JD Howell and Company

Josh was professional and easy to work with. This was a small job but Josh gave attention to detail and did what he said he would. His price was fair and he was thoughtful about ways to keep costs down. I would work with Josh again without hesitation. Love the new soapstone counter, sink and faucet.

Josh and his crew were professional and a pleasure to work with! The project took longer but we are very pleased with the outcome!

We selected JD Howell due to their experience with highly insulated, energy efficient homes. Our project was expertly managed and beautifully constructed. JD Howell was able to take our plans for a home of ordinary construction and convert this to a double-walled, super-insulated construction. Along the way, they made suggestions for modifications that could save money. They helped us with important decisions such as the selection of appropriate energy-efficient windows, air filtration system, and maintenance-free construction materials. The seven month project was completed only a few weeks late. We have been extremely happy with the quality of the work of the entire JD Howell crew, all of whom are wonderful to work with. The only negative to the project was that the cost estimate was lower than the final cost; much of this was due to inaccurate sub-contractor estimates. We would definitely use JD Howell again for any future construction, and highly recommend this company.

I had seen some of Josh's other work, and asked him to do a major kitchen remodel which included structural changes to three "floors" of a house built starting in 1850. He did a beautiful job, making great suggestions, and most artfully, helped me move away from a bad idea I was considering. Josh has very high standards in his work, and great judgment.

I hired Josh Howell to build my family a vacation cottage on the outermost island off the coast of Maine, which has no electricity, no fresh water on the site, no regular boat service and is 25 miles out to sea--needless to add, a significant construction challenge. Josh and his crew performed the task on time, on budget, and with great dedication and good humor, and in a manner that won recognition in feature articles in Dwell and DownEast magazines (Google "Off the Grid" in Dwell). I recommend him unqualifiedly and with great enthusiasm.

I can unequivocally recommend Josh based on our experience working with him over a period of 18 months or so. We hired Josh and company to do a major renovation plus addition of our home in Waldoboro, ME. Over the course of the project I came to trust him entirely— and trust, I have concluded is the most important element in a client-builder relationship, especially one where the client is not on site for large swaths of time. Josh is committed to his craft and has the talent, training, and experience to translate design into 3-dimensional structures that impress. Equally important he is a down-to-earth, level headed professional who remains unflustered when dealing with the unexpected and irregular -- a rather important quality when it comes to major construction projects where things don't always go according to plan and people do not always come through. Finally, he is putting together a solid team of people to work with him. A team who for the most part reflect his values. All things said and done, I would hire him again with no hesitation what-so-ever in the unlikely event that I was undertaking another major project.

Josh and crew have done a couple of projects for me. The end result has been excellent. He's done work on my off grid island house with its challenges, and the mainland house. From the more routine work like painting and sheetrocking to nonstandard designing and building a deck and bulkhead, all has turned out nicely. He works to accomodate my timelines and completes the jobs as expected.

Consider using Josh Howell. We had him help with extensive renovations of our 1880s house in Friendship. You can see a portfolio of pictures of our place in his "projects." What you cannot see is the "before" and there is a very big difference! Josh was terrific to work with on this project. I would have no hesitation in working with him again. Josh has imagination and good ideas, and he will make suggestions, but he knows that the project is yours and will carry things out as you specify. He has a good set of subcontractors to carry out painting, or floor work and other specialities, so you can leave the coordination of those activities to him and he will follow up to make sure things are done to your satisfaction. For our remodel, the kitchen cabinets were done by Brandon Kimble of Camden and the slate came from Sheldon Slate, but it was Josh who helped all the pieces come together properly. Josh is totally trustworthy about money. As with any remodeling project, we ran into some surprises and the overall project cost more and took longer than we expected at the beginning, but this was entirely due to our own choices to do things better. The slippery slope is any sentence that begins with "As long as we're..." but the outcome at our place has been really good: better windows, more insulation, much better plumbing, and other improvements. Josh has good sense about what is important and what is optional. He also knows when he can make a choice and when he should check in with you. He's a good listener and really works to understand what you want. There were some very tricky places in our old house, especially in the bathroom we created in the space that was the attic dormer. Josh was very thoughtful and creative in executing a good solution to a highly constrained setting. We love our house in Maine and we're very glad we hired Josh to make it better.