Phalan Construction & The Handyman

This was a small job so I didn't think I would easily find someone to take it on. Bob responded fairly promptly to my first email and has been very responsive ever since we got into conversation about this project. We have a whole house music system with in-wall touch screens in several rooms. The original touch screens were starting to fail and the replacement screens have been downsized meaning that we had holes in our walls that were too big for the new screens we wanted to install. Bob helped us come up with a solution of maple panels large enough to cover the original holes with cut outs for the new screens. He took time to understand the problem, was willing to go the extra mile to make the solution not only effective but also esthetic. He bought the maple, fabricated the panels offsite to precision specs, beveled the edges to improve the look, and returned to install them. During installation, we recognized that nail holes would mar the look of the final product so again Bob came up with an innovative solution that allowed the panels to be firmly fixed to the wall without any visible nail holes. I would use Bob again for handyman work. He is flexible and responsive.

It took Bob 8 hrs to finish the job. He had to buy extra siding to cover the broken shingles. He also covered it up with an ice and water shield. All in all a professional job and the work was completed according to the customer's requirements and satisfaction.

Results were far better than we expected-- very nicely done. Built to last.

The quality of the work Bob did for us is excellent. The ceiling light makes my daughter's room look great and the walls in her room and my son's room showed meticulous detail in the prep work. It's obvious Bob really cares about the work he does and it shows in the final product. We had trouble finding other contractors through AL that were responsive to our initial contacts. Bob emailed me a couple weeks after our initial contact (thinking we had already found someone else) and when I told him we had not found anyone, he quoted me an hourly rate to do the work we needed. Although we really didn't want to do the work on a T&M basis, since we were on a budget and had a clear idea of what we were willing to pay, we compromised and Bob did some of the work for a lump sum (the ceiling light and closet door repair) and the painting for an hourly rate with a rough estimate of the time he thought it would take. In the end we spent a little more than we wanted to for this project, but it is done and we are satisfied with the work. Not sure how we may use Bob in the future because of our preference for lump sum pricing for projects versus his hourly rate, but you can't argue with the quality of his work. We would recommend him to others without hesitation.

Very well, despite the fact that I ordered the wrong door. He made everything fit, and it looks perfect now.

All went well. Bob has done a number of jobs for me, and he always does excellent quality work. He is an excellent carpenter and has construction experience, so knows his way up and down and around the house. Earlier in the summer, he put in some new windows to replace old leaky metal ones, and did a very good job. Helped in selecting a vendor, and then working with the vendor. Bob's rates on the high side, I'd say. In his defense, he works very hard and is skilled at what he does, so I'm always pleased with the results.

(1) Originally, just the window was to be replaced. Once siding was removed, it was discovered that the sheathing and 4 first floor studs had rotted due to a leak around the chimney. All rotted material was removed and replaced with pressure treated wood. All insulation was replaced. Before closing up the wall, other potential causes for the water leakage were investigated and eliminated. (2) Side door was removed and replaced. All trim and sill materials were replaced. (3) Rotted portions were replaced with pressure treated wood. (4) Rotted or worn trim was removed and replaced. Cap over front door was rebuild and sealed. In all cases, Bob cleaned up wasted at the end of every day. House plantings were well protected. All work was performed around my availability to be at home. Prior to closing up any walls, Bob took the time to show me what the problem was and the final repairs. He is a true professional and very particular about any work he performs. We had "less than acceptable" experiences with handyman service providers in the past ... and were not looking forward to having to get involved with one again. Bob, however, has given us renewed faith that there are still some professionals out there. He is a little more expensive than some other handymen that we have used in the past ... but well worth it.

The quality of the work they do is second to none. They are responsive, and they insure they do everything to make sure the customer is completely satisfied. Robert took the initiative to come out the next day to ensure that everything met satisfaction.. I was very satisfied with him coming out to make sure my needs were met.

