Moving Roy, the 5600 Lbs Saguaro

It's not every day you see a 5600 pound saguaro cactus named Roy flying thru the air! In preparation for an addition project in Carefree, old Roy got moved today. Here are some photos and a couple of videos of the event!

The crane was already in place upon my arrival to the job site.

Prepping Roy for his 90' trip

Digging Roy's new home

Final preparations before liftoff

Digging out the root-ball

Up, Up and Away!

Planted - View From the South

Planted - View from the North

Planted - View from the new bar window

Videos:

Digging Out Roy:

Breaking Free:

Flying Roy:

TV Remodel

We just finished up a small project at my cabin at Torreon in Show Low Arizona. The existing built-in entertainment space in the great room was not adequate to accommodate a flat screen TV. We subsequently removed most of the old built-in and re-framed & drywalled to accommodate a new cabinet and flat screen TV. This project took a crew of three just over three days to complete.

BEFORE

DEMO

Drywall

Finished Product

Hiring a Builder - Due Diligence How To

I had a call from a Realtor in Carefree whom I have known for many years. He asked me if I was familiar with a "builder" (I use that term loosely) who a client of his had hired to complete a major interior remodel on a house they had recently purchased. The homeowner had paid a substantial deposit to the builder and he had started the demolition, but then hadn't returned to complete the work. It had been many weeks and the homeowner was getting nervous.

I didn't know who the individual was, but I was now curious. Within five minutes I was able to determine that the individual was not a licensed contractor in Arizona, had filed for bankruptcy in recent years, had been a defendant in a defamation suit which he lost and hadn't pulled any building permits from the Town of Carefree for the work that he was supposed to be doing.

I write this post today because it would have been very simple to disqualify this individual for the project with some simple due diligence. All of which can be done from your web browser. But it is only simple if you know what to look for. If you are not familiar with Arizona Contracting laws, you should start with some basics....

1. If you hire a contractor to do work on your home and if the total amount you pay the contractor exceeds $ 750 (for both labor and material), the contractor must be licensed with the State of Arizona. If you hire someone who is not licensed, the contractor is breaking the law. The home owner also doesn't have any recourse with the registrar of contractors if the individual is not licensed.

2. Check the Arizona Registrar of Contractors website to determine their license status. http://www.azroc.gov/ You should check the following items:

A. Is the license valid? There is a date stamp on the website that will provide time and day.

B. Is the person you are dealing with listed on the license? There have been many examples of unlicensed contractors using someone else's license information. Verify that the license information is accurate.

C. If the license is valid and you know you are dealing with the correct company, does that company have any active or resolved complaints against their license? If there is any complaint history you need to have a complete understanding on why the complaints exist. You need to go to the trouble of talking with the filer of the complaint to determine why they filed the complaint and what the outcome was. It is my opinion that any complaint against a contractors license is unnecessary. The contractor should be able to effectively communicate with their clients and avoid complaints at all costs.

Now that you have determined that the contractors license is valid, you need to check with the court house to determine if there are any pending or resolved law suits against the contractor. this can be done in Maricopa County by visiting http://www.superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/ here you can research public record on businesses and individuals.

These two simple steps will give you a piece of mind to start real due diligence on the contractor which should include talking with as many past clients as you can find, visiting past projects and talking with vendors and subcontractors. Hiring a builder you can trust is the single most important decision you can make to insure success for your project. Take the time to research who you are hiring.

Custom Remodeling Design Services

I am constantly asked, how much will it cost to remodel my..... INSERT PROJECT HERE........ A lot of our projects consist of a bathroom or a kitchen remodel and I wish it were simpler to accurately price projects. But the fact is, that no single project we do is ever the same. Unless we know the exact scope of work to be completed, as well as all of the changes that our customers make during the process of the project, it is next to impossible to price something without under or over estimating something.

To help our clients better determine the scope of their project, we are now offering custom design services. Utilizing the latest in computer aided drafting tools, we can build the space in a virtual world, allowing the homeowner to see what the finished product will look like. Down to the outside views, the light fixtures and even exact paint colors we can get a complete understanding of the scope of the project, thus allowing us to accurately price the project.

Here are some camera captures of a design we built in the computer for a client in Carefree.

