Member Reviews

5 Star Review by Carol Dunn

My husband and I purchased an old colonial home in Rhode Island the end of 2021. She was built in 1740, so we can actually call her old. Discovering she was a tavern during the American Revolution made it extremely important that we stay true to that time period and equally important, bring her back to her glory. She was in remarkably good shape, but the exterior shingles were worn out and needed to be replaced. The interior is still all original. The floors, doors, windows and blacksmith hardware are all original. Some wood has been painted over but that can be fixed. Previous owners did some DIY projects on the exterior that needed to be reversed. It was time to bring in the professionals! We hired Modern Yankee Builders to create a Master Plan for our property and to design and oversee our renovations. Joe Cracco is the owner and a true gentleman. He also has a house that was built in 1760 which made him absolutely perfect for the job! He has more knowledge in his pinky than I could ever hope to have in my entire body when it comes to old colonial homes. The man is a walking encyclopedia! First, Joe had us fill out a very in-depth questionnaire to gauge our wants and needs. Having several remodels under our belt, this was refreshing. Joe has been patient, kind and honest about what would work best for our home. Most of all, he listens. He explains in great detail why he is doing certain things or changing certain things. Since our house is 283 years old, you always get the inevitable "surprise". He comes up with a magical fix and never skips a beat. He has gone above and beyond on this project. He gets down into the minutiae of details to make sure everything is period appropriate and built correctly. He makes sure the router bit is correct for the windowsills to look like they were made in 1740. Somehow, he located a gal who is a blacksmith to recreate some strap hinges and thumb latches that look old and authentic! He even tracked down some bullseye glass to match the existing. Amazing! We planned to add on a section off the three-season porch as a grill patio. Since the three-season porch is original and was built post and beam, Joe showed up with some old posts out of his garage and is using some old beams from an outbuilding that had been removed to make our grill patio look 283 years old. Joe truly goes above and beyond. I could go on and on about what an absolute pleasure Joe is to work with and all the things this man has done for us. He’s a treasure! Wicked smart and a great sense of humor. I would hire him again and again and again! Thank you, Joe! We are in awe of you and your capabilities!

Submitted by Carol Dunn on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023

Modern Yankee Builders

5 Star Review by dannr2

Modern Yankee Builders did a multi-room remodeling for us. They were involved from the conceptual phase (the beginning), through planning, all the way to the end. It was a great experience from beginning to end, everything was fantastic from the design ideas to the professionalism and punctuality, and of course the work itself was beautiful. (And Joe is a great guy, important if he's going to be around your house for a while). A few years later now (2017-first project was 2013), we've had Joe back to do a massive remodeling project for us, we demoed an entire floor of my house, studs, floor, and exterior wall included. We rebuilt a family room and master bed/bath in the space. As always with Modern Yankee, every detail is beautiful and all timing issues and unexpected problems were taken care of. There are so many remodeling horror stories out there that they're almost the norm; with Modern Yankee everything stays on schedule and ends up looking even better than imagined. And as before, Joe is a pleasure to work with, always important for someone that's going to be around for an extended period of time. Exquisite work, no hassles, on schedule, pleasure to work with...what more can I say?

Submitted by Dannr2 on Tuesday, Oct 31, 2023

Modern Yankee Builders

5 Star Review by Bob Andrews

I am a retired architect and found myself totally and utterly stumped when it came to solving a serious siding problem I was having with my wife’s and my 225 year old personal residence. When we purchased our house about twelve years ago we undertook a major interior and exterior renovation and restoration which included the replacement of the exterior siding. Unfortunately the siding didn’t hold up well. I couldn’t fully explain the reason for the siding's deterioration or a possible solution and a number of qualified persons/builders I spoke to couldn’t as well. I met Joe Cracco / Modern Yankee Builders at an event unrelated to building but happened to mention the problem. As we got into the discussion it became immediately apparent that Joe, besides being a highly competent and qualified builder, had an exceptional and up-to-date understanding of modern building science and technology - the key to solving our problem. After several more consultations, I hired Joe to provide us with 1) a more detailed explanation of the cause of the problem and more importantly 2) a comprehensive and detailed plan for the solution of the problem. As an architect I was well pleased with the work and totally convinced a solution was at hand. We proceeded with the work Joe outlined and the job is now complete and we are very happy with the result. I would most whole-heartedly recommend Joe Cracco / Modern Yankee Builders for any renovation, restoration or new construction residential building project and offer my most sincere thanks to Joe for a job very well done.

Submitted by Bob Andrews on Monday, Oct 30, 2023

Modern Yankee Builders

5 Star Review by Carol OConnell

We hired Modern Yankee Builders to design the remodel of our traditional cape after admiring their portfolio of work online. This was an extensive model of the entire ground floor and exterior, including converting the garage to a family room and adding a breezeway to standalone garage. So glad we chose MYB because of Joe Cracco's thoroughness with every aspect of the project. He spent countless hours with us to understand our vision and style so that the final design exceeded all expectations. We relied on Joe throughout the process to come up with creative solutions to design elements we wanted to achieve. The actual building phase of the project went seamlessly thanks to Joe's construction plans because of his meticulous attention to detail and his own extensive construction experience. Joe was in constant communication with us throughout the construction answering any questions we had and working closely with the builder. Our decision to use MYB and Joe Cracco for the design and construction plans of our home remodel was the smartest investment we could have made!

Submitted by Carol OConnell on Saturday, Nov 06, 2021

Modern Yankee Builders

5 Star Review by Laura Williams-Burke

My husband and I recently had the pleasure of working with Modern Yankee Builders and in reflecting on the experience, it exceeded our expectations in every way. Initially we reached out to Modern Yankee to discuss adding a garage to our house. Our first impression of owner Joe Cracco was only reinforced after each subsequent meeting— he is a consummate professional; an enthusiastic craftsman who intentionally fosters a partnership with his clients to ensure that his work in their homes will improve their lives on a daily basis. Modern Yankee’s design / build process really helped us get the most out of our remodeling experience. As we discussed the ideas we had for our garage addition at the initial consultation, we mentioned that we wanted to do a smaller scale kitchen and mudroom project that included cabinetry, a breakfast bar and coat closet. We ended up breaking out that smaller project and entered into the conceptual design phase on two projects instead of just one. While we evaluated different concepts and sets of plans for the garage addition, we were able to move into plan finalization and then construction for the kitchen and mudroom remodel. It was wonderful to see our ideas come to life, and one of the keys to the flawless execution was the partnership with Joe. When we told him what we wanted to see as an end result, he would listen and ask probing questions to determine what we were looking for out of that particular aspect of our home. Our answers helped to inform the conceptual design process and therefore improve the end result. While we continue to consider the plethora of intriguing options for the garage addition, we are now enjoying the fruits of our first successful project with Modern Yankee. Joe was able to match existing cabinetry, tile, and granite to seamlessly integrate his work into our kitchen (a feat that other contractors dismissed as impossible). While we had envisioned a simple coat closet and shoe rack in our mudroom, his custom design transformed the space and made the the most of every square inch in our entryway. We could not recommend Modern Yankee more highly. If you reach out to Modern Yankee you you will see right away that Joe’s attention to detail, craftsmanship, and pride in his work is second to none.

Submitted by Laura Williams-Burke on Saturday, Mar 23, 2019