Stefanie Stonebrink has recently become our designer after years of construction experience, starting in 1994 after a degree from Oregon State University. Her first job was working as hands on worker, superintendent and designer, with her well known builder father Ken Nolan.

Since 1997she has been a successful custom and spec homebuilder designing her own homes and home designs for other builders.

Remodelers and homebuilders fall into one of three categories: Accounting driven, Marketing driven, or Construction driven. It is very important to know which kind of builder you are consulting with in order to know what to expect from them and their building processes.

Accounting Oriented Builder:

They are always fixed on their bottom line as they are constantly thinking, “How can we reduce our costs so we can maximize profit and still get the job from our competition?”Costs are always accumulated in construction by types and quality of products, quality of workmanship, amount and quality of service, how fast can the job be done and what can they not put in the bid  to later add as change orders at the end of the job?  Yes, they’re initial estimate will usually be less money but the end product will be of less quality, and change orders will bump the price up to at or more than what the experienced, reputable construction driven builder would have been.  In a remodel, living in the home while an accounting oriented builder works could be a nightmare. These types of builders are usually not worried about reputation and long term commitment as they’re intention is to make a lot of money and go to the next job.

Marketing Driven Builder:

These are the builders you notice through traditional advertising like magazines, newspapers, and billboards. They buy their way to the top of the social media network as they strive for top-of-mind awareness so you go to them first. Initially you will think that since they are advertising heavily, they must be doing a lot of remodels and new homes and produce great results. They will sell you on a home you love, but often your dreams won’t be met through implementation. That doesn’t really sound like the best builder. Always be weary of strong marketers who have no reputation or very little history.

The year 2011 saw a continuation of changes that Kaufman Homes started at the end of 2008.  At that time, because of changing economic conditions, we realized people were staying longer in their homes because it had become increasingly difficult to sell existing homes and even a greater problem of building and financing custom homes.  This new environment presented Kaufman Homes with a great opportunity to make the transition from primarily a custom home builder to a broader based company providing more remodeling and repair and maintenance work. These changes created a more stable construction environment, allowing employment growth and we are continuing to serve our community from 36 years of reputation, experience, integrity and organization.

In November of 2009 Kaufman Homes made a careful entrance into world of social media by starting an informative monthly newsletter sent to friends and past customers.  This was a way of linking into our website to share with others the story of who we are and presenting our well documented construction process and philosophy, all which has been the contributing factor to the Kaufman homes trademark of success.

In October of 2011 we further expanded our social media presence by starting weekly construction information blog posts that were each entered into a categorized resource library on our website.  These posts are linked with and through our website to our other social media sites of Facebook and LinkedIn. The blog posts come out of 36 years of construction experience, observations and give a written history of the past and knowledge for the future.  Like it or not the internet and social media have revolutionized the way people do business, research topics and shop.  Young people have grown up with computers and the internet and have to help the generation of us who used the typewriter, land line phones, pencil and paper, played in the park, read books in the library for information and talked face to face with their peers!

When it comes to heights for bath, kitchen, utility countertops or dining surfaces, the heights should be based on the needs of the homeowner. The main purpose for remodeling or building custom home is not just to have a new pretty kitchen, bath or utility room, but to also to make the living experience more enjoyable and comfortable.

Kitchen countertops

Kitchen counters serve as more than places to store appliances. You prepare food, wash dishes and perform other duties at the counter and its height makes a big difference in your ergonomic comfort. Standard heights have been adopted for the different countertop surfaces in the kitchen but your personal preferences and needs may make alternative measurements preferable.

Standard Countertop Height

The standard countertop height in a kitchen is 36 inches high. Cabinetry and appliances are designed to fit this height and average-sized people will find this a comfortable work height. This specific measurement is not exact; tile or stone countertops may add ½ to one inch to the height, while Formica or other materials come closer to the ideal height.

NW Natural Gas has a great website on energy saving issues as well as new trends in the building industry.  They are very proactive on presenting new natural gas technologies to save energy.  It is interesting to note that in spite of NW Natural providing ways to save on energy costs, gas prices in Oregon have still decreased 26% in the last 3 years! Below are two articles that I thought were interesting. Please leave comments and let me know what you think as well.

Solar in the Willamette Valley

The article (found here) on Solar Assisted Absorption Chilled Water systems shows the possibilities and yet challenges to solar energy.  While this article talks about a specific application, solar chilling, I thought that it would be important to speak about solar in general. Kaufman Homes does not have any experience in installing any kind of solar energy systems because of our climate and lack of interest. In the sun deprived Willamette Valley, where we do most of our building, solar does not at this time seem to be cost efficient unless government subsidies greatly assists in the cost.  We know subsidies costs all of us taxpayers and in the long run diminishes the value of solar.  I am sure that as technology advances solar will still have a place in helping America solve its energy issues but until technology improves I am not sure that solar will be that viable in the Willamette Valley.

