A Few Good Tradesmen

They rescheduled multiple times and didn't show up multiple times without even calling. They told me they were working on bigger jobs and nicer houses. When I fired them they promised to return my deposit. They returned 25% and kept coming up with excuses for not being able to return the rest. They never showed up, did any work or bought any materials, they just ripped me off for the deposit. I can't comment on the work since they never did any.

Quality of the work was fine and the price was competitive. Site was cleaned up afterwards satisfactorily. My biggest complaint is the lack of communication around scheduling, and later, re-scheduling. There was a several week break between the start and finish of the work.  Which can be understandable in this line of work, but I just can't understand why there is little to no communication- 30 second phone call, it's all I ask.  Instead, it's up to the customer to badger them to re-schedule a time to finish the job.  However, this has been par for the course in my experience with Boston-area contractors. So, as the bell-curve goes, this provider is probably better than most.  I would use them again if the communication kinks can get worked out. <br />

I should have asked them to reschedule the moment they arrived to do the work, when they said "Oh, we forgot what we were going to be doing." Mind you, I sent them detailed photos, and they had come by only a couple of weeks earlier to review the work needed and provide a quote; I even sent a detailed description of the work needed to their secretary a couple of days before the appointment because I was nervous about how little time they claimed the work would take. I guess I just trusted that they were the professionals they claimed to me. Cut to the final product, which includes mismatched wood scraps they had in their truck haphazardly used to recreate the missing moulding. Throughout their work Brian and his assistant continually tried to convince me to settle for things I didn't want, purely out of laziness and lack of preparedness. They were extremely condescending when I asked that they please do the work the way I had hired them to do it. It has taken me almost nine months to write this review because I kept trying to convince myself it wasn't as bad as I thought (and I think I was kind of in shock), but we are now about to DIY a total redo of their butchered work. I urge you to avoid this company for any even remotely small job, because they clearly do not take the work or their customers seriously. So unbelievably disappointed. <br />

A Few Good Tradesmen was a good vendor for me. They were good at communicating prior to the job including working on the estimate and getting the work dates squared away. They arrived on the scheduled date and completed the job in the timeframe they expected. <br /> We determined in advance which fence materials to use, and they showed up with the exactly correct materials and did a nice job of installation. The fence feels sturdy and the joints between the parts are nice and tight. <br /> They had the two awnings down in short order without incident. Once they were down, the exposed siding needed touch-up, cleaning or something. Their original idea was to swap some of the damaged siding with good siding from the back of the garage, but they did not realize that the siding was aluminum (they thought it was vinyl) so they decided not to try to remove/replace siding and instead did a fair job of cleaning up the damaged areas. <br /> The job site was clean after they left on both days of the two-day job. <br />

Great. Brian and his crew were very punctual, they did the job for what they quoted me, and they did an excellent job of it. Super professional, polite and friendly. Couldn't ask for more, will be working with them again in the future. <br />

Read above. <br />

The first time we scheduled for the work to be done, no one showed up at the appointed time, and I consequently wrote a very bad review. Both Jennifer and Brian emailed me and apologized profusely and asked for another chance. They had a new person in the office who did not inform clients of transmission problems that would keep him from work. <br /> We were able to reschedule, and Brian and his assistant did a fine job. The mosquito curtains were new for them, so installation may have taken a bit longer, but they got the job done and done well.

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Look and quality are excellent.  Nice guys, highly responsive, know what they are doing.  Highly recommend.  <br />

