The Village Carpenter

Ghosted me and my client. Mark was hired by the sellers of the home my client was purchasing. He apparently had been the sellers trusted contractor for their time owning the home. The sellers hired him to complete a punch list of repair items. When we got to my clients final walk through, there were a handful of items that were not complete. We were assured that Mark was a reliable contact and for my client to reach out to him to make sure everything was taken care of post settlement. What a mistake. For months, my client and I tried to reach him. We did hear back once to coordinate a time, but once responded, nothing again. These were not groundbreaking repairs, so perhaps they weren’t worth his time, but the lack of communication has been very frustrating. I deal with contractors all the time and understand how some you need to chase down more than others, but definitely would not recommend Mark to clients of mine in fear of a similar experience.

Mark was a pleasure to work with. We were very pleased with the finished product and would highly recommend him to anyone in need repairs around the home.

The Village Carpenter, Mark L., did an excellent job rebuilding my deck. I had 10 long floor boards that were rotten and needed to be replaced. The deck looked somewhat the worse for wear and needed a fresh coat of stain. Mark gave me a detailed estimate right away. He noticed that some of the wood I had purchased had not been treated properly and so he took care of that on my behalf with out increasing the estimate. He removed all the old materials. The deck now looks brand new and I feel happy every time I go out on it. The best thing about all this was that he actually followed through and did things quickly and well for exactly what he had estimated. There was none of this "and when is he coming back to finish the job," which I've experience with other contractors. He works hard and well, is friendly and reliable, and does what he says he's going to do. He has also rebuilt my front steps which was a more complex operation that I'm also very happy with. I've posted a separate review on that project under masonry.

Mark L. did a great job repairing my front steps. He got back to me right away and scheduled a time to examine the steps and give me an estimate. I had had them repaired by other masons twice before only to have the bricks start coming loose within two years. Mark was able to diagnose the source of the problem and come up with a detailed proposal and estimate within 24 hours. I had been waiting for weeks for two other masons to provide me with their estimates which were actually a bit higher than the one Mark provided. He got on the job right away and removed all the old brick work and the underlying cement that had deteriorated so badly. Then he took careful measurements, constructed forms, and formed new concrete to provide me with a level and even foundation. Next he went to a quarry and selected the best blue stone he could find and sliced five big slabs to go on top of the repaired foundation. It was such a simple and elegant solution and I've already gotten a lot of compliments from my neighbors about the new look. I found Mark to be trustworthy, reliable, helpful and friendly -- and also reasonable in terms of cost. He was also prompt and did what he said he would do when he said he would do it -- how often does that happen these days?

Great! Complete professional in every way. We live 2000 miles from the house we were selling. Mark handled it all. Found him on Angie's List. We talked on the phone and stayed in touch by email. I have never met Mark but we felt 100% confident by the way he handled things. We were very lucky to find him!

The owner returned my call promptly and was on site for an immediate estimate, he secured the potential hazard with a barrier and safety caution tape. He offered a fair and reasonable charge and we were completely satisfied with not only the repairs, but the professional manner in which everything was handled. I would recommend them to anyone. Thank you Mark - you are a true gentleman and professional!

Mark is extremely unorganized, lacks professional communication and coordination skills and he is unqualified for jobs with any degree of complexity or ambiguity. I had worked with Mark on a small job previously with positive results. When I asked him for a reference for someone to help me manage a larger job he indicated that he had experience with this kind of work. It soon became apparent that he lacked the experience necessary to create any real value with the thousands of dollars and many months of time he was given. He didn't just disappoint me, he also left a trail of people he hired without the payment they had expected based on their negotiations with Mark. On one occasion Mark told me I owed money to someone I had never met, and whose name I was not even given. After discontinuing work with Mark I was contacted by an architect he had hired, who I had only ever talked to once when Mark introduced us and they described to me a "design/build" relationship. I was told that Mark had accrued thousands of dollars in fees that were still outstanding and the architect is now threatening to collect them from me. Mark was hired as a manager, but charged twice as much as everyone else on the project combined. He claims that this is because he needs to be compensated for the design of the project, though I paid an additional amount for designs and I am now being asked by the architect to pay even more for these same designs. When things started to go south, rather than addressing problems directly, Mark would smile and nod and make verbal commitments then not follow through. He would leave me with weeks at a time of radio silence. In response to these issues he has offered absolutely zero remediating action - not even paying off the architect he hired.

Mark was excellent to work with. He was very responsive, professional, and provided outstanding service beginning with my initial contact through project completion. He responded to my request quickly, his estimate was accurate, and the project was completed on time at the agreed upon price. Workmanship was excellent. I highly recommend Mark, The Village Carpenter.

Company did not respond to contact calls.

Mark was great! Extremely knowledgeable and efficient. Called our cabinet company to determine how the island was installed which made the job quick and didn't cause any damage to our cabinetry. Will be calling him back to reinstall the island and hopefully rework the layout of our laundry room.

