Frank's Carpentry & More

No reply to job request.

HE DID NOT CALL BACK - no response from this carpenter. He does not return calls!

Great. Frank arrived on time, and hung the box. Then, it needed some adjustments and he gladly made the adjustments. He ended up spending about twice as long on the project as he thought. I offered him more money, but he only charged me the amount that he had quoted me.

The short version: We hired Frank to remove, replace, and paint water-damaged portions of a wall and ceiling because of his low price and strong reviews. However, he abandoned the project before finishing the (sloppy) paint job. Even worse, he talked me into giving him most of his payment before finishing, and even though he repeatedly promised to return and properly finish the job, he stopped returning my calls and we haven't heard from him for over 3 weeks. The more detailed version: A leak in our neighbor's porch had caused extensive water damage to our ceiling and an adjacent wall. Once the porch was repaired, we found Frank's Carpentry on Angie's List. Things seemed to start out well: Frank gave us a very good price to remove the water-damaged parts of the ceiling and wall, replace the drywall, tape, sand, prep, and paint. It wasn't the lowest estimate we obtained--but he seemed enthusiastic to have our business, repeating several times that he wanted to give us a good price and complete everything to our satisfaction, so we hired him, paying half of the agreed-upon price in advance. Because much of the work was to be done over an area that was about 20 feet high, he built a platform that was screwed into the surrounding walls, assuring us that he'd patch and paint those walls as well once the rest of the work was done. The removal of the drywall and insulation went a bit more slowly than we expected, spread out over a couple of days, but the man he'd hired to do the work was friendly and conscientious. Installing the new insulation and drywall seemed to go well, taking another couple of days. That left the painting, which was to be completed the next day (Saturday). Frank and his workers were clearly anxious to finish that day, though he again assured me he'd make sure we were completely satisfied with their work. When they were nearly finished in the early afternoon, he asked if I could give him the final half of the payment immediately, as the bank was going to close soon. I got the impression he might have difficulty paying his workers on time, and he seemed sincere, so I wrote him a check for much (but fortunately not all) of the final half. This was a mistake. Frank and his crew told us they were done with the painting, and dismantled the platform he'd built. As they were cleaning up, my wife and I took a closer look at the paint job, and found it to be pretty sloppy. The edge between the ceiling and surrounding walls was not straight; Frank said that's because it would have taken longer to tape the edges, and since he wanted to finish up that day, he didn't think it was worth it. We disagreed, since it was a pretty jarring difference from the rest of the room and looked ragged. He said he'd come back to redo the edges (as well as the patching and painting where the platform had been) in a couple of days, but he was clearly upset and reluctant, even slamming the door when he left. Upon further inspection, the paint job proved to be even worse than we'd realized. There were multiple scratches and gouges on walls they hadn't even been working on. The baseboard along the freshly painted wall had paint spilled on it and drywall mud caked on. Many portions of the wall, especially near the ceiling, were discolored and clearly needed a second coat of paint. There were obvious smudges where the workers had touched or leaned against the wet paint. Whole portions of the wall had bubbled and/or blistered where the patching hadn't been allowed to dry sufficiently. And the cleanup was cursory at best; I spent 40 minutes sweeping and picking up after they left. Frank remained in contact with us, and although he made his reluctance clear, he said he'd return and finish. A few days later, he showed up with a helper, but the ladder he brought was too big; he said he'd return in a day or so with the right ladder. We pointed out all of the other problems we'd noticed, and he agreed that his painters had done a sloppy job. That's the last we heard from him. While he'd been excellent about answering or returning my calls previously, he now didn't answer or return any of my calls. I remained polite in my voicemail messages, even suggesting that we were worried for him since we hadn't heard back from him - but to no avail. As you can no doubt tell from this lengthy review, we were far from satisfied with Frank's work. Given the copious lip service he paid to customer satisfaction, he was extraordinarily unprofessional once it became clear he'd need to do more than a little touch-up work to properly finish the job. I'm sure it didn't help that he'd already received most of his payment - which it's now obvious was a very bad decision on my part. Beyond his abandoning of the job, his refusal to simply return any of my phone calls or explain his unwillingness to complete the job as promised spoke to his lack of professionalism. Good price or no, I simply cannot recommend Frank's Carpentry.

Frank and a helper put supplemental joists in the garage and trussed them to the roof rafters. He took about three hours to complete the job. The price included the lumber and joiners. He came when he said he would and completed the job promptly for the price quoted.

Came by about a week earlier to give an estimate. Recognized our needs quickly and gave an oral estimate. I called him back a few days later to see when he could get to it, and he was very accommodating in getting it done within a timeframe we had in conjunction with some other household work we had under way. The estimated amount, though not written, was honored.

It went well, although it took longer than I had anticipated. I didn't realize the amount of work involved. Frank took my suggestions and he offered good ideas and solutions. He happily came back to fix an area I didn't like. The job was completed to by satisfaction.

Frank was responsive in coming out for an estimate; he discussed options and explained his recommended course of action including timeline; he fixed it in a timely fashion as promised. Overall a great experience. I would use him again for other carpentry work and will try his expertise as a plumber.

Franks was very professional. He spoke with me about the problem a bit over the phone and made a ballpark estimate as to what it might cost. He and his assistant showed up on time and worked hard to correct the problem. Took both cabinets off the wall and put them back up properly, with the correct screws - even setting a couple screws into the concrete ceiling for extra measure. He worked quickly and the job was completed in about half the time I expected. Also, his fee was less than half of what I was expecting. I am confident now that the cabinets are installed correctly.

The work was done in one day. Frank called to confirm the day before the appointment, showed up on time, worked quickly and efficiently, cleaned up after the project. Throughout the project, he checked to be sure that he was doing what was expected and that I was satisfied. A positive experience!

Frank did a great job. Completing the installs required additional trips to the hardware store and assistance from one of his workers, but he did what it took to get the job done right. Very professionl, on time and neat.

Very well. Frank was referred by a neighbor who is satisfied with his service, so I expected this would be a good experience. He showed up on time and first walked through our home to get a handle on the various projects from the list we had emailed the previous day. We both then drove to the local Home Depot to select hardware and other materials (which I purchased). Frank got to work as soon as we got back. Everything's done to our satisfaction and in less than time than I had anticipated. No doubt we will call him back soon to take care of a couple more items!

Even though Frank's company title refers to "carpentry", I'm convinced he can do about anything. He helped me mend things I attempted to fix. I dropped the stopper down my bathroom drain while attempting to clean it and he took the pipes apart which was not easy as the plastic pipe didn't want to move. He then built some beautiful shelving in my basement storage room. He had to work around several pipes/outlets and supports. He did a great job, it's a work of art.

Great - Awesome!!!! Every time the outcome as measured by responsiveness, time, cost and unanticipated surprises has been ideal. In short he says what he is going to do and then does what he said he would do - pretty clever.

Frank is the perfect handiman. . i.e. he knows what he is doing, he finishes what he starts, keeps the area clean, is on time and so very reasonable.

He is always on time and he even calls ahead. He estimates the time it is going to take to do the work. He is reliable and honest. He will also work with you on a price. I have used him for about a year and a half. I have recommended him to family as well. He always finishes the work on time as well. He is a very good planner.