THE ACANTHUS GROUP LLC

I have used them a dozen times. I would use them in the future.

Greg Cole and his team are wonderful. They are professional and kind people who really care about their work.

The stripping of the door when well.  I just wish I had told them to take the paint off the hinges.  The antique french doors were not wide enough for the opening by 1/2inch on each door.  The worker dismantled the door woodwork, on both sides, decreased the opening by moving the woodwork (i hope this is the right word) over on the wall, reinstalled the door and hinges, painted, and made sure the doors were level and operable.  The work was done in a timely manner, they cleaned up and made sure we were satisfied with the job.  Those doors are still working well.  I appreciate their workmanship and attention to detail.

They are basically a restoration company for older homes. That’s the only type of house they work for. They did fantastic. Because we have an older home, we have some people that we have to look at and they had no idea how to do it. It was expensive but it was worth it.

After much frustration trying to get one of the historic window "experts" in town to come fix a broken cord, I found Acanthus Group on Angie's List.  They responded!  Promptly!  Greg came within a week! He fixed the window!  The price was reasonable, too.
Not only am I reeling from the good service, my husband talked to Greg about some plans we have for the house we are buying, and it looks like we have found out contractor!  I couldn't be happier  :-)

UPDATE:  We had Greg come out to look at the old Victorian we bought. We wanted an estimate for repairing several windows and converting a walk-in closet into a laundry room.  He walked around an made some general comments about the average cost for different window services, but he never sent an estimate for the laundry room. We went with another contractor for that (who was wonderful) and aren't sure about calling Acanthus about the windows, after all.

They are excellent. They were very responsive, professional, prompt. I thought the price point was very good and their professionalism and quality was top notch. I would use them again.

it went very well, easy to talk to, and they explained everything to me.  Chris was very pleaant.

The process took approximately 4 to 5 weeks. Lower windows were removed and openings secured with 3/4 inch plywood sealed with a heavy clear weather resistant temporary caulk. There was no weather incursion during the process.
Price included repaint and touchup inside and out. The windows were repaired to "as they were new" condition. Total window height (upper and lower sash is approximately 10 feet – in a house constructed in around 1860).
I didn't lift a finger myself. All work was completed in an efficient and clean manner as scheduled. They kept me updated on their progress and communicated with us throughout. The repair was not inexpensive, but this was not an easy task and it was executed in a very professional and as expected and as promised fashion.

The Acanthus Group has been absolutely WONDERFUL to work with.  We are very pleased with the work they've done and feel that we were very lucky finding Greg and his crew to help us with our home.  The house was built in the late 1800s and requires extensive work to bring it up to modern standards with special attention to preserving its historic details and character.  Greg is very knowledgeable in this area and has been a very valuable resource.  I HIGHLY recommend this company to anyone looking for help in restoring historic buildings or general work around your old house.  His entire crew is great and he has a nice set of subcontractors that he works with to do electrical, plumbing, and heating/A/C work.  Everyone has been great.
Work is not yet complete, but we will certainly be hiring this company for all future projects, repairs, or upgrades we need.  Could not be happier with this company!

I had a window that got broken before I had to leave for work. I called several people who said they could come at the end of the day or the next, but my window was right next to a public sidwalk. Acanthus Group came right over that morning after I had called. They boarded up the window and took it back to their shop to fix it. They had it back about 5 hours later installed. They were very professional and reasonable. I will definately use them again in the future. 

I was very anxious about this repair due to the age of the hardwood floor and the fact that it is one continous floor through out the entry, dining room and living room. I was sure any repair would be obvious and detract from the overall beauty of the house. We were also on a limited time frame since we just bought the house and are trying to get it ready to move into prior to getting married. From the very first estimate Greg was professional and personable. He was very knowledgable about this type of restoration and set my mind at ease with his work philosophy. He was also very accommodating to our schedule. You could tell through out the entire restoration process that both Greg and his employee John love their jobs and they are great at them. They worked tirelessly and lovingly to get our home back to the original condition. They respected our home as if it were their own. They were very tidy and cleaned up after each days work. They kept us up to date on the work and any changes they needed to make. The result was phenomenal. They did such a wonderful job. Unless you know where to look, you can not find the repaired areas and even we have a hard time and we know were to look. We actually had friends in and challenged them to find the repaired wood. They could not find it. That speaks volumes for the quality of their work. In addition to repairing the damaged wood, they also stained the wooden covers for the other air conditioning vents. They did such a good job on these, despite the slight raised effect, they seem to be cut from the same wood as the flooring. They also replaced the hardwood floor in the closet with the same type of vintage wood and stained it to match the remaining wood in the closet. Greg and John rescued us and our house from a horrible experience. They were also such a joy to deal with. They were efficient, personable and even humorous. They went the extra mile to complete a job well done. We also have other less critical issues in regards to antique wood in our home. After our experience with Acanthus Group, I can tell you, I would not trust anyone else  with my 126 year old house, but Greg! 

They showed up on time, completed the work promptly, and did a great job!  A big ongoing problem with our house has now been permanently resolved.

