I’ve known Don Nichols for over a decade. In 1995 his construction company did a major remodeling job (one involving substantial structural changes) on my house on Raymond Cape in Maine; since then he has done several other jobs for me, including roofing, repairs to a deck, etc. All of his work has been excellent, from the largest to the smallest. The workmanship is the finest—especially noteworthy are the carpentry and cabinet-making, which all my family and visitors have noticed and praised. He is thoroughly professional, keeps to schedule, and stays in communication with absentee owners. I found all his employees of the same caliber—skilled, responsible, and very pleasant to have around.
Over the course of almost 50 years, I and my family have employed several building contractors for the house in Maine. In addition, I have had many occasions to use contractors and other repair people on my 125-year-old house in NYC. None has come close to the standards set by Don Nichols. He is the only one I would use for any future work in Maine, and my only regret is that he’s too far away to do work on my NY house.
Sandra Pierson Prior
In January 1998, our beautiful home burned to the ground. We never thought we have a home-like it again. The trauma of the fire is difficult to describe but we lost everything.
After interviewing several builders, we had the good fortune of meeting Don Nichols. He made our dreams a reality. He worked with our architect. In the interest of time, the architect did not do a final set of plans and Don had to fill in many blanks. With the breadth of his experience, he made this seem easy. He was so sensitive to our style and our wishes. By the end of the project, he could almost read our minds. Don was able to design and execute details from large to minute! His company designed the cabinets in our home along with many built-ins, a bar, and other such items.
By the time our home was complete, we had the utmost respect and admiration for Don. He had a professional and competent crew and subs. From a horrific, traumatic experience, Don turned it into a beautiful time in our lives. Seven years later, we still consider Don a friend. He continues to be there for us.
Ellie and Carl Packer
With our project in Portland complete, I wanted to let you know that it has been a pleasure to be able to do business in Maine from Maryland the old fashion way – with only a handshake. Vivian and I couldn’t be more pleased with you and your team’s performance in completing what turned out to be our total renovation “on time and on a budget” particularly given the operational challenges unique to our building. We were particularly impressed with the quality of your work and with your suggestions for improvements to space design and finishes along the way. Bottom line, after having done many real estate projects over the years, you gave us a really pleasant and unexpected experience which is much appreciated.
We wish you the best as you continue to build your business and hope that you and your family will stay in contact with us.
Regards,
Peter C. Hitt, Managing Partner
Don Nichols helped build our first home in 1981. We were impressed by how meticulous and dependable he was, and the quality of his work was top-notch.
When our family outgrew our first home in 1999, Don was the only builder we considered to build our “dream home”, a Greek Revival cape. Don was exceedingly patient as we worked through idea after idea and one draft plan after another until we had just what we wanted on paper. He and his crew as well as the subcontractors he uses are very hard workers and true craftsmen, each taking tremendous pride in their work. We just love our home and so appreciate the care that Don and the guys invested every day in their work. Our home’s value has appreciated more than 100% in the last 7 years thanks largely, I believe, to the quality of their work.
My wife says that during the whole building process she never went to sleep once worried that Don couldn’t overcome any problem that cropped up. It is so reassuring to know someone of Don’s ability and integrity is on your job. I think the best description of Don that I can give is that he is not satisfied until you are completely satisfied!
Feel free to contact us at any time. We’re so proud of our home, and we’d love to show it to you!
Steve & Roberta Willis
In 2004, we had a small, 40-year-old cottage located on Little Sebago Lake that we wanted to tear down and replace with a new home. We went to Hancock Lumber in Windham and asked their construction manager to give us the names of three builders who, based on his experience, were the best in the area. Don Nichols was one of them. We contacted all three men and toured some of their buildings. Not only was Don’s work the most skilled and the most interesting, but he was also the most professional. He was interested in hearing our reactions after touring each one of his former jobs. For instance, we saw a home that was phenomenal, but which was far grander than what we had envisioned for our lake house. When we shared with Don that we were interested in building something more casual that would tuck into our site on the lake, he showed us homes he had built or remodeled which were exactly what we were looking for.
As we only came up to Little Sebago in the summers, we wanted to begin the demolition after Labor Day and have Don work through the winter. This plan required that we be able to trust our relationship with Don enough to have him build our home long distance. Many of Don’s former clients were from out of state and when we spoke with each of them, they assured us that Don was a good communicator and was responsive not only to phone calls but to site visits. Don spent a lot of time with us upfront during the budget and design aspects of the job getting to know exactly what we were looking for. It was extremely helpful that Don had many former jobs in the area so that, when he would suggest a certain cabinet, or ceiling or roof, he could take us to see just that in an existing home.
