Before remodel, we had 1440sqft of living space; afterward we had 1891sqft, but it made the whole house "work" better and feel bigger. Also, the roof space increased by 1,000sqft, which enatiled much more work than the additional 450sqft represents. <br /> <br /> We feel lucky to have found Anthony Fiore as our contractor. He was recommended to me by a friend at work, and he made the entire project as pain-free as it could be. He stayed in constant communication with us, worked with us on changes in scope, and helped find reasonable and affordable solutions to unforeseen problems. <br /> <br /> We spent a lot of time up front thinking about what we wanted, getting information on materials and other costs, and assessing our financial risk. We even created a 3D model of our house and fiddled with it for a good year so we could see the impacts of the structural changes to the existing house and evaluate approaches to problems. (Here, I have to plug the fabulous FREE modeling app we used, which was Google Sketchup.) <br /> <br /> Maybe that's overkill, but it enabled us to try different things, know the limitations, and do our own rough calc on what we should expect to pay for materials. But mostly, we figured that since remodelling a house is a huge hassle and a seriuoous expense--and WE were the ones who would have to live witht the results--we wanted to give ourselves every opportunity to explore the potential upsides and the possible downsides. <br /> <br /> We then put together a package of dimensioned views and requested bids from 5 contractors. Each bidder had the EXACT same package to use for their bid, but they still came in with a $50K spread between the highest and lowest bids. <br /> <br /> Like most people, we chose the lowest bid, but only after calling all 10 of his references and getting glowing reviews of his attention to detail and his excellent management of the project. He was also the only one who provided references with his initial bid. <br /> <br /> After we engaged Fiorebuilt, we modified the scope to include vaulted ceilings, an upgraded electric panel and upgraded roofing materials--all of which increased the price considerably, yet it was still well below the two highest original bids, which did not even include that work. So we were confident that we could tolerate (financially) the remaining uknown risks. <br /> <br /> Our final calculation of the cost per sqft, when considering the extra roofing footprint and work done on on walls that went down to studs came in at what we'd expected to pay when we started the project. And what people often forget is that time plays a huge role in how well the project goes. Anthony's crew showed up every day, on time and worked hard. Between his management of the project and their diligent effort we are one week away from finished after just 11 weeks. That is a HUGE boon to us! <br /> <br /> Because we're pretty handy, we planned to do some parts of the work ourselves to save cost--like running Cat5 wire and coax through the walls, setting the fireplace and stove vents, and similar "detail" work. We made sure Anthony was always aware of our plans and he worked to accommodate all of our many (many!) reqests. He offered advice and recommended resources as needed. He even came out on a Sunday to check out some plumbing we'd done to make sure it was up to code and wouldn't interfere with the work he was doing. <br /> <br /> In sum, I'm taking the time and trouble to write this review because we've all heard horror stories about bad remodel experiences. I want people to know that there are some contractors who can make it a worthwhile endeavor. I think of Fiorebuilt as the "gold standard." I know that from now on, if we want anything done to our house, Anthony Fiore will be our first phone call--and probably the only call we'll need to make. <br /> <br /> If anyone belongs on the Pages of Happiness, Fiorebuilt Construction certainly DOES!