Canty Brothers Construction

Overpromised, underdelivered Any renovation project has its ups and downs, but there are a few cornerstones that ensure an overall successful project for the client and contractor: Open communication, Transparency, and Follow Through. While we greatly appreciate the work of the carpenters, plumbers, and electricians who worked on our home--and there are some features of the home we very much love, I would not use this company again. Canty Brothers has a great sales team. They know exactly how to approach a client and provide the information to make a prospective client excited about the possibilities, however the follow through once the contract is signed is very different from the sales pitch. Once we signed the contract, we found communication became difficult, unless they were looking for a payment. We paid 650k for a complete renovation of a 1963 home south of Boston. The 1963 home was about 2700 square feet. We had an addition put on over the garage. The main living space is closer to 3200 square feet now. We also finished the basement. First, we were assured they would begin the project on time. The project was delayed starting by over a month. We were told initially that materials would be "middle of the way," but if we chose anything that wasn't builder's standard, we were charged extra. Many of the things we agreed upon in an email prior to the contract and in person, were not included in our final project. For example we were shown Master Cabinets and told that was what we would receive, but were downgraded to Fabuwood in the contract. It's difficult to push back when you are trying desperately to get them to complete work. We often felt we had to just accept whatever was happening because we worried they would simply stop working. In addition to the aforementioned, the construction crew caused a significant leak in our basement by damaging the water meter. We were charged for the repair. There was no leak prior to the crew working in the basement. The prior owners did not have an issue with this meter, either. Aside from incomplete or poor/sloppy workmanship, Canty Brothers did not care for our yard. There was significant debris, including glass and lead shingles from the previous house exterior left along the property. I have taken pictures of some of what I cleaned up personally. Once we moved into the house, we experienced a water leak in main bathroom through to the first floor, a gas leak due to a poorly sealed pipe, and our AC was not properly hooked up. These major items were addressed, but a better attention to detail could have prevented this. The design flaw with the gas vent, which vents out toward our patio, rather than up through the roof, means we can't have the back windows open unless we want the house to smell like natural gas. It is a design flaw that another company might possibly not have made, in my opinion. In addition, we now have water in our basement. When I called to ask that the sump pump I had originally asked be installed be included, John Canty, the owner, became incredibly belligerent. He assured me water would not get into the basement, and now that it has he wants to charge us for the sump pump that should have been originally installed when I first requested it. Almost three months after providing our final payment (despite agreement at walk-through that all work would be complete in thirty days), there are items that still haven't been completed or addressed. Our main gas fireplace insert has not been installed, despite being part of the contract. The backfill that was used to fill in damage to the yard contained broken dish fragments, large pieces of glassware, and other debris. It has been a struggle to grow grass, as a result. We will have to redo it in the fall. The house wasn't sealed completely, despite being told that we would rate "like a brand new home." I have yet to see that information, despite asking for it. I have maintained pictures of some of the workmanship. We have found vendors who can complete the work left incomplete by this builder, but we should not have to considering the premium we paid. Use this company with caution.

I cannot say enough about Canty Brothers. I interviewed 4 contractors for this job but liked John's input into my vision, concern to stay in budget, and most of all his confidence in his team. This job was enormous. We encountered many problems .... asbestos in the furnace, the main beam of the home was eaten by termites and needed replacement, the plans my architect drew up needed revising..... just to name a few. We broke ground in November 2018 and it was complete by early August 2019. (most of it was done by the end of May). I absolutely loved John's team (Kevin, Tracy, Adam, Julio and many more - all were professional, kind, responsive, hard working and knowledgeable (in fact I miss them!). If I had a question/concern, I got an immediate response/resolve. John had the lowest bid on the project but he is not cheap. He approached spending my money as he would his own- very wisely and budgeted where he could to save me money on things that mattered to me least. In this business you get what you pay for, and if you want it done right and to your liking, you should definitely hire Canty Brothers. I will never use another contractor. He is simply the best there is out there. I got exactly what I asked for and paid just under half a million (about $80k over budget due to issues not in Canty Brothers control and my expensive taste in all of the masonry used) - but the value created in this investment by having it done right far exceeded the cost. They did an amazing job.

