- note the dates). They were supposed to build a new rubber roof. It started leaking on 3 separate occasions (which btw was never fully fixed -- we moved on to different contractors who did address the issues). And like I said, it would take months for them to actually come back and attempt to fix anything. Often they'd come by, look at the damage, then I wouldn't hear from them for multiple weeks. Meanwhile, more damage continues to accrue to the walls and ceilings. The internal fixes they applied for the water damage were just patch jobs. They just plastered and painted over. Meanwhile, the insulation behind the wall was soaked and accrued black mold that we had to address later. Also worth pointing out a major blunder at the beginning of the project (see attached videos and pics). They opened up the roof, and left it open for multiple days without doing any work. Well of course a major rainstorm came by (which was on the weather forecast well in advance). Alll that water poured into the house in the middle of the night setting off fire alarms. It was a nightmare to deal with on my end.

I would hire these guys again in a heartbeat. We needed a major (and expensive) remodel. Ugly attic…read moreneeded to become a bedroom and master bath. Small bedroom needed to become a laundry room, storage room and larger than average stairs to the attic (removing completely the pull-down access in the corridor). On top of that, the unheated porch has been remodeled as a heated, insulated office space with direct access to the now-master suite. As part of the process, we needed to make modifications to the second bedroom and bathroom to accommodate plumbing for the former attic. I was nervous about such a large project. Jeff assured me that the increase in the house value and home comfort would be well worth it. He was right. He and Lenny (who is a master craftsman) either did the work themselves, or hired the right subcontractors to complete the work not only IN budget, but ON time, and with amazing skill and consideration. That included needing to unexpectedly replace the front door, adding insulation to unexpected places, and shifting an existing heat source to the now-office. Lenny and Jeff worked with me to create a layout that worked well for us as well as economizing and maximizing project effectiveness. As problems arose (as they always will), they worked with me to solve them and move quickly to the next step. I initially gave them a chance because my neighbor across the street told me that they had done an excellent job on her basement. As time goes by, I will definitely be calling on these guys first. With so many "contractor horror stories"out there, I am really happy to honestly say that I trusted them with my house and I would recommend them without reservation to friends, family, coworkers or the guy down the street. All in - 10 weeks, about 70k. Very happy with the results.

We were in need of somebody to strip and replace our roof immediately as it was leaking. This…read morecompany not only responded to our phone call right away but started the job that Sunday morning. The crew working on the job showed arrived early each day, very polite and always ensured that the area was cleaned up every night before they finished up. Very high quality workmanship skills and I would definitely recommend them to Family and Friends. We were very happy with the total job and I would hire them again for other work, if needed. It's rare to find a company like this these days when so many contractors don't even return calls. Great customer service and workmanship!

I have some repairs to be done for my deck railing (some rot) & side stairs to my house (extremely…read moreloose railings, cracks in posts). I have had a couple people in to quote the job, 1 said we only needed to put wood filler in the cracks of my railing posts....ummm, I'm no expert but pretty sure that won't fix the safety aspect. Anyway, Jerry said he couldn't do the job right now because he has too many pending projects, but he still swung by to look at the railings & stairs to confirm my suspicions that they need to be replaced in order to be safe for my family. He took time out of his day for a non-paying client and gave honest assessment of the work needed to be done. While I really want to fix the unsafe railings, part of me hopes I can't find someone else until he is available for the job!

From the owner: General Contractor specializing in home improvements, finished basements, custom decks, screen…read moreporches, three season porches, new or replacement windows and doors

Cashman Plumbing and Heating was prompt in coming to help diagnose both a small leak in one of my…read moreforced hot water baseboards, as well as an intermittent hot water issue. They were very professional and offered solutions with a personal approach. Highly recommended and will use them again!

Cashman Plumbing is very Responsive , friendly, affordable,accommodating, and professional. I had…read moreto reschedule and they got me right back in on the calendar so i didnt have to wait for my service. Did a great job, reliable, and pricing was good for a job well done. Highly recommend