Lantern Construction - Gloucester, Massachusetts

Randall SILVA

Lantern Construction, Jack Horgan and crew are doing an outstanding job repairing and updating a very complex centuries old building. Their attention to detail, communication, and professionalism, combined with understanding the concerns of individual unit owners prompted me to write a review. The mutual respect between the carpenters, subcontractors and supervisors doesn’t go unnoticed. They brought a solid and efficient plan that saved time while working safely at heights by using state of the art lift equipment. They keep the worksite organized, clean and safe and work with the neighbors to ensure they have access to their property. Well Done!
Randall Silva

Ron Parker

Jack was a pleasure to work with. Great communication and no surprises. After researching and meeting with ConsCom to ensure everything was by the book, Jack replaced storm damaged beach stairs for our community. He also cleaned up a bunch of stuff that washed in from the storm. Excellent work.

Bill Collins

Jack worked with us to replace our roof and trim back trees over the roof. He was hard working, attentive and kept the area clean. We are looking forward to working with him in the future.

Dominic delacy

Jack and his crew have been great to work with. We had a wood shingle siding project done and they worked within the budget and timeline. Throughout the project they always showed great attention to detail. Clean up and going the extra step to confirm that we were pleased with the progress (as well as the completed job) was outstanding. Jack was terrific in keeping us informed throughout. Happy to recommend Lantern Construct

Mark M

Jack and his crew are amazing. Our building had a large siding and painting project that needed to be done in the summer 2022. 100% done and in the first week of August!
Jack is extremely responsive, on time and completed our project in the expected time frame and on budget. Went above and beyond to repair items found under construction and communicate progress and time line throughout the project. Highly recommend this company!

E Colbert

Lantern Construction took out some old built-in's I had, repaired the wall (part of the wall was actually missing when they took out the built-in's) and made everything look brand new even though my house is almost 300 years old! Jack made great recommendations as to what would make the space look the best. He was very communicative. The crew cleaned up beautifully too - they even got some stains out of my carpet that I had done myself that morning!! The work was done quickly too! I would highly recommend them - hard working, reliable, trustworthy!

John Notte

What does Jack do well?
(See below... areas for improvement)

COMMUNICATION: Jack Horgan of Lantern told us at the first discussions how his business worked, likely timeline, how invoices would be generated, etc. As the project began he gave us the planned work schedule and what would be done, and in what order. He even checked in routinely about where he should park his equipment vehicle to make sure he would not obstruct our car usage. Likewise, he took care of all the permitting with the town. He reviewed our design, and found creative ways to control costs

SITE MANAGEMENT: I was amazed by how well he managed to minimize impact to our existing plantings while digging and pouring new footings for our three season room. I would have said it was impossible, but there was virtually no adverse effects on our plantings. The my home never looked like a construction site. Each night he cleaned up his gear, and swept up the dirt and sawdust from the patio. ( He also has quite a lot of knowledge about trees and plants.) And when safety demanded it (railing was removed), he left yellow tape and cones to make sure it was never a safety risk.

LOCAL GUY: It's nice to see my spent dollars staying in our community. Jack lives local, works local, buys local whenever possible. This means he is not treking out to distance businesses. The dollars we spent on this project, are almost entirely spent in Gloucester, bouncing around town from one business to another. Nice to see that!

What could be improved?....

COST CONTROL: The project was originally estimated to be $40k, but final cost was $62k, without any change in scope. I do want Lantern to be profitable, but the cost was 50% above my budget!

TIME ESTIMATION: The project was agreed upon in Dec 2022, with the plan of starting in April 2023 and estimated as 3 to 4 weeks. Wrong! It didn't start until June, and didn't finish until Sept. Only part of this was weather. If you choose Lantern see if you can agree to timing with payments based on scheduled completion. The slow progress meant some materials were exposed to the elements more than I would have liked.

CONFORMING TO PLANS: We ended up not getting exactly what we specified. And the quote didn't explicitly reference our submitted drawings. In one example we asked for 5 windows on the wall and we got just 4. If you select Lantern, be sure their quotes and estimates reference your provided plans and specifications.

In summary, we do endorse Lantern, and I would recommend them to friends and neighbors. We like and enjoy the finished product. Jack is still a young guy and his business is new. I expect to see this business grow, mature, and thrive in coming years.

Shawn McLaughlin

Great company to work with!!
Came in on time and budget
Thank you
Can’t wait to work with again