Penney Construction, Inc.

Fifteen Google ratings average 4.5 stars for Penney Construction, a Peabody outfit that, by its own account, has served Boston's North Shore for nearly a decade — though BBB and an independent directory both put the actual figure at 14 years. Ryan Penney runs it as a sole proprietorship, and the company's own marketing frames the work around finish-level detail: "the millwork, the tile lines, the hardware reveals," as its site puts it, rather than sheer volume. The two most recent Google reviews, both from this spring, keep that reputation steady. One is a short, plainly worded compliment on the finished work; the other walks through an estimate that arrived promptly, broken into line items, within weeks of the first walkthrough. That mirrors the shop's longer arc — nine reviews across five sources since 2023, most of them crediting Ryan personally for staying on top of a job and the subcontractors brought in to help finish it. Not every account lines up, though: one earlier review broke from that pattern, arguing the pricing didn't match the work delivered and that follow-up calls went unanswered. There's no BBB rating to check that against — the bureau hasn't accredited Penney Construction or found enough to grade it — so the Google number and the company's own description of itself carry most of the weight here. The pricing-and-communication complaint is the one thread worth raising directly before signing anything, since it's the lone sour note in an otherwise steady history. For a homeowner after finish-carpentry-level attention on a project rather than a high-volume operation, Penney is a reasonable small-shop call — confirm the estimate terms and how responsive communication will be, and check that the active Massachusetts home-improvement-contractor license is still current before signing.