Stueve Contracting

Forty years of trading, one written review. Stueve Contracting Co., Inc. has worked out of Aborn Street in Peabody since 1986 by the BBB's account, run by John Stueve as president with Patricia Stueve as treasurer, and the BBB lists it as a one-employee outfit — which tells you the shape of the business before anything else does. The work spans further than a one-man shop suggests: general contracting and custom cabinetry per its BBB listing, and on Houzz a fuller list of home, kitchen and bathroom remodeling, additions, custom homes, basement work, and deck and porch construction. Its six Houzz project galleries lean the same way, with the biggest photo sets tagged porches and decks, then bathrooms. The written record is dated rather than missing. In a review posted in July 2013, a homeowner wrote that John had worked on their house on a number of occasions, small jobs to large, and could "review, quote, install and get it done right" — praising his help turning a design idea into something buildable and noting no issues with trust or damage. That is the only customer account on file anywhere, and it is thirteen years old. The BBB gives the company an A+ with no complaints recorded, though the same profile states it is not BBB accredited — a distinct thing from the grade. Two details are worth pinning down. Houzz lists a Massachusetts home improvement contractor registration, HIC#161977, but that is the directory's entry rather than a state confirmation, so ask for the number and check it with the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. And the two profiles disagree about how long the firm has been going: the BBB says 1986, Houzz says 1990. Houzz names only Peabody and Wakefield as areas served, so if you are further out on the North Shore, confirm he travels. For a homeowner wanting one experienced person to handle a bath, a porch or built-in cabinetry with continuity from quote to finish, this is a long-established local option — just go in knowing that almost nothing about recent jobs has been written down, and ask for addresses of work from the past couple of years.