BA Cleary & Sons, Inc.

Beacon Hill, Back Bay, the South End — BA Cleary & Sons' recent work sits in Boston's brownstones, run out of a shop in Quincy. Carpentry and construction is the trade, and remodeling inside those older buildings is what the company puts first. The rest of the work runs from custom kitchens and high-end bathrooms to interior and exterior construction, with the occasional secret door built in. The company describes itself as family owned and operated, founded in Quincy in 1978 by Brendan Cleary, and points inquiries to John Cleary. Boston and Quincy are the stated service area. One wrinkle sits in the company's own arithmetic: the site puts the founding at 1978 and the business at 48 years, then says elsewhere 'for the past 40 years.' Worth asking who has been running the crews, and for how long. For a period brownstone, or a kitchen that needs carpentry built to the room rather than ordered from a catalogue, this is the kind of shop to call. Ask for addresses from the recent Beacon Hill and Back Bay jobs, confirm registration and insurance, and get the scope and schedule in writing first.