Carpentry by RW Ward

Rick Ward's carpentry business runs on repeat work: homeowners hire him for one small job, then keep adding to the list. The company is owner-operated by Rick Ward and works out of 12 North Street in Wilmington. It describes itself as a finish carpentry and renovation shop covering kitchens, bathrooms, basements, attics, home improvements and additions. What people actually hired him for is narrower and more specific than that list. In a September 2025 review, a homeowner walked through three jobs in one write-up: angle brackets added to existing deck stringers with the beam jacked up, a sagging storm door repaired with PVC mullion strips, and a new sweep fitted under the entry door. A July 2025 customer had three doors reframed in a house more than 300 years old and called the pricing reasonable. In August 2025, a siding job turned into rebuilding a whole wall once the old siding came off and the framing underneath proved rotten. Older jobs follow the same shape. A November 2023 review describes second-floor stairs, 60 years old and in poor shape, taken apart and rebuilt level; a September 2023 customer had a pantry renovated; a December 2024 homeowner started with a handrail to the second floor and ended up adding a deck rail top plate and bathroom planning. The recent months hold the pattern. Since February 2026, one customer had an old in-wall AC unit removed and another had custom maple bookshelves built. Across the years, the two things reviewers keep repeating are punctuality and a clean site at the end of the day. The written history runs to ten five-star reviews dated 2023 through 2026, nearly all of it on Google — consistent and specific, but modest in volume, which is why this sits short of the top of the scale rather than at it. One thing to settle before booking: his site prints a Massachusetts registration number (#168602) and a contractor licence number (#070695), and both are the company's own statement rather than anything confirmed against the state registry. Ask for both and check them with the state, particularly for structural work or an addition. The right call for trim, built-ins, stairs, doors, decks and one-off repairs where the finish matters and you want to deal directly with the person doing the work.