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The back splash is gorgeous!  (Let me give a shout out to Lynne at Best Tile in Dedham for her help in the tile selection.) <br /> I signed up for an Angie's list back splash tiling deal. I didn't quite understand the intricacies of choosing tile and installing it.  I picked a somewhat elaborate pattern with natural stone tiles. I wanted what I wanted, and Brian and Sam worked with me to get the result and I agreed to pay a supplement to the big deal which I found very fair. <br /> I appreciated that they consulted me if they had any questions about exactly what I wanted (e.g. precisely where to put the medicine cabinets, how to finish the tile where it ended at the edge of wall). I'm happy with these solutions.  They also came up with some very creative solutions around the kitchen window that really enhance the tile work.  <br /> We discussed the merits of fully replacing the staircase vs saving the wood that was discolored but generally in good condition.  Overall, the cost was the same, but I appreciate the option to send less building materials to landfill and get a good result. <br /> They were going to install the fireplace granite tile, and they ultimately did not do this as their specialty is in smaller ceramic tiles, and the 24" x 24" stone tiles I purchased needed equipment they don't have.  I really appreciated discussing this.  I think it will be much easier to have someone who specializes in stone to complete this part of the job because Sam did all the hard prep work. <br /> I feel that the team was generally very conscientious about cleaning up after themselves. The only thing I wish I would have done is draped my furniture and made sure various doors were closed - it's a much bigger clean up job than I expected, and I might have been able to avoid some of it.  On the plus side, that part of the house has undergone an early spring cleaning!  And I know that half of the dirt preceded this project. <br /> The project was completed exactly when promised, with allowance for a snowstorm at the start. I gave a B for punctuality because I did get up early to make sure the snow was cleared from the driveway and they arrived later than planned.  I have had the experience more than once that contractors don't show up for days, so an hour or two is a small matter for me, but I note it because if you needed to get to work yourself or something like that, you would probably want to be sure to have a clear agreement. <br /> I look forward to another project with A Few Good Tradesmen. <br /> <br /> <br />

unknown

I originally scheduled 4 hours of work (via a deal on angies list) to get some small tasks done around the house. Scheduling a time with them was painless. Brian called me 30 minutes before the arranged start time to tell me he would be 2 hours late due to all the snow (this is during the insane snowstorm), which is reasonable. Brian came with a helper Sam, so the 4 hour package I paid for ended up only being 2 hours with two people (they told me this ahead of time). Brian and Sam were diligent and fast, knocking out all the tasks very easily. They kept me in the loop the entire time of what they were doing and got my input at all the critical steps along the way, but not too overbearing. They had all the tools to handle the job, and provided me with better hardware to mount the TV than what the mounting kit came with. Brian is a licensed electrician, so I had him do a couple of extra tasks with identifying switches and outlets around the house, which was definitely nice. <br /> I would definitely hire Brian and Sam again if I needed to work on small tasks around the house! <br />

Just a quick note to tell you how pleased we were with the service.  Was scheduled at our request to be done on a Saturday.  There was an ice and snow storm the night before and there was a lot of ice everywhere in the morning.  Called to say that their truck was stuck and would be late.  Called several more times during the day to keep us updated that the truck was still stuck in a snow bank and they were going to be late.  Finally decided it was getting too late in the day and rescheduled to be done on Sunday since we both work and wanted to be at home while the work was being done.  Was supposed to come first thing Sunday morning but got a call in the morning that the truck was still stuck and they would be here by noon.  Did not arrive until 3:00pm on Sunday. I was worried that we would get sloppy and rushed service or that the job wouldn't be able to be completed in a day which is what we wanted. <strong>Cannot say enough about the "dedication to the cause"!!</strong>  After arriving at 3:00pm Brian worked tirelessly till he got the job done and he left at 9:30pm.  Not too many people would have done that on a Sunday.  Will DEFINITELY think of you guys again and pass along your name.  The tub looks great. <br />

unknown

Kim did a great job and took the time to explain to me what he was going to do. I've had a hard time getting other contractors to come out for a small job and when they do, they try to sell me something much more expensive and complicated than what I want. Kim just did what I asked, charged much less than anyone else quoted, and seemed more than competent. It did take a little while for Kim to come out and do the work, but there wasn't much of a hurry, so I didn't mind. <br />

<ul> <li></li> <li></li> <li></li> <li></li> </ul> <p>Brian Costigan and crew have done several jobs for me over the past year, from solving a small electrical issue to a recent total renovation of my kitchen. I can't express with words the level of gratitude I have for his fair pricing, speed, efficiency, flexibility, thoroughness, and all around pride in workmanship that is so rare now. He helped me solve some design problems with the remodel job, then proceeded to ... view moredo the most amazing job. I could not be happier with Brians work. If I could, I would give his company 20 stars! Thank you thank you thank you!! You will be hearing from me again! </p> m <br />

The work went well according to plan.

