Iselt Handymen Services

The old downspout, that burst in heavy storms last winter, was custom made of welded metal. It had a welded, angular jog to get around a plumbing access opening in the wall. The new ABS downspout has a pre-fab rounded elbow at the top and a straight pipe to the ground. The cost of a new custom metal pipe could easily have been five times the cost of Gary's solution. Asside from cost, the new cylindrical downspout is superior in that it touches the wall only along a thin line, where the old rectangular one pressed a broad, sharp face to the wall and damaged some stucco over the many decades it remained in place. Such good thinking of Gary's, combined with his expert craftsmanship, makes him an extremely valuable resource for all kinds of home repair projects.

Excellent! It was great to have these odds and ends fixed! I'll have him back to revarnish my front door as soon as it isn't raining every other day.

It went extremely well - Gary is very professional and pleasant. He is always on time and thinks through each project carefully. We are extremely pleased with his work and will definitely call on him again.

We had contacted a couple of other people regarding this project and we received bids from $400 to $800. Since my husband had assembled our previous one we felt these bids were high. Then we spoke to Gary who quoted us a much more reasonable rate. He called twice to confirm the time because we were worried about rain. He showed up promptly and finished the work quickly and efficiently. It's a large gazebo so it did take him about a 1/2 hour longer than expected, but we are thorougly happy with the work. We are looking forward to working with Gary again in the future.

Gary was on time and was very professional. Wouldn't hesitate to hire him again.

It was very good. He did everything I asked him to do. We was very friendly and easy to communicate with.

Didn't get past the initial phone call.

I spent $400 on that work and I thought that it. They used a product which sort of like liquid wood and they applied it to the area that was dug out and painted over it when it was dry. I liked that he just worked right away and did not stop to talk. He did not take a lot of breaks or smoke and I thought that he had excellent professional skills and work ethic.

He did a thorough and competent job.

Overall, Gary was great. He always showed up on time, he communicated with us on timing and supply needs regularly, he was super flexible and did really good, quality work. Given that his 'crew' was my family (and we don't know all that much about building a fence) he was also extremely accommodating and helpful. We all learned a lot from him, and we had a good time doing a lot of hard work with Gary. I contacted Gary via email originally for a ballpark quote on my fence-building project. He got back to me quickly with a general estimate. We set up a day and time to start work and he showed up bright and early to get started. Gary was helpful in hauling supplies with his truck, and didn't mind taking multiple trips to Home Depot and the local lumber yard for materials. We worked for 3 full days straight over a weekend, and got the entire fence done in that time. Gary was very knowledgeable about building, but also very practical. He gave us his professional opinion on the various challenges that popped up, and was willing to listen to our ideas as well, and he even used a few. His price is very fair and he is pleasant to be around. Very trustworthy and he will go the extra mile to make sure you get a good product in the end. There is no doubt that I will hire Gary again for work in and around our home.

Sorry that I don't remember the exact details or prices.The prices were based on hourly work and seemed extremely fair, actually, very reasonable due to the amount of work that was produced in that hourly rate. I would highly, highly, very highly recommend Gary for any handyman work. He was honest about what services he could provide and what was not in his area of expertise. He was fast, unbelievably hard working, punctual, professional and did great work. In fact, the reason I am contacting Angies List today is to get his information to use him again. Truly, he was the most professional, honest, reliable and competent handyman that I have ever used. My only concern is that he is going to be so busy, because he is so good, that I may have to book him way in advance!

Great. I've used Gary's services before - He's polite, skilled, on time & on budget.

Gary Iselt is a superb carpenter. He has a steady hand, a precise eye and a sharp brain. He works quickly, while constantly recomputing the alignment of each piece and figuring out ways around the obstacles that inevitably come up. He is completely realistic and honest about the problems and possibilities of the project. He's also impeccably punctual, very affable and courteous. I'm delighted with the work he accomplished on my fence and extremely pleased to find such a sterling artisan among direct contractors in this area. You'll be fortunate if he can fit you into his busy schedule.

We hired Gary to fix the walkway first. We were so pleased with his work that we asked him to return to take care of other things we needed. He is very versatile.

