Bonugli Construction

Bookcases, mantles, kitchen islands, built-in entertainment units — the finish work people notice long after the dust settles is what Bonugli Construction leads with. The Tewksbury shop builds too: custom homes, additions and remodeling across Middlesex County and the Merrimack Valley. By the company's own account this is a three-generation business — started by Leo Bonugli in 1956, handed to his son Stephen in 1981, with Stephen Jr. now working in it. The Better Business Bureau lists Bonugli Construction at 160 Helvetia Street with Stephen Bonugli as owner, dates the Massachusetts business to 1981, and gives the profile an A+ grade. Tewksbury, Wilmington, Andover, Billerica, Westford, North Andover, Lowell and Chelmsford are among the towns it says it covers. The licences hold up on the state register: construction supervisor licence CS-122500 and home improvement contractor registration 124096 are both active, in the Bonugli name. BuildZoom also carries an earlier home improvement registration number for the business, 115353 — any licence number is worth checking yourself on the state's register before you sign. That same profile shows seven permitted projects in Tewksbury and Melrose between 2006 and 2012. One thing to settle early: the BBB entry describes a sole proprietorship with a single employee, while the company's site has Stephen Jr. in the business as well. On an addition, crew size is what drives the schedule, so ask who will actually be swinging a hammer and for how long. For built-ins, trim and millwork done by a carpenter who has been at it for decades, this is the kind of small, long-standing shop worth a call. Get the millwork specifics — species, finish, hardware — written into the estimate, ask for a realistic start and finish date, and ask for addresses of recent nearby work you can go look at.