ALLIANCE CARPENTRY

Excellent craftsmanship - sound and solid. Able to work around some difficult obstacles as well.

Mr. Orel came to my home to give me an estimate for re-building a screened in back porch. After looking at the site he said he would call me in seven(7) days with an estimate. I felt this was kind of long for an estimate but reluctantly agreed. Nine days later(after I called him) he called to ask me if it was ok to give me an estimate in another two days. So that means eleven days to give an estimate for a job that will probably take three days to complete. The thing that bothers me is that he acted as though this was perfectly normal. I have to wonder how long it would take him to actually complete the job if it takes him two weeks to come up with an estimate.

Met with the owner who reviewed types of doors. I chose the door I wanted and he had to order it. He did inform me that he usually did not do outside work after the 31st of Oct. due to the weather. He agreed to take on the job as I really wanted a door prior to the winter weather and our storm door was damaged by wind in a recent storm. It took 2 weeks to get the door and a decent day to work but the door is lovely and 100% improvement over our prior door.

IT TOOK A WHILE TO SCHEDULE, BUT EVENTUALLY MR OREL DID COME OUT & WAS EXTREMELY THOROUGH IN EXAMINING THE PROBLEMS & IN SUGGESTING DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS. HE CALLED BACK A FEW DAYS LATER TO FOLLOW-UP WITH A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS, BUT I NEVER HEARD FROM HIM AGAIN- HE NEVER PROVIDED AN ESTIMATE FOR THE WORK. WHILE HE WAS PLEASANT & PROFESSIONAL, HE DID STRIKE ME AS A LITTLE QUIRKY (AS IN INSISTING ON BEING CALLED MR OREL).

MARK OREL IS AN VERY PLEASANT INDIVIDUAL AND A TOP-NOTCH CARPENTER, TAKING EXTREME PRIDE IN HIS WORK. I CONTRACTED HIM TO REPLACE 3 FLAT, HOLLOW-CORE DOORS WITH SOLID WOOD, 8-PANEL ONES. HE USED AN AMISH GENTLEMAN TO CUSTOM BUILD THE DOORS -- THEY WERE BEAUTIFUL, AND WERE ALMOST A PERFECT MATCH TO THE ORIGINAL DOORS IN THE HOME. AT MY REQUEST, HE REUSED ALL THE OLD MORTISE SETS -- A LABORIOUS UNDERTAKING. HE HUNG THE DOORS IN THE EXISTING DOOR JAMBS WITH SUCH PRECISION THAT ONE WOULD SWEAR THE TWO WERE INSTALLED AS A PRE-HUNG UNIT. HE WAS VERY FAIR AND CONSCIENTIOUS WITH HIS PRICING, DEDUCTING MONEY FROM THE PRICE OF THE DOORS FOR SOME MILLWORK HE WASN'T HAPPY WITH, AND REDUCING HIS INSTALLATION FEE WHEN HE FINISHED THE JOB SOONER THAN HE HAD ANTICIPATED. I PLAN TO HIRE MR. OREL AGAIN IN THE FUTURE FOR ANOTHER CARPENTRY PROJECT I HAVE ON HOLD.

WORKMANSHIP WAS VERY GOOD. WORK WAS COMPLETED ON TIME AND CLEANUP WAS GREAT.

MR. OREL PICKED UP THE NEW DOOR FOR ME. THE JOB TURNED OUT TO BE MUCH MORE DIFFICULT THAN HE HAD ANTICIPATED BECAUSE THE DOOR FRAME WAS NOT LEVEL AND REQUIRED MULTIPLE ADJUSTMENTS AND CARPENTRY WORK. HE SPENT ABOUT FIVE HOURS ON THE JOB, BUT DID NOT WAIVER FROM HIS ORIGINAL QUOTE. WERE THRILLED WITH THE FINAL RESULT, AND MR. OREL IS VERY CONSCIENTIOUS.

CONTRACTOR WAS EXCEPTIONALLY NEAT AND CLEAN. HE TOOK PRIDE IN FINISHING AND REPAIRING USING THE ORIGINAL MATERIALS. HE RETURNED PHONE CALLS PROMPTLY. HE WOULD CALL AHEAD ON DAYS HE WAS GOING TO BE LATE.