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Verified record
Four homeowners wrote about Richard E. Middleton between 2013 and 2019, and all four tell a version of the same story: the job started, and then it stopped. He trades as Richard E. Middleton Construction out of 179 Water St in Saugus, and BuildZoom files him under general contractors there. The accounts are specific. A homeowner writing in January 2019 said a kitchen sat untouched for three months while subcontractors walked off because they had not been paid, and that firing him through a lawyer and hiring someone else cost an extra $23,000. In September 2018 another described a second-floor renovation and addition that ran two years and ended with more than $6,000 of paid-for work unfinished. A reviewer in August 2016 wrote about a small room addition and a freestanding pantry, quoted at $15,000 over 30 days, and described the carpentry as the worst she had seen. The oldest, from September 2013, said a deposit paid that January to fix a roof produced no work by September and no answer to calls, texts or certified letters. Four separate people, six years apart, describing the same pattern is the thing that matters here — this is not one job that went wrong. He replied to the 2018 review in June 2019, saying the project ran long because it had two phases and the homeowners kept adding to it, and that he left after an argument on another client's site. That is his account, and it is the only one he has given. On licensing, BuildZoom lists a Massachusetts home improvement contractor registration and a construction supervisor licence for him, both inactive, and says the state showed each as cancelled at one point. Its profile also carries an alert reading "No active license on file". In Massachusetts, home improvement work normally requires a current registration, and structural work a construction supervisor licence, so this is the first thing to settle rather than the last. The written record is dated — nothing has been posted since January 2019, so none of it describes how he works today. But nothing positive has been posted since then either. Before considering him, confirm both licence numbers directly with the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation and the Department of Public Safety, ask for references from jobs finished in the last two years, and do not pay a deposit against an unwritten schedule.
Typical Greater Boston range for this kind of work, from regional averages — not a quote from Richard E Middleton. 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
Stay as far away from this person as possible. He came well-recommended and started strong, but then my project sat for 3 months while he promised to come back but did not (it was a kitchen - imagine being without your kitchen for 3 months). Turns out he was waiting on the electrician, who was not coming back because he had not been paid. One by one, the subcontractors abandoned the job because Middleton was not paying them. I finally had my lawyer fire him and hired someone else to finish. Cost me an extra $23,000 to get the job finished correctly. Save your money. Find someone else. I recommend P.F. Danusis and Son.
Burned, would be an understatment! I wish I would've seen these reviews before hiring him for our 2nd-floor renovation & addition. Rick Middleton should be labeled as con artist as I've never seen or heard so many lies and fictional stories. We gave him chance after chance to make things right, at the end it took a total of 2 years an ended with him walking off our unfinished job, laughing. This project took so long he build in a clause that we would be compensated for every week he went over his deadline. 22 weeks later, and him walking off we still have over $6K dollar of paid and unfinished work in our house that he had no plan on completing, thus why he walked off the job. **DO NOT HIRE THIS MAN OR FALL FOR HIS LIES** I will not stop until justice has been serviced, I feel for anyone that has lost time and money working with this man.
Richard Middleton seems to have a million handy excuses in his back pocket and at the ready for why your job is botched, late, incomplete or whatever other disaster befalls his so-called "work." He doesn't listen, never writes anything down and pays no attention to any instruction. He just throws it together at the last minute and takes no pride whatsoever in his work. He built a room (unfinished) on a floating laminate floor which he lied to me that is was glued down (ironically it was his assistant Bill that told me otherwise and a pantry (disaster) for me which was the worst piece of carpentry I've ever seen. I've never seen such incompetence. I finally had to cut him loose. Please, do not hire this man!
I gave Rick Middleton a deposit in January 2013 to fix a roof. It is now September 2013 and the work has not been done. Phone calls, texts, messages and certified letters have gone unanswered. I did hear from him in June 2013 and said he would personally do the job asap. Next step is small claims court. Fawn Merlino Middleton, Ma.
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Roof deck builds4.4
Porch and deck rebuilds4.4
49 years in business4.4
Low-disruption projects4.4