The Canty team was great from initial discovery, design and scoping, to sale/close, the actual work, and post project. The process was transparent and without surprises. Curveballs thrown by our old house or suppliers were dealt with responsively and cost consciously. The project ended up beautifully and beyond our expectations. We have worked with Canty Brothers on several projects and it has been a pleasure each time.

We bought a home built in 1972 which never had the kitchen updated. We hired Canty Brother's for the job. Very thorough and professional. His crew was extremely polite, punctual and never left a mess. They knew what they were doing, it was impressive how knowledgeable they were. Definitely would recommend Canty Brother's to everyone. My kitchen is now beautiful!

Canty Brothers provided full service for the remodel of our Kitchen. They managed all aspects of the project beginning with full design services in which we were involved at every step through demo and reinstallation and construction. They provided a complete CAD drawing of the new kitchen along with a 3D model which we could view by computer. They have a really nice on-line project tracker that allowed us to see where the project was, what the next steps would be and when the estimated time of completion was and this was updated at least weekly and sometimes more. We met weekly in person with a Project Manager who explained what was happening currently, what was next and answered question we had. The kitchen turned out fantastic and I would not change a thing. Thanks,

We have waited to provide a review because we wanted to see how they would respond if issues arose after the work was completed (that is almost 18 months ago now). Unfortunately, issues did arise (water coming into the basement - more on that below) and Canty Brothers was not helpful about identifying a long-term solution for us. Our remodel was a very big one which took quite a long time to complete. Canty Brothers offered competitive prices and was able to initiate work within the timeframe we wanted - they do, however, tend to spread themselves across many different projects which meant their would be days/weeks we would not have any work being done at the house. They do not work weekends/holidays, so if there is an urgent rush for your project, take those pieces into consideration. For us, this was not such a big issue and is actually not the reason why we give them a "C". The "C" grade comes from the water issue. We knew ahead of time that we could have issues, so we wanted redundancies built in (and were willing to pay for them w/o shortcuts). Canty suggested a system built under the new concrete slab that we placed down, which would direct water towards a sub pump (with a second sub pump that could work off of battery power). Terrific!!! Large amounts of water would stream into the well and the pump would kick it out to a pit that was dug in the front yard - this worked (and continues to work) very well. So 99% of the water is taken care of. Unfortunately, we live on the side of a hill and have a small brook which appears to run under the house during heavy rains. During construction we saw water coming in at two spots, one of which we believe they took care of with a significant amount of waterproofing at the new entry where the stairs came in. They did not provide any solutions for the second spot. We were sufficiently concerned that we brought in a water basement specialist who recommended a french drain system in addition to the drainage system already installed. Canty Bros. strongly suggested that this was a waste of time/money and that the system would work fine and, most importantly, that THEY WOULD TAKE CARE OF US IF WE DID HAVE WATER. Well, fast forward ~2 years, and our basement has had water no less than 6-7 times coming in from that one spot. Fortunately, it is a matter of puddles, rather than full flooding, but when we IDd a problem before work was done, and we still have it after construction was done - this is unacceptable (especially when we paid almost 200K for the work). In the spring of 2018, Canty came by to talk with us and stated that he would do some work on the exterior of the house to improve drainage where we believe the problem is. So what happened? 1) excavation occurred in the fall of 2018 and they waterproofed that side of the house 2) I requested pictures of progress and, despite repeated requests, NONE were provided 3) They stated that there was a small crack in the foundation and that this is where the water was coming in and that this was now fixed (none of this was told to me DURING the process, only after the entire thing was backfilled - I would have liked to have seen this with my own eyes, or at the very least, a picture 4) they billed us for the work even though they said that they would take care of us. The rationale given was that this was not part of the original work for the project, even though we did have excavation done there during the original project? Overall - not a very pleasant experience... So how did that work go for us? Well, we have water coming in again and that 'fix' didn't do anything. Most importantly, when I called Canty Brothers to let him know what was going on, he did not get back to me. Birds Chirping... We will not be going back to them for this work as this particular problem is clearly over their heads. In hindsight, we should have listened to our instincts (and not Canty Bros. advice) and gone with the additional system to avoid water in our new basement. They were fine outside of this issue, but this issue is a biggie and does greatly influence our rating of them. This is all very unfortunate, as I do like Canty on a personal level (he is a very personable man) and his crew is very professional and does good work (for the most part). We simply have had a bad experience with this very particular important issue which remains unresolved.