I make a point of working with smaller and, ideally, family-owned, businesses whenever possible, and the Village Carpenter is precisely the kind of company I am always relieved to have found and know that I can call upon again in the future. This was a very positive experience from the first contact through the completion of the job. Mark responded to my initial email promptly and was out within a few days to survey the site. Phyllis followed up the next day with an official estimate and work commenced exactly as scheduled. Mark was done within the day and the final result looks great. There were no surprises in the invoice.

After some delays in getting a proposal, Mark finally came to cut out the opening for the door. He had to relocate an electrical outlet and telephone jack.. He was very professional and keep the work area clean. He installed the door and frame in the opening and completed the job in four hours. The job turned out great.

Another GREAT job completed. I hired Mark again due to the excellent work he did on rebuilding and installing fascia board so that our new gutters could be properly mounted. Sections of our porch floor have been replaced over the years, by other contractors, due to deterioration and water damage. No one ever addressed the need to rebuild parts of the undercarriage, resulting in a job that looked great cosmetically but wasn't very stable. So we kept spending money to repair the previous repairs. Again, due to his knowledge of construction and of old houses, he explained this problem. He outlined what needed to be done and helped me to prioritize the order of repairs. When you have an historic house this is important, as repairs are costly and most people have to budget them and consider what is the most important repair to address first. I believe we could have saved money, a lot of it, if he had done the initial repairs. What a beautiful job he did! The porch looks great, and when you walk on it is solid and stable. Finally!

I will start at the end and say I LOVED the result! When he began removing the gutters, he discovered that attaching the new gutters in the same manner would result in the same problems we had with the old ones. Rather than proceeding with the job anyway, he told us he needed to replace the fascia rather than repair the rotted areas.. We have dealt with many contractors before where the job ends up looking good but the underlying problem isn't solved and just results in having to re-do the job later on. We have an historic house and contracting mistakes can get very costly. No one likes to spend more money, but this was a cost effective solution. Mark is willing to take the time to explain things well and it is very clear that he is highly knowledgeable about his trade. He was also good with communicating with our gutter contractor during the process to ensure that when the gutters were installed there would be no problems. And there weren't. The gutters were installed without any problem and the result looked great. I was concerned about hiring 2 contractors to complete this job because of the potential for a breakdown in communication. Mark assured me he would be in contact with the other contractor and he was, sending pictures of his work and coordinating it with the other contractor. If you have an old house, I would.......run, not walk, to contact Mark for an estimate. You will learn a lot about the construction of your house and he will help you to prioritize what needs to be done. I found his pricing to be fair, as I had obtained other estimates. Bottom line, he won't cut corners if the job wont be done right. He will help you to economize if its possible.

Mark was a pleasure to deal with. He was very responsive and was able to get to us in only a few days. He did a quality job repairing the brick steps and his price was very fair. I would use him again without hesitation.

The door worked great until the foam around the door expanded. After that, the door could not be opened any longer. I had to pay someone $200 to fix it. You don't used expanding foam around a door. It turned out that the door was not secured to the surrounding concrete block either.

The problem was discovered when painters were doing exterior painting. I called and Mark stopped by within 30 minutes of my call. He dropped other projects to address mine; the painters and he were able to work around each other so both the painting and the repairs were completed in a most timely fashion. I give Mark the highest of ratings and will vigorously recommend him to anyone who needs all manner of carpentry and other type jobs.

Mark was prompt in getting the jobs done and the price was fair. It is such a relief to have a person like Mark who can easily take care of the "so-called" easy jobs that are overwhelming for an average homeowner. I will continue to use Mark as needed. Thank you.

Mark is delight to work with. He has a great depth of knowledge and a range of options to suggest for any problem. My house is 160-170 years old. What's clear is that Mark understands the esthetic and the practical issues of working with older houses. He's creative and effective. - And next I want him to work on the kitchen!

Best estimate. Quickest response. Top quality completed work. A nice person - very trust worthy.

Fantastic experience. Mark is professional, prompt, detailed, and very skilled. I'd use him again in a heartbeat.

Dealing with Mr.Leterskhy was a pleasure. He came out for an immediate estimate and completed the repair on the same day. HIs charge for his services was reasonable. He was tidy and conscientious through the whole process.

Our sliding glass patio door had worn down over time to the point that the rollers on the bottom did not work and the door was very difficult to open and close. The original manufacture and most contractors would have replaced the door for lots of money, but Mark arrived promptly, took the door out, replaced the rollers on the bottom, and put it back together. It works like new for little cost. Plus, he is a friendly guy to deal with. Knowing that he can do big/complex and small jobs is great (he did previous gutter and attic fan work for us also). We'll keep his number handy.

Mark responded to my request in a timely manner. Showed up for the job at the time stated. Performed the work in less than an hour and charged less than the earlier estimate. He did this because the job took less than an hour. I would definitely use again. People willing and eager to do small jobs are difficult to find,

Mark Letersky brought to the job a high degree of professionalism. His work was on time and on budget. I recommend him, without reservation.