Pete and Kat came within a couple of days after my call to view the driveway coating project and…read moreprovide a contract price. I was told the job would be completed in a month, but two days later they had an opening and so came and did a nice and very neat job of sealing the cracks and sealing the blacktop. The whole job was completed rapidly, allowing more than enough for the driveway to completely dry by evening. A couple of cracks did not completely fill so they came back two days later and redid these cracks, and even added a bit more sealer on 20% of the driveway at no additional cost. I am pleased to strongly recommend Pete's Absolute Asphalt. (Note that even though this review lists me as in San Francisco for some odd reason (possibly a hidden VPN) please be assured that I and my driveway are in Ithaca NY!)

Pete is great to work with. He's a straight shooter, is super knowledgeable & does whatever he can…read moreto make sure you're happy & satisfied!

What great service! He replied to my inquiry within 3 days, came out of his service area to give me…read morea quote within 2 weeks, and had the job done shortly after. He did a great job removing polymeric sand and reapplying, but also took a lot of time to answer a lot of general questions about our porch and its care.

Spencer has been helping me with handyman projects since I bought my first home. I've never been…read moregood at home repairs, so it has always been important to me to have a well rounded handyman whom I can trust. Spencer has insulated my home, caulked it, painted it and even built some small pieces of furniture. I've needed dimmer switches installed, faucets replaced, weather stripping, locks replaced.... Spencer has helped keep my home functioning. My only regret is that I now live in Palm Springs and Spencer in Illinois. I have toyed with the idea of flying him out here to continue his work for me.

Spencer helped me fix a problem with my radiators heating unevenly. He is approachable and…read morefriendly. He worked fast, explained exactly what he was going to do and why he was doing it, then did exactly what he said he was going to do! He also explained how he would save me money on materials. He did so, and his work fixed the problem. He may be the only handyman I have ever worked with who was on time. All-in-all, a great experience.

Ongoing issues with communication gaps regarding the scope of work and pricing. The contract…read morerequired to begin work was an 8-page document filled with legal terminology that was difficult to interpret. Refused to disclose hourly labor rates or material costs upfront. Condescending. Unfortunately, my experience did not align with his website mission statement. I did not feel protected or valued as a client and he ignored my request to return building materials his subcontractor took that I paid for.

I have had several excellent experiences with this contractor. The work, while expensive, has been…read moreconsistently excellent. Once, the contractor devised an ingenious solution to removing a car from a garage crushed by a tree before demolition. He built a very handsome deck. In addition, in a very compassionate act, he pulled a crew from one job to build a banister when my husband was extremely frail because of pneumonia.

Jeff did a remodel of our kitchen, using JSI cabinets purchased from Cayuga Lumber. The project…read moretook just about 3 months which is apparently not unusual no matter who the contractor is. He came to our house every day and worked steadily through to completion, removing and recycling old cabinets and appliances, adding some cabinet trim, redoing plumbing and electrical, replacing a window, sanding and painting and all other aspects of the project other than the floor which was subcontracted to another company on Jeff's recommendation. In addition to general carpentry skills, which were superb, Jeff had a good eye for colors, symmetry, and other details that might otherwise have escaped us. When we ran into occasional hiccups with local vendors, he provided a calming perspective and sound advice on how to remedy situations. He was also attentive to issues related to dust management; putting up lots of cloths to contain dust as best as it could be done. We think one advantage was that Jeff is a one man show with no subcontractors have to coordinate with. Had we known ahead of time, we'd have just had him do the floor as well; we just didn't know he was so talented in so many areas. All things considered, we would hire Jeff again in a heartbeat. And if we were to do another kitchen, we would be sure to do it in the summer or early fall because the process really does leave you with no place to fix food in your home for a long time. Fortuitously, we started in late August and finished just before the snow started to fly; thus we were able to operate a small food prep site (microwave, countertop, fridge) in the garage and also barbecue outdoors frequently.

We're the type of couple who like to do our own projects--in part because our labor is free, and in…read morepart because of pride. However, there may be a time when you just need to bite the bullet and admit that a project is pretty daunting, and you need help... and for us, that's where Michael came in. Michael completed the finishing (and skill-intensive) work on a somewhat complex deck rebuild/redesign that was simply taking us too long to complete. We were ready for someone to come in and make our ideas a reality. Michael did just that. We drew up our concepts, and he brought them to life--and even added some touches we wouldn't have thought of. Following that project we were so pleased with his work that we had him refinish our 100+ year old front door. It needed a lot of work, and he brought it back to life. I cannot speak to the other reviewer's experience with Michael, but we've had good experiences and would use him again.