Gary was great! Very efficient and friendly.

I have used Gary twice so far and have been very happy with his work. He paid attention to detail and took his time to do a quality job. He also let me ask some questions and gave me a few pointers.

beyond excellent. pleasant, professional, prepared, knowledgeable, agreeable, FAIRLY PRICED, resourceful. if at all possible, i use no one else . period. a wonderful resource. i've used gary's services numerous times: consistenly excellent, always seeks the most practical and economical solution.

Gary Iselt is a great find. Our backyard pergola had begun to collapse with large beams rotted away. I feared a complete replacement. Gary admitted he found it challenging, since the overgrown wisteria was pulling apart the wood. He cut back the wisteria, purchased new wood, replaced and painted beams and slats. It looks great. Once we knew he was so accomplished, we pointed out lots of our "deferred maintenance" - stuck front door, broken ceramic tiles on front walkway, swinging garden gate, hanging and clogged gutters. Gary purhased what was necessary and did all the work at his fee of $45 per hour. He arrived every day on time and did splendid work. My son, on a recent visit, was astonished and asked why (after all these years) we got the front door unstuck. We could only said that we (finally) have the handyman of our dreams. We will certainly use him again.

Mr. Iselt was punctual, courteous and completed his work in 1.5 hours.

Iselt was very responsive and did the work quickly. He did not attempt work that he was not qualified to do. I found him to be pretty good.

Excellent. He was knowledgeable, efficient, cordial and meticulous. He was willing to explain everything, and cleaned up after each process.

Overall experience was an A. I spoke with him about future job possibilities. I would hire him again. He was a very nice person. I was comfortable with him in my house and he was friendly without being overbearing.

I'm a little conflicted about this review. Gary is certainly competent as handymen go, and far more reliable than most in that he returns calls quickly, shows up on time, & actually has a business card. He did a good job installing a heavy door, awkward wall hooks & a towel bar. On the other hand, he took some shortcuts that I didn't think were appropriate for someone who calls himself a perfectionist. The deadbolt in the door initially wasn't lined up properly, & I had to ask him to fix it. There's also a gap around the edge of the door, which is an exterior one, & I would have expected him to advise weather stripping or some other solution, which he didn't. When he repainted the spot where he removed an old towel bar, he didn't sand & fill the previous plaster holes as well as I would have expected. Similarly, the closet shelves look good at first glance, but it turned out he had cut the wood before measuring the actual length each shelf would need to be. Because I have an old house that has settled, a few of the shelves are about half an inch off in length. I also had given him a diagram of exactly what I wanted in the shelves, & he added an extra one without consulting me. It turned out that I'd measured wrong, but I was sitting 8 feet away in my office the entire time, & it would have been easy for him to point out that I'd made a mistake & ask how I wanted him to address it. This would have even been alright had he admitted the problem, but Gary instead was defensive about his decisions. He's also a smoker, & while that may not be an issue for some homeowners, the fact that he lit up right outside my living room -- & then right under the window by my desk -- was for me. So all in all, I think he's in the top 20% of handymen -- but to be honest, not the top 5%.

As usual Gary was great. I was nervous about installing a new outlet because i wasn't sure how he was going to do it, but he assured me if he wasn't confident he could do it correctly he wouldn't do it at all. Turns out it was no problem and the outlet works and looks great. The tub looks practically new and the ceiling fan went up without incident. I think Gary is fair, reliable, and trustworthy.

Gary was very responsive, professional, and polite. He answered my calls or called me back right away if I left a message. He fixed everything on my list for a very reasonable price. He was able to come within 2-3 days of my call, and then come back to finish painting within a week. The only things that didn't go picture perfect were the drywall on the ceiling started peeling/falling off-- but he came back and re-did it, the color of the patch on the hardwood floor was poorly matched and looks like a big white streak/blob on my wood floor, and he accidentally left the door wide open with nobody home (until I came home) while he went to the hardware store-- but he was very apologetic. Overall he provided better service than most handymen and showed a real dedication and pride in his work. I would use him again.