"russ-bo" wrote in message
oups.com...
We are new to Boston area (Newton) and have no idea where to find a
good contractor to do major overhaul of our master bathroom. It will
be doubled in size, expanded into adjacent room, all new fixtures,
tile, lighting, etc. We have a rough idea for the vision of what it
will look like but need specific design and contracting help.

Two questions:

1. Should we start with an architect, or a contractor? This will be a
relatively high-end bathroom, but I am still hoping that a good
contractor can provide the design know-how to avoid involving an
architect. House is 1890, we do not have the architectural plans.

2. Any recommendations for how to find a terrific contractor to do the
work?
specific names, or even a process we could use to find good contractor
names, would be helpful.
We are trying to avoid "throwing darts at names in the yellow pages".

Thank you.



There is such a thing as design-build contracting firms. Some of them are
licensed architects that have their own construction company and some just
have an architect or designer on staff. Maybe you can try going to
showrooms and supply companies to locate some of them.