T.A. Cognato Construction

Tom was great. He provided us with estimates for several options that included different materials. He worked with us to meet our expectations and provided us with his professional recommendation when we asked for it. He told us ahead of time when he'd be there and how long it would take and was right on target. He was also pleasant and personable to us and friendly to our children as they watched him work for a few minutes. When the job was finished, he left the area cleaner than it was when he arrived. We liked Tom so much that he will be the contractor to build our new deck when we decide to do it. I wholeheartedly recommend Tom Cognato to anyone looking for a quality job done at a fair price.

Tom treated all my jobs like they were being done on his own house. The quality of his work and the time and effort he puts into the small details made him the obvious choice for all our projects. Below are some of the ways Tom differs from the average contractor.

Tom does the work personally. While he has quality tradesmen to call on when more than one person is required (or if job completion time requires), he does not "dump" the job on subcontractors. For any work that he doesn't do personally (like spray-foam insulation for example) he coordinates the entire job in the way that a GC should while on-site himself. This was particularly important for us as our home was a weekend house and we weren't there full-time to monitor progress or coordinate trades. Tom does not have multiple projects on simultaneously only to spend a few days here and a few days there. He shows up full time every day to work on the project until complete and only fills in time elsewhere if product is not available or if there are weather delays.

He is reachable. Most contractors are in it for the money and when they're off the clock your problems are your own. Tom is accessible and responsive. A sociable contractor that can text message AND talk on the phone AND email? Priceless.

Tom doesn't hold you hostage for payments. All contractors have a fear of doing work and not getting paid. I can understand this. But with Tom I never felt like he was going to take his tools and go home if a payment wasn't made. It was a totally amicable relationship and one of mutual trust. That said, I paid when I was expected to as everyone should.

The quality of work is beyond excellent. We have a unique home with many peculiarities. Tom's experience and recommendations when addressing some complex issues was key to our many successful projects. He goes the extra mile to make everything perfect. For example, most would agree that perfectly laid, level tiles are what you should expect but that's not always what you get with others. Tom keeps the work area clean and as dust free as possible, cleans up after other trades (HVAC etc), and protects the floors and walls where necessary. Much of our work was done after hardwood floor replacement which made protection a concern, and this was shared by Tom.

Add-ons weren't a federal issue. Going through any project, it's impossible to know what you'll find in the walls that leads to extra work, how many outlets you'll need or even how much tile work there might be. With Tom, making changes along the way was easy and I never felt "hijacked" for the cost of incremental work. I was fair with my expectations and he was fair with price.

Tom's a "stand-up" guy. Working with Tom was a joy. His work made such a difference in our house that we almost wanted to find things for him to do, unlike many cases where working with a contractor is so daunting or unpleasant that you put off doing things.

 It's hard to describe the impact Tom had on our house and the words "quality job" don't seem to convey enough enthusiasm over his work. I can only encourage you to work with Tom to see for yourself.

Excellent!! He is very conscientious and thorough. Extremely dedicated to customer service, attention to detail and quality. Overall, it was a fantastic experience. He was very professional in his approach to the work, good communication skills, excellent quality of work.

I found Tom to be easy to work with. He is friendly, flexible and professional on every level. I was impressed with his skills, the quality of his work and his attention to detail.
Unlike some other contractors I have worked with Tom always responded promptly to my e-mails or telephone calls. I certainly will recomend Tom to my familty and friends.

In all instances, the contractor (Tom), who is highly skilled at any carpentry and design work as well as general re-modeling and handyman-type jobs, did the work thoroughly and efficiently (as did his sub-contractors, when they were needed for specific jobs requiring their expertise, i.e., electricians, stonemasons, painters, tile workers, etc.). They always left my house cleaner than they'd found it, which was really appreciated, plus they were very flexible and helpful on scheduling the work to be done. Tom routinely looks for ways to make sure the job can be done with quality materials while still charging a reasonable price, and on several occasions he's come up with creative design solutions to space constraints or other issues. Very importantly, I have a great deal of trust in Tom and the guys who work for him, so I never worry if I have to run out or be out for the day if they're going to be working at the house, as they are honest and responsible as well as hard-working. Tom and his crew are always extremely pleasant and easy to work with, and they've been great around my kids. Tom has also been great about coming to my house in an emergency to help me address a number of pressing construction issues. I've also gotten a lot of compliments on the work he's done, and whenever he's worked for friends of mine on a referral from me, they've always commented on how well the job went. At this point, I feel like Tom's a part of the family!

In addition to being a skilled carpenter, Tom has a good sense of design, so I was able to rely on him for many of the design decisions I needed to make. He also spent a lot of time in the evening, after working on my job all day, researching various things on the computer, from lighting recommendations to finding the best pan to use under my washing machine.

When I was not home, I could always rely on Tom to take care of whatever needed taking care of, which made things a lot easier for me. When I was home, Tom always made sure to clean up. It was a help, not a burden, to have Tom working at my house when I was there.

Tom is very talented builder and designer, and I strongly recommend him.