We were very impressed with their iterative design process and the end result was fantastic! The project gave us an outdoor living space that blends in beautifully with the house, a gorgeous master suite and updated guest bath realized with creative use of existing space, a new office space and a number of other improvements. Their quality is excellent from materials used to workmanship. The team is considerate and responsive. There were no real surprises during the project aside from some unexpected rot beneath the old deck so the initial quote was very accurate. They were very accommodating with change orders and remained focused on getting everything finished with great quality right up until the end. I can't imagine what else we would do to the house but if anything comes up we will absolutely use Canty Brothers again.

Could not have gone better. All workers were prompt, tidy, professional and personable. The work was completed on schedule (never had this happen before) and was beautifully executed. The creative input of John Canty and his team was exceptional and beyond my expectations! The crowning glory on my property is a clover lawn (John's suggestion) - no maintenance, beautiful, and attractive to bunnies.

The initial consultation went very well. And was given a lot more information about the project than I had prior. When the final quote/estimate/plan came in it was WAY over what we had expected or talked about so we decided not to go with them as a general contractor.

Responsiveness and professionalism very poor. They talked up a good sales pitch to get the contract, but then once signed, rarely delivered on any verbal commitments. They were very punctual with sending us invoices for progress payments, but very slow in responding to requests, if at all. We were especially disappointed at their lack of professionalism and their need for constant reminders to deliver what they promised. The job was fairly simple and we were verbally quoted 2-3 months for project completion. They took over 1 year to finally complete all the requirements of the contract. (The contract was signed in 9/2015 and job completed 11/2016). The amount of time their subcontractors were actually in the building doing actual work was less than 2 months. The rest of the time was us waiting for progress without hearing anything from Canty. It required countless, repeated inquiries to find out where things were during the project (they promised a Project Manager to oversee the project and to constantly communicate with us, but that never happened, so we were relegated to dealing with their front office/receptionist). Canty does a lot of big commercial office/lab projects, so little folks like us are low on their priority list, and thus receive corresponding customer service. Had we known that this would be the case, we would have chosen a different contractor, and even paid more for acceptable customer service. If you are a large corporation, then you may have a better experience with Canty, but if you're a small player, then please be warned. You will have to wait, you will have to manage the project for them, and the job will take a long time.

We hired Canty Brothers to complete an in-law addition to our existing home. John and his team did a fantastic job from start to finish. In addition to providing quality craftsmanship and professional service, they were incredibly responsive and resourceful throughout the entire project. On several occasions we needed an off-hours response for different aspects of the project - John and his team were always available to support our needs. We enjoyed working with John and his team, trusted them with our home and this important and expensive home improvement, and would hire them again in a heartbeat.

We engaged Canty Brothers for a complete reconstruction of our ranch-style home. Having heard the horror stories from friends and colleagues about similar projects, we were apprehensive going in. From the first meeting with owner John Canty, however, our fears were allayed.  John brought a unique combination of creativity and professionalism to the project. We had floor plans in mind but John provided good guidance on what we could do to achieve the maximum out of our space while having the resulting house fit into the neighborhood and within the constraints of the zoning rules (we live abutting conservation land), and
our budget.  John created the blueprints for the house, organized all of the paperwork with the town (a very complicated
and time-consuming process), managed all of the subcontractors, and worked with us to achieve the vision we had for our new home.
John?s crew is extremely professional and  hard-working, and are true craftsmen. Their work was exceptionally high quality and they tore down our ranch house and built a colonial house in the course of 3 months during the worst winter Boston has ever experienced. Bitter cold and double-digit feet of snow did not deter John?s crew from building a house of exceptional quality.
We have been living in our new home for over 6 months now and are thrilled with the way it turned out. The quality of the work and the materials used has resulted in a solid, comfortable, and good-looking home. We will happily use Canty Brothers for any other projects we will have and can?t recommend them highly enough. They are not the least expensive contractor but the quality of work, the ease of project management, and the fact that John took care of everything from start to finish was well worth every penny. Canty Brothers provided excellent value: Excellent quality, on time and on budget.

