Licensed GC #B-8842 // Bonded & Insured // (919) 555-3647 // Free Estimates
Est. 2011 // Raleigh NC // Licensed GC #B-8842

We build the deck you'll
sit on for 20 years.

Decks, additions, basements, fences, detached garages. Licensed general contractor. 14 years on the tools. 82% of 2025 jobs were repeat customers or the neighbor who watched us work.

Get a Bid Call (919) 555-3647
NAHBMember Since 2013
GC #B-8842NC Licensed
BBB A+Accredited
4.8 / 5Google · 310 Reviews
What We Build

Small-to-mid construction. Done right, once.

We don't build whole houses. We build the addition, the deck, the fence, and the shed that finish them. Six categories, one crew per job, header joists over IRC R507 ledgers, lien releases at walk-through.

01 // Decks Carpenter drilling deck framing lumber

Cedar & Composite Decks

Pressure-treated framing with frost-depth footings, 6x6 posts on anything over 4 feet of elevation, and either #1 cedar or TimberTech composite on top. Code-compliant to IRC R507 ledger attachment.

  • Cedar $45/sqft installed
  • Composite $62/sqft installed
  • 10-yr workmanship warranty
02 // Additions Modern home with addition and pool

Sunrooms & Family Rooms

Bump-out additions, sunrooms, family-room extensions, primary-suite add-ons. BCI I-joist floor systems, R-15 rim joist insulation, Hardie smooth cement board to match your existing exterior.

  • 200 – 900 sqft footprints
  • Fixed-price bid, not hourly
  • Permit & inspection pulled by us
03 // Basements Finished basement living room

Finished Basements & Egress

Full basement buildouts: framing, electrical rough-in with our in-house licensed EC, insulation, drywall, flooring, trim. ICC-compliant egress window cutouts when the plan calls for a bedroom.

  • Egress cut & well $4,200
  • Full basement $42 – $58/sqft
  • Permit & final inspection
04 // Fences Wood-sided home at dusk with privacy fence

Cedar, Aluminum & Chainlink

Board-on-board cedar, picket, shadowbox, 4-ft aluminum pool fence, or galvanized chainlink. Posts set 30" deep in concrete, no exceptions, regardless of what the last guy told you.

  • Cedar $38/LF installed
  • Aluminum $54/LF installed
  • Chainlink $22/LF installed
05 // Garages Finished interior workshop space

Detached Garages

Single, double, or carriage-house style with loft. 4-inch slab on 6-mil poly, 2x6 walls, engineered trusses, 9-ft overhead door with belt-drive opener. Matched to your main-house siding and roof.

  • 24x24 from $62,400
  • 24x30 w/ loft from $84,900
  • Permit, slab & electrical
06 // Outdoor Construction crew working with rebar

Sheds & Outdoor Kitchens

10x12 or 12x16 sheds on skid or block foundations, outdoor kitchens with stone veneer, built-in grill rough-ins, and gas-line coordination with a licensed plumber on our call list.

  • 10x12 shed from $6,400
  • 12x16 shed from $9,100
  • Outdoor kitchen $18k – $42k
We built your cousin's deck. // Now we'll build yours // 82% Repeat// or neighbor-referred //

Real Numbers. Before You Sign.

// Posted pricing · Raleigh-Durham-Cary service area · April 2026
Cedar Deck
$45 /sqft
#1 cedar boards, 16" OC joists, PT framing, frost-depth footings. Installed.
Composite Deck
$62 /sqft
TimberTech or Trex Enhance, hidden fasteners, aluminum post jackets. Installed.
Cedar Fence
$38 /LF
6-ft board-on-board, pressure-treated posts 30" in concrete. Installed.
Additions
Bid Required
Free on-site scope walk. Fixed-price written bid inside 7 days.
The Bulldog Way

Four rules. We don't break them.

These aren't slogans. They're in every contract we sign, in the same font as this paragraph.

Rule 01

Fixed-Price Contracts

The bid is the price. We eat our own cost overruns. The only time your number moves is if you change the scope — and we price that change before we swing a hammer.

Rule 02

One Crew Per Job

The four guys who show up Monday are the four guys on the final walk. We don't sub out framing, decking, or trim. Nobody jumps trailers mid-project.

Rule 03

10-Year Workmanship Warranty

In writing on every contract. Ledger pulls, joist sag, fastener pop, fence posts out of plumb — we come back and fix it. Year one through year ten.

Rule 04

Lien Release at Walk

Final walk-through. Punch list cleared. Lien release from every supplier handed over before your final payment. You close the job clean.

Job Ticket Gallery

Every job gets a ticket. Every ticket gets built right.

Six recent builds, real job numbers, real neighborhoods. If you're on this side of 540, you've probably driven past a few.

Job #2314 Cedar deck construction
Cameron Village

24'x16' cedar deck · two-level with wrap bench

384 sqft · 6x6 posts · 11 days on site
Job #2298 Home with rear addition
North Hills

620 sqft family-room addition · Hardie-matched

BCI joists · R-15 rim · 14 weeks
Job #2276 Finished basement living area
Oakwood

1,100 sqft basement finish · bedroom + full bath

ICC egress cut · 9 weeks
Job #2341 House with cedar privacy fence
Five Points

214 LF board-on-board cedar fence

6-ft privacy · 3 gates · 4 days
Job #2302 Finished garage interior with workshop area
Boylan Heights

24'x30' detached garage with finished loft

2x6 walls · 9-ft OH door · 7 weeks
Job #2330 Construction crew pouring footings
Mordecai

14'x16' composite deck + 12'x12' screened porch

Trex Enhance · cedar T&G ceiling · 18 days
Ray Hollister, founder of Bulldog Builders
Founder

Ray Hollister. 28 years on the tools.

