Val Jermacans Master Carpenter

Everything went great! Val is a one-man band - he does it all! He takes pride in his work and it shows! He's punctual and does what he says, when he says. If he hits an issue he'll bring it to your attention and give you options - you decide how he should proceed.

If you're just looking to get a job done any old way and cut corners - he's not for you. However, if you want quality work that will last for years and look good in the interim - he's your guy. I'll have him back as soon as I'm ready for my next project.

Val's work is definitely that of a master carpenter.  His latest work was one of 3 projects that he has completed at our home.  He has very good insight and planning as to how a job should be completed at the highest level of quality.  Without question, we will be having Val complete future work at our home and would not hesitate to recommend him to others.

He was reliable and prompt.  The work was done very well. He even helped me move the furniture!

Val has an exquisite eye for the details of an old house: he lives in a beautifully restored one himself, and has a background as a skilled cabinet maker
My partner and I are very involved with all renovations here: she's an interior designer and I'm an engineer. 
We were extremely pleased with Val's attention to detail, sensitivity to what's architecturally appropriate, and willingness to problem solve and offer multiple solutions to the inevitable challenges that an old house (and its occupants) can pose.  Like many good things, Val's work is worth the wait. We had many frank discussions about schedules, deadlines, etc. and Val did all he could to accommodate us. Furthermore, he's enthusiastic about his craft, and  house restoration in general, and showed us several products and resources we hadn't known about before.
I'll use the staircase rebuild as an example. We needed to replace a sloppily done set of stairs from the 1940s, in our 1820s farmhouse. The walls surrounding the stairs had several issues, to say the least.
Val tackled the job, removed an unnecessary bump out in one wall, made a mock up of the stair treads and risers he proposed to build, procured some beautiful cherry stock  to fabricate them from, matched old moldings, veneer plastered the walls to make everything "age appropriate", and delivered a beautiful and very sturdy  replacement staircase.
Our cherry plank floors are another example of  Val's willingness to tackle an unusual job. I had designed a radiant floor system for the ground floor of the original house and the addition that was constructed from 2010-2013. Val had never installed plank floor over radiant. I had done my homework about installation "do's and dont's", passed them on to Val, and the result has been plank floors that have not gapped or cupped, but just look terrific.  He made them look like they came with the original house.
Val works solo, and generally seems to prefer time and materials to a fixed quote. Have a frank discussion with him about the project's budget and I believe you'll be very satisfied with his work. He is one of the hardest, steadiest workers I've known, and very meticulous, so you will get your money's worth.....

Val is truly a master carpenter. He has tremendous vision with regards to how a project should be completed. There were numerous challenges as to how the wainscoting was to be installed, particularly on the stairwell. The final product was not short of expert quality. In addition, he also considers environmental impact of the materials he uses.

. He worked long and hard in the hot sun to get the job done. He worked alone, as this is his own business and does not employ others. He does a lot of odd jobs, both big and small.
He and my husband talked at several points while he was working. He spoke a lot about politics.Although we agree with his point of view, it may make others, with an opposite view uncomfortable.

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Overall the job took a little longer than expected but the finished result was worth the wait.

This project was a testament to the power of delayed gratification! The finished piece is a beauty, looks completely custom, and very very high end. I joke that it looks good enough to have been installed in a statesroom on the Titanic!
I am so grateful to have found Val, courtesy of Angie's List! As a new homeowner of a historic home, I feel a sense of obligation to the property I purchased to perform any and all updates tastefully and well, with respect and in keeping with a timeless aesthetic. New to the area in which I purchased this property, having cosmetic upgrades made, no matter how minor, has been very anxiety provoking!! I did not realize how sloppy some workmen can be, no matter how much experience they claim to possess, and have really begun to question referrals given to me by others! Do not question this one!!! With Val, I have been uber confident from the get-go, that when the project was done, the results would be spectacular! I am happy to pay for the fine quality of work he has done in my home, and am planning a few small cosmetic upgrades with him in the near future.
A NOTE ON PRICING: My project estimate exceeds the actual labor cost of this project by as much as 1/3, I would guesstimate, due to the travel time spent by Val in getting to and fro my residence. Though it might have been easier to find a local carpenter by word of mouth, I wanted to be assured that I would be happy with the final results, so I budgeted accordingly and considered it money well spent!

We agreed that the job would be billed on a time and material basis, and Val provided an estimate on that basis. As there are a number of different types of cedar on the market, he did quite a bit of research on the various types, and also spoke to a number of different suppliers. We settled on one of them based on the research, and I was very pleased with the result. There was some delay in the delivery of the wood, but it was not really a problem, and not Val's fault.
As a first step, Val removed the existing decking, and removed all of the nails from the decking. (He kept the nails to recycle, and left the old boards at my request so I could provide them to someone who had a use for them.) The removal process took about six hours.
When the wood was delivered, I stained one side of the boards. Val installed the new boards with the stained sides down (as requested). He also checked the underlying structure, posts, and rails for integrity, and found that one post was rotting. He replaced that post with a cedar post that he had at his home (which he did not charge me extra for), and crafted it so that it looked identical to the other existing posts. After the decking was installed, I finished the top surface.
As for total cost, the original estimate was for $2500. Even though the job, at 25 total hours, took an hour longer than was estimated (mostly due to the post replacement), the final price came in a bit under the estimate due to a good price that he obtained for the supplies.
After several weeks, the deck looks great, and the work was obviously done with a great deal of craftsmanship. Val has skills which are much greater than that needed for a deck installation, and I would happily contract with him for additional, more intricate work.

I stand by everything that I said in my earlier review. Val's workmanship is impeccable! He does things the old way, the right way, and never cuts corners. He cares so deeply about what he does, that he even threw in a few significant extras (a plank wall and door with antique-style hardware, and a more complex arrangement of cabinets), because he knew that they'd look right in our room. Highly recommended!!

Excellent

Each part of the deck looks great. Val did a wonderful job incorporating new materials into the existing structure and making the entire deck a great feature of the rear of the house. The work site was maintained clean. Val worked quickly throughout the whole project, even in some brutal heat and humidity. The deck and handrails are solid as a rock and the deck looks amazing.

Val is a true craftsman, with a keen interest in historical accuracy and environmental sustainability. He met with us and discussed our wishes and his plans for the job extensively, displaying an impressive understanding of the technical, historical, and aesthetic aspects of our project. (I never realized all of the types and the qualities that need to considered when choosing woods (strength, rot-resistance, presence of knots, availability in large dimensions...)!) He crafted wooden frames that are several inches think of solid ?white oak? (I think), using the same mortise and tenon joint construction style as the original parts of the house and barn, and did the masonry work to secure them into the walls. The things are SOLID! It feels hitting granite when you knock on them with your knuckles. We could not be more happy with the work that Val did for us, and recommend him without reservation.

This was a 'time and materials' job at hourly rates as it was hard to tell how difficult it would be to open the wall and to work with the existing stairway. Val was fair with estimating the work and we discussed weekly the progress, options for each detail, that included cost saving ideas. We balanced what was needed asthetically (the new stairway needed a bumpout in the ceiling in the main room, so we put a whole 'closet' underneath to avoid seeing the steps in the ceiling) with the cost. Val is excellent with old houses - mine is 1750 - and the handwork that is needed to keep new renovations sympathetic to the existing older material. It took about 12 weeks, a little longer than I expected but I could see where the time was spent, Val cleaned up every day and minimized the dust and dirt from the wall demolition pretty well. In the past Val has put on a porch and built carports for me in a traditional style. He can work to 'spec' or create a carpentry solution of his own.