Groom Construction

Groom Construction has been building in Salem since 1979, and its résumé leans on institutional weight more than star ratings: a verified, active Massachusetts contractor license, an A+ grade from the Better Business Bureau, and a spot at No. 18 on Inc.'s 2023 Regionals Northeast list. The company describes itself as a full-service general contractor and construction manager working commercial, retail, institutional, and multifamily projects out of Salem, with a second office in Naples, Florida — a bigger-scale operation than a typical single-house remodeling outfit, though its own site and reviews show residential clients too. On Google, the picture is solid but uneven: 4.2 stars from 33 ratings, and in just the last few months, three positive reviews against one blunt one-star knock. Two of the recent positive notes single out a project manager named Hunter, working out of the Naples office, for being efficient and easy to deal with on bids and ongoing work — a name that shows up often enough in the company's history to read as a real, ongoing working relationship rather than a fluke. The one-star entry, by contrast, offers no detail beyond "slow and inefficient." Houzz shows a friendlier number — 4.8 stars and four Houzz Awards — but from only five ratings, too small a sample to lean on heavily. Worth asking about directly: the front end of the process. One review described weeks of back-and-forth trying to get a quote for a new home build, with mixed signals about how long an estimate should take and who was responsible for the delay. It's also worth knowing that Groom's A+ BBB grade doesn't mean it's BBB-accredited — the two are separate BBB designations, and Groom hasn't sought accreditation. This reads like a contractor built for bigger, higher-budget work — commercial buildouts, institutional and multifamily projects — where its license, four-plus decades in business, and industry recognition carry real weight. A homeowner considering it for residential work should pin down the estimate timeline up front and lean on the verified license and BBB standing as the steadiest parts of its record.