Wood-N-Things

Brian did a great job. He was very courteous and his craftsmanship is excellent. I'd highly recommend him.

Brian was one of the few deck people we called who actually responded to our call. He was friendly and came over within a day for a free quote. He was able to order materials and get started on our project within a couple of weeks and finished in a timely fashion. He demoed our old deck, coordinated with the concrete service (they had to re-pour part of our sidewalk), and replaced the wooden deck with Trex decking and metal railings. It looks beautiful! Brian was patient and answered our questions. He was very knowledgeable about decks and we would love to have him re-do our back deck in the future! He also was one of the more reasonable estimates price-wise.

The owner Brian Tilson (Master Carpenter) and his crew did an excellent job. I will recommend them and use them, again.

Brian was more responsive than any other deck company in answering my initial inquiry. He also was available to begin work within two weeks of the contract being signed which time frame was much better than other companies. Brian was extremely competent, professional and resourceful with respect to his work. Our situation required a high level of care and ingenuity because of the nature of the existing deck and the dictates of the HOA to which we belong. Brian appeared to relish the opportunity to create and implement innovative and practical solutions for the few issues that arose. He was also good at communicating what he proposed to do to accomplish his goals. Brian worked steadily and efficiently and completed the project a day ahead of schedule. We were very pleased with the results and would not hesitate to hire him again for other carpentry work.

I contacted Brian of Wood-N-Things and he came out when said he would to look it over. He said he was certainly interested and would provide an estimate by the end of the week. He also mentioned that he would be able to get the project done within the next 4 weeks. When I squirmed a bit over the timeline, he said that he might be able to get it done sooner if possible, but that it would definitely be done within the 4-week window. In addition, Brian convinced me that my original choice for pressure treated lumber was OK for the substructure, but not the best choice for the deck surface due to warping that can happen as pressure treated lumber dries out. (Coincidentally, I had just 2 weeks before replaced a step on a larger deck in the backyard with pressure treated lumber, and one of the boards had already warped after drying for about 10 days.) So I knew first hand that the recommendation Brian was making was a good one, and I agreed that redwood was a better option. Brian provided the estimate as promised. In advance of getting proposals and schedules, I had made a decision that if it was going to take a month or longer, I would use the money I would have paid someone else and buy what tools I needed and do the work myself. When I received the estimate from Brian, I had one design request which he indicated would not be a problem, and not affect the estimate. The estimate (I thought) was a little higher than what I anticipated (probably because of the switch to redwood) and so I told Brian I would be willing to accept it, but only if he could get the project done in the next two weeks. If it was going to take a month, I would do it myself. Brian agreed. Even better, Brian's immediate schedule was flexible and he was able to start first thing on the following Monday. Brian was there on time and started with the cement piers. Knowing some companies will get started and then take forever to come back and finish, I was a little cautious. However, Brian was back first thing the next day, worked all day, and finished the job on Wednesday. Total time start to finish - 2-1/2 days. The porch looks great. The railings are as solid as a rock. And when he was done, for the quality of the workmanship I received, I thought that the price I paid turned out to be very reasonable. I might not have gotten any new tools out of it, but I am also not going to the Dr. to get my back worked on. An excellent compromise in my book. I would certainly recommend Wood-N-Things based on our experience. Granted, we got extremely lucky with Brian's schedule and expecting him to start every job "the next day" is not realistic. What is realistic and what Brian delivered on was a high quality back porch that we will be able to enjoy for years to come. In retrospect, even if it had taken a month, it would have been worth the wait.

Brian Tilson answered the phone promptly and always got back to us in a timely manner. The bid was reasonable and Brian made suggestions to save costs. Brian showed up on time or called us if there was a change. The deck looks great. Brian was respectful of our property, he is a very hard working solo professional.

Brian was wonderful. Compared to the other bid that we were looking at, we saved about $6,000 and have a very professionally looking and structurally sound deck.

