We hired De Sisto Construction for a raised foundation addition of about 330 sq ft of master bedroom, bath, and closet. We also had some work done in our kitchen which consisted of replacing some tile with hard wood flooring and installing a peninsula.
Did we have any issues? Foundation, footing, framing, roofing, dry walling, painting, tiling, electrical, and plumbing all went without a hitch.
Flooring - we have hardwood in the addition and had some challenges because the hardwood in the rest of the house is a size that isn't made these days. No biggie, we went with a slightly narrower slat (2" wide instead of 2 1/2"). The installer let the slats sit for a couple of weeks and then installed and stained the floor. The floor color was supposed to match the rest of the house but it was too light. We told David and he thought that as they added clear they would add a tint to bring the color to the rest of the house. That was not the case. I wish David would have come out to see the floor earlier (he came after the 3rd coat of clear). When David saw the flooring he saw right away that it didn't match. Note: the floor looked beautiful, and the craftsmanship was really great, but the color was off. The floor guy (who we really like) came out and tried to talk my wife into fading the stain across the doorway so the transition is less noticeable, but we said no. David backed us up on that. The floor people came back, re-sanded, re-stained, and re-finished the floor. It looks great now. I only bring this up because the total process took about 6 weeks. Note that we had the same guy install some hardwood flooring just outside our kitchen, and that went in without a hitch. Looks great and the color matches well.
Were we happy with quality of work and materials? Yes, very much so. I think if there's an earthquake in the middle of the night, my wife and I will be in the safest room in the house. Our bathroom vanity and kitchen peninsula are really nice, made by this guy Benito. We never had a major issue with our inspections, which is a plus. Painting, fit and finish, and even the floor, are great. Note that the inspector was familiar with David and the work they do and mentioned that there is rarely and issue with their work.
Were there issues with changes or surprises? We learned our water heater was built in 1983 and decided to replace it with a tankless system. We're happy with that choice. We made some minor changes during the process, such as upgrading our electrical panel to 200 amps, adding a 50 amp panel in the garage, as well as a 220V plug for my Chevy Volt fast charger, all at my request. The DeSisto's let us know what the increase would be on each of these changes. We had a major change when we decided not to re-locate some walls in the house. The material was already purchased, so we made some on the fly decision to move some beams up, above the ceiling and made the cement landing outside the master bedroom larger (we used cement that would have been used in the footing). No issues with any of these changes.
Was David on-site daily? During the hectic early days, yes, he would show up early and make sure the team knew what to do. He's worked with the same crew for years now and they know he likes things done correctly and well. Later on, when things settled down, such as painting, he'd show up on the first day to make sure everyone knew what to do and he'd show up at the end to make sure it was done correctly. He's got a great eye for detail.
Was David prompt at returning calls and resolving issues? Return calls, yes. Resolving issues, yes, with the exception of the floor previously mentioned.
Would we recommend them to others? Yes. We've worked with other contractors before and think the DeSisto's are the best we've worked with so far. The crews they use have been with them for several years, David has a great eye for detail and will make sure things are done right, and they come in at what they bid for the work they bid (we added scope to the project, which added cost). Our cousin was having issues with her electrician, so we recommended the one David uses and she was very happy with his work. Turns out she also used Benito for her cabinets which turned out great. read more