Whittaker General Contracting

We honestly cannot say enough about Mike Whittaker and his crew. He took time at the start to review our project and he offered advice on some of the options available to us. He provided a comprehensive breakdown of the project costs up front. Mike and JR worked closely with us throughout the project, and both were extremely knowledgeable and did beautiful work throughout. The subs they hired all did a great job, and were professional and accommodating. They kept everything on schedule, which is remarkable given all the moving parts. Communication was outstanding, which is vital on a project of the scope we took on. When problems arose, they were quick to point them out to us and discuss solutions with us. We would not hesitate to hire them again for future projects.

This is a long overdue review of Whittaker General Contracting. We have used WGC three times, once each for large, small, and medium jobs (in that order). We’ve been happy with the work and will contact Mike again when we need him/his team and would not hesitate to highly recommend his work. Our most recent work (the medium job) was done in October, 2016 and involved window and slider replacements, painting, and shelving. Between our schedules, it took a long time to get this on the calendar, but it was not urgent and worked out fine. On all the parts that required some creativity and decision making (mostly about custom shelving), Mike and his team were very helpful and practical in suggestions of what to do. In February, 2015, our “small” job was the installation of a handrail along our front walkway. Mike provided several nice options for an attractive and solid handrail. Our biggest job was the first one. We bought a townhouse in May, 2014, and hired WGC because of write-ups on Angie’s List and liking the way Mike and his team discussed and quoted the job for us, and the timing worked. This was a major project of updating many aspects of our new home before we moved in – all new flooring, walls, tile, electrical, plumbing, etc. Timing was key. Mike’s team and subcontractors did a great job of getting the job done right on time so we could move in as planned. The work went on for approximately two months. There were a few issues but we worked through them all. This was our first time working with our condo board’s rules, and there were communication issues all around (the board, us, WGC), but we all learned, and we got it done. Mike has some really good suggestions along the way related to lighting, how paint would look, replacing unsafe railings, making our basement floor tolerable, how to handle our subfloors, etc. He had to coordinate with other teams (granite, appliances, carpet installers). The end result was what we wanted, and we moved in on time.

Whittaker Contracting saved our home renovation. My husband and I had a recent experience with a previous contractor leaving many things in a large side room addition unfinished and not at all to our standards. I sought out Mike and his team to help evaluate the many flaws and how best to address them. Mike was absolutely professional, caring, considerate of cost, and most of all, delivered on his promises and plan of action. He communicated well and in an upfront manner. The finish work his team produces is top notch. I have recommended him to my family and friends without hesitation as I know how difficult it is to find someone you trust to work on one of your most important investments, your home.

We were very pleased with the overall quality of the work. The basic construction was well done and has made our living space just what we wanted. The attention to detail from the tile-work to the built-ins (including the add-ons in the garden such as the the fire-pit and the grading), and the blending of new and old construction, convinced us that we had made the right choice in selecting Whittaker. The staff was pleasant, easy to work with and accommodating of our endless questions and additions to the scope of the initial project. Our bank was happy to work with (an even recommended) Whittaker. Finally, when we had some minor concerns (months later), the team came out and addressed them promptly and with no questions asked. I highly recommend Whittaker General Contracting.

This was the third time Whittaker General Contracting did work in our home. They finished our attic five years ago, converted our screened porch into an all-year mudroom three years ago and, finally, renovated our kitchen this past summer/fall. As with the first two jobs we were very happy with their work on the kitchen, the finished product, and also very satisfied working with them throughout the process. Mike and his crew are very professional. They walked us through a lot of things when the unexpected came up, things in the plumbing and so on, that simply a fact of living in an older (1926) house. When something came up, Mike gave us options and provided pros and cons; we never felt rushed or that our concern with taking the time to make sure it was just what we wanted was also their concern. Mike worked with the plans provided by a designer that we hired independently of him. He gave a time estimate from demolition to boiling our first pot of tea on the new range and had it right pretty much to the day. This is great company to work with!

Mike Whittaker is a wonderful contractor. We presented him with the list of problems we were trying to solve, but he went beyond that in proposing additional improvements. For example, we had a bump-out in the walls that contained the HVAC duct. It never occurred to me that it didn't have to be there, but Mike proposed that, since the walls and ceiling would be opened anyway, it would be feasible to route the ductwork differently and eliminate the bump-outs. So that became an unanticipated benefit of the remodeling job. Both the den renovation and the closet renovation involved custom woodwork; shelving in the closet and a built-in wall unit with shelving and cabinetry in the den, and the craftsmanship that went into this cabinetry is exquisite. In planning the woodwork, Mike took great care to match the wood trim to the trim style in adjacent rooms, and to suggest wood types and stain colors that were concordant with the adjacent rooms. The Whittaker construction crews were a pleasure to deal with. They take great pride in their work. And, end-of-the-day cleanup was always very thorough. In summary, we are very happy with all of the work that Whittaker General Contracting has done for us and we can recommend them unreservedly.

