Verified record
Joseph F. Yencho, Design/Builder is a design-build outfit in New Bedford, Massachusetts, credited on Houzz with custom kitchens, bathroom remodels and at least one home addition. Its Houzz page carries a perfect 5.0 average across 7 ratings, but every written review on file dates to 2013 — the work described is real and specific, just more than a decade old rather than a picture of current practice. What stands out in those 2013 reviews is how often the finished result matched what the homeowner had pictured. One review calls a kitchen "gorgeous" and notes it was later featured in the builder's own project book; another describes a spa-style bathroom addition built around a very specific vision. A third, about a Rhode Island beach cottage, credits the team with correctly diagnosing a foundation problem and fixing the actual cause rather than applying a quick patch. Before booking, it's worth confirming where things stand today. BuildZoom shows a Rhode Island residential contractor license, tied to the same phone number as the Houzz profile, that lapsed back in 2016 and carries no reviews or address of its own on that platform — so ask directly about current licensing. One of the 2013 reviews also names the company "Quality by Design Construction (QBD)" rather than its current name, which may reflect an earlier version of the same operation. For someone weighing a kitchen, bathroom or addition project and drawn to the detailed, glowing accounts from 2013, this is worth a conversation — just go in with current references and licensing confirmed rather than assuming the decade-old record still describes the business exactly as it operates now.
Typical Greater Boston range for this kind of work, from regional averages — not a quote from JOSEPH F. YENCHO, DESIGN/BUILDER. 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
It would be hard to find words to describe how positive our experience with partners Joe Yencho and Carl Bryan was. I am writing after living in our amazing house for over a week, moving in two days after work was done on 12/21 ....ON TIME and On Budget! If someone else told me my story I might have trouble believing it: that Quality By Design started work the day after we closed and finished on the date in the contract; that the work was of the highest quality; that Joe and Carl gave excellent design and budget advice throughout; and that we had a positive relationship throughout. Over a 5 month renovation we found Joe and Carl to be two of the best people I've had the pleasure of working with in any setting. They were unbelievably hard working, smart, kind, respectful, patient, and skilled. Two signs of their work that were very important to us were 1) Joe and/or Carl were on site every day and 2) all of the subs they brought in were the best of the best and had a ton of respect for Joe and Carl. They have been immediately available for any questions or minor issues we've had since the work was finished. Joe documented the work on his site and I urge you to look at it. The cliche "I can not recommend them enough" is too true. We were so lucky to find Quality By Design. I can not recommend them as highly as they deserve.
Joe completed a gorgeous custom kitchen for us in March of last year. (It's the kitchen is featured in his project book.) Our previous kitchen was outdated, cramped and barely functional. A full bath and a peninsula took up most of the floor space in the kitchen, and a "window" overlooking the adjoining family room took up valuable wall space. Joe worked with us to design a functioning kitchen that fit our lifestyle with the limited space we had. After seeing our options on paper, we ended up reducing our bathroom to a half bath, filling in the window, and pushing a wall over a few inches to achieve our dream kitchen - in fact, its the picture for his website. I was very impressed with his skill and timeliness. Joe completely reshaped and renovated the bathroom, gutted the kitchen, ran all new electrical, installed new flooring, installed a new ceiling, built us a new wall, installed all the appliances and custom cabinets, installed a beautiful tile back-splash and did all the finishing touches (crown molding, painting, etc.) all within our predefined schedule. This was my first experience with a major renovation project, but I've heard horror stories from others of delays and hiccups along the way - we had none of that with Joe! Everything came together perfectly. He has a natural sense of knowing what will and will not work within a design and seemed to always be thinking one step ahead. It is clear that Joe's experience has given him an eye for quality without sacrificing value. Our custom cabinets were incredibly well priced and exquisitely handcrafted to our specifications - something a run-of-the-mill home improvement mega store would never have been able to do for us. He was also able to get us a fantastic price on the perfect piece of soapstone for our counters. He's got a good list of contacts up his sleeve and he knows how to use them! It's one year later and there isn't anything that has popped up that I would want to change. I could not be happier with the finished product that Joe provided us. I highly recommend his services. Mary P
I've had quite a bit of experience with contractors, but none has been as rewarding as with Joe. I first met him doing a photo shoot of a bathroom project that he had built. I was completely impressed by the design and the quality of the workmanship. During the shoot I mentioned that I was in the process of renovating a kitchen in Jamaica Plain. I thought that his prices would be totally inaccessible for us, but he agreed to come over to look at the space. I had spoken with three other contractors about the space, none of whom anticipated the limitations of simply replacing existing existing cabinetry and adding some additional cabinets to make a workable kitchen in our small space.. Joe actually thinks about kitchen design (he is an avid cook) and has developed a philosophy about creating kitchens worked around usability. He is a champion of form follows function, but has an impressive aesthetic sensibility. He has displayed some of the usual contractor quirks of not completing everything on schedule, but the wait has been more than worth it. I cannot recommend him too highly if you want quality, original work.
My first experience hiring someone from Houzz and it's been a great experience. We own a beach cottage in RI that was experiencing some foundation issues and Joe immediately identified the problem and came up with a solution that is much more than just a "patch" job. Joe is knowledgeable, friendly, easy to work with and arrived to the job promptly. He explains technical building terms so that a lay person can understand. We needed someone to fit us into a tight time frame and Joe kindly fit our one day repair into his schedule. We are discussing another problem area with Joe and hope to work with him again soon. In the next couple years, this house will need a new kitchen and I hope we get to work with Joe for that project as well.
I recently had the enormous pleasure of working with Quality by Design Construction (QBD) to create my dream spa bathroom addition. I had a very specific vision for the project and QBD understood that vision and partnered with me to create the unique details to truly make the end result one of a kind. The project was enormously complicated from a structural, mechanical and design perspective and QBD did an amazing job every step of the way. As with any project, there were challenges along the way, but I was always confident that QBD would do whatever was necessary to get the job done. In addition to being great at what they do, Joe Yencho and his partner Carl Bryan and their crew and subs were a pleasure to work with. I truly appreciate QBD’s dedication to carrying out my vision and would highly recommend them to anyone seeking high quality work at competitive prices. I would not hesitate using QBD again and look forward to having them come back soon to do more projects in my home.
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2 changes recorded — last scanned Sep 7, 2026.
Detailed craftsmanship5.0
Renovates century-old structures5.0