The East End has seen a lot of change lately as residents transform second homes into full-time residences. Many people are spending more time at home as home offices go up or expand along with home gyms and movie theaters. While high interest rates increase costs to buy houses, they are boosting an East End renovation boom.
A renovation renaissance is under way as Long Islanders from small houses to $40 million mansions invest in improving their houses.
Joe Vella, president of Calverton-based All Island Handyman & Construction, has never been busier as this East End expansion continues.
“As Covid came, we noticed people giving up their places in Manhattan, making their summer homes their forever homes” Vella said recently. “There’s renovation going on everywhere. Right now it’s cheaper to build or renovate than buy.”
He said home equity loans, as homes grow in value, are further fueling this trend for big and small projects.
A full-service interior and exterior construction company and general contractor, Vella’s business has been, at least metaphorically, going through the roof. His company, which specializes in Suffolk including the East End, is currently doing renovations and builds in Hampton Bays, Southampton, Watermill, Hands Creek in East Hampton, Nissequoge and Northport.
“We do a lot of work on Dune Road and a lot of properties in East Hampton,” Vella added. “I’ve never lost a customer.”
Celebrity Renovations
General contractors are key, if often overlooked, players on the East End in addition to architects and builders. Vella is an example of someone who left his imprint on Long Island’s East End.
“I still work with my hands every day,” he said. “We’re at multiple locations. I’m on site for each one.”
Vella is a good person to start with to understand the role of the GC in real estate. A Dan’s Hall of Fame honoree, his company has been voted Dan’s Best of the Best 2010-2022, including Best Builder, Best Remodeling and Best Handyman.
He started in construction as a young man helping his father renovate their own house even before going into the profession. “He renovated every room, inside and outside, from the roof to the siding to the kitchens, the bathroom and hard wood floors,” Vella said. “I’d always be helping. That’s when I knew that was what I wanted to do.”
By age 16, he was rebuilding chimneys, rising to lead six four-person crews and then leading construction projects. He started his own company in 2002, doing work across the East End.
“I love improving the neighborhoods,” Vella said. “I love turning something into a masterpiece.”
Vella and his company went on to do projects for Secret Celebrity Renovations on CBS, including a full renovation with kitchen, HVAC, wood floors, molding, painting, basement and plumbing.
“We worked around the clock. I had an army of men in the house,” Vella said of how he beat deadlines. “We wound up finishing in five and a half days.”
They did another renovation for the show in Maryland, which he also led. “I didn’t have to sub anything out,” Vella said of a second story deck extension with a roof they did for the show.
One Stop Shops
While some residents try to manage renovations, general contractors like Vella lead many projects. A good GC needs good craftspeople, subbing out what they can’t do on their own.
“Nobody has a better team,” Vella said. “I’ve been in business for over 20 years. Our customers don’t have to hire a carpenter, plumber, electrician. We do everything.”
They use subcontractors with whom they worked before for plumbing, electrical and HVAC to supplement their skills.
“That’s where a lot of companies struggle. Guys sub out work to a not so good plumber,” Vella said. “We’re highly experienced.”
Vella said his company has enough workers to fully staff projects and move forward as quickly as possible, while some other companies struggle.
“If we’re’ building a house, we’ll have 15 or 16 guys plus myself,” Vella said. “If we’re framing a house, we have at least ten guys. If we’re doing a roof, no less than nine.”
All in the Timing
While having enough workers is key, getting materials on time matters amid shortages and supply chain snafus.
“A lot of critical timing goes into a project,” Vella said. “All materials lately have been hard to get. A lot of planning goes into it. We order materials before we start jobs.”
General contractors have to manage logistics, ordering further in advance than in the past.
“If we’re doing an extension or a full renovation and we need windows and the permit for the renovation takes two to three months, we still order the windows,” Vella added. “We know it sometimes takes six to eight weeks to get the windows. We have everything on site, so it’s ready to go.”
They work with one principal architect who prioritizes their projects rather than leading to delays.
“He’s very, very good,” Vella said. “It can hold everything up. That’s something we never have to worry about.”
From the Ground Up
Low inventory means rather than buying dream homes, more people are buying houses and then building, expanding or renovating.
“It seems like full house guts have been popular,” Vella said. “We’ve taken a lot of houses down to the foundation. We give them a whole new footprint.”
They recently completed a gut renovation of a Hampton Bay house following a fire. “We reframed the two-story house and put an extension on it,” Vella said.
They’re also working on a full interior renovation with an extension and a full gut of another house, both in Southampton.
They often expand house, adding floors, value and space, not just adding to real estate, but helping realize dreams. “A lot of people buy houses and we update them, “Vella added. “We’ve been doing a lot of second stories, extensions and additions.”
Cooking Up Change
Vella said kitchen renovations are particularly common these days as owners modernize. “We’ve been doing a lot of kitchen expansions, probably more than ever,” Vella said. “We’re removing weight bearing walls and adding kitchen islands, to expand kitchens.”
They used to renovate kitchens in the same footprint with new appliances and cabinetry, but Vella hasn’t done that approach in years.
“Everything is making the kitchens bigger and more functional with more usable counter space, adding an island,” Vella said. “It seems like a lot more people are setting up kitchens for entertaining for the holidays.”
He said in addition to hard wood flooring and tiling, they have been installing radiant heat in heated floors. They also have done siding, roof replacements, recently redoing a roof and installing Hardie plank siding in Montauk.
Offices, Gyms, Movie Theaters
They also have been building or expanding East End home offices, gyms, saunas and movie theaters.
“We’ve been doing movie theaters with drop-down screens recessed in the ceiling,” Vella said. “Since Covid, there’s been a spike in those. It seems like people are trying to enjoy every square inch of space in the house.”
He said basement renovations amount to “almost adding a whole other floor to your house that a lot of people didn’t realize they had.” They even installed a pool in one basement.
“We do some high-end work that other guys wouldn’t be able to handle,” Vella said, including a pool installed in a basement. “I didn’t blink an eye. I said, ‘If that’s what you want, we can achieve that for you.’”