John Canty and his team (Kevin, Tracey, Lisa) were all excellent to work with.  John provided us with a reliable estimate and worked with us very closely during the design phase of our project which included a first floor renovation (completely gutting the kitchen, new windows and floors in the dining room, and fireplace remodel in the living room).  His team was very professional and communicative during the whole process.  Our on-site project manager (Kevin) let us know what was happening every step of the way and always left the job site clean at the end of each day.  As the job progressed we added additional scope to the project and John's team was excellent at providing us quotes for the work (some of which we did and some we did not) and mainly keeping within our original timelines, even with the additional work.  John and his team went above and beyond, even fixing minor issues with our house that were outside the scope of our job.
It is never easy to be without a functioning kitchen but John and his team made things as easy as possible for us.  We would highly recommend Canty Brothers to anyone and will definitely hire them again for additional work on our home.

`If you have ever had a remodeling project, or lived through a construction project, you probably know that communication is probably the most important aspect of ensuring customer satisfaction.  We have had previous renovations which failed on many counts, but communication was probably one of the biggest complaints.   Let me say that Canty Bros absolutely excels in communication.  This is probably one of the biggest reasons that we chose them, and one of the biggest reasons why we would recommend them.  Not only is John Canty a proponent of communication but so is his staff.  They always respond in timely manner and pay attention to the questions that you have.  They are honest, up-front and timely with regard to communication.  John's administrative staff, such as Jean and Lisa, are incredibly helpful in coordinating activities.  They helped us pick out all of our fixtures and appliances.  They were also amazing in coordinating any problem-solving that was required.   I particularly like the fact that they gave us optionality... that is, they informed us on situations where we could choose to spend a few dollars more (or not) and what we got (or not) if chose to do so (e.g. insulation, heating systems, etc.).  My previous contractor was so adherent to budget that he would be blind to giving us optionality.  It doesn't hurt to tell people what they could choose to do or not do.  Also, I would say that Canty Bros does not try to nickel and dime you.  When you are spending significant money on a big project, they want to ensure that you are getting a product that meets your satisfaction, and therefore, they willl work with you on work-order changes, modifications, etc.
Next, I would say that Canty Bros stresses professionalism.  John insists that his staff is polite and attentive.  His people respect the fact that they are in your home.  He makes sure that they clean-up the work site and that they are respectful of neighbors.  John is a Marine, and he runs his operation with military precision.  You can tell that he is a natural leader.
On execution of the project, I would say that there were so many obstacles dealt to the Canty Bros team.  It was the worst snowfall in decades.   Also, our previous contractor (for an addition) screwed up so many infrastructure matters.   And finally, we had at the token problems with the building department.  Despite this adversity, Canty Bros delivered in a professional, high quality, and timely fashion.  They went above and beyond in correcting the problems that our previous contractor had left us with.  John, Tracey and Lisa were so helpful in getting through this project.  At the end, they worked around the clock to get us back in the house before our rental house agreement was up.  We will probably never know all the small details they did to help with that.  Even on move back in date, Kevin was here and helped us problem solve moving some furniture back in.  Additionally, they continued to communicate with us when the job was done. There were a few things that we wanted to follow-up on when the job was finished.  John and staff were very attentive to our questions and needs even after the job was done.  
On the finish product, I am very satisfied.  We worried that the house was going to look too boxy or look like a McMansion.  It is neither of those.  It looks fantastic on the inside and out.   Our neighbors have come by to ask us, "who did this project?"  We are very satisfied with product.  We could have opted to move to a different location to get a house that met our needs, but we love our neighborhood and wanted something that would meet our space needs but maintain compatibility with neighborhood.  I'm very satisfied with Canty Bros' product.   I love this house.
In summary, I would highly recommend Canty Bros as a general contractor.