It went very well, I have not had any roof problems. The deck is solid and secure.

After meeting with various GCs, I elected to work with Mike because he understood my desire to have not someone who would blindly execute my requests but rather to have a thinking partner who could help me make the design of the space even better. Mike was full of very useful suggestions, several of which were not in his favor from a time and material perspective. 
I found Mike and his crew to be good and responsive communicators. That made it much easier to work through the inevitable issues that are discovered along the way on a project of this scale. I'll add that they were always patient, something I'm afraid I tested quite a bit through my curious nature.
The work was well done. For example, the miters in the crown moulding are tight despite the angles being complicated by a sloping pre-existing ceiling. The crew was also neat, cleaning well at the end of each day. Now, let's remember that dust literally takes time to settle, so don't expect miracles. But I should point out that I lived in the house throughout, only sleeping out when the poly was applied to the wood floors. Mike setup a temporary kitchen area in the basement while the upper level was undergoing its transformation.
Oh, here's a little example of the length they will go to in order to get the work done: the guys had to shovel 4 feet of snow to reach the exterior window they were replacing following one of the blizzards.
I would hire Mike again in a heartbeat.

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Our overall experience was very positive.

Whittaker did an excellent job taking our architectural conceptual design into a practical implementation.  They gave us great suggestions for many things that were left ambiguous.  We now have a very well built, very handsome new play-room/guest-room and bathroom.

They left a clean work area at the end of every day, which was important with our young children around.

They brought in good, reliable subcontractors where required.  Both their electrician and their plumber supplied helpful ideas for things we had not though of.  Their painter even worked on a weekend and on a holiday to help finish the job.

When it came time to detailed finishing work, they did an excellent job.  We ended up with beautiful window and door moldings, and wonderful built-in units in our new closets (and some special molding work around a cat door they installed for us, too!)

There were a number of excellent choices they made, taking into account our young children, without even asking us.  For example, the paint they used was zero-VOC paint, and tamper resistant electrical outlets.

The process went very smoothly for the most part. I had to press for follow up on a couple of small details, but the project manager, Dan, was generally very responsive. The quality of carpentry, paint, and electrical is fantastic -- even my father was impressed!

I hired Mike to perform the updates described above on a newly purchased house prior to moving in.  Time was of the essence since we had a fixed move-in date and wanted the work to be done on time (approximately 6 weeks).  Mike and his crew are top notch.  They did great work and we are extremely pleased with the final result. When unexpected obstacles popped up, such as a load-bearing wall needing to be removed, Mike came up with agreeable solutions which did not have a big impact on the budget or on the final result.  Best of all, Mike and his team worked hard to make sure the project was finished on time.  
One major part of the work was an electrical upgrade to 300 amp service.  The electrical is underground on my street, requiring a trench to be dug up and coordination with NStar to run a new line to the house.  It turned out to be a complicated process to work with NStar in coordinating this effort, but in the end it was done and done properly.  I really appreciated having a general contractor handling these messy details as it would have required too much time and effort from me to try to manage.  
I also can't say enough good things about Mike's electrician (also Mike), who seems to be very meticulous and doesn't cut any corners.  Recently I had some issues with surging coming through my cable and damaging my home entertainment equipment.  The cause not being clear, Mike came to the house and went through everything carefully to rule out any electrical issues and eventually to determine the cause being improper grounding of the cable line.  With his help we were able to convince Comcast of the issue and get a claim started for the damage.  I felt good knowing that all of these guys will be there to back up their work whenever needed.  
Finally as far as price goes, Mike was the lowest of 3 bids that I entertained. I think if you search hard enough you can probably find cheaper contractors, but you get what you pay for and in this case I think for the quality of work I received the price was quite reasonable.  I would highly recommend Mike Whittaker for any home renovation projects.

Working with Mike and his team was great. His team is awesome, they listen and they took the time to do things right. In fact, when I was short a door handle, one of the team members had the exact same handle in their house so he brought over an extra one! They were here when they said they'd be here. If a delay happened, Mike was sure to call me and let me know why and how they'd work around it. 
At the beginning of the week I'd get an email talking about the upcoming week. Additionally he responded to every call, text and email. On days when a  lot of work was done, Mike would call and give me a very detailed overview of what happened that day. He'd even make sure the house was cleaned up before we got home and that anything pointy was either put away or covered so that my young son wouldn't accidentally hurt himself. And, on top of that, the work was top notch. 
The other great things: he was dead on with his quote for work. Even better, he broke down the job into tasks and put a dollar sign onto the tasks. This was awesome! We could see just how much everything would cost and this allowed us to really put together the right package for us. 
Finally, the work estimate time line - if I take into account the holiday, we were within the time frame he originally quoted us. We are very happy and will hire Mike and his team again.