I asked for several estimates and Greg Cole of Acanthus Group offered the most informed assessment, according with my experience growing up on my dad's construction and housing rehab sites and working with various types of cut lumber on the family farm and in antique restoration and carpentry.  Greg also outlined a reasonable schedule for completion, and talked through the various reasons the door was in such bad shape and what we could do to prevent that kind of damage in the future.  He collected the door on the day we'd set, installed a solid piece of wood without damaging the frame or disturbing the security system contact on the door frame.  I visited the workshop in OTR while the job was going on, to deliver the doorbell I'd chosen, and was impressed with the range of projects going on in the workshop.  Greg brought the door back within range of our original schedule, with a slight delay due to humidity slowing the curing of the varnish.  He gave me frequent updates on the status of the restoration.  He installed the door in such a way that the alarm contacts were restored.  I was worried I'd have to call ADT to restore the contacts, but it wasn't necessary.  The restored door is beautiful and period-appropriate to the house.  When the panels shrank in a spell of dry weather, exposing some very thin lines of unstained wood, he came back to fix it, and also threw in some free advice on a scratch in my newly restored hardwood floors.

I highly recommend Acanthus Group.  

This was the best experience I have had with contractors! Their careful examination of what appeared to be a cosmetic problem uncovered a serious structural issue, which saved us from much more severe repairs down the road. They were prompt and actually came when they said they would, did perfect work, and cleaned up afterwards. Their estimate wasn't the cheapest I had, but in the end I believe they saved me a good deal of money by discovering the problem before it caused interior damage. Even though they encountered additional problems, they kept to their estimate and didn't try to charge more. This was a difficult job and they had the expertise to handle it properly. They were very concerned about damaging my newly restored plaster inside when they jacked up the house, and warned me it would be very probable there would be some cracks. But they were so careful that I only ended up with one almost invisible hairline crack. Also,at one point, their drill went through the wood flooring inside next to the sill (due to the condition of the old sill, you couldn't tell from the basement where they were working that they were under the floor). Even though this wasn't their fault, they were very apologetic and took the time to immediately repair the small hole (without charge) so you couldn't even tell there had been a problem. Other contractors I have used would have charged me for the repair, if they even agreed to do it. The overall job was done quickly and the end result was that you couldn't tell there had ever been a problem.

I have a 1929 home. In the front there are three tall, narrow windows with arched tops that open on hinges. They fit into arched openings surrounded by stone. Over time, weather had taken its toll and they were falling apart. I had consulted with representatives from the big window companies, but they could not supply replacements. They would have had to replace the whole system, ruining the look, inside and out, and costing many thousands of dollars. Finally I found Acanthus Group through Angie's List. Greg came right out and gave me an estimate on the spot (the same as what I paid). The work included replacing the screens on the old screen frames that fit into the windows. He told me that they would do this job on the side while working on larger projects, and it would take several months. When Winter came, they still had not come to remove the windows. But I could not get them closed (that's how bad they were), and asked Greg whether he could at least remove the windows and board up the openings. Greg and Johnny came right out and did that. Subsequently, they brought the stripped windows back for a fitting. Some time later he brought the finished, reglazed and repainted windows and installed them. They look great and fit perfectly. I am especially impressed with the carpentry. All of this took a long time, but not longer than Greg predicted. I am very satisfied. The price might be a little high if measured by the hour and if we ignore the skill required, but I was happy to pay it, because, as I say, they offered a solution I could not get from anyone else.

We first met Greg Cole and Mark Hornbeck at the Cincinnati Home and Garden Show. At the time the porch which wrapped around the front and side of the house was moving away from the wall and the base for one of the columns was broken. Greg secured the porch to the house and manufactured a new base for the column. The next job that Acanthus did for us was to repair our floating staircase which is the only one of its style in the Wallace Woods Historic District. Where other contractors failed to identify the problem and therefore a solution, Greg and Mark quickly provided us with an approach that identified the problem then proposed a solution and effected the repairs, restoring the staircase to its original beauty and strength. When repairing 110 year old joists the Acanthus Group used 21st century technology resulting in a repair that is stronger than the original. Regardless of the size of the project, the Acanthus Group was ALWAYS on time, on budget, in many instances performed beyond expectation. Their estimates were always accurate and their workmanship is of the highest quality.

They started with the stairway and were amazingly skilled at getting all the new pieces to match perfectly with the original stairway. They worked efficiently and were careful with every detail. The island was designed to meet our specifications and we were always consulted about changes in the design plan. The doors were replaced in January, so we were inconvenienced a bit by the weather, but once hung, the company spent hours making sure the door hardware was working correctly and that the doors open, closed and locked with ease.

THEIR MAIN FOCUS IS OLDER HOMES. THEY ARE VERY PROFESSIONAL AND VERY NEAT, THEY CLEAN UP AFTER THEMSELVES AND DO GREAT WORK. THEY ARE A NICE BUNCH OF GUYS AND ARE VERY RELIABLE.