Dear Mr. Douston:
It is my pleasure to write a letter of recommendation for use with your future clients. You and your whole organization have made our first building experience a great one, providing us with an exceptional quality home at a fair and reasonable price, on budget and on schedule.

RECOMMENDATION

At Ernst & Young, we differentiate ourselves from our competition based on not only the value we bring to our clients but on the relationships we cultivate during the process. That is a significant strength of Douston Construction as all members of the Douston team are attentive and caring throughout the building process. Douston Construction is willing to go the extra yard in terms of client satisfaction.

BIDDING/COST

Douston Construction worked closely with us to manage the overall project cost to our budget, without compromising the overall design of the home. By working closely together during the bidding phase, we were able to reduce the cost to build by over $100,000. Douston Construction was also willing to allow us to perform some activities ourselves to further reduce the cost of the home. At this early stage, it was evident Douston Construction was committed to customer service, and willing to be creative to meet the desires of the customer. Our project was run on a cost plus basis with no contingency, and the final cost was on budget without having to use any contingency funds. Douston Construction worked with us every step along the way, and handed back savings numerous times on specific line items, allowing us to upgrade other aspects of the home and still maintain our budget. I challenge anyone to find a builder as open and honest as Douston Construction from a cost perspective.

TIMING

Douston Construction estimated a construction duration of 6 months from signing of the contract. This was the most aggressive schedule of the three builders who bid on our project. This was a critical decision in our choice of a builder, as we wanted to move in before our daughter started school in the fall. Once again, the Douston team achieved that goal, starting the site work on 3/3/97 and completing the project on 8/31/97. This date would have been mid-August if our kitchen delivery had not been delayed by two weeks. In the early stages, we were completely framed with roofing started 5 weeks into the project. In comparison to other builders in the area, homes half the size of ours had taken as long as 12-14 months to complete.

QUALITY

In addition to excellent cost management and speed of execution, quality was never compromised. Both interior and exterior details display excellent quality craftsmanship on a home design that had many difficult and intricate details. In the course of the entire project there were probably only half a dozen issues that needed to be resolved between builder and architect. Some of the work we took on ourselves was the exterior shingling and painting. Throughout the summer as we shingled the house, I wish I had taken a dollar for every car that stopped to look at the quality job the Douston team was producing.

In summary, quality, reasonable cost, speed of execution, and an open and honest relationship is what sets Douston Construction apart from the competition in the Southern Maine area.