General Contractor in Augusta, ME
Kenneth Cox Construction has worked as a general contractor in Augusta, ME since 1988, specializing in houses that have been altered more than once.
- 38 years in business, since 1988
- Over 250 projects completed
- Affordable work, two-year written warranty
Augusta houses have usually been through at least one conversion. The big single-family homes near the State House were split into apartments when the government offices filled up, and plenty of them are being turned back into single homes now. Kenneth Cox Construction works on exactly that kind of building.
That history shows up behind the drywall: beams sized by eye, a bathroom wedged into a stairwell, a second stair squeezed into framing that never planned for it. Ken walks the house and opens things up before anyone commits to a number, because guessing on day one is how budgets go wrong.
Kennebec River valley weather adds its own pressure, with heavy snow load overhead and freeze-thaw working on slabs and footings. Structural work in Augusta needs a permit from city Code Enforcement, and every job we finish carries a two-year workmanship warranty.
Why Augusta Residents Hire Us for Their Project
Kenneth Cox Construction has traded under the same name since 1988. Ken still walks through each house and writes the estimate himself.
We are BBB accredited, which you can verify through the Better Business Bureau. Every completed job carries a 2-year workmanship warranty.
Get a free estimate for your Augusta project
Ken has been building and remodeling around Augusta since 1988. Tell us what you have in mind.
What other contractor services do we offer in Augusta?
Where else do we do general contracting near Augusta?
Where is our shop?
Directions from Augusta, ME to our shop in Searsmont
128 New England RoadSearsmont, ME 04973
What General Contracting Services Do We Offer in Augusta?
Our Augusta general contracting work puts the coordination and construction of a multi-trade project under one accountable lead. The scope can include:
- Project management and subcontractor coordination
- Permitting and code compliance
- Scheduling across trades
- Additions and structural remodels
- New construction oversight
- Multi-trade renovation execution
What is our Augusta general contracting process?
Get your free quote
Ken walks the house, opens what needs opening, and tells you what the previous owners actually did before he quotes a dollar.
We bring your project to life
Permits, trades, inspections and scheduling run through one office, and you hear from us without having to ask.
Enjoy your new space
Handed back on the date we agreed, with the warranty in writing.
Why hire us as your general contractor in Augusta, ME?
Homeowners hire us because we open the house before pricing the work. Most Augusta plans assume the original layout is still intact.
It almost never is.
Walls may have been removed and partly replaced with a beam sized by eye. Bathrooms turn up in stairwells.
Sometimes a second staircase has been squeezed into a space never framed to hold one.
That’s not a disaster. It does mean nobody honestly knows the cost on day one, so we open things up before committing to a number.
Augusta is a state-government town, and its housing tells that story. Big single-family houses were carved into apartments when the offices filled up, and a lot of them are being carved back the other way now.
Ken looks at the building before the drawings. Every completed job carries a 2-year workmanship warranty, and the company is BBB accredited.
Many of our Augusta clients bought large old houses whose prices made sense only because the buildings had been chopped into smaller units. Now they want to use the whole house again.
Other clients own capes and colonials in the hill neighborhoods. They need substantial work and want the person who quotes it to run it.
A general contractor handles the full Augusta project: design coordination, the permit through Augusta Code Enforcement, trades in the right order, inspections, and the punch list nobody else wants.
On a converted house, that includes investigation before construction. Scheduling a renovation around hidden structure is how a calendar gets wrecked.
We build throughout Augusta, from streets rising above the Kennebec River waterfront to newer neighborhoods toward Windsor and Chelsea.
Low lots near the river raise different drainage questions from properties uphill. Work within the shoreland strip also requires another layer of review.
Start an Augusta project that needs excavation after the frost is properly out. In this valley, that’s later than most people expect.
Interior work runs well through winter. Kitchens and full second-floor reconfigurations are among the easiest winter slots on our calendar to book properly.
Augusta’s history of converted houses changes the work. When apartments are returned to a single-family home, the plumbing stacks, electrical panels and framing must work together.
Repairing each one separately won’t do it.
Water matters too. Hill neighborhoods shed runoff downhill, leaving lower properties near the river to manage their own spring water and everyone else’s.
Footing drains earn their keep here.
Then there’s the permit process. Augusta has a code enforcement office, with permits required above the city’s threshold for detached structures and for structural or electrical work.
Paperwork belongs on the schedule.
Settle those issues before demolition. Otherwise, the project discovers itself as it goes, and the number moves with it.
Ask what a contractor expects behind the walls of a house that age. Listen for specifics.
Ask for the warranty in writing as well, and verify the company’s identity. Ours can be checked independently, and we’d rather you did.
An Augusta renovation costs what the house turns out to need. That’s why we don’t publish a price list.
A firm price for a converted house before anyone opens a ceiling is a guess wearing a suit.
We investigate first and quote what is actually there. That is why our figures hold once work begins.
What do Augusta homeowners ask about general contracting?
Can an apartment conversion be turned back into one house?
An apartment conversion can be turned back into one house regularly, and it is some of the most satisfying work we do. The variables are the plumbing stacks and the stairs, and both are usually solvable once we can see them.
Do I need a permit in Augusta?
You need a permit in Augusta for structural and electrical work, and for detached buildings over the city's size threshold. We file it and deal with the inspections.
My basement takes water every spring. Is that fixable?
A basement that takes water every spring is almost always fixable, and usually from the outside rather than the inside. Grading and footing drains solve more Augusta basements than sump pumps do.
Will Ken be the one on my job?
Ken will be the one on your job. He quotes it, he runs it, and he is the person you call if something is wrong.
Structural Remodels for Augusta Homes
Structural remodeling suits an Augusta house that has been divided, recombined or altered without a clear load path. We open the relevant walls first, then coordinate framing, plumbing, wiring and permits around the building we find.
What happens when you call us about Augusta?
When you call about an Augusta project, Ken listens first. Explain what you hope to do, and he’ll tell you what the house will allow, what it should cost and where he would start.
The conversation costs nothing. Nobody calls afterward to chase you.
Ken’s number is 207-386-9235.