I started framing houses out of high school in 1998 — Wake County, Johnston County, wherever the work was. I broke my left wrist off a fall in 2010, couldn't swing a framing hammer for eight months, and spent that stretch reading every building code and every small-contractor business book I could get my hands on.

When my wrist healed, I didn't go back to framing for someone else. I started Bulldog Builders in 2011 with one F-250, one skilsaw, and my father-in-law as my first customer. Fourteen years in, we're 11 guys on payroll, and I still show up to every first-day walk and every final punch.

I'm not the cheapest GC in Raleigh. I am the one whose number you'll still have in your phone in 2030, and whose truck will still pull up when a board pops.

— Ray Hollister, Owner & Licensed GC #B-8842
28
Years On Tools
11
Guys On Payroll
460
Referrals · 2025
Our Crews

Three crews. Same faces on every job.

When we say "one crew per job," these are the leads who show up. Every one of them has been with Bulldog at least four years.

Crew leader portrait
Crew Alpha // Lead

Marcus Jennings

9 years with Bulldog · Framing & additions

Came up framing tract homes in Durham. Can lay out a 600-sqft addition's floor system in a morning and still have the rim joist squared to 1/8 by lunch.

Construction crew portrait
Crew Bravo // Lead

Tommy Reyes

6 years with Bulldog · Decks & porches

Runs our deck and fence crew. Has forgotten more about composite deck fasteners than most GCs will ever learn. Never met a 4x4 post he'd leave in the ground.

Basement crew lead
Crew Charlie // Lead

Danny Wexler

4 years with Bulldog · Basements & interiors

Our interior finish lead. Drywall, trim, egress cuts, the lot. Trained on historic remodels in Oakwood, now runs every basement buildout we touch.

Repeat Customers

The work speaks. So do the neighbors.

In 2025, 82% of our jobs came from someone we'd already built for — or the house next door.

82%
Repeat or Referred · 2025
460
Referrals Logged · 2025
4.8
Google · 310 Reviews
14
Years in Business
"
Our 3rd Bulldog Project

Ray built our cedar deck in 2017. We had him back for the basement finish in 2021. This spring he wrapped a 460-sqft sunroom off the back. Same crew lead each time. No surprises, no change-order games, and the deck boards still look like the day they went down.

Pat & Denise M. Hayes Barton // Raleigh
"
Our 2nd Bulldog Project

Hired Bulldog for a 180 LF privacy fence in 2023 after watching them build our neighbor's deck. Came back this year for a 24x24 detached garage. Tommy's crew set every post 30 inches exactly like Ray promised. Priced to the penny of the bid.

Derrick L. Five Points // Raleigh
"
Our 2nd Bulldog Project

We found Bulldog through a Nextdoor post where four neighbors named Ray by first name in the comments. They finished our basement in 2022 — egress window, full bath, the works — and this year they came back and built a 14x20 composite deck. Clean site every single night.

Meredith & Jason K. North Hills // Raleigh
"
Our 3rd Bulldog Project

Deck in 2018, fence in 2020, sunroom addition in 2024. Three contracts, three fixed-price bids, three on-schedule finishes. My brother in Apex used them last year too. There is nobody else we'd call for any project under 1,000 sqft.

Alan R. Cameron Village // Raleigh
Questions

Straight answers. No dodging.

Q.01 // Permits

Do you pull permits?

Every time. Decks over 30 inches off grade, additions, basements with egress changes, detached garages — all permitted through the City of Raleigh or your county. Our name on the permit card, not yours. Final inspection included in every contract.

Q.02 // Subcontractors

Do you sub out framing or finish?

No. Framing, decking, fence install, drywall, trim — our own W-2 crews. We sub only what the law requires us to sub: HVAC, licensed electrical tie-ins beyond rough-in, and gas plumbing. Those are the same three trade partners we've used since 2014.

Q.03 // Lead Time

What's your lead time?

Decks: 3 – 5 weeks from signed contract to first post. Fences: 2 – 3 weeks. Additions and basements: 6 – 10 weeks, longer if we're waiting on permit review. We book three months out in April – October; call sooner if you want summer dates.

Q.04 // Deck vs. Patio

Should I build a deck or a patio?

Slope over 18 inches from door to grade — build a deck. Flat yard, door near grade, heavy furniture — patio's usually cheaper and lasts longer. We bid both honestly; if a flagstone patio is the right call, we'll tell you and hand you a mason's card.

Q.05 // Financing

Do you offer financing?

Yes — through Hearth and GreenSky, two third-party lenders. Rates are theirs, not ours. For projects over $15k we offer a 0%-down, 3-payment draw schedule that most of our customers prefer over financing. Cash, check, and card all accepted.

Q.06 // Warranty

What does the 10-year warranty actually cover?

Workmanship — our labor. Joist sag, ledger pulls, fastener pop-through on decks, fence post plumb, drywall nail pops in finished basements, trim separation. Manufacturer defects go through the product warranty (TimberTech, Hardie, Trex), and we'll file the claim for you.

Get a Bid

Tell us what you're building.

Free on-site scope walk within 7 days of Raleigh-area requests. Written fixed-price bid emailed within 5 business days of that walk.

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// We call back inside 24 hours. No robots, no VA's — a Bulldog crew lead or Ray himself.
Call (919) 555-3647 — Free Bid