RONALD and VIVIANA MACKAY in Keene

Professional! Reliable! Creative! Experienced! Effective! Intelligent! Efficient! Respected! Trustworthy! And yes, pleasant to deal with as well! -- When we decided to raise, renovate and extend our cottage, these were the qualities we wanted in our contractor! And we found them all - and more - in Joe Crowley and his expert team at Connaught Homes Ltd.

When Dave Bowers of Dave Bowers Concrete poured the footings for our new home on behalf of Joe Crowley of Connaught Homes, he mentioned that he also did patios and other work and left my wife and I his card. As the construction progressed, we had to decide on how to create the large lake-side patio below the deck on the upper floor. We explored deck boards and patio stones and then I called Bowers Concrete. Dave came over with samples of stamped concrete, available colours and pictures of work he had done. Having already done our research, we were persuaded by the cost-benefit of stamped concrete. The benefits being permanence, beauty and low maintenance – all important to us as we retire to the lake! Dave made suggestions, provided an estimate. We added in some additional work (slabs for stair landings and for the ac unit) and we came to an agreement. He and his concrete men completed the work speedily and well. We were pleased with the entire process, are delighted with the result and now have the stamped concrete patio we, our daughters and grandchildren and friends can enjoy.

The owner of CTC Contracting, Clarence Crough, together with Joe Crowley of Connaught Homes Ltd pointed out the advantages of demolishing our 55-year-old cottage and building from scratch. We had intended to 'renovate and extend' so that we could retire to where we liked best to be. Clare Crough pointed out that it would be less expensive and would result in a better product. He and Joe provided us with the numbers to prove it. We accepted and Clare Crough with two first class carpenters framed the building, the decks and stairs and finished the carpentry inside. A visiting architect friend commented to my wife and me that he had seldom seen such fine workmanship. Clare and his crew always arrived before 8 a.m. were working by 8 and put in solid work of very high standard. Even the building inspector was impressed -- and these functionaries take some impressing! It has been a real pleasure for us to do business with Clare Crough and his crew at CTC Contracting. They gave us what we want, when we wanted it.

My wife Viviana and I accepted a quote from Connaught Homes Ltd. to build the entire structure of a new home to replace our lakeside cottage in preparation for our retirement. We certainly chose the right company! The results were on-time and of the highest quality and the trades supplied were first class. Joe Crowley, the owner is an excellent communicator. My wife, Joe and I had a first class working relationship from the word ‘Go!’ Joe also advised us and suggested sub-contractors as we proceeded to finish our home after his company’s portion of the work was done. Every single subcontractor he suggested did excellent work for us. And what is more, they did it at the time it was required and gave us very good value for money. Joe Crowley and his team made a real pleasure out of the experience of building our new home. In fact it has been one of the best years of my entire life. My wife agrees! Our heartfelt thanks to Connaught Homes Ltd.