J Rose & Sons Inc

He was easy to work with and had great ideas.

I have renovated several homes with different contractors prior to working with Jon and am certain he will be my lifelong contractor--if he will have me! Jon is professional, smart, fair, extremely skilled and truly passionate about his work. He is a finish craftsman but also a structural problem solver. He took my 1890s former horse barn that was barely standing and step by step corrected all of the faulty structural problems and essentially built me a new house in just a few short months.
He is great (even fun!) to work with, thoughtful and responsive. I have never had to wait more than a few hours for a reply to a call or text. He is not looking to upsell on anything--he always tries to come up with the most cost effective solution to a problem without sacrificing the quality of the finished product. He has a real artist's eye and happily contributes his ideas about how to improve the layout and overall design of a space. He deeply cares about what he does and takes immense pride in his work.
I have been reluctant to write this review only for fear that he will get so busy that he won't be able to handle my next project, but for all he has done for me, I feel like I at least owe him this show of gratitude. Everyone who I have referred him to has had similar experiences with Jon. I can refer him unequivocally and you should consider yourself lucky if you have the opportunity to hire him--he's truly the best there is!

This is my second review of Jon Rose. Subsequent to his redoing our kitchen we asked him to repaint our hallway and a bedroom and install a wall of closets in the bedroom.
The painting was straightforward and uneventful; once again Jon shone at the carpentry challenge. He had previously built a full suite of custom cabinets while redoing our kitchen; the job in the bedroom was to install pre-fabricated Ikea closets in a way that appeared to be custom but was much quicker and cheaper than having custom closets built. We were ripping out and expanding two tiny and annoying ~1912 closets that were poky, shallow and dark. The measurements of the room worked out in such a way that four sections of Pax wardrobes fit neatly around a central space that accommodated our upstairs neighbours' ductwork. Jon tore out the old closets and installed the Ikea closets, covering the central duct area with a panel that matched the closets. He hung Ikea's oversized tempered glass sliding doors in front of the closets, and - voila! - we had a full wall of highly configurable closets hidden behind gorgeous floor to ceiling metal and milky glass sliding doors.
Once again we appreciated Jon's carpentry skills, his eye for design, his collaborative approach and his practical problem-solving. We also really appreciated that he suggested a quick and cost-effective approach rather than trying to maximize his bill with a fully custom solution.

Jon is outstanding in both his design thinking and the quality of his finished work, especially carpentry.
Jon worked with us to fine tune our chosen kitchen design and add design factors and maximized the use of space with clever ideas. Examples of space utilization included a hidden cabinet in the peninsula, appliance garage in the previously dead space of the old china cabinet, and quot;built inand quot; our new fridge with custom cabinets, good over-range storage [despite the extractor duct] , a full stack of drawers in a bar height peninsula, and a full wall of floor to ceiling pantry cabinets with roll-out shelves. Jon also was a great source of advice and resources for finding all the elements that made up the kitchen - we have leathered granite counter tops, frosted glass cabinet doors and other slightly unusual elements that work well and look better in use than the standard glossy granite counters, clear glass cabinets, etc.
Jon's carpentry work is truly outstanding: he built gorgeous solid maple cabinets that run all the way up to the ceiling, and he dealt with the inevitable uneven framing of a hundred year old building by carefully building custom moldings that accounted for over an inch change in ceiling height from one end of the cabinet to the other. Jon was also very patient and actively cooperative with my involvement in every detail of the kitchen - he partners well with home owners who have clear tastes and strong opinions, which is not true of many contractors who would prefer to be left alone.
Everyone who comes into our home - whether friend or realtor - is blown away by the kitchen. Three years after our kitchen project we are now looking to buy a $1M+ home: the kitchens in the vast majority of these high end homes don't measure up to the work done by Jon. We've worked with various other construction companies for our current condo and their carpentry does not come close to the quality and attention to detail that we became accustomed to with Jon. We'll most likely hire him to renovate the kitchen in our new home and to do any other fine carpentry that the house requires.

It was a great experience. They did a good job. They arrived when they were supposed to. Everything went according to plan.

Shifting demands on another project delayed their start date. However, once they started the work it went very quickly. They were friendly, professional and did a great job. While they normally do much larger projects, it was VERY helpful to us that they were willing to help us complete so many small projects. The carpentry on the porch railing and garage trim replacement was excellent and they did a very good job in matching the architecture of the house. Their ability to do the electrical reduced coordination hassles. They also were able to get a plumber to come in the same day they were there . . . often a challenge on short projects. I would definitely use them again. Only wish I had found them years earlier.

HIRE THIS GUY!!! YOU WILL BE SATISFIED WITH HIS GOOD QUALITY WORK. Jon did most of the work himself - and brought in specialists when needed. His attention to detail and obvious pride in a job well-done gave us exactly what we wanted in the end. He is very good at listening to homeowner needs and helping us to get what we want. He had a lot of good suggestions both on extra things we could add and ways we could cut costs if desired. He always generated 1-2 options and let me choose which one I preferred.

The ONLY caveat I would put on any of this work is not a surprising one: These types of big restoration jobs on old houses always take more time and end up costing more than originally expected. So count on that! I found that frustrating - and I think Jon did too. We also had some set-backs on both bad weather and some unexpectedly tough demands by the city. Jon was always a good sport about changes and setbacks. And he worked with me to find the best ways through. I feel he treated us with honesty and high-integrity throughout a tough job.

If you are in the Somerville area, have Jon take you by our Pink House to talk with you about what he did. Ask him to generate 1-2 ideas of what he could do on your job....and talk through what you really hope for. Jon will be responsive to your requests and creative with ideas.

They did an excellent job! They are very reliable. They offer high quality work at a reasonable rate.

Both Jon and Jim, son and father, are very professional and a pleasure to work with! They did a beautiful job on our bathroom and when there were a few follow up questions and visits they responded quickly. I plan on working with them in the future. The only very minor negative comment I can report is there seemed to be a little more to clean up after than there could have been but to be fair I think that comes with the trade.

Jon and his team were meticulous in both the work and the clean-up. Special care was taken to plan for the work of the electrician and plumber -- not an easy thing, when the work is planned separately (our fault). Jon is a great combo of old-fashioned professional and modern visionary. Will hire him again.

They are very friendly, trustworthy, and willing to go the extra mile.