Mike and his team remodeled my upstairs to turn a large but unattractive and useless space into attractive, productive space. Mike's quote was very competitive; and when I saw the quality of the work, I would say I made an excellent choice in selecting Mike. As I stated before, their work entailed complete demolition of walls and ceilings; updating electrical; providing spray foam and other insulation; building new walls and ceilings; plastering; painting; and adding a built-in bookcase; and four large, double door closets.
I chose Mike for the job because I liked him; and he provided great ideas on how to make the space useful and attractive. I was certainly not disappointed. The work of everyone on Mike's core team as well as all subcontractors was top notch. Although my house is over 60 years old, Mike never had a "this will be good enough" attitude. Everything was metriculously and carefully done. I would highly recommend Mike and his team for any construction job. They all know their stuff. They keep in touch throughout the project to let you know where things stand and what will be happening next. They are professional and knowledgeable. Hire them!I

Mike was very responsive.  He responded to my original inquiry that day and came out for a quote quickly.  Mike explained everything he was quoting and provided a detailed description of the work.  Once selected he worked to fit in the two days of work.  Mike and his team showed up at the designated time.  They reviewed the work and accomodated a last minute request for some lamp changes.  The team was professional and all materials were cleaned up at the end of both days.  All work was completed on time and exceeded my expectations!

Looking at the work to be done everything seemed simple, looking back I am very happy we hired Mike to make the project
easier.  Having a small project with no formal plan it is better to have a contractor with a good design sense.
We purchased an old cape with a small bathroom on the second floor with an office next to it that had no heat in the office.  Since we were not going to be using the office and wanted more counter space than a small pedestal sink we decided to renovate before we moved in.  We closed the end of June and still had our apartment until the end of July.  Before the close it was difficult to find a time when the realtor could get us in the house with a contractor to show the work to be done.  Mike worked with us to get in and see the house and quickly got an estimate back to us.  Mike pointed out a few issues we had not considered as far as lighting and addition insulation in the exterior walls.  After making a few revision we had a final contract signed before the close.
The work started a few days after the close and the demo was done quickly and cleanly.  There was a delay the follow week with trying to get plumbing and electrical inspectors out during the 4th of July holiday week, but Mike always kept me up to date and no delays were caused by Mike and his men, just the town inspectors.  I caused another delay two weeks later by having the hardwood floors on the first floor refinished.  During the floor refinishing no work could be done but Mike worked with me on the schedule so very little time was lost.
Everyone Mike worked with was very professional.  The electrician help with lighting design and issues with old ungrounded outlets.  Even though we were not move the tube or changing it the plumber pointed out we had no
scald valve on the shower and replaced it.  The new drywall came out seamlessly blending old and new.  The painters did a good job of caulking and painting but I wish they had been a little more carefully keeping paint and caulk off
the new tile.
Mike is very proactive.  He point and an fixed a loose railing post at the top of the stairs by the bathroom. 
Mike found that the vent in the bathroom was venting to the attic and the vent in the bathroom below was venting into the sub-floor below the bathroom and fixed both issue.  The vanity we purchased came with two large mirror that did not accommodate our plans for lighting.  Mike?s suggestion of recessed medicine cabinets has been a great idea that gave us extra storage and helps
keep our bathroom looking organized.
Even though it was a small project you can see home Mike runs his business and handles his projects.  I would used him again on any home project.  They are not the cheapest or the most expensive but they are the most responsive.

A very professional crew, functioned well whether Mike was there that day or not. Everything progressed well, his crew is very competent and talented. From the get go everything was done ina orderly manner, they cleaned up after themselves, no issues,no drama, just overall a great job with no aggravation.

My wife and I decided at short notice to put our house on the market. Having used Mike in the past for skylights, and a few other things, I knew he was the best. Mike and his team responded quickly and were in and out in 2 days. They were professional, fair-priced and the work was perfect as usual. They even painted the new trim and made a few small additional repairs while there. The curb appeal on our house is better than ever thanks to Mike and his team.