Both jobs went superbly! The Pella bay window installed about 1997 had developed wood rot in the frame around the 4X4 glass and in the base and needed to be replaced. The outside screened-in porch constructed in 1990 needed an updating, the ceiling was leaking and it needed refinishing on the interior surfaces.. Bob Phalan was very professional and brought a superb work ethic to the repair of both areas. He removed the damaged picture window with rotted areas around it and replaced the window, frame, and sill, painted the interior & exterior, and reinforced the bay window support so that both side windows are now functional. All this was done in two days. The area was kept very clean during this re-construction activity. The second phase of ths project included the repair of the porch roof leak and covering the ceiling and inside surfaces with vinyl siding and rehanging the external sound system speakers. Again his professional demeanor and great personality made it very easy to work with him in designing and his getting the job done most expeditiously and within budget. I would highly recommend him for any home based repair or addition desired!!!

He rebuild my garden shed in the backyard. The shed is absolutely a beautiful piece of work. He is a gifted craftsman. He is very skillful. I was very pleased with the job. Anything he touches turns to beautiful work. I would highly recommend him.

Bob was easy to work with. We thought we would just repaint and re-carpet the basement and ended up remodeling the space to make it better fit our need for more living space and a workshop/storage room. Bob leveled the concrete floor, removed some tile, moved a doorway and a closet, created a cut-out in a wall for more light, re-plastered and re-painted. The space is perfect. Bob gave us fair and very accurate estimates for both the time the project would take and the cost. Bob is meticulous and the work he does is beautiful. If you are looking for a quick touch-up here and there, he is not your guy. But if you are looking for outstanding quality for a fair price, look no further.

Excellent! My husband and I have used Bob for a number of projects around the house including interior and exterior door replacement, plastering a bathroom, installation of exterior lighting, and a new bathroom fan including the exhaust vent to the outside. Bob is always professional and very punctual. He responds to requests very quickly and has always been able to complete our project in a very reasonable time frame. His pricing is very fair without sacrificing high quality workmanship. He is always considerate of our budget and gives us the option of completing the entire project himself or allowing us to do the finishing work to save some labor hours. We recently needed to update some things around our house for increased security and Bob was very sensitive to that need and was able to accommodate us very quickly. We now sleep much more soundly because of the work he completed for us! We will most definitely be inviting Bob back in the very near future!

Bob did a fantastic job. I'd hire him again in a minute.

It went really well, and I felt extremely confident in their honesty regarding the work.

He responded to my emailed request, provided an estimate, showed up on time, took the trim and exterior storm doors off, got the doors out, reframed the doors, fixed the trim and the storm doors, fixed the insulation, chaulked, painted and cleaned up. Excellent experience -- as always. This was not an urgent matter, but an ice dam one winter was: he showed up the same morning, reshuffled his schedule and fixed the problem. He is responsive, punctual, very competent and professional. We have used him several times, he has never failed us yet, and I would not hesitate to recommend him.

Per the provider's instructions, I emailed him to find out if he would be able to handle the various small jobs I had and to see if could get an estimate. Email works really well for me because I am very busy - that way I'm not playing telephone tag with someone. I knew it might take a day for him to get back to me as that is clearly stated in his listing. Anyway, he got back to me pretty quickly, I thought and he had some questions about what I needed. We emailed back and forth so he could get all the details of what I needed done. I liked that he took the time to figure out what I wanted before giving me an estimate. Once he had all the information, he gave me an estimate on about how many hours it would take and what his rate would be. He was quite clear about what was included so I had no questions or surprises about the number of hours it would take or what I would be billed for. It was also clear what I needed to have ready for him to do the work. Once we set up a day/time for the work to start, he arrived promptly, as scheduled and we looked at the jobs that I needed done. He listened and took the time to evaluate everything. He got to work right away and took care of everything. He kept me informed as he went along and let me know if he ran into any unforeseen issues. He worked very hard. I have a home office so I was home the entire time and I'm not sure he ever really stopped working. He was very neat, took care to protect my house and furnishings and even brought his own vacuum to clean up. I swear he left my house cleaner than he found it. Overall, things went well. I got all my small jobs taken care of - things that would have taken us several weekends to complete on our own.

Bob and I went back and forth on e-mail regarding my list of 'to-do's' within the 8 hours of work I had booked him for. Great experience: Bob asked me to measure a few things so he could pick up materials ahead of time (and not charge me for the time left from the site to go out and get stuff) which helped and saved time/money for me. I appreciated that. He came, set up quickly and got straight to work. I've had some people chitchat for a while which turns out to be quite a bit of time- Bob was all business but courteous, professional and friendly. He finished up and the stairs/siding looked fantastic. He even matched the color of my home and the siding, which looks fantastic. He also left a nice detailed note as to what else we could do ourselves (listed materials we'd need) or projects he could do another time. I was more than happy with his work and hope we can hire him again soon. Thanks Bob!

