Drake Design + Build

Drake Design + Build is a Braintree general contractor founded in 2022 by Andrew (Drew) Ray after 26 to 30 years as a union carpenter with Local 33 — the company says he started it because he wanted to be the reliable contractor he could never find. It's family-run: his wife Vanessa works as the team's interior designer. The business grew out of drywall and plastering work — many of its Google reviews still refer to it by its earlier name, Drake Drywall — and has since expanded into full kitchen and bathroom renovations, additions, and design-build projects. Its Massachusetts home improvement contractor registration is active, and Thumbtack has verified a background check on the company. The written record is deep and consistent: 31 reviews across Google and Thumbtack, nearly all naming Drew (or his crew members Carlos and Mike) directly. The specific jobs described range widely. One customer had their second bathroom completely gutted and rebuilt after the scope grew larger than expected — Drew reportedly impressed the customer's brother, a civil engineer, with an alternate ceiling approach. Another needed a basement apartment egress door that required relocating a main drain pipe and HVAC ducts with no architectural plans; the reviewer says Drew worked out solutions to every complication and was on site every day. Other reviews describe a full kitchen and half-bath remodel, a commercial space renovation in Jamaica Plain finished in what the reviewer called record time, a dental office renovated around the practice's open hours, and repeated jobs for the same customers — several reviewers mention hiring the company two or three times over. One 2026 review is less positive, describing a poor customer service experience and difficulty getting a rough quote — a shorter, less detailed account than the rest of the record. For a full kitchen or bathroom remodel, an addition, or drywall and plaster work specifically, Drake Design + Build's path — from specialty drywall work to full design-build — and its clients' repeat business point to a contractor comfortable with both finish-level detail and bigger structural changes.