We're the type of couple who like to do our own projects--in part because our labor is free, and in part 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. read more

Michael Cohen, owner of Rent an Artisan (he advertises on Ithaca Craigslist and boasts a ton of experience, 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 read more

Michael was referred to me by another contractor who was unable to do the work, an he did an excellent job. He was very prompt in his reply, and gave me clear communication about the timeline of completion and when he was available. He installed two mailboxes for me, and the work was perfect. He was very friendly and u would absolutely recommend him to others for work. read more

We own a rental property in Cayuga Heights, NY. The floortiles in the bathroom needed replacement. I asked our real estate agent for some recommendations for a contractor. She highly recommended Michael Cohen of Rent an Artisan, so I asked him to go and take a look and give us a quote. We decided to go ahead with the work and to have Michael Cohen do it. Since we live out of town, I asked him to choose and supply the tiles. Michael responded very promptly, and within a few days he had completed the work. However, in the course of the project, he let us know that a trapdoor in the floor had deteriorated and needed to be replaced. I knew it was not in good shape, so this was no surprise. Ordinarily, this would mean stopping the project, getting a carpenter in to take a look, waiting for the carpenter to construct the new trapdoor, and then resuming the floor replacement (probably at a higher cost because of the disruption) - or more likely, having new tiles on the old trapdoor, and then having to redo them a few months later. Given Michael's versatile skill set, he was able to design, construct and install the new trapdoor with minimal interruption to the flooring project. The finished result of the project was outstanding - considerably better than I'd expected. The work was done surprisingly quickly, and the price was reasonable. Final step: I called the real estate agent to thank her for the recommendation. read more

Michael Cohen has worked on two houses for us in the past few years, and in every instance has been ingenious in his approach to the work, skillful in solving the problems we've thrown at him, efficient in his use of his time (and ours), punctual and tidy, and an immensely kind and interesting person to have around. One problem we had was that the areas beneath two exterior doors had begun to crumble away due to poor drainage across the lawn that led to our house. While we had excavators solve the drainage issue, we needed to have the door sills assessed and repaired. Michael recommended concrete, which it had never occurred to us to use, and he matched the color to the stone walls of our house and used a beautiful water resistant hardwood board to lay in place over the concrete, turning a problem jamb that was not so much noticeable as beginning to be dangerous into something that enriched the look of the whole entry. Another issue was the arrival in the fall of a mouse nest in the bathroom wall of our guest house. It was not even immediately clear to me where the nest was, but Michael found it promptly, cut out a puzzle piece of drywall that let him vacuum up the nest and disinfect the area, replaced and taped the drywall and plastered over it to match the interior wall--and all in an afternoon, finishing before our tenant returned home from work. He has installed appliances, consulted on a cedar roofing project, and his price for doing any work we've hired him for always seemed reasonable and the work speedily carried out. I would call him for ANY project that required an imaginative, skilled hand, and if he did not have time to undertake it would trust the person he recommended. Michael is in the process of cleaning, bleaching and weatherproofing a cedar roof on my hand-crafted log house, of painting trim and crafting rail and baluster for an upstairs porch, refinishing some floors, installing a sink and some new screen doors, and repairing some heavily (dog)damaged custom doors on the same house. It's important to me whenever work is done in my house to respect and like the person I hire in addition to trusting the quality of his work. In each instance Michael has helped me out, he's managed to turn a bothersome need into a good experience. If you've got a home repair project or an interesting idea to 'bring to life,' give him a call. You won't be sorry. Ann B., Brooktondale read more

Michael replaced the doors and steps leading down into my cellar. They are photo 11 above. I have to say, they look even better closed. He did a lovely job. They are much improved from what was there previously--I now don't break my neck going down the stairs and he constructed the doors so that they are completely functional without being tremendously heavy (the previous ones were a bear). I couldn't have been happier. They look great, work fine, the price was right and he got them done very quickly. read more

Michael did an absolutely wonderful job on our porch this fall. He replaced rotted parts on the columns, sealed up places the needed it and just generally made our porch healthy again! He was timely, conscientious about our home and yard, and cleaned up all the refuse left behind. I would hire him again in a second! read more