Scout & Associates

Most contractors want to quote your project. Scout & Associates will first sell you a report telling you what the project actually is — and across 28 written accounts, that consultation service draws as much comment as the construction does. A 2020 buyer with one week to decide on an old house wrote that Greg came out within three days and walked it with them. Another that year used the service on problems flagged during a home inspection and got detailed descriptions of every repair needed, with price ranges attached. A third asked about a future deck and was told the footings looked like trouble. In 2022 one of those consultation clients came back to report they had hired the team and had their basement remodelled. The company works from Cabot Street in Beverly. Greg Halle is listed as owner and operator, Chris Halle as vice president, Pat Quill as foreman and Billie McGhee as design consultant. Its own site describes general contracting, remodeling and renovation across the North Shore, and says the consultation reports are based on inspections by an unrestricted construction supervisor licence holder. Its BBB page is an A+ on a non-accredited profile listing nine years in business. The build work runs from small to substantial. A 2024 client described a condo taken back and rebuilt — kitchen, two baths, flooring, a custom staircase, paint, HVAC. A 2023 client renovated a kitchen while changing decisions mid-project and singled out the transparent pricing; another that year had an exterior refresh done on an old Dutch colonial. Reviews from 2020 cover a porch rebuild with new detailing on a plain front door, a second entrance added at the back of a house, seventeen windows installed on another job, and a custom wall of built-in shelving with a desk and shiplap. One 2020 client raised something more useful than praise: a problem with the work occurred, and although they weren't sure it was Greg's responsibility, he took it on and corrected it at his own expense. Before calling, note that the written history leans backward — 18 of the 28 accounts were posted before 2021, and the most recent lands in mid-2024. Ask for references from the past year. And if it is the consultation report you want rather than the build, pin down exactly what it covers and who signs it.