OPERATION INDEPENDENCE

Operation Independence isn't a general remodeler that happens to do accessibility work — it's built entirely around it. Based in Watertown and run by Rick Castino, the company says it has spent more than 25 years designing and installing stairlifts, ramps, and accessible bathrooms for families across Boston and the Metro-West area; the Better Business Bureau, which categorizes it as a general contractor, puts its tenure a little longer, at 29 years, and rates it A+. Its BuildZoom profile shows a 97 score and 28 permitted projects on file, ahead of most Massachusetts contractors by that measure. Reviewers keep circling back to two things: the accessibility work itself, and Rick by name. In a November 2025 review, a family described him modifying a bathroom to handicapped-accessible standards — roll-in shower, grab bars, a fold-up seat, even matched tile — for the second time they'd hired him. Another review from the same month described a chair lift and a custom porch gate that "work perfectly," while an August 2026 review praised a fast turnaround fitting shower bars and a seat before an elderly parent moved in for the summer. The same pattern shows up in a 2025 review about retrofitting an 1800s home's bathroom and one about a chair lift on a curved staircase in an old Boston townhouse — several of these clients had hired the company more than once. The one sour note is recent: an August 2026 review says a caller was told she was "a problem" after asking to verify the company's license and insurance before signing on. Worth raising directly, since the credentials themselves check out — Massachusetts registry records confirm an active Home Improvement Contractor registration under the company's name. For accessibility-specific work — ramps, stairlifts, roll-in showers, aging-in-place retrofits — this looks like an experienced, well-reviewed call in the Boston/Metro-West area; if licensing questions come up, it's fair to expect a straighter answer than one reviewer got.