Job went exactly as I had hoped. I have read some people complaing Bob doing things over email and phone. I thnk it is a great idea. I am sure not everything can be done this way but most can. Alot of time people are looking for just estimates and this takes away time from people like Bob who could be working on another job as well as my time having to be there for the estimate. I emailed Bob and asked for an estimate. He replied back promptly asking for some information and some pictures. i was happy to do it. Bob sent me back a quick estimate with a range of what it would be. I was fine with it and spoke to Bob and we set up a time for him to come. He arrived when promised and was very professional. We went over the job and he gave some ideas to my wife and myself which we agreed on. Took about a day and half to complete which he then went over everything with me to my complete satisfaction. Bob also makes sure everything is spotless when he is done. The job even came in on the lower side of the estimate which was also a pleasant surprise. I have a number of other projects that I need to be done and will certainly be contacting Bob in the future.

I called and left voice message but never got call back. Maybe it is a minor job and they are too busy to deal with at that moment.

Bob was awesome. He was very responsive on email, asked us to take pictures to send him for an initial estimate/see if it was something he'd be able to do for us, and was great about getting back to us with a reasonable estimate. He showed up promptly when he said he'd arrive and got right to work. He demoed our shower walls and re-tiled and grouted a new one. He did an awesome job, everything looked amazing and the cost came in right at his estimate in total cost and time (the project took about a little less than a week, total). One thing about Bob that I thought was above and beyond was how clean the area was after he finished. You expect a certain amount of messiness when someone is working in a construction-type job, but before he left for the day, Bob always cleaned everything to a tee, even though he was coming back the next day. Really great, especially for us, because we have small kids who are crawling around. While he was there, he also fixed a few other nagging problems we'd had from other DIY projects that we hadn't done perfectly on our own. We had a couple of doors that we'd put in ourselves that was a little crooked in the frame and let in bugs and air, and Bob weatherstripped and evened them up in the downtime. It was a pleasure hiring Bob. He did a great job and was a heck of a nice guy too. Definitely would hire again.

The contractor was very reliable about communicating before, during and after the work was done. My biggest concern - and it is significant - is the cost for his services. He charges $110.00 per hour including travel time to/from the job. Although he more or less finished the work for which I contracted, a few items were left unfinished and I thought the cost was quite excessive.

I got a very prompt return to my request from Angie's list, unlike some other vendors. He did not come out to give me a free estimate, but given his professional approach I decided to give him a try. I am quite glad that I did. He did the work for me over a few days, always did exactly what he said he would do and did it with high quality. Note that he is not the cheapest option, but he is a great option if you are looking for high qualtiy, professionalism, and peace of mind.

The replacement of the clad picture window was accomplished in a single day and in a very neat and tidy manner. His very professional workmanship and easy personal style made it very easy to describe what we wanted to achieve and he worked hard to satisfy us; which h did to the highest degree. i have retained Phalan Construction to repair my porch roof and to remodel the porch interior. I would recommend him highly to anyone who needs home repairs or remodeling.

About a month ago the microwave broke and found out that he did not install the the vent correctly, we had to redo the whole project. I felt that since he was being paid by the hour he took his time. And he was very expensive.

We are more than satisfied with Bob Phalan's performance. Even though Bob did quite a lot of work for a very reasonable cost, the quality of his work was superior throughout. Bob is an extremely hard worker, but because he is so experienced, he is also very fast while not being careless at all. His communication was excellent as well. From his fast response to my first inquiry to his dealing with us as we tried to figure out our priorities and our budget, Bob was always straight and honest and helpful. And he's a really nice guy to boot. Bob's knowledge is invaluable to us. We have been looking for someone who would have a great general understanding of our home, which was built in 1920, and can give us advice on maintenance of an older home. He has proven his extensive knowledge, his integrity, his work ethic, and his tremendous skill. We will be working with Bob on many small and large projects for years to come, no doubt at all.