Bertola Custom Homes & Remodeling

Joe and his team did a superb job of renovating my bathroom in a 1929 vintage building in Cambridge, MA. The final result is modern and highly functional while looking beautiful in an older building. Joe helped me pick materials and finishes that I would not have discovered on my own. He and his team were respectful of my home making sure that there was as little disruption as possible and wore masks and maintained distance at all times. When I miscommunicated with a house cleaner near the end of the project, Joe did much of the cleaning himself. Above and beyond. Last but not least, the work was finished on time. Amazing. Leslie D.

Joe Bertola is a genius. The quality of work and speed of execution is top notch. It is **** near impossible to find a customer home builder that delivers such a high caliber of professionalism and perfection, with the attention and diligence that Joe does. He does absolutely beautiful work. I have no doubt that the resale value on my home will be significantly higher than the same properties in this category, based on the workmanship alone. We could not be more satisfied!

It was great. We've used them twice now and the owner has highly dependable team. I will work with them again and I highly recommend them. They do a great work and they won't walk away until the job is finish. Joe himself is very involved with the project which is very helpful.

Great. Workers and trades were polite, skilled, punctual, neat and flexible. Unexpected conditions managed with grace and good judgment.

We recently completed an extensive home renovation project in our home in Auburndale, MA. Our house is a Victorian era home built between the eighteen sixties to eighties. We initially hired an architect to design and create plans for all of the projects, followed by interviewing four contractors to perform the work. In part, based on a very positive review from friends who had recently completed a major condo renovation with Bertola Custom Homes and Remodeling, as well as our impressions of the contractors based on the bids and interviews, we chose Joe Bertola and his company for the project. His bid was on the higher end but we were impressed with his creative suggestions and comprehensive discussion of the details of the project and the emphasis on the selection of high quality materials and products for the work that would complement and enhance the unique features of our Victorian home. We then worked closely with Joe Bertola and his design assistant, Leila Petersen Almeida, to finalize the plans for the construction and design of the bathrooms and cabinets and to do a detailed a rigorous selection of the materials and products for the renovation. The project took many months because it required extensive demolition followed by the combination of electrical, plumbing, cabinetry work and a multitude of Newton inspections. Joe assigned a project manager, Rafael Zanetti, to oversee the work and he was terrific. He was immediately responsive when we had questions and kept us well informed of the progress of the work. The actual workers, including the carpenters, plumbers, electricians, painters, etc. were highly skilled and meticulous in the completion and quality of the work. Along the way we made some additions and minor changes in the work and design and Joe and the project manager were responsive and creative in providing solutions. We are completely satisfied with the “finished products” of the construction and proudly display the work to our friends. For homeowners who are in search of a builder who is creative and highly professional and takes pride in the quality of his work, we offer our highest recommendations of Joe Bertola and his company.

I've never been a homeowner before, never mind taken on a major renovation project like this. I had heard all the horror stories about other contractors from friends and family, so I was naturally skeptical when the owner, Joe Bertola, assured me that he would take care of everything. Yet much to my happy surprise, that's exactly what he has done, with deep knowledge of all the trades, an affable, talented crew, and the flexibility and creativity to make an inherently costly project more affordable. Joe is detail oriented, picking up potentially significant points from his first walk through that several other contractors completely missed. Yet he developed a realistic proposal with workable allowances and stuck to it. Joe is honest, open, willing to accept candid feedback and address any concerns professionally. He said to me that "I have never had a client who is not happy and I would never let you be the first." Again, it would sound like hyperbole had I not had such a positive overall experience. I'm now pleased to have a contractor I can recommend to friends and family with genuine enthusiasm.

The email process over the Angie's List site did not go well, although when I reached out to Joe personally it went much smoother. Joe came out to the site and provided an estimate when he said he would, and I must say that the estimate was broken down very well. The issue we had was that the quote was absolutely ridiculous (borderline robbery, and I have family that has been in this business for over 30 years that could attest to this.) It was as high as an estimate for what I wanted could be, and then some. There was simply no point in discussing the project after that point.

It went well! This is the second time we've used Bertola homes, and will use them again to do our kitchen remodel. Joe is more than a contractor, he's a designer! We were not happy with the original architect design, and Joe completely reworked it to give us something that we truely wanted, and gave us more home equity. I feel like he saved us! Super hero Joe (lol). The team is very polite, keep a clean construction site, and their work is high quality. The project manager was very responsive. He wasn't always at the site, but came to check in everyday. When mistakes were made, they were corrected quickly with no extra cost to us. Joe has beautiful (expensive) taste, but he worked with us to stay on budget without having to compromise quality. We did go over a little, but considering the size of the renovation and the fact that we added to the scope, it wasn't an unreasonable amount. I don't think we could have found a better contractor!