It was often hard for me to picture things on paper and being able to see something “live” was a tremendous help and avoided confusion and disappointment. Because Don knew the way we thought, he could make small decisions on-site without holding up the construction process. For bigger decisions, he was always available even when we came up one weekend a month for 6 months. While there were a few miscommunications (as is to be expected), in every circumstance Don was honest and fair and always said he would do what was needed to make it right. He was true to his word. We could not have asked for more. Additionally, because we were not from the area, we were very happy to have Don’s recommendations for where to go for everything from cabinet knobs to granite to landscaping. Every one of the subcontractors was first-rate.
As we had designed the house (with an architect) and visited the site every month, when we drove to Maine with the moving van at the end of June 2005, we thought we knew exactly what we would see. We had very high expectations because we had seen enough of Don’s work to believe those expectations were realistic. But when we saw our home for the first time, the results far exceeded our expectations. The work turned out to be exquisite, simply amazing, and has continued to thrill us ever since that move-in day!
Gail and John Post
We have had many experiences with building contractors through the years, having built our current house entirely, plus we have done at least five major additions of one or more new rooms to existing homes. There have also been a host of smaller projects/renovations that we have contracted out.
For the last two major additions that we have done, Don Nichols has been our contractor. Don is clearly the best contractor with whom we have worked. His work is of the highest caliber. He is honest and dependable. He has stood by his work at all times and has gone out of his way to help us when we’ve had problems caused by poor work on the part of other contractors. His pricing has always been fair, even if not the lowest that we considered for any individual project. If we had it all to do over again, we would not consider using any other contractor. Don uses subs that he has worked with for years and that he knows will do great work. His oversight of them and the coordination of the work have always been excellent. He has always completed our projects on time and has never left us feeling that we are of lesser importance to him than other projects he is doing at the time.
We are highly satisfied with the outcome of the projects that we have done with Don Nichols and we are pleased to recommend him to others, without reservation.
Roger and Margaret Pezzuti
Don, his crew, and the subs he hires are all craftsmen of the highest quality. We would recommend them to anyone interested in building a lasting and beautiful home. As a custom builder, he worked very closely with us during all phases of planning and construction. His suggestions were always timely and right on the mark.
When we became unexpectedly unavailable for about a month during the construction process we relied heavily on Don to make additional decisions for us and to guide us toward the appropriate dealers. The extra guidance took a large burden off our shoulders. We hope to be in this home for many years; but if there is cause for us to leave if, we’d use him again.
Chris & John Williams
We selected Don Nichols based on the recommendation of friends of ours who had had their home built by him 9 years prior; today they are still totally pleased by the results, and that means to us that Don’s work passes “the test of time”.
Don is detail-oriented and thorough and explains all options at each level of development in terms of structure, costs, and aesthetics. He is always involved in every step of the building process. His skilled team is very professional and takes pride in its high quality of workmanship.
Don Nichols Building Contractor, Inc. delivers what it promises and follows its projects through to completion. Don makes careful building cost estimates before work has even begun. When the actual costs at completion are finalized, he analyzes the project costs and questions any costs that show a discrepancy from their estimates. (Don saved us several thousand dollars in material costs by uncovering billing errors of a building materials supplier.) What is equally important to us, his team makes return visits to complete the “final touches” that are always needed in new construction.
We have been completely satisfied with our decision to have Don Nichols as our building contractor and gladly serve as a reference for him.
Bev and Klaus Salzmann
I first learned of Don Nichols and his longstanding reputation for excellence when my son and daughter-in-law chose him to build their new home. So three years ago, when I was ready to hire a contractor to remodel my cramped old kitchen, Don was my first choice.
In no way was I disappointed. My experience was great! Don was focused on working with me to give me what I was looking for, and at the same time, did not hesitate to raise issues or offer alternatives. Once the work began, he moved it right along to minimize the disruption to me. The workmanship of Don Nichols, his entire crew, and all the sub-contractors he employs is outstanding…..quality #1. I’ve been absolutely delighted with the result. I have a beautifully crafted kitchen that’s a pure joy to work in.
I had no hesitation in going back to Don for my latest project, a master bathroom addition, and renovation. We’re about halfway through it now, and it’s clearly a repeat performance.
If you’re looking for a building contractor who has a strong customer focus, delivers outstanding quality and stands behind his work 100%, I confidently recommend Don Nichols.
