DHI Construction & Design

Ten of the sixteen written reviews on DHI Construction & Design's Google page went up in 2022, and they all tell the same story: Doug explained everything, the crew showed up when they said they would, the basement came out beautiful. The newest one, posted in July 2026, is a single star and tells a very different one. The Malden company says it began as "Doug's Home Improvements" — founder Doug and a corgi named Judy — before growing into a general contracting outfit working across Greater Boston, with in-house carpentry, painting and tile crews, plus a separate arm that buys and flips houses. It describes itself as veteran-owned and run by Douglas Andrade alongside office manager Rachael Fuchs, and says it is a certified installer for Viewrail floating stairs and railings. Google averages 4.8 across 22 ratings. What homeowners kept crediting, through 2022 and into 2023, was the front end of a job. A 2023 customer pricing a full bathroom remodel said Doug came out the next day, walked the scope, and asked detailed questions before quoting; a 2022 customer described being shown the planned changes on an iPad. A 2025 kitchen renovation client said she spoke with Doug and Rachael almost daily while the details got settled. And a 2022 homeowner had them partially finish the basement of a 100-plus-year-old house and called the result beautiful. Then there is the July 2026 review, and it is the one to raise. That homeowner described a broken gas line that forced the household to evacuate, a roof left uncovered that flooded the third, second and first floors, a project running five months late, and plumbing and HVAC problems that went unresolved afterward — along with a worker who, they said, brought a gun to the site repeatedly after being asked not to. It is one customer's account, but it is specific, and before it the newest comment was from June 2025. So the star average and the current picture are pulling in opposite directions. If you're weighing DHI, the estimating and day-to-day communication people praised are easy to test early — insist on a written scope and a schedule with dates. Then ask directly about the 2026 complaint: what happened, what the warranty actually covers, who will be on your site, and what happens if the job slips. References from work finished in the past year will tell you more than the 2022 reviews will.