Fine cabinetry is a specialty of Chris Dynega, owner of Pelagic Construction.
Chris Dynega of Wilton would be the first to admit that relocating a construction business that had survived the economic downturn, just as things are picking up again, may not make sense to many people, but, for him, it was just one of several major life changes in 2011. He also considers it an opportunity to position himself with new clientele as homeowners decide to undertake improvements and renovations put on the back burner during a time of great economic uncertainty.
Chris established his company, Pelagic Construction, in Jersey City in 2002, working on numerous condos, brownstones, row houses and single-family homes in the Jersey City and New York City areas. Last year, however, he and Manhattan litigator Noreen Kelly (now Kelly-Dynega) were married and while combining their households, which include her two school-age children, the decision was made to start anew in the suburbs. Their tri-state search led them to Wilton, where they liked the feel of the town with its numerous old houses, and the school system; they closed on their home in August.
While continuing to work with former clients in Jersey City and Manhattan during the transition, Chris had been building relationships with subcontractors and sources in Fairfield County to provide the same quality of work and customer service that has been a cornerstone of his business.
Chris’s interest in home improvement began at the age of 12, when he started assisting in his father’s painting and wallpapering business. As he got older, he found he liked carpentry, had a knack for it and worked his way through college doing it, eventually becoming a master carpenter. Upon graduation, he got a job with UBS and continued doing carpentry and handyman jobs on the side. Faced with the classes and exams required to become a licensed broker, however, “I realized I didn’t want to be a broker; I much preferred working on houses,” he said.
With the cooperation of his employer, he cut back to part-time at UBS until he was able to build his construction business into a full-time occupation a decade ago. Chris believes that working with his father gave him a good understanding of color palettes and aesthetics and his work blossomed to include kitchen and bath design and renovation as well.
Today, Pelagic Construction is a full-service remodeling company, handling all phases of residential and commercial renovations from handyman services to complete rebuilds. Chris prides himself on providing customer care and satisfaction, saying that with business hours of 7 to 7 Monday to Saturday, “I am easy to get a hold of.
“I work one-on-one with my clients, and generally only work with two or three at a time,” he said. “I know there is nothing more frustrating to homeowners having repairs or renovations done than to have workers show up for a couple of hours, then run off to another job and not be seen again for a few days. Once we agree on the job to be done, we visit showrooms and get everything we need to complete the job before we begin the physical work. We work on a tight timeline, and we stay on the job until the finish work is completed.”
Thorough planning is key, he notes. “Whatever the job, there is so much technology to consider today, both in materials — I am a big proponent of green technology and provide informational links on my website — and computer and smart-phone systems, so it is good to evaluate all of that before opening any walls. For example, do you want whole house sound, lighting and security systems? Or to be able to turn on heat, air conditioning or lights, even open the garage door, from a distance?”
The range of projects undertaken include “anything in the interior — basement, attic, bathroom and kitchen remodels — as well as small additions, exterior carpentry and siding. We’ve also done hundreds of decks and patios.”
As a fan of old houses, when Chris and Noreen were looking for their own home, “we were looking for an antique that didn’t need too much work — as we’re renovating another house on Cape Cod — and fell in love with the one we bought as soon as we saw it. It is spacious, with high ceilings and exquisite detail, and about all we’ve the need to do is change the color of some of the walls and furnish it with antiques.”
Known as the Samuel P. Randle House, with a plaque dating it to 1824, the original part is believed to have been constructed in 1799. The 50-by-40-foot, 12-room Federal clapboard has nine-foot ceilings and nine fireplaces, two currently working, as well as wide-planked floors and woodwork that has never been painted.
The previous owners provided them with a folder of information on the house, and they were quite surprised to learn it had been moved from Route 7 (84 Danbury Road) to its current location on Wilton Acres in the mid-50s. “It took eight guys about three weeks to do the job,” Chris said.
That move was made when the home was acquired by Kenneth J. Lynch, a skilled blacksmith and metalworker, who created many pieces of metal work adorning buildings around the country. In New York City, he directed repairs on the Statue of Liberty in the late 1920s, created the Art Deco steel doors and the stainless-steel eagles crowning the Chrysler Building, iron baptistery gates for St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the bronze astronomical rings held aloft by Atlas at Rockefeller Center. As part of the renovations on his Wilton home, he recreated the hardware and hinges for the doors throughout.
With his new family settled into its new life in Wilton, Chris is now focused on helping Fairfield County property owners make renovations to their homes.
For more information about Pelagic Construction: pelagicconstruction.com; 203-595-1903.
