What does MDM actually do, painting, or remodeling?
Both, and they are genuinely connected. Painting is the trade in the name: interior and exterior, walls, ceilings, trim, cabinets and doors. The remodeling side covers kitchens, bathrooms, basement finishing, flooring, drywall and the trim carpentry that goes with them. The advantage of one contractor doing both is sequencing, the drywall gets finished knowing who is painting it, and the floor gets laid knowing where the trim has to land.
Do you handle the plumbing and electrical work in a kitchen or bathroom?
Not directly, and that is deliberate. In Pennsylvania, plumbing and electrical work are regulated separately from general home-improvement work, and many municipalities in Berks County require a licensed plumber or electrician to pull the permit and do the work. So on a kitchen, bath or basement job, licensed trades are brought in for gas, plumbing and electrical, and the rest of the job, the carpentry, drywall, tile, flooring, trim and paint, is ours. Ask any contractor who is doing the wet and electrical work on your job, and who is pulling the permit.
What is a tub-to-shower conversion?
It is replacing an existing bathtub with a walk-in shower in the same footprint. It is more involved than swapping the fixture: the drain usually has to move, the floor may need re-pitching, and the whole wet wall gets rebuilt and waterproofed before any tile is set. In a small bathroom it is one of the few changes that genuinely makes the room feel bigger. If you have seen the term “Re-Bath” used for this, note that Re-Bath is a separate national franchise, MDM is an independent contractor and is not affiliated with it.
Can you finish my basement?
Usually, but the first question is not about layout, it is about water. A finished basement that was built over an unresolved moisture problem will fail, and it will fail inside the walls where you cannot watch it happen. So the honest first step is finding out what the space does in heavy rain and at the wet end of the year, and fixing that before framing starts. After that it is framing, insulation, drywall, flooring and finishes, with ceiling height and access to your panel and shut-offs shaping the layout.
Do you paint the outside of houses too?
Yes, siding, trim, doors and porches as well as full exteriors. Exterior work is more weather-dependent than people expect: the surface has to be scraped back to something sound and primed, and there are days when a coat simply will not cure properly no matter how good the paint is. That affects scheduling, and it is better said up front than explained afterwards.
How do estimates work?
Estimates are free, and they are done by looking at the actual room rather than over the phone. Remodeling prices are decided by what is behind the walls and under the floor, so a number given without seeing the space is a guess that tends to move later. Tell us what the room is now, what you want it to be and roughly when, and we will come and look.
What happens after I get in touch?
You get a confirmed time window to have the room looked at, and the name of who is coming, not just a day. After that visit you get the scope in writing: what is included, what is not, and what it costs, before any deposit is asked for. If a time needs to move you will be told, and if the job is not one for us you will be told that too rather than left waiting. Read the reviews on this page including the critical ones, and hold us to this.
Is MDM registered with the state?
Registered, yes, and you can check it yourself. Pennsylvania does not license painters or general remodelers as a trade, but it does require most contractors performing more than 5,000 dollars of home-improvement work a year to register with the Attorney General under the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act and to show that number in their advertising. MDM holds Pennsylvania Home Improvement Contractor registration PA211771, which we confirmed on the Attorney General’s own public register, it is recorded to Dan Mosquera and is active until 2 May 2028. Two things to be clear about: this is a registration, not a trade licence, and it says nothing about insurance. Insurance is not shown on that register, so this site makes no insurance claim, ask for a certificate of insurance before work starts, and look the registration up yourself on the Attorney General’s Home Improvement Contractor search.
My house is older, should I be asking about lead paint?
Yes, and it is a fair question for any contractor working in Reading, where most of the housing stock predates the 1978 ban on lead-based paint. Federal EPA rules require firms that disturb painted surfaces in pre-1978 homes to be Lead-Safe Certified and to follow set containment practices, and both painting and remodeling disturb paint. We searched EPA’s public database of certified firms and MDM is not currently listed in it. That is simply what the database shows today, and it is a certification a firm can obtain, so if your home predates 1978, ask about lead-safe practices before work begins, and you can search that database yourself.
