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McKay Construction is a Hingham, Massachusetts residential builder on the South Shore that says it has been building new homes, additions, renovations and restorations since 1933. It is BBB accredited with an A+ grade, and BuildZoom shows 91 permitted projects. Ratings are mixed: 4.1 stars from 8 on Houzz and 4 stars from 4 on Google. Most of the work customers describe dates from 2016 to 2021. In a December 2016 Houzz review, a couple who asked five contractors to bid a second-floor addition said McKay came back with a full consultation and a 25-page binder detailing materials and labor costs, and helped them stay within budget. Another December 2016 customer described a six-month addition and kitchen remodel. A September 2016 homeowner said work areas were left broom clean every night after a major renovation, and a December 2017 BuildZoom reviewer said McKay had re-sided their house, replaced the roof, and earlier redone their kitchen, bathrooms and basement. An August 2020 reviewer whose house McKay spent more than six months gutting and rebuilding praised John McKay and Joe McDonough and noted the long-standing subcontractors on the job. In a June 2020 Houzz review, a customer listed new bedroom lights installed without the box fastened to any structure, a shower that leaked and stained the ceiling below, a hallway switch wired to nothing, an AC vent left hanging and ceiling holes patched after the finish coat. A June 2019 reviewer said an appointment was rescheduled, then canceled the day before, and that McKay would no longer look at the job. In December 2024, a one-star Google reviewer told others to go elsewhere. Its Massachusetts home improvement contractor license, #103765, held by John McKay, is active on the state registry.
Do yourself a favor and go elsewhere
Great company
When you hire John McKay you are getting the highest quality work and attention detail you could ever imagine. The people who work for McKay are the absolute most talented in the business. They are also friendly, respectful and meticulous. The job site is left neat and cleaned up each day and even the dumpsters are "nice" looking! When John is doing your job, you are treated like family. They remodeled our 1809 Federal Style home and are currently restoring our barn with such care and attention. We feel lucky to have them!
When you meet John McKay and Joe McDonough from McKay construction you are walking back in time to a place where quality, doing the job the right way, fairness, and caring for the customer still matter. Every subcontractor who came on the job was met with the qualifier "they've been doing business with McKay for years" and in this time of uncertainty over Covid 19, material shortages, keeping your trades on the job, none of this became a concern, because of the solid trusting relationships that have endured at McKay over the years. We are truly thankful that we choose McKay and that for the 6+ months that they spent gutting and re-building our house, a period that can be fraught with tension and stress, my wife and I never felt that the process had consumed us, rather that we were in charge of the process. Sure we had ups and downs and issues that you find in an old house, but the workarounds, and solutions were always presented clearly with the problem.
They did a lot of work to my house but I would not recommend them. 1. Installed new lights in bedroom but did not screw the light box to any structure so I have one falling down, not sure if they did that for all of them. 2. Shower leaked already and stained my ceiling down stairs. Also still a huge crack in the ceiling. 3. Light switch in hallway goes to nothing bc electrician apparently forgot it was there. 4. Spot lights in yard no longer have a switch so I lost control over those. 5. Large holes in ceiling were patched after finish coat of ceiling paint. 6. AC vent also wasn't screwed in properly so it is now hanging off. They did do some good work and this was just my personal experience but I couldn't recommend them to anyone.
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1 change recorded — last scanned Sep 17, 2026.
Typical Greater Boston range for this kind of work, from regional averages — not a quote from John D Mc Kay Construction. Use it to sanity-check bids, then get the real number in writing.
Estimated range
$23,000 – $35,000
Typical remodeling project around $29,000
Takes on complex jobs4.3
Clean track record3.6
Additions and remodels3.1