John Canty and his entire team have been fantastic.  While we're not complete with our addition yet, I wanted to share our experiences thus far.  I can't say enough good things about his team including the sub contractors we have worked with so far.  We're confident the rest of the process will go as smoothly as the first half.  I'll provide a more detailed review once the job is complete but would highly recommend Canty Brothers.

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Canty brothers is a great company to work with.  They installed 2 large dormers on my cape.  John Canty is very easy to work with and very accommodating.  I never had any issues getting in touch with John.  His office staff is very in tune with what is going on and they are easy to communicate with.  Everything came out great and i had no issues.

We are doing a sunroom and asked a few companies for quotes. Canty Bros. came out and said he had to have the plumber and electrician come out to quote their portion first. Ok, fine. Unfortunately I never heard back at all and this was 5 or 6 weeks ago now. We ended up going with the first contractor I contacted who has been amazing with communication, punctuality, professionalism, and our project is almost half done! It will also be done in half the time Canty Bros. estimated. I wonder if I ever will hear anything. I am not sure if they were too busy or just not interested in the job.

unknown

This was the best experience. 
John Canty was professional from day one, arriving exactly at the time he said he would be there.  John understood my feeble attempt to explain my problem,  made suggestions as to the finished product,  (which I had not thought through) and   provided a detailed estimate of work to be provided including building permit.
All contact with John Canty and his office assistants Jean and Lisa were professional, helpful, and very responsive to my questions and concerns.
Work started on the date agreed upon.  Adam and Joe worked their magic daily - even in the rain.. despite finding more rot than anticipated, they were able to complete the repairs and reshingle  before the snows came....  it looks like the chimney and fireplace were never there.  
The interior moldings were matched perfectly, and the painting crew  gave the entire room  fresh coating - again, professionals and artists at their craft.
I am very pleased with the outcome and will not hesitate to call Canty Bros for  future work. 
Thank you.

The men they sent were great.  They showed up on time, worked neatly and cleanly and were very courteous.  When the door first came, John  Canty came over to tell me personally that the manufacturer sent the wrong color for the cladding and how they were going to rectify this problem.  They installed the wrong door as a temporary measure and reordered the door immediately.  As soon as it came in, they set up a new appointment and again showed up on time and the work was done neatly and cleanly.  
Throughout the process they kept in touch with me via email to let me know the status.  And, their price was fair.  I got 3 estimates and every one was higher.  I even got estimates from Home Depot (who were horrible) and Lowes (who told me that they could not match the price).
I plan on using Canty Brothers again for other work.

We hired Canty Brothers to build an addition to our home and renovate our kitchen.  Canty was one of four contractors we interviewed and bid the project out with; while their cost estimate was somewhere in the middle of those that we received,  we found their estimate to be the most comprehensive and inclusive, making us more confident in their real cost.  While cost was important, we ultimately selected John and Canty Brothers Construction because we felt most comfortable with his communication style - something which you cannot underestimate the value of when undertaking a project such as ours.  There was never a point during the six month project when we felt as though we were either being taken advantage of or had made a mistake in contractor selection. We were also quite impressed with and trusted his opinion on building methods and materials, product knowledge, and clear desire to provide a quality product and ensure customer satisfaction.
We chose to live in our home during the renovation, which can be a very high-stress situation.  While it was not entirely stress-free, Canty Brothers did their best to ensure we were as comfortable as possible the entire time.  Both my husband and I work full-time, but were fully involved in the project, receiving updates before we departed for the day as well as when we came home.  They  communicated with us via email and phone throughout the day if something came up, and were sure to involve us in important decisions right down to those that were a bit more mundane at our request.  Our home and grounds were kept as neat as possible during the project, and they made an effort to clean those areas which we were still living in at the end of each work day.
We were very pleased with the entire Canty Brothers team, as well as the subcontractors they work with.  All were professional, cordial and performed great work.  If and when there were issues, John and his team were extremely responsive and quick to resolve them. It is clear that they take great pride in the work that they do and in ensuring that their customers are happy with the end result.  We are thrilled with the outcome of our addition/renovation and would not hesitate to recommend Canty Brothers Construction to friends, family, and neighbors, or to use them again for future projects.