I contacted A Few Good Tradesmen and spoke to Jennifer and told her what I wanted and she gave me an hourly price and when they could do the job.  Since I had to have a light replaced I was glad to find out Brian was a master electrician.  I called a few days later and made a date to have the work done.  She told me someone would be there between 8:00 and 10:00.  She then called back another day to tell me the job would take two men instead of one so the price per hour would change.  I appreciated her calling to inform me of the change in the hourly fee.  Sam arrived by 10:00 and Henry arrived shortly after that.  They removed the awning and repaired the holes left by the bolts the best they could.  (The awning had been on for over 50 years and there were rust marks that could not be removed.)  They had to remove a rotted board behind the awning and to do that they had to remove a section of the aluminum siding first.  They replaced the siding, then the board with a composite of some kind (sorry I don't remember the name .)   They put caulking behind and around the new replacement to keep out the moisture, etc.  When they finished you could not tell where they had taken out the board and replaced it with the new section.  They did a terrific job.  In the meantime, Sam came in to replace the light over the sink but when he turned it on the light worked.  So that did not have to be replaced.  Unfortunately, it is not working now, but that had nothing to do with Sam.  When they finished everything looked great and they had cleaned up everything.  I was very pleased.   I thought they were a great team and I definitely would hire them again. <br />

Originally I had a different contractor lined up to do this work.  At that contractor's request I purchased an 8 ft slider in pieces to be assembled rather than as a module (already put together).  My original contractor delayed and delayed so I hired A few good tradesmen to come in and do it instead.  They did a great job. <br /> First Brian came over to look at the door and give me an estimate for the work.  He was running late but called to let me know and to make sure it would still be a good time to come.  The quote was higher than what my original contractor was going to charge but I liked Brian and just wanted the door installed so I went with it.  I feel like I got my money's worth.   <br /> Brian's guy, Sam came on Saturday morning to do the work and was right on time.  As I mentioned, the door was in pieces and needed to be assembled and installed.  Generally a sliding door comes pre-assembled as a "module".  I had a couple of other contractors come to look at the door.  They both said they had never seen one like this before and they never got back to me with a quote... Right away Sam told me that he had done a lot of sliders but never one that required assembly like this before.  He took the time to study the installation instructions and figured out how to install the door correctly.   <br /> On the non-operating side of the slider, A deck railing post butts right up to the seam between the wall and the new slider.  Normally this seam would be sealed with silicone.  Because of the way the post butts up to it, it's impossible to get the silicone in there.  Instead of just hoping I wouldn't notice (which I probably would not have), Sam showed me the problem and explained that he put a lot of silicone in-between the wall and the door so it should still be water tight.  I appreciated his honesty, which is rare in my experience (especially with contractors).   <br /> Whenever I need anything done on my home I will definitely be calling these guys first.  I've already asked them to come back to replace a window for me.  I highly recommend them. <br />

I have used Brian for many years and have found him to be reliable and fairly priced. <br /> He shows up on time and is willing and able to work. <br /> Definitely highly recommend him. <br /> <br /> <br />

I hired Brian owner of a Few Good Tradesmen many years ago to do some electrical work and he has since done about 20 projects for me, all of which have come in on time and within budget.  Brian is more than a contractor, he gives you ideas on how to do projects, creatively working with your space and budget . He has since done many different types of jobs from completely renovating bathrooms to building additions and rewiring a whole house. He knows how to manage crews and takes responsibility when one of the subs doesn't show up or does a poor job. He's done work for friends of mine and recently even had him at my parents house to renovate their bathroom, fix a leaky pipe, change out an electric panel and replace a storm door. There's not much he cant do, I would highly recommend Brian's services to anyone who is in need of a getting something built or repaired.   <br /> <br /> <br />