David C Rugato

Four of the five written accounts of David Rugato's work are warnings, and they span twelve years. The most recent is also the most consequential. In June 2026 a Houzz client described a simple bedroom and bath addition that went wrong: the money kept, the dispute lost in arbitration and, in that client's words, the contractor now declaring bankruptcy. That is one homeowner's account rather than a court record, but it is the freshest thing written about the business. The older complaints on BuildZoom rhyme with it. A February 2017 client wrote about a brand-new roof that leaked, footings dug two feet deep instead of four, and unlicensed workers thrown off the site by the town. A November 2014 client described a chipped tub and sink nobody would take responsibility for, and subcontractors who went unpaid. A March 2014 client said an addition was not built to the architect's plan, left structures they considered dangerous, leaked where it tied into the house, and was never finished. BuildZoom's average is 1.0 from three ratings. There is a counterweight, and it deserves stating. In August 2023 a Houzz client wrote that Dave and his crew renovated a kitchen and bathroom start to finish without trouble, helped choose finishes and fixtures, and that DCR's samples room made the selections easier. Houzz's 3.0 average rests on that review and the June 2026 one. The work itself is real and structural. Nine permits between 2004 and 2023 include a $92,000 addition in Danvers, a $261,678 fire-damage restoration in Peabody, and beam, siding, deck and bathroom work across Beverly, Wakefield, Arlington and Everett. BuildZoom says it verified his Massachusetts construction supervisor licence, CS-071021, active as of July 2026, while two Newton city registrations under 106162 were last verified carrying December 2022 expirations — the directory's records, not confirmations. Trading as DCR Building & Remodeling Co. out of Lynnfield, the business lists 33 North Shore and Greater Boston towns, Nahant among them. If you are considering them, ask about the arbitration and the bankruptcy claim before anything else, and about how subcontractors get paid; then get references from work finished in the last year and have someone read the contract.