D'Alelio Construction Company, Inc.

A Swampscott concrete and masonry outfit whose customers kept writing down the same detail: the crew turned up when it said it would. More than a dozen of its 25 Angi reviews say some version of it — arrived on the day promised, finished when stated, done before the deadline that actually mattered. The work homeowners describe is flatwork and stone. A 2010 review has a patio finished with time to spare before a wedding; another from that spring has a retaining wall and stairs put in on very short notice for an event at the house; a third, also 2010, has an interior French drain installed. Anthony D'Alelio handled those jobs himself, out on estimates and on site. A customer writing in 2011 lived out of state and was sent pictures as the project went along. On Angi and HomeAdvisor — the same profile carried on two sites — the company sits at 4.5 stars from 68 ratings, with a service list running from masonry, concrete and retaining walls to foundation repair, waterproofing, drainage lines and excavation. Its Angi profile claims 46 years in business and UniLock certified installer status. Two accounts run the other way. A 2010 customer said cement work cracked in various places within months and that D'Alelio blamed city salt rather than the job. In November 2009, another scheduled an 8:30 appointment a week ahead, took the day off work for it, and nobody came. The written history here runs 2008 to 2011, and BuildZoom's permit file covers the same stretch — nine projects in Arlington, Boston, Somerville, Peabody, Tewksbury, Melrose and Chelmsford. BuildZoom also lists Massachusetts home improvement contractor registration #114720 for the company. For a slab, a paver patio, a retaining wall or a wet basement on the North Shore, the homeowners who wrote between 2008 and 2011 got a crew that kept its dates and cleaned up behind itself. Before you sign, ask what they have built in the last year or two and where, take the registration number and check its current standing with the state, and ask how a callback is handled if concrete cracks — that was one 2010 customer's whole complaint.