They say putting the words "Contractor" and "Trustworthy" together is an oxymoron. Well, John Canty and his crew proved us wrong. We found Canty Brothers here in Angie's list and a number of other contractors. We met with John and we talked about our plans to buy a fixer-upper.

We started by looking at old houses and John was kind enough to come with us to look at a couple of houses. Mind you that we were not under contract at that time and he just went out of his way to make sure that we pick a feasible project. None of the houses made sense to buy and fix so we ended up buying a vacant lot and we built a house from scratch.

We did not have a hefty budget but John worked with it to give us the house that we wanted. His budgeting is spot on. We went a little over our budget but that was completely our decision with the upgrades in our selections. If an allowance comes in at a lower cost, they will inform you about it and will use the money in other areas in the house. Whenever we are spending too much money on something or whenever we want something that we can't afford, he will bring us back to our senses. He just wants you to enjoy the house and not be house-poor in the end and we appreciate that very much.

My wife and I both work 8-5 shifts so we were not able to come to the site as often as we would like. We will just drop by in the evening to check on the progress when everyone is already gone. We did not have issues with John's crew and the Sub-contractors. We trusted that they will take care of everything and we were not disappointed.

I know that Sub-cons can be a pain sometimes but John and Tracy made sure that the kinks were fixed. There was one instance where John did not like how the HVAC unit in the attic was laid out so he asked the sub-cons to redo it and push it further to make the attic more functional. These are things that you won't see or use often but I think attention to those kind of detail tells you what kind of company John runs.

Towards the end of the project, we had a huge issue with our sewer. John made a ton of effort driving to meetings and meeting with people in an effort to convince the town to not dig the street. We ended up losing that battle but we appreciate all the effort. You will not get this effort from 95% of the contractors out there.

This project was not at all problem-free but we were able to iron out the issues and in the end, both sides were satisfied. It was a very long journey. If we were to do it again, there is no question that we will call John to build our next house. Thank you Canty Brothers for building our beautiful house!

I went with a different contractor due to the lack of response.  My timeline is below.  Over a month I was not able to get a final quote.  My plan was to move forward and have Canty Brothers to do the work, but after the frustrations below I gave up.
I understand being short staffed in August but I felt that I was pushing just to get some time for someone to answer my questions and to delivery what was promised at the time it was promised.
 Canty could have saved both our time if you just told me up front you were too overloaded to handle the work.
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Timeline
* questions sent 8/12 call 8/21 with no follow up
8/21    Call.  said he would get me a updated quote + pictures.  No response for a week afterward.
8/19 back from vacation
8/12
"As of right now, if you can send your questions in, I can go over them
when he gets back in.  He is very busy this week."
**no response to questions/calls (contact out: August 13th and
returning August 19th. )
8/7
initial quote more than a week after it was promised.  Does not include
everything that was discussed on site (front stairs/pictures of other
work).
8/6  contact on vacation
7/29 john at my home, said would get me a quote + pictures by 8/1

We interviewed three different contractors and knew right away that we wanted to work with John (Canty).  He was punctual and reliable from the beginning and made us feel very comfortable with the whole process.  We did a "design and build" job, so the first step was to sign a design contract and settle on the plans.  John gave us a budgetary quote to begin and as the design came together he updated the quote with more exact numbers.  The design process went well and we were very happy with the results.  Once we signed the build contract, John gave us a very detailed project plan and a start date.  They started on that date, and although the project had some delays, they were out of Canty's control and we were updated throughout.  The Canty crew was very professional and easy to communicate with.  They cleaned up every day and kept the whole site neat.  Progress was very steady.  In the end, we held the budget that was established after the design phase, and we were extremely happy with the result.  We would work with John and the Canty crew again in a heart beat.