Xtreme Shotcrete

Sea walls, foundation cracks, basement floors, retaining walls, bridge and tunnel repairs — Xtreme Shotcrete's list of work is the concrete side most general contractors hand off to somebody else. It works out of 166 Woodside Avenue in Winthrop, with a second location listed in Revere. The Better Business Bureau has it as a one-person sole proprietorship started in January 2007 — 19 years — managed by Mike Whitehead, who is also named as owner and responsible person on its BuildZoom profile. No homeowner has written about it in public. BBB and BuildZoom both carry the business and neither shows a single customer review, so there is nothing from past clients to weigh a hire against. Its BBB grade is A+, but that reflects BBB's own criteria, not anything a customer said, and the business is not BBB accredited. One thing to settle before signing: BuildZoom lists a Massachusetts contractor registration for the company, #163328, and shows it inactive — expired 05-31-2019, with BuildZoom adding that the status was at one point cancelled. That is the directory's own listing, not a state verification, and directory license records are often stale or attached to the wrong business. Concrete and foundation work on a house is home improvement contracting in Massachusetts, so ask for the current registration number and check it yourself with the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. For a shotcrete, sea-wall, or foundation-crack job this is a niche shop with a long tenure. Ask for the registration, proof of insurance, and a few nearby jobs you can go look at — with nothing written by past customers to read, references are what you will be going on.