Joe and team made it PERFECT again. Plaster work was masterly. You would never have known it had happened. The team lead communicated with me daily by email and phone. Couldn't really ask for more.

Do yourself a favor and hire Bertola Custom Homes. We recently used Bertola to repair extensive water damage caused by ice dams. Bertola needed to repair and paint ceilings and walls throughout our house as well as exterior decks/stairs. We have hired numerous contractors in the 20 years we've owned our house, and I say without hesitation that Joe Bertola is the best. His quotes are fair and rock solid. Anyone who's had work done on their home knows the point in the project where you learn that the contractor quoted one material, but you meant another. You can have what you want as long as you pay a revised and always higher price. That never happens with Joe. The cost never waivered and Joe's favorite expression is "no problem". His crew is highly skilled and hardworking, and they are also the nicest people you'll ever meet. Joe is a talented carpenter with a great aesthetic sense. So, he came up with improvements that cost the same but left each room looking nicer than before the damage occurred . He also worked on a project refinishing our basement about 5 years ago, and guests still marvel at his built in cabinets - and I still thank him every Spring when the basement no longer floods. As you can tell, I can't say enough about him or his work. If he is available, book him as soon as you can.

I contacted Joe to give me an estimate on replacing the support column on the addition to my house. He came out promptly and checked it out, then sent me a quote. We booked the work to be done a few weeks later. We had to reschedule because of weather but it was done within a reasonable amount of time. I was pleased with his knowledge and assessment of the work to be done. He sent out one of his guys, Claude, to do the work. He was very skilled and knowledgeable. Overall I'm quite pleased with the work. It was a little expensive, but I chose to pay more because my instincts told me it was the right choice. I'd like them to do more work for me but I haven't heard back from Joe yet.

We hired Joe last year to remodel our family room and bathroom. This year we hired him again to finish the other half of our basement. I think that speaks to how satisfied we were with the first part of the project. There was no discussion as to who would do the other renovations just when we would complete the job. As before the quality of the work and the professionalism was beyond reproach. His crew came in and completely gutted the basement and then began the process of creating a beautiful bedroom and laundry room. Joe has great ideas and although he is always ready to listen to what you want he is not afraid to make suggestions as to what he thinks is possible and would enhance the area. I love his ideas they are always what I love most about his work. The job went smoothly and was completed on time and without any major problems. Joe handles everything so calmly and deals with issues as they arise. We never feel alarmed as to how things are going because Joe just seems to be able to deal with anything that may come up with minimal concern for us. Again we were more than satisfied with the completed project. Joe and his crew take great pride in the quality and workmanship they provide and it shows. From carpentry to plastering to painting the quality is always the same-perfection!! Aside from the fact that his work is such high quality Joe is very responsive in answering his phone calls-we have never had an issue where Joe has not gotten back to us right away. We own commercial property and even when we called him for an issue that one of our tenants had, this past winter, he was able to correct it and was there to help her with other problems she was having. We would hire Joe again and have already put him on alert about possibly building a house for us in the future. You can not go wrong hiring Bertola Custom Homes!!

First of all, we had a very hard time finding a contractor who would return our calls for the work we needed, but Joe does a great job of getting back to us and we are able to stay in regular contact with him during the projects. We needed to find a contractor we could trust to manage this project while we were still in California preparing for our move out East. It needed to be right after we closed on our home but before we moved into our home in MA - we had a 10-14 day window. The day we closed, we handed off the keys to Joe Bertola. He and his team finished everything within a 10 day window, and he was willing to text me photos of the progress along the way. By the time we got back from the first half of our move, everything was complete. We noticed some places that needed paint touch up after we moved in and he was willing to send his team back to do the minor work. They even painted a few baseboards that weren't in the scope without extra charge. Everything looks great, and we're planning to use Bertola for our Master bathroom renovation.

--I contacted Bertola CH early July. After about two weeks (July 17) I received an email from Joe Bertola that he would be in the area where work was to be done and was asking if he could visit the property. To avoid wasting his time and mine, I immediately responded, asking if starting a project in early september would at all be feasible for him (that was a hard constraint for me)? --No response from Joe Bertola... --Five days later (July 22) I called him and mentioned the email communications. He said in principle he would be able to take on a new project early Sept. We agreed over the phone, that I would send him pictures, floor plans, and description of work to be done, and he would send me his ballpark estimate and we would take it from there. If the ballpark was agreeable, I would arrange for him to see the site and he we fine tune details and costs. That is what he agreed on the phone and on the same day (July 22) I sent him exactly what I was supposed to. --Joe Bertola disappeared again. --On August 12 I sent him another email and reminded him that I am still waiting. --No response from JB. Overall, I feel that his conduct was unprofessional, non responsiveness was rude, and he wasted my time a lot.