In Floor Radiant Heating

The in floor, radiant, hydronic heating system article (found here), was very well written explaining the merits of liquid delivered heating systems.  Several years ago Kaufman Homes built a home with this type of heating system using lightweight concrete poured over the piping system.  This system was quite costly to initially install but the homeowners have been very happy with the comfort level and the heating efficiency.  There were several issues that were encountered:  if you are gone for an extended period and want to turn down the heat it will take a fairly long time to get the heat back up to a comfort level when you return.  Some of the electronics now available VIA our computers or cell phones can probably solve that situation.  Cooling your home especially where there are extreme high temperatures can be a challenge.  Also the equipment, boilers and pumps were in this case installed in the basement of the home and with the rigid concrete and tile floor,  we had some very slight noise issues in some of the areas.  It was overall an impressive system and as technology advances and placement issues evolve it will surely become more cost effective.

As baby boomer aging has become more real, Kaufman Homes has become more aware of what should be done to make a custom home a place to age comfortably. Whether your goal is to build a custom home or remodel an existing home, we can enable you to live out the rest of your years without having to seek suitable accommodations.  We also know that even if you are young now you will get older, you develop physical problems which may limit mobility or friends and family may come to your home and have mobility issues.

Single story homes have always been easier to age in place, but at least if you have a two story make sure there is a master bedroom on the main floor.  Consider a home without steps, no sunken living areas; tri-levels are an issue, keep driveways to a minimum of grade for ease of driving up and ease of walking not to mention ice.

Don’t be moved by age. According to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), older homeowners overwhelmingly prefer to age-in-place, meaning to live at home safely, independently and comfortably.

When Kaufman Homes was developingThe Villas at Illahe Hills an issue that we had to overcome was the sound of trains that were present behind the homes. Whenbuilding a custom home or remodeling your house choosing the right windows and insulation can not only dampen sound but also increase energy efficiency. You have to take into consideration the site and the surroundings. Just like when you selected the land that you were going to build your custom home, selecting windows or even types of windows in various areas of the house is very important.

Back to the Villas, we took this process very seriously. After much research, talking to sound consultants, window manufacturers and insulation providers, we came up with two very successful solutions. Item # 3 on the list below cut down window noise tremendously. That along with doing blown in blanket insulation instead of traditional batt insulation, almost completely eliminated those two noises. Current homeowners at the Villas” will attest to this.

This is the second part of the blog post series on selecting a home remodeling or custom home contractor. The first post can be found here. In this part of the series we are going to look at what questions to ask potential contractors as well as how to compare estimates from two different contractors.

Asking Questions of potential Contractors

At this point, it is time to schedule meetings with the remaining contractors. This is a great time to learn about the contractor first-hand. Take note on his timeliness, professionalism, personality, and communication style. If there are shortcomings now, you can be certain it will get worse. Maybe most importantly, does it feel like you click?Again, remember to take notes

Over the years Kaufman Homes has used many different kinds of siding depending on Customer request, types of applications, desired home style and for economic reasons.  Past experience has shown that some siding’s can be problems such as LP siding back in 80’s and 90’s.  Kaufman works really hard at analyzing new products and the potential problems that may exist.

Fiber Cement Siding

Fiber cement siding comes in an array of textures that give the appearance of actual types of wood. It is more durable than wood since it is termite-resistant, water-resistant, non-flammable, and guaranteed to last 50 years (depending on the manufacturer). Fiber cement siding is composed of cement, sand or fly ash, and cellulose fiber. You will find that fiber cement siding is typically more expensive than vinyl but less than wood siding. It is installed over exterior wall sheathing on building paper or weather resistive barrier. Factory painting is available and generally warranted for 25 years.

Although more expensive than vinyl, fiber cement siding is considerably less expensive than wood. Fiber cement siding has become popular because it requires little maintenance and can have a natural, wood-like appearance.

We are going to be doing a two part series about how to go about selecting the right contractor for you whether you are doing a remodel, building a home, or doing small projects. This is a very important process that should not be taken lightly. We know that there are a lot of unknowns and questions that you have about your project and if you select the right builder they will be able to help you answer those questions. So take your time to read the following post and update we will post in the following week.

UPDATE: Part II can be found here