If you are in the market for a new kitchen, bath or addition project, please call or email our offices and schedule an appointment to discuss us helping you with your design! 480-488-5042 gsmith@gwcustomhomes.com

Goodbye 2008! 2009 Outlook

Happy New Year! Another year passed us by and what a year it was. With the melt down of the credit market the residential building and remodeling world has changed. Many projects that homeowners had anticipated starting last year were either canceled or put on hold until the sky's clear. It is my belief that the next three quarters will continue to be very challenging times in the construction industry. Until the credit markets free-up and the excess supply of housing stock works through our market, we will not see any kind of sustainable recovery.

New construction permits are at an all time low in Maricopa County, which will help with the over all supply. Unfortunately most of the recent sales are REO properties and the stock of REO properties continues to grow. The banks need to get realistic about pricing. Homeowners who do need to sell their homes now, need to price for today's market, not 2006. If you don't need to sell now you shouldn't have your house on the market. Many of the homes for sale could not be built for what they are selling for which is a great value to potential buyers. That being said, I would caution any buyer of a custom home that was built in the last two - three years. Many were very poorly executed by inexperienced "builders" who may not be around any longer.

Looking forward, I see the next quarter being on the slow side. We are working on a few small remodeling projects ranging from building custom doors and cabinets for houses in Carefree and Scottsdale to a new project in Desert Mountain consisting of a major remodel on the kitchen and two bathrooms. We have been in talks on projects that we expect to start this spring including a new luxury kitchen remodel in Carefree, a new custom home in Carefree on Black Mountain and a twenty thousand square foot office building in Scottsdale.

We are actively looking for other remodeling companies to acquire in this market, allowing us to build a larger and stronger organization and utilize our economies of scale, ultimately giving our clients the most value for their dollar. By the end of 2010, I am predicting that we will be in a stable market (with much higher inflation) and our Remodeling Division will be one of the largest (in terms of revenue) in the Valley.

Keep a positive attitude and this too shall pass!

Circle G Ranch Project Update

Until today, we were ahead of schedule on the addition project in Circle G Ranch in Tempe. With the rain scheduled for the next three days, we will have to postpone further work until next week. We will install windows & skylights next week and the roof will get dried in. Framing on the existing house to tie into the new structure will commence once the house is dried in. As you can see from the progress photos, we didn't waste anytime to get the new structure framed.

New Front Elevation, inclusive of four car garage, entry tower, office and two bedrooms

Tie-in of existing roof line with new bedroom

New four car garage

Original entry to be removed

New entry tower

Hands-Free Kitchen Faucets.......COOL!

Last summer we had a client ask us to retrofit their existing kitchen sinks with foot pedal controls for their kitchen faucets. Something you might see in your doctor's office, or a lab but not very common in a residential kitchen. I was doing some new product research and came across these great new hands-free kitchen faucets that don't operate with foot pedals...

Kohler. The Wellspring Touch less hands-free beverage faucet incorporates Tripoint technology, a sensing system that mimics that of an auto-focus camera, measuring the distance between the user's hands and the faucet for accurate activation and less likelihood of false activation. Homeowners can manually set the temperature for cold drinking-water delivery; the unit also can be connected to an under counter filtration system. The faucet is available in a range of traditional and contemporary styles, and in several finishes. 800-456-4537. http://www.us.kohler.com/.

Delta. Utilizing Touch2O technology, the Pilar pull-down kitchen faucet turns on and off via a tap on the spout or handle. The unit, which also operates manually, includes a handle to adjust flow rate and temperature. An indicator light identifies when the technology is activated and when batteries need to be replaced. The faucet features a 360-degree-swivel high-arc spout, a two-function pull-down spray head, and Diamond Seal technology that eliminates leaks and drips. 800-345-3358. http://www.deltafaucet.com/.

Danze. The Parma Dual kitchen faucet operates manually or via a hands-free sensor. The unit turns on when hands are placed in front and turns off when hands appear a second time; homeowners can program it to turn off automatically after a set period of time. The contemporary-style unit features clean lines and comes in polished chrome or stainless steel. 877-530-3344. http://www.danze.com/.

Brizo. The Pascal Culinary faucet offers two forms of hands-free operation—touch control or an electronic sensor—as well as manual operation by pulling on the high-arc spout. Temperature and flow can be adjusted via a single-handle valve. The technology shuts off the faucet within two seconds of the hand or object being removed from under the spout. A push-button diverter behind the spout switches the flow from spray to stream. The unit is battery-operated, but it may be hardwired. It comes in polished chrome and stainless steel. 877-345-2749. http://www.brizo.com/.