Santoro Development

Do not trust the Santoro Home Improvement group. They were the general contractors for a project of mine and didn’t complete what they promised which was in the contract. Left my place a mess and promises after promises that they would come back and finish they finally came back and made it worse! They give you the best service before to get your business and money and when they do, they don’t complete! The overall work was okay at best, but WAY TOO EXPENSIVE. Go with somebody else, these people are scammers!

I’ll admit, the project I’m pricing is not a huge one, but the rep from Santoro that I met with seemed really disinterested and would only come by for an in home estimate between 9 and 5 M-​F. This was really strange and should have been an early indicator. Most people do work during these hours. To top it off after sharing plans and doing a walk-​through, I never got an estimate. I’m not chasing people to give them my business.

I can’t say enough in praise of Santoro Home Improvements (a division of Santoro Development) and SHI’s Tony D’Agostino, who oversaw the overall project of renovation and repairs at our newly purchased older home in Hamden. From the first meeting my wife and I had with him through the final walk-​through, Tony proved a model of the ideal general contractor everyone looks for but — if I’m to believe the horror stories of some friends — only rarely succeeds in finding.
Tony listened patiently to us in our first conversation at the house (and in many conversations afterwards), despite the fact that we were feeling our way among different renovation options. He presented alternatives clearly and followed up with clear written proposals for different options we could take. In every case he identified possible routes for us to take, and noted their respective advantages, disadvantages, and costs. We never felt pressured by him to choose a more costly alternative. Over the course of the project, Tony readily accommodated us when we contemplated (and sometimes chose) changes to the original contract — whether it was adding work or deciding to drop an item. Busy as he was with multiple jobs, he was always quick to respond to emails or phone calls, and took our questions patiently. He regularly checked on the progress and quality of the work carried out by the various tradesmen.
In fact, the work done by Santoro’s people encompassed many different needs: demo work, dry wall installation, spray foam insulation, roofing, gutters, electric, HVAC, basement foundation wall repair, and painting. All were courteous and very skillful. We are extremely pleased with the results of their efforts; the quality was first-​rate. On top of that, the final costs for all they did proved to be virtually identical with the original proposal, with differences accounted for by the changes we requested along the way. Great quality work, honesty, ready availability in case of questions or concerns, and patience with clients who sometimes struggled to figure out what they wanted — we could not have asked for better. We will certainly use Santoro Home Improvements for future home projects (we have one planned for the next year or two), and we recommend the company and Tony D’Agostino without reservation to anybody contemplating home renovation or improvement.