Unfortunately I cannot comment on the quality of work but I felt compelled to review them since they were so prompt in replying and coming out to estimate some basement finishing and minor addition we wanted performed on our home. By no fault of Bertola we were just not ready to make the financial commitment needed to begin work or we would have used them. As i mentioned they were prompt in their response and scheduling of a visit and provided an accurate detailed quote ahead of schedule.

My wife and I needed a kitchen renovation and we were referred to Bertola Custom Homes by a friend. Joe came to our house shortly after we contacted his company to provide us with an estimate. We had a general idea of what we wanted and that included removing two structural walls to open up our floor plan. The job was big and very complex, however Joe was able to design the alteration on the spot and 3 days after we met the walls were gone. Because the new design asked for a window relocation, we also had them repair some rotten woodwork on the exterior and paint the entire house. It was very impressive how quickly he managed to come up with drawings from an Engineer, the building permits and begin the work. Everything went very smoothly. The crew moved and protected the furniture as well as the floors. They were friendly, worked very hard, and the site was kept super clean at all times. We also liked the air filter that they provided. It helped to control all the dust from getting everywhere. The final product is amazing. Joe takes real pride of his work. We appreciate his professionalism, work ethic, honesty and positive attitude. It has been amazingly easy dealing with Joe and his team. All of them are super nice and fun to be around. We are extremely happy with all the work and are already on his busy schedule for remodeling four of our bathrooms in the fall. Highly recommend.

The whole process of working with Joe was a dream. We reached out to several contractors for a quote and Joe was the most responsive, the most communicative and the most straight-forward. His quote was not the least expensive, but it seemed to be the most realistic, and that's exactly how our experience played out. Joe was incredibly easy to work with, even before we signed a contract and gave him a deposit. That was not the experience we had with other quote providers. Bertola Custom Homes came recommended by Prestige Kitchen & Bath, where we purchased our cabinets and counters (and also had a great experience working with Phil), and we are so grateful that they helped us find Joe and his crew. Joe and team started exactly on time and finished within the range promised. The only overages from our original estimate were based on decisions we made together along the way, and never felt pressured to make. The team keeps an incredibly clean work site and is so professional and friendly. Joe is always accessible, even for clients that certainly aren't his biggest paying in a given moment (like ourselves). My husband and I both work and we were completely comfortable having his team in the house without us throughout the day, knowing that Joe would be in touch via phone, text or FaceTime if he needed us to help make a decision along the way. On top of executing our plans flawlessly, Joe also made creative/design recommendations that we never would have thought of, and we are both pretty detail-oriented. We used wrap-around double crown molding to beautifully camouflage the need for a shallow soffit, which was 100% Joe's vision. He also gently steered us away from a bad decision or two (like paint color). It was so fun working with someone who understood and respected our vision, could make sure we brought it to life, and built on it as well. He also made things happen that we didn?t think were possible. When we moved in the kitchen was linoleum that looked like bricks (why??). Our hope was that underneath there would be hardwood floors that matched the rest of the house, as had been the case when we ripped out the upstairs carpeting when we first moved in. The original kitchen wood floor was underneath several layers, but it was destroyed. We didn?t know what to do, but needed to make a decision quickly so that the rest of the work could proceed. We were prepared to go with pre-finished wood floors that didn?t truly match the rest of the floors on the same level of the house, but Joe found someone who could match the original wood (fir) and stain it to match almost exactly ? and at only $200 above our original budget for floors. He also made the experience easy. Once we picked the cabinets and counters we wanted, Joe ran with and handled everything: demolition, dry wall, cabinet installation and finishing, plumbing, electric, painting, flooring and tiling. We didn't worry about or coordinate any of it - Joe handled it all. And when they were done, his crew was here until 8PM on a Saturday night to wrap up all the final details so that we could move back in. The room was impeccable when they were done. Not to mention the care they took along the way ? carefully cleaning both the main floor and the basement after the initial demo. Needless to say, we couldn?t recommend Joe more highly! Working with him was truly a pleasure.

Joe demonstrated professionalism, reliability and honesty. I really appreciated his honest assessment; he is a trustworthy person.

Joe arrived on time only a few days after I called him to get an estimate on some work for our home, some of which was repair of damage caused by ice dams. He was courteous, appeared knowledgable, and very professional. He took pictures of the areas of our home in which we wanted work done and provided an estimate a few days later. His price was very competitive and we would have engaged him for the work had we not decided to wait until next year when the repairs could be done as part of a much larger home renovation project.

Hardwood floors are beautiful. The crew did a great job of cleaning up each day. They worked steadily and finished te job as expected. Joe was willing to discuss details of project with us and make changes when necessary. Good crew--we would work with them again.