Michael Cohen, owner of Rent an Artisan (he advertises on Ithaca Craigslist and boasts a ton of…read moreexperience, which cannot possibly be true) gave us an estimate of 40 hours of labor at 40.00/hour + materials for a simple project that required him to build 3 kitchen cabinets (2 of which were in corners, so those should have been pretty easy) and to modify a fourth cabinet by making it shorter. He was also to install a stove hood/microwave combination. He also included adding trim molding to cabinets and to the kitchen itself as part of the job. Michael told us that this job was very simple, well within his skill set, and that he'd be in and out in a week without any trouble. I see in his ads that he is now saying that he does not carry insurance, but he told us that he was fully insured. After one day of work, we considered letting him go due to the crookedness of the cabinet he shortened.The next day, he fixed that and began working on the first cabinet he was going to build. After that day of work, there was a frame (no sides, shelves, or bottom) and the pieces of wood making up the cube were all crooked and of different lengths. The cabinet was also not the same depth as the other cabinets in the kitchen. The third day, he came in and I showed him the messy cabinet and he apologized -- and attempted to fix it. I also asked him to replace the soft wood he'd used with hard wood b/c he had used pine on the front face of the cabinet, for some reason. I am not sure why anyone would use a soft wood on the front of a cabinet that would take the most wear and tear. Our other cabinets were hardwood, so his choice of pine did not make any sense at all. The fourth day he built a cabinet for our sink and left screw heads on the surfaces of that cabinet, including the front face of the cabinet. The cabinet was to hold our new expensive farmhouse sink and we wanted a furniture-quality sink cabinet. He cut out a place to hold the sink, but that was asymmetrical and the cabinet was just a sad mess. Clearly, a person with any experience making a cabinet or furniture would never use screws that were visible/level with the front face of the cabinet. The hole he made for the microwave/hood was improperly placed and had to be patched and re-made by a more competent contractor. The venting material he bought was 200.00+ and the wrong size when normal hood venting kits exist and cost only 60.00. He clearly had no idea what he was doing and used our house to attempt to learn how to remodel a kitchen. At the end of a week, we had 3 cabinet skeletons that were shabby and unprofessional looking. This is after a week's work! There was NO SIGN of him being close to finishing the job and the level of workmanship was really an embarrassment. We decided to let him go. In order to have a functional kitchen, his work had to be removed and thrown away and a skilled contractor came in to re-do the whole job. His cabinet skeletons were inconsistent in size, crooked, and were not made in a way that would look nice. Because of his lack of skills, we wasted almost 2000.00 for his week's labor bill and nothing that he did was at all usable. This was a horrible experience. Michael was paid in full for his time and materials, yet we got absolutely nothing in return. Nothing he did was usable and he wasted our time and money. He is clearly not able to make cabinets even though he claimed that he was. I consider his claims to all be very dishonest and his workmanship is well below par. His level of craftsmanship may be on the level of making something for outdoors use (a bench, for example). We are very dismayed and definitely were taken advantage of by Michael. We requested a partial refund and then stopped hearing from Michael. I would not trust him to do anything, ever. He did not do honest work (he also over-charged us for the hours he spent here -- I kept track of when he came and went and he added several hours to his bill compared to the hours he was in our home) and he also had the nerve to charge us for the time he spent redoing his work due to his own mistakes. This is not at all honest or normal for a contractor. DO NOT HIRE

Chris installed a new mailbox and patched some holes in our foundation for us. We were very happy…read morewith the work and his professionalism. He responded quickly to messages, scheduled the work quickly and stuck to his quoted price despite having to make an extra trip. I would definitely call him again if I needed more work done.

We needed a tree and its stump plus a few large bushes removed. JC Stumps was terrific. I got a…read moresame-day response from the owner when I submitted my request online. It was scheduled right away and completed within a few days. The job was done exactly as I asked with all brush and wood cleaned up and taken away. I won't hesitate to recommend JC Stumps and Clearing to others.