What Got Me Started

As most of you are aware, in the last several months, our local community suffered two devastating fires that took two lives, as well as many pets, horses and other animals. Our hearts and prayers go out to those dealing with the aftermath. Our family lost most of our home, and our dog, in a single house fire several years ago. It took MANY days to get over the shock of seeing our lives in black and grey. In the end, the experience was grounding for our family; we all became better people from what we learned. We were shown that we are not about our “stuff” but the relationships that bless our lives. We could not have gotten through the trials of the first months without the love and support of our incredible community. Our experience enabled us to give a tiny little back by helping a neighbor, now friend, who lost her home to an accidental fire. The process of rebuilding lives is daunting. In our case, many companies began disseminating information before the rubble had cooled (not kidding you!) that was just not true. Because of our professional experience, we knew that many services offered can be included in a General Building Contractor contract. For example; demolition and site preparation of the new home, insurance liaison service, coordination for new architectural drawings with an architect or residential designer and engineer before the home is compete in order to keep construction costs down. Rarely does the home have to be rebuilt exactly as it had been but can be improved with a more energy efficient and innovative design that may be less expensive to build. Most insurance companies want their clients to have a good experience so that they share a testimonial with others, but they won’t necessarily tell their clients about all of their options. We have had different experiences with different claims adjusters. Moving on from rebuilding, I will tackle the dozens of topics relating to the needs and desires of folks who are considering or choosing to remodel, restore, and build new.

As a Design-Build Professional, I will attempt to shed light on the myriad of design decisions that face everyone spending money on a home. We see examples every work day of nice people making important decisions that will affect their lifestyles as well as their bank accounts, with in-adequate or erroneous information because this type of information is not easily accessible. Of course, I am not an attorney and cannot give legal advice. If you or anyone you know would like to post questions here on my site, I would be happy to answer questions relating to my field of expertise and hope to create a conversation with others who are construction and design professionals as well as non-professionals who would like to share information gleaned from their experiences.