
Boston Design-Build
About us
We are a forward-thinking residential construction company. As engineers and old world craftsmen with decades of construction experience, we unite proven construction methods with the best in current environmentally sustainable technologies. Along the way, we work to inform you about residential construction—creating smart homeowners is what we like to do. We also build to a health, safety, and efficiency standard well beyond that required by state and local codes.
Business highlights
Services we offer
Construction Services. Remodeling Services
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Since working with EcoSafe I have had a hard time finding good contractors to help me on my house, i would use EcoSafe for any GC work, but stovepipe, plumbers and electricians have been hit or miss -- mostly miss.
I am very glad to get the personal recomendation I did to use EcoSafe, Brad and his team are incredible to work with.
The bathroom was completed 8/30/2012. It is stunning and very attractive achitecturally. Everyone remarks on the blue color with blue cloud tiles and the shiny chrome faucets grab bars, grantie countertop and accessories. The total cpost of the bathroom was $34, 457.91.
Working with Eco Safe was a pleasure. The contractor is very cognizant of correct engineering and maintaining an environment that is clean and safe. He listened to my suggestions and we worked together to complete the job.. His sub contractors were all competent and cooperative. I would highly recommend ECO Safe to anyone who wants a clean, correctlyand competent engineered project.
Very professional, always on time, very responsive and clean.
One of EcoSafe's strongest points is the input and recommendations regarding the decisions related to the setup and design.
If we ever do any more work on our property we will not hesitate to hire EcoSafe again.
One more thing worth mentioning is that the we ended up very happy with overall budget.
To say that we were a little apprehensive about having major work done to our house would be an understatement. We knew that we would have to tear down the existing sun porch as the water damage was extensive but it was unclear as to what made sense as a replacement. Brad took the time to understand our needs and our budget and walked us though multiple options. He was happy to answer questions and made sure to educate us on the trade-offs and, after we had decided to go with an addition, he provided multiple iterations of 3d mocks ups with the proposal to make sure we were comfortable visualizing the result.
We can't say enough about the professionalism of everyone involved. Everyone was on-time, courteous and respectful of our space. When scheduling changes occurred we got a prompt and apologetic phone call. Frankly we've been ruined for other contractors. There's one example that really exemplifies the whole attitude. Because we had the back of the house open already we decided to replace out boiler / hot water heater and update our piping. This was not part of the job Brad was doing but occurred at the same time. He not only helped us find the right plumber to do the work, he also helped schedule and organize it just because it was the right thing to do and he was on-site.
Finally, quality and commitment to detail is the place where they really shine. The price was by no means the lowest we could find but you get what you pay for and more. No detail was too small. No shortcuts were taken. Our new rooms are the warmest in the house by far and nearly sound proof by comparison. The finishing touches are beautiful and they even paid for a professional house cleaning when the job was finished. Not only would we happily work with Brad again, we feel comfortable consulting him any time we're considering making changes to the house.
They took time to walk me through the right way to fix some of my exterior work and saved my quite a bit of money by repairing the doors I had. I am very happy with the results.
There have been times where the results were not exactly what I was expecting. EcoSafe was quick to respond and to hear my concerns. Even better, they modified the work and the results are exactly what I had hoped for--looks great!
Due to the nature of the structural repairs I had done I am very happy that Brad handled it. As he is an engineer I am confident the work was done correctly. The house is definitely more sturdy and safer feeling.
I have certainly recommended him to friends.
Long version:
First, this was a complicated project, with a lot of moving pieces (and starting with a tough scheduling problem). Second, at some point the project stopped being "De-lead and Install New HVAC" and became "Since You're Here, Brad, Let's Fix Every Single Thing That's Wrong With This House." On both counts, getting a general contractor was the best decision I ever made. And I truly can't imagine a better one than Brad/EcoSafe.
Caveats: This is my first project like this, first home-owning experience, and first time working with a general contractor.
Brad's strengths:
- Trust. Everyone, including Brad, told me to be very careful when selecting a general contractor, but when it came down to it, I only talked to two contractors, met first with Brad, was happy with his bid, and decided to trust him. He's earned that trust again and again. I'm sure he makes a well-deserved living, but I found him entirely ethical with project expenses and scope.
- Relationships/Attitude. Relentlessly positive, upbeat, and communicative with me. Seems to have excellent working relationships with his subcontractors: I saw him be both encouraging and demanding.
- Engineering. At heart he's engineer: He gets most excited about difficult challenges, efficiency, and the deeper and/or long-term issues (e.g. drainage, vapor control, insulation, etc.).
- Environmental Responsibility and Safety. The company name is no joke. Exactly the right guy to make sure that the contractors aren't getting lead poisoning and that my kids won't end up breathing fumes. Of course, this might be an area where different clients might want different things. I'm sure Brad can accommodate your preferences, but by nature, he's going to use an organic solution (not chemical pesticides) to get rid of the beehive discovered during renovation.
- Patience and Guidance for Beginners. For example, I don't know (or rather, didn't know) anything about tile, but we had to pick some. Brad did a really good job of guiding us through our decisions, explaining stuff that I probably should already have known, giving us advance notice for upcoming decisions we would have to make, and warning us about consequences of our choices. And -- though he might not want me to advertise this -- he also did a pretty remarkable job of filling in for decisions that we didn't want to make, e.g. what should we get for tub, cabinets, entry door, shower curtain rod, drawer pulls, basement door knobs, etc. My eyes would glaze over, and Brad would say, How about either A, B, or C? And even then, I'd often say, "What do most people do?" or "What would you do?" I'm not sure if the typical general contractor is willing to put up with this kind of crap, but Brad never complained. And the results were good.
- Back to Good Attitude: At a certain point we got down to the last few things that were dragging out -- new things I wanted done, or old things that had to be redone -- but Brad seemed just as interested and excited about the work as the first day. Not sure how he does it.
Okay, enough gushing. I never trust a review unless some negative things are said, so I'll take my best shot: Scheduling. Brad did a pretty heroic job of trying to fit the de-leading and living-area renovations into the first month, but we probably both should have realized it was going to be too much. It went out to six weeks, and then out again an extra weekend. This was hard for me because we were living in a hotel with two kids, and we also kept having to reschedule the movers. Still, I really appreciate that he tried, and I think I'd rather have someone who was overly optimistic than someone who laughed in my face at the idea.
Hm. Looks like I turned it around to a positive at the end there. I have a hard time saying something bad about Brad/EcoSafe, apparently.
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