General Contractor in Cambridge, MA

Many Cambridge homes date from roughly 1850 to 1920: mansard-roof and Greek Revival houses in East Cambridge, Queen Anne Victorians in Mid-Cambridge and West Cambridge, narrow wood-frame cottages in Cambridgeport and The Port, and two-families and triple-deckers in North Cambridge. Interiors often have plaster walls, tall ceilings, original trim and wide-board floors worth keeping.

Older bathrooms in these houses were often added later into closets, back halls or former bedrooms, so plumbing runs can be unusual. When we open a wall, we plan the new layout around what is really there and flag anything that needs a licensed plumber or electrician.

Condo owners in Cambridge usually need association approval before major work, and many buildings require sound-rated underlayment under new hard floors. Almost every home in the city was built before 1978, so federal lead-safe work rules (EPA RRP) apply when painted surfaces are disturbed.

Bathroom remodels lead the list: updating a dated bath in a Victorian without losing its character, turning a small second bath into a usable shower room, or replacing a failing tile job from an earlier renovation. We pay close attention to waterproofing and ventilation, because humid summers and cold winters are hard on bathrooms with poor exhaust.

Flooring is a close second. Cambridge buyers and owners often want to keep original wood where possible and add tile or durable plank flooring in kitchens, baths and basements. Damp basements are common in the lower parts of the city near the Charles River and Alewife, so we choose materials that tolerate moisture there.

We also install kitchen and bathroom cabinets in compact condo kitchens, repair plaster and drywall after upgrades, handle trim and carpentry fixes, and do post-construction cleaning so a unit is ready to list, rent or move back into.