Bryan was very professional and diligent to complete the project despite Winter weather. He made sure all doors and storm doors functioned flawlessly. His design and construction of the front porch railing added a missing feature to my 60 year old home that has caused the neighbors to comment on how good it looks. I would not hesitate to use Bryan again when the need arises.

Brian's bid was better than Home Depot and comparable to another bidder but after reading his reviews both here and on other home improvement sites it was a no-brainer to hire him. Brian was punctual and worked around the cold and snow. The job was done professionally and quickly. Brian is a problem solver and a craftsman. He made sure all doors were working perfectly and the porch railing is beautiful as many of the neighbors have commented. I will certainly hire Brian at Wood-N-Things for any future carpentry projects.

I'm very happy with my new doors. Brian did a great job! He made sure all the doors were working properly and sealed tight. No more drafts. There were a few challenges but he had a solution for every one he encountered. He kept to the original agreed price. He takes great pride in his work and it shows. I would definitely use his services again. I have referred him to friends and family who also hired him and they were very happy with his work.

Excellent. Brian, at Wood-n-Things recommended a door and picked it up himself from Lowes after we ordered it. He removed the old door and completely disposed of it, and installed the new door perfectly. Now that cold weather is here we appreciate the work he did in installing it tightly, without any air leakage or drafts. We can enjoy sitting next to it in all kinds of weather. It opens and shuts easy, and its efficiency far exceeds the quality we hoped for. Brian has done several jobs for us over many years, from installing grab bars in our bathrooms and garage where we have to climb to get into the house, to replacing old installation under the overhang in the back of our house--sealing it very thoroughly so no drafts occur--and so no squirrels can ever get through the wood of the overhang. With no advanced arrangement he immediately came to our kitchen and cut the proper sized opening for our new kitchen range to be installed, allowing the workmen, who had already gone to their next job, to complete our job that day. He thoroughly repaired the top of the brick chimney so that no squirrels could ever again use it for a living space. He has taken care of all our needs ever since we moved here in 2011, and he has always been very reasonable in his charges, plus he has always been friendly and clean, leaving nothing for us to clean after he has gone. We recommend him to anyone and everyone.

We asked Brian from Wood-n-things to give us an estimate for a complete fence replacement. He gave us an estimate for $13,000, but indicated that we may get a better deal from a fencing company, as they would likely have lower material costs. We got two other estimates from a fencing contractor and a fencing company. The fencing company was indeed $1000 lower, but their bid made it clear that we were responsible for clearing out 3 feet on either side of the fence before they would do the work. As we weren't set up to do that, we decided to go forward with the Wood-n-things estimate. Brian kept us informed of where the project was at all times, from the planning to the completion. As you can see in the picture, he performed maticulous and exacting work. He ordered the dumpster and made sure it was placed on the correct side of the driveway; he took care of the dismantling and disposal of the existing fence materials and posts (a handful posts remained in good shape and were reused.) When the materials arrived, he once again made sure they did not block the driveway. He generally did most of the work himself except for digging new post holes, where he bought in some assistance (including a ground drill.) The new fence took 2 weeks to install. Based on our input, Brian took down the fence on the north fence last and put up the new fence their first to minimize the amount of time our neighbor wouldn't be able to let their dog use their adjacent yard. He also trimmed or took out all the trees and shrubs growing right next to the fence. He even weed-wacked along all of the fence. The height of the fence is even everywhere or is finely sloped. The gates are as straight as I've ever seen gates, with the locks working just fine. He created a low fence near the garden, with the height of the fenced gradually sloped on either side of the garden area. I have no idea how he gets the fence so straight and even across the entire length. But it's better than I expected, especially compared to the new fences I've seen constructed in our neighborhood. Brian cleaned up all materials and along the fence after the constructions. He even came back after it was done to make sure the strings were attached to the gate locks. Just as he did when he built our front porch, Brian at Wood-n-things exceeded our expectations. We're looking forward to having this fence for another 20 years (assume we're still here.)