His estimate was way high. It was higher than every single estimate that I got.

The install went as smoothly as possible in a single day, by the time I go home from work the old floor had been removed, the new floor was down, and they even replaced all the furniture(which is pretty heavy) back into them room. It was like they were never there! Joe and his crew continue to impress, I have recommended him highly in the past to friends, and the fact that he took it upon himself to fix the floor for a problem which had nothing to do with his work just shows how dedicated Joe is to having flawless work and happy customers. If you need a contractor for large or small jobs I would highly suggest you give Joe Bertola a call!

I recently contacted Joe Bertola through Angie's List about doing a bedroom renovation in my home. Several other contractors had not been interested because this was not a big enough project for them. However it was a major step for me and I appreciated Joe treating the work as a serious venture. He listened to what I wanted to have done and the ideas I had for how I wanted it to look. He has a good eye for space and function, which combined what I wanted with what made the most sense and looked best. He responded quickly to my first email with a phone call and then stopped by to look at the room and several days later gave me price and time estimates. The final price was more than originally quoted but only because we had added some additional components to the project. I found the result to be well worth the expense. And lower than some of the other quotes I had obtained. Joe made a point of finding the most economical way to complete the work and several times was able to save expense without compromising on quality. He always took my questions and requests seriously, which I think can take a lot of patience sometimes. Joe was consistently flexible with his time and attention. This was important to me, particularly since I work different shifts and sometimes have to sleep during the day. This put restrictions on times when the work could be done. Several times work continued through Saturday. I was further impressed with how easy it was to stay in touch with Joe. He came to the house a number of times, and readily responded to: phone messages, emails, texts. He was continually overseeing and coordinating the work of various subcontractors. Even when he was on vacation halfway around the world visiting family! The subcontractors were equally good to work with, always protecting floors before doing work and paying as much attention to cleaning up afterwards as they did to the work they had come to do. And on several occasions made suggestions, like sanding and polyurethaning the bedroom door (which I liked and had decided to keep) when they were doing the trim in the bedroom. A minor detail perhaps but making a difference in the overall look of the room when everything else was done. As the work progressed there were some changes made to the scope of the project, which always resulted in further improvements. I was especially happy with his suggestion for the door to the closet. The closet is small and the existing door opened only 80º before being stopped by the wall. This had made me feel claustrophobic. Joe's solution was to put in a sliding door and now the closet feels more spacious. He even found a wonderful solution for propping a huge floor mirror away from the wall so the door can slide behind the mirror. It is over a week and I am still keeping that door open so I can enjoy the outstanding closet view. I have already started talking with Joe about renovating my living room next year and have given several friends his contact information for work they want done. I have no hesitation in giving him a strong recommendation.

Joe, and his team of subcontractors, rebuilt our front porch and finished our basement. The job ended up costing around twice the initial estimate: this was due to some unforeseen complications (part of our field-stone foundation collapsed and some of the walls in our main living space needed to be opened to access some plumbing); and we also requested some additional renovations during the course of the job (rebuilding front porch, leveling basement floor and an addition of a full bath in basement). We are extremely happy with the renovations! Joe and his team were very professional, punctual and hard-working. Joe was always accessible by phone-- and I had a lot of questions. Yes, problems during the construction process arose (for example, our basement foundation collapsing), but we never, for a second, doubted that Joe and his team had sound solutions. The craftsmanship and attention to detail were impressive, and Joe was always talking and walking us through every option and step in order to better tailor the job to our needs. While their original estimate wasn't the least expensive we received (and the final price was obviously steeper than we had planned), we chose Joe for the job because he seemed to be the most knowledgeable of the contractors we contacted. We believe in paying more for better work. We'll definitely contact Joe again for any further renovations, and we're thrilled with our new front porch and basement.

Joe was very quick to come look at the job and to provide us with a competitive quote. Joe and his team were very professional and detail oriented (Claude and Carlos were great!). I appreciated that Joe treated our house like it was his own. He covered every inch of the floor in order not to scratch our hardwood floors (that did not need to be replaced). Our kitchen is small and we did not have many options but Joe presented us with different ideas - Joe is very creative. Issues are always going to arise with any home project, especially with older houses, but Joe and his crew always had suggestions on how to fix any issue that arose. Our project ended up taking a bit longer than we anticipated but Joe was very apologetic (the delay was because we were waiting for subs to come back and finish their work - because of unexpected issues that took longer to work through). Joe runs a very tight ship and project manages his team and subs very well. We are extremely pleased with the final project and will use Joe and his crew again. Joe is a very nice guy and is very easy to work with. We really enjoyed getting to know Joe. I have contacted Joe a few times since he completed this project and he always responds to my questions very quickly. We thank Joe and his team for our awesome new kitchen! We love it!