After a tree hit our house, we needed two things: (1) demolition to assess the structural damage, and (2) repairs.
Mike offered us the lowest quote for demolition ($6k) and seemed very knowledgeable, so we chose him for the demolition work. The demolition work was overall fine. He chose to leave several walls with damage intact, which prevented those areas from being brought up to code through the insurance company's rules, but this was not the dealbreaker.
When we asked him for an estimate to repair the house, he quoted us at over $400,000. The value of our house, including the property, is only $420,000, so we knew this would not work with the insurance company. We went back to Mike and explained that whatever changes to structure we'd asked for obviously were not within the scope of this project, so could he please provide a quote just to make the repairs. His new quote was for $365,000.
Because we'd worked with Mike on the demolition and he'd had the lowest price, we submitted the new quote to the insurance agency. From then on, they treated our case as if we had attempted fraud. We let Mike know that we would not be using his services and solicited quotes from several other contractors, all highly rated on Angie's List and/or Best of Boston. The quotes ranged from $130,000 to $180,000. The work was eventually completed for $140,000.
While we understand there can be a range of prices, when we compared Mike's numbers line by line to other quotes, his numbers were usually double or triple, even for things that have fairly set costs like drywall. I believe he would have done a nice job on our house, but at the cost of an extra $180,000 to $230,000.
Because our relationship with the insurance company was so damaged by Mike's repair quote, the project dragged out for a year and half, with the insurance company asking for every nail and gallon of paint to be accounted for. We don't blame Mike alone for this, as the insurance company had issues of its own; however, we do believe things would have been smoother without his early involvement.

ETA: Just to clarify on Mike's response, the insurance company did pay for extensive structural work to the house to bring it up to code and fix the mistakes of the contractor who originally flipped the house.

We are very happy with the end result.   Mike is very knowledgeable and professional.  He worked with me on my budget and schedule.  I highly recommend him and plan to hire him for the phase 2 of the project!

We are extremely pleased with the results. The transformation has been very positive. The level of detail in the trim work, matching the window trim and baseboards throughout the rest of the house, has been a particular point of satisfaction. Whittaker installed built-in bookcases on each wall that provide valuable extra space. The ceiling and walls are so well insulated that even on a severely hot day it does not feel like you are in an attic. (We use an AC up there anyway, but the heat is nothing like it was before the work was done.) We found Mike and his crew to be responsive, courteous and professional all around. The site was cleaned well daily, as was the outside area where they did their cutting. They hauled many materials through the attic window which cut down on traffic, wear and potential for damage by constantly using the stairs. This helped keep the disruption one expects in such work to a minimum. (When the rug was installed and two of the crawlspace doors needed to be trimmed, two of his team came out right away and got it done.) I would highly recommend Whittaker. We will call them first the next time we need work like this done.  

Mike is a very professional contractor.  Everything was explained well prior to the start of the projects.  All of the workers were very courteous and they always left things clean each day when they finished working.  Mike stuck to the estimates he gave for the work despite several things needing to change over the course of the 2nd project (bathroom addition).  Unlike another contractor I had do some work prior to Whittaker Genl Contractors (WGC), Mike was always very good about letting me know when he would return to do more work and kept on schedule.  If the schedule had to change he communicated why and when he would return.   I was very happy with the time he spent explaining various options I had throughout the project as well.  I will definitely call WGC again if I need other projects completed. 

OMG awesome.  A very high-grade contractor.  Mike and his crew kept me informed, worked clean, maintained good relations with the neighbors, generally did a fabulous job.  When it's time to reside the house these are the first guys I'll call.

Any major home renovation project is a long story in and of itself, and I could write a novel about it here, but I won't.  Instead, I'll just stick to the most salient points. From interviewing many general contractors, and then working with Mike, I found Mike cared as much about by house and project as I did, and certainly more than the other contractors.  He is a perfectionist, and that's a great thing to have in someone you are entrusting your home with. I found Mike's quote was on par with competitors, except that the other contractors I spoke with used cheaper quality materials and building methods.   Mike is definitely someone you'd want to use if you are doing a luxury renovation.  He will not cut corners. Another difference was that other contractors insisted I purchase/select materials from their sources.  For example, one insisted I pick my kitchen cabinets from an expensive store.  I know that all of these suppliers provide kickbacks to the contractors of between 15%-20%, and then the contractor charges their fee (of 10%-30%) on top of it. But Mike allowed us to shop anywhere, and did not charge his fee for those items like Kitchen cabinets, and if we shopped at one of his suppliers, he passed his 15% discount on to us!  And his fee was lower than everyone we spoke with.  When you add it up, you can see how in spite of the fact that his estimate matched or slightly surpassed his competitors,  the quality of his work was miles beyond anyone's.  MILES.  For example, thicker walls, french drains, back-up systems, the most energy efficient products, sturdier materials, etc.   I would definitely use Mike again, and particularly appreciated his workmanship, attention to detail, perfectionist nature, and flexibility.   And based on the raves I've gotten on the new house and how people's jaws drop when they the finished product, I know I am not alone in my opinion.   Consider yourself lucky if you're able to hire him on a big project. 

We were very impressed how well they cleaned up each day after they finished the work, with quality of work they have done. It was done in timely manner and end quality was excellent. Only one comment we have about sub-contractor they have used. Blue board installer wasn't careful about floor, didn't clean up after work done, left lot of debris for us to clean up. Other than we were very happy with whole work.