I can't understand why this contractor presumably wanted our business enough to show up to measure and check out the project (on a Sunday, no less), and then can't be bothered to provide an estimate. Even after I called to follow up on getting the estimate and the contractor said he'd send it over that night...and nine days later it still hasn't been provided, with not a word of what's up. How on earth do you ever expect to get business this way? Do us all a favor and stop wasting our time. Just be a professional and say you're too busy. And if those of you reading the review are wondering, no, there was no unreasonable time frame or strange requests or anything out of the ordinary with this project. Just a basic basement finish which the contractor said he was qualified to do. Total waste of time.

He completed in 2 days, and arrived when he said he would. We liked that he does the work himself .... good quality and obviously knows what he's doing. Only thing Brian could do better is job site clean-up. Both days we had some sweeping and vacuuming to do, but not really a big deal.

Brian did a great job from beginning to end. I selected the baseboards and Brian ordered them and had them delivered to my home. The baseboards that were delivered were slightly off from the size I requested (and from the size Brian ordered). Although it delayed the work for about one week, Brian arranged for the correct boards to be delivered without hesitation. He began the work immediately and completed it within the timeframe he committed to. His work was high quality and looks great! You can tell he takes pride in what he does. Thank you!

It went great. Brian did it in the estimated time, on budget, and it looks great. I would recommend him to anyone.

Had what I needed. I also noted an interesting selection of unfinished furniture which I plan to return and check out more closely.

Brian was punctual. Brian stated it would take 4-6 hours and it took 4.5 hours. Door is holding up well and looks good. Price was about market rate.

We hired Brian to install new railing in our older home to replace the older railing that was in place. Brian gave us a detailed cost estimate of the project before we began, and stayed true to what was agreed on. As with any project, there are unforeseen difficulties and costs. When faced with these, Brian showed us exactly what he was looking at, and showed us exactly how he was going to resolve the issues with our consent, no surprises. He worked efficiently and our project was done within the time frame originally agreed upon. The finished product is spectacular, exactly what we were hoping for. We will definitely hire Brian again for any future carpentry projects.

Brian was easy to get ahold of for the initial quote, showed up when he said he would and provided the written quote a couple days later. He started working about a week later and everything went really well. The work was really nice. I was a little worried about the sawdust because my wife is pregnant, but I couldn't even tell there was any work going on. Everything was left extremely clean when he was done each day.Brian is also very accommodating and even blew some insulation inside a wall he noticed was bare when he pulled off the old door frame. He also did some caulking that wasn't in the estimate (for a little extra). I would definitely recommend.

Very well. Brian was incredibly responsive and arrived promptly at agreed upon appointment time. He finished the job in less time than originally quoted. He was willing to work with me on my requests and cleaned up his work area well. The work he provided was good quality and much less expensive than another quote I received for the same job.

Extremely well. Brian did an excellent job. He was prompt and extremely polite. He left the job site immaculately clean every day. He is a very good carpenter. He knew where we needed trim and where we didn't and where we would have to make some other decisions.

Great! The work was excellent! See "ratings" for more details.

High quality work by a high quality guy; no doubt I would use Brian again. I had many questions/ideas, and he was very patient with me, addressing all of them to my satisfaction. He came to the house prior to installation to take precise measurements and talk to me about the project. I really appreciated that. Like any good contractor, he is in high demand, so schedule your project accordingly. From the time I was ready to go (door purchased and at house), it was 7 weeks before he was able to get to me. But he told me from the start it would be awhile, I wasn't in a hurry, and he was always very responsive to my requests for any kind of update. Thank you Brian!

Thank you to Brian and his right hand man for the beautiful deck they just finished building for us. We would highly recommend Brian for any of your wood related projects. He is extremely professional and hard working. His craftsmanship was more than I expected. As a stay at home Mom with two small children I also felt very safe when he was here working at our house. Brian not only exceeded all our deck building expectations but he did it at a fair price. We couldn't be more pleased. We will certainly be asking him back in the future for other needs at our home. You can not go wrong by working with Brian from Wood n' Things