OCH8A Construction Inc

The jobs people wrote about Samuel Ochoa are the awkward ones. A February 2021 client described him building an exterior staircase to reach a third-floor apartment in what she called a very tricky location, then recreating the detailed trim around a leaking stained glass window, then rebuilding historic window casings — and said she would keep him on retainer if she could. That is the shape of this Lynn company: carpentry-led general contracting, run by an owner whose first name shows up in every account. A February 2021 customer listed drywall patching, a relined fireplace, a built-in entertainment system, floating kitchen shelves and a mounted TV from a single engagement, and noted that for the larger pieces he sent renderings first. A September 2022 client wrote about a kitchen remodel. A January 2023 client described remodeling and carpentry work and singled out how much time he spent explaining the process. The written record is all five stars — six of them on Houzz, with matching 5.0 sub-scores for work quality, communication and value — but it stops in January 2023, and four of the six were posted in February 2021. Nothing newer has been written anywhere we can see, which is the main reason to treat the score cautiously rather than as a current verdict. The credential is the thing to settle first. Och8a publishes its own Massachusetts registration number, 187988, on its Houzz page. BuildZoom shows that same number as inactive, with an expiration date of 06-05-2025 and a note that the status was at one point cancelled; BuildZoom says it re-checked in March 2026 and still read it as expired. Because the number the company publishes is the number the directory shows lapsed, this is not a case of mistaken identity — it is the company's own registration. Remodeling, additions and carpentry are not among the trades Massachusetts exempts from home improvement contractor registration, so ask him directly whether it has been renewed and confirm it yourself with the Office of Consumer Affairs before any money changes hands. Work spans the North Shore and into Boston — its project galleries name jobs in Swampscott, Salem, Beverly and Boston, and it lists typical project costs from $8,000 to $250,000. One reviewer refers to the business as Ochoa Construction, so expect either name on paperwork. For finish carpentry, stairs, historic trim and the kind of retrofit that needs somebody to figure out how it should be built, the accounts here are specific and consistent. Just settle the registration question and ask for a recent reference, since the last written one is from 2023.