Thomsen Construction Inc.

Read the reviews for Thomsen Construction and one shape keeps repeating: an old North Shore house, a bathroom or a porch or a run of cedar siding, and a crew that swept the site before it left. Twelve reviews, all five stars, and specific enough to be believable — a 2016 customer described the company moving the shower, toilet and radiator in a small, ancient bathroom and putting underfloor heating in; a 2017 customer listed exterior siding, shutters and a skylight, with project manager Loren French sending updates by email, call and visit. The catch is the calendar. That written record runs 2016 to 2017, which makes it nine to ten years old. The work described in it is real; it is not a picture of how the company runs today. Carl Thomsen is the name that runs through every one of those reviews — a good listener who returns calls, one 2016 customer wrote, whose two carpenters were competent and respectful. Houzz carries a Certified Aging in Place Specialist credential for the firm, and the accessibility work shows in the reviews: a 2016 customer who could not get around easily said the crew went overboard to help. Houzz also lists a Massachusetts construction supervisor licence, CSL 101503, which is the directory's record rather than a state confirmation. Two of the warmest reviews come from inside the trade rather than from homeowners — one writer identifies as a subcontractor, another as someone who has done much work with the company. Worth knowing when you weigh a perfect five-star average. Houzz shows eleven posted projects across Boston, Rockport, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea, with published job-cost bands running from $5,000 to $1.5 million, a wide gate for a small shop. For an old house on the North Shore and a renovation that wants a careful carpenter rather than a volume builder, this is a plausible call. Ask for jobs finished in the last two years and the homeowners who own them, and confirm the construction supervisor licence with the state yourself.