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Three contractors had already walked when a frozen sprinkler pipe and a roof leak left one family living inside their own construction zone. The homeowner who wrote that up in July 2024 said Fresh Start took the job over and carried it to the end. Big and complicated is the usual assignment here: a $250,000 overhaul of a two-level basement in a 2023 review, which swapped a pair of lally columns for an overhead beam; a 2024 bathroom addition grafted onto a 100-year-old Cambridge house along a wall shared with the neighbour's garage; a 2022 project that added roughly a quarter more floor space to a house. Fresh Start builds out of Burlington across Greater Boston — custom renovations, additions and new construction, plus ongoing home maintenance through its List Services division — and the site describes a 40-person in-house team with full-time project managers and lead carpenters. Its Massachusetts home improvement contractor registration is active. It is graded A+ by the Better Business Bureau, holds 4.9 stars from 98 Houzz ratings and 4.6 from 69 on Google, and lists 20 Houzz awards. What customers describe is process. A November 2025 reviewer called the up-front estimates the most detailed they had been given; a December 2025 client said a multi-phase kitchen and bathroom remodel came in under budget and inside the projected timeline; a January 2026 homeowner in Beacon Hill said they were kept current enough to be part of every decision. In May 2026, a customer named the project manager and two of the crew, and said neighbours remarked on how the site was run. A Reddit commenter in August 2023, whose tiny out-of-code Somerville bathroom was brought up to code, said the cost and timeline held and that the company's volume of work in that city helped when it came time to get inspectors out. A good share of the praise comes from architects, kitchen designers and trade partners writing as collaborators rather than as clients. Two things to weigh. Price: another Reddit commenter, recommending them in November 2023, put the company 20 to 30 percent above market and said their own contract began bumpily with a project manager who was later let go. Subcontracted work: an August 2024 one-star review said subcontractors made significant mistakes that Fresh Start did not catch, that the customer found some themselves, and that getting them corrected took a fight. A May 2025 one-star reviewer wrote only that the experience was bad and that they regretted hiring the company. Separately, two 2025 reviews concerned a company driver's conduct on the road rather than any job; the owner returned one of those calls the same day. For a gut renovation, an addition, or a project someone else abandoned, this is a structured builder with its own project managers and a long bench of design partners — and the accounts suggest you pay above market for it. Ask which trades are subcontracted, who checks that work before you are billed for it, and what happens when a mistake surfaces after the fact.
“I used Fresh Start and, after a bit of a bumpy start to the contract related to a project manager that ended up being let go, it was a very smooth and great experience. I would 100% recommend them. With the caveat that they are probably anywhere from 20-30% over market, but they were very transparent and diligent in my experience (but I've a neighbor that had less than great experiences with them so might not be universal).”
“My first reno (a difficult tiny bathroom, not to code, to be brought up to code) in Somerville was done with Fresh Start. They did great and the cost and timeline was as promised. they work a lot in Somerville which helps when it is time to get ISD over to to the inspections.”
“Having a post-holiday renovation realization is fairly common, said Ben O’Sullivan Pierce, owner of Burlington-based Fresh Start Contracting.”
Fresh Start did an amazing job. Everyone did a great job and a particular shout out to Mark Tuttavilla,the PM. He was very communicative,attentive to detail,personable,honest and went the extra mile. Alex and Lucas were great at all these skills,too. Neighbors commented at how courteous everyone was to deal with. What could have been a stressful time during the renovation was actually not because they took care of everything like subcontractors. And project was done in good time and on budget!
We had a fantastic experience with Fresh Start for a complex renovation in Beacon Hill. Our team was in perfect communication with us throughout, such that we were always updated and therefore involved in decision-making always, as we wished. The team has fantastic EQ throughout, and have deep experience with large, elegant renovations. The attention to quality never lapsed - we never needed to be concerned about shortcuts. As we had learned with four previous renovations and a full house build in the suburbs, timing is always a challenge: yet this was a full-gut, complete renovation of an apartment that had not been renovated in a century - and still, we finished within the range of our estimated completion. We became very fond of the whole team, appreciated prompt punch-listing and support from Ben and the entire company throughout. Our home is exquisite and surpasses what we could have imagined - we are very grateful!
Fresh Start really cared about my house and showed exemplary attention to detail. They brought the entire project in under budget and within the projected timeline, with excellent communication throughout. Their expert coordination of a multi-phase kitchen and bathroom remodel, and experienced navigation of Cambridge inspection processes, made everything go smoothly -- not easy when renovating a 170-year-old house that predates existing building codes. The final product is a beautiful, updated house that is much more comfortable because of these renovations. I would definitely recommend Fresh Start to others!
Our work with Fresh Start was top notch from start to finish. They provided the most detailed estimates up front, incredibly professional site and project management, and the ultimate transparency throughout the project. The work of FSC and their team is absolutely beautiful. We lived through a major addition - it never felt intrusive to us, and it never seemed to be a burden to them. Every contractor that was recommended to me came with a "they're great, but ...". There's no "but" with FSC. Would use them again in a heartbeat.
Edit: left the owner a voice mail and he called me back right away and said he will speak to the driver in question. One of your employees wasn't letting me merge in, then pulled into the other lane, sweared at us, sped up and as I got close to him he cut us off aggressively with my 2 year old in the car. Not smart to do in a company vehicle and extremely dangerous behavior. No issue with the company itself and the owner seemed sympathetic and apologized for his employees behavior.
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2 changes recorded — last scanned Jul 29, 2026.
Typical Greater Boston range for this kind of work, from regional averages — not a quote from Fresh Start Contracting Corp. Use it to sanity-check bids, then get the real number in writing.
Estimated range
$23,000 – $35,000
Typical remodeling project around $29,000
Languages
Languages
Broad remodeling range4.8
Service breadth4.2
