Ray Galligan Carpentry & Construction (RGCC) provides its clients with all aspects of construction from site clearance to turnkey finish. Building Ireland touched base with the man himself to find out all about the Co Cavan-based company – from its origins to the state of business today.
Established in 2009, Ray Galligan Carpentry & Construction has grown a reputation for delivering excellent projects all around Co Cavan and across surrounding Counties.
The company, also known as RGCC, provides a professional, efficient service with very high standards of workmanship and excellent customer relations.
In more recent years, RGCC has been specialising in building Insulating concrete form for its clients and are now considered to be ICF construction specialists – a method which is becoming more and more common in the industry.
Building Ireland caught up with Raymond Galligan recently to learn more about the ins and outs of what is very much a thriving business even in these unprecedented times.
“We’re established for 12 years and right now we have four full-time staff,” Raymond outlined.
“Basically, what we do here is build one-off houses from start to finish – bringing the clients dreams to reality.
“We specialise in ICF and I suppose we got into it first because it’s something that we can do ourselves and, as I said, we pretty much do everything from the ground up to roof level ourselves.
“We got into ICF about three years ago. We’d kind of gotten dependant on the block-layers to come for us, so we decided to do a course in ICF and it just snowballed after the first private house we did. We were able to achieve greater control of our jobs and realised the efficiency of Amvic ICF.”
ICF stands out for its superior performance and quality, with the speed of construction and reduction in waste material a significant bonus.
“A two-story house ground floor can be constructed in four to five days and the blocks themselves consist of a 350mm wall which has 100mm of ICF on both sides sandwiching a 150mm concrete steel reinforced core. Built on top of a Kore insulated raft gives an ‘A’ rated home, which they specialise in the installation of also. The Kore raft was a no brainer to accompany the ICF which reduces build costs in concrete quantities and time on the job. Being able to do everything from ground works up to roof level has kept us very busy.”
It’s just another service which sees RGCC offering clients the full package, whether it be new builds, roofing, grounds works or carpentry.
Carpentry was where Raymond cut his teeth in the construction industry before taking the decision to set-up his own venture in what were difficult times for every contactor out there.
“I was a carpenter and used to be in a company with a partner before the recession hit around 2008,” he said.
“That disbanded the business, so I went out on my own with this one and, thankfully, we’re going strong today.”
RGCC managed to grind it out through the economic downturn and grew year on year from there, earning a reputation for delivering excellent projects in the process.
Over the last year or so the company, operating from just outside Cavan Town, has had to contend with new challenges brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic and the government restrictions which have followed in order to combat the spread of the virus.
However, the range of services Raymond and his team are able to offer clients has helped the company battle through and right now they’re as busy as ever says RGCC.
“Because we are roofers and carpenters, we’re able to finish off jobs as well so that kept us busy with some essential work during the lockdown,” he explained.
“We were closed for six or seven weeks during that first lockdown in 2020 but we’ve been flat out since then and 2021 is looking like our busiest year to date.”
No job is too big or small and no distance is too far for RGCC, from hanging doors to a turn-key finish, they have consistently delivered for hundreds of satisfied customers nationwide over the past dozen years.
Right now, the company has numerous projects on-going in the area to help carry it through to next year, as Raymond himself outlined.
“We’re restoring an old farm house in Meath at the minute and we’ve five one-off houses going on in the countryside as well,” said the Managing Director.
“Generally, most of the projects that we have are on-going at the moment and we also offer office fit-outs as well, so it all helps to keep up busy year-round.”
He added: “We’ve been lucky enough in that the people we have worked for in the past we’ve actually built for their friends and family as well, so it’s a lot of referrals and word of mouth that we’re getting our work through.”
So, what has been the secret to success so far for RGCC?
How has a small carpentry and construction start up, born in the middle of a recession, grown into a thriving business with an excellent reputation around its local area?
According to Raymond, operating with the highest standard from its inception has helped the company to get where it is today.
“Everything done on the job is done by our men and it’s finished to the standard that we want rather than relying on other sub-contractors,” he said.
“Keeping our customers happy has always been the main priority for us here and it will continue to be going forward.”
Whether it be commercial, residential or industrial, RGCC has the experience to deliver on each project through its relentless attention to quality and detail.
The company caters for extensions, passive houses, new builds and the renovation of existing properties, specialising in the revamp of old buildings.
RGCC also provides clients with all aspects of carpentry from first and second fixing, roofing to insulated rafts and ICF.
Looking towards the coming months, Raymond is keen to add more projects to his company’s already impressive portfolio and perhaps even grow the business further with the right people.
“If we could get more staff, I think we’d grow and grow,” he said. “Work seems to be plentiful and, all going well, we’d double in size but it’s hard to get good staff and even harder to get apprentices at the moment.
“In saying that, we are lucky with the men that we have at the moment because they have been great for us here down through the years.” A company is only as good as the people it employs.
For all aspects of construction services, from site clearance to turnkey finish, be sure and give Ray Galligan Carpentry & Construction a call today.
Ray Galligan Carpentry & Construction
Rathcorrick,
Co Cavan
Mobile: 087 205 4436
E-mail: [email protected]
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, September, Vol 7 No 9
Ray Galligan Carpentry & Construction
