Johann M.

10/5/2015

I received Skip's contact info via my previous, wonderful contractor.

My old contractor has gotten such great reviews that he is booked 9 months out!

I told Skip I wanted to tear down my deck and build a new one. He asked if I had plans, and I told him I didn't. I just wanted it built in accordance with Fairfax County guidelines. My previous deck (there since 1980) was not permitted, so he had to start from scratch.

The pictures show the result: doubled in size, permitted deck that looks so much better. I posted the before and after so you can see for yourself. Walking on the deck I am convinced that this well built deck will be here long after the house falls away. Great job, by great people. Very considerate of me and my family.

Be advised: he is a straight shooter and doesn't spend his time and energy trying to make the homeowner feel good. He does do great work, at a reasonable price.

I whole heartedly recommend Skip's Carpentry to anyone without reservation and would gladly work with him again.

Dominic O.01156/8/2016

Project: Complete remodel of an existing deck, pergola, and fence.

Why we chose Skip: We had at least five different bids from various contractors, carpenters, and handymen. Skip's quote was competitive and was actually split into costs for materials and labor. This was in contrast to other bids, which just had the quote for the full project. This was helpful for us because we debated between wood and composite for the deck, and we could see exactly the difference in cost. We ended up choosing composite, and even here, Skip also broke the down the cost for each level of composite, based on the square footage. Very transparent process. Skip also is very authentic and a straight shooter, which for me engendered trust, especially given that we essentially received five different quotes/assessments from the five different bids. One contractor suggested that we needed to do a complete redo including replacing the frame and posts. Skip came after and heartily disagreed. It turned out Skip was right!

The remodel: the entire process took three days, which included the deck, redoing the pergola, and replacing the fence. Skip and crew came each day, worked diligently, and completed the job as promised.

Please note that my wife and I were responsible for much of the design choices. We kept the existing footprint for the deck, pergola, and fence so much of the decison making went to the materials. Skip took our requests, and implemented them well.

He just completed the job today, but you can see from the pictures the difference between the before and after. We are very pleased with the end result.

One nit: one of the fence posts seems a little loose. We are going to contact Skip to see if he will come back and fix. I'll update the review accordingly.

Overall, we are pleased with Skip and his crew. We will consider using him for projects including crown moulding and redoing our basement.

Lou S.

• 1/24/2015

  We hired Skip and crew to open up a stairwell in our 1939 cape cod. Their bid was competitive so we hired them. The outcome is terrific! They showed up every day on time. The work was superb. They cleaned up at the end of each day. The job finished on schedule. Ran into some surprises as the house is old, but they were good at finding workarounds. Highly recommend Skip and team.