Joshua Grout, VP of Production at Jeff King & Company

No one likes surprises, and that’s why communication should be the most valued tool for any contractor in San Francisco. As Vice President of Production at Jeff King & Company, I’m here to walk you through a few ways to take advantage of your most powerful resource- the project manager- for fluid communication and a pleasant remodel experience. Because we know your experience is just as important as the finished product.

Our Approach to Communication

First let’s talk about our unique approach to construction management and client communication. At Jeff King & Company, we customize our team to fit the needs of your specific project. In many cases we streamline communication by combining the roles of project manager, site supervisor, and foreman into one competent leader. How does this impact your communication with our team? The one person that is most knowledgeable about your project is on site and directly available to you every day, so you have access to the answers you need when you need them.

Your Tool for Lasting Peace of Mind: Frequent Check-ins

In our experience, homeowners that take a structured approach to communication are most satisfied in the end. Maintaining a weekly walk-through is a simple and effective method for checking in. When things get busy it’s an easy appointment to bump off the calendar, but prioritizing a regular check-in has many benefits:

    •    Ensure last week’s expectations are met and this week’s expectations are set
    •    Completely focused time with design team and contractor for physical review of issues
    •    Immediate back and forth brings on-the-spot resolutions

Designer John Bradfield with Josh Grout

Though it seems simple, having a designated weekly walk-through with your project manager can make or break the communication cycle. If you cannot be there in-person, phone or skype check-ins are just as important.

Your Key to Construction Communication: Immediacy

Between weekly check-ins, new thoughts and needs will inevitably arise. Don’t wait until the next meeting to bring them up! As soon as you have an issue or concern, share it with your project manager. You can do so by phone, email, or in-person. This habit will pay off for many reasons:

    •    No time to let small or background issues fall to the wayside
    •    Invite input and advice for more informed decision making
    •    Allow team to foresee changes and make adjustments to budget and schedule

If you aren’t sure whether the project manager is aware of an issue, it never hurts to speak up. The sooner we are aware of your concerns the sooner we can provide solutions.

Your Secret Weapon for a Happy Remodel: Keeping the Collaborative Spirit

In the end, our happiest clients are the ones that felt a strong collaborative spirit with our team from beginning to end. We understand it’s more than a construction site – it’s your home and it’s filled with personal memories and experiences. As we cross through your space for a few months, our greatest hope is to be your ally and collaborator. This dynamic improves the remodel process in several ways:

    •    Open up more opportunities for us to help and support you
    •    Achieve more progress in a shorter time frame
    •    Have fun!

Did we say fun? We can’t promise your project will always be fun, but we do want to find the moments of humor and enjoyment that make all the difference.

Happy Remodeling

Our promise is to deliver information to you as quickly, clearly, and accurately as possible throughout the whole project. Your project manager is here to help in any way you need. With frequent check-ins, immediate communication and a collaborative spirit, you are well on your way to an enjoyable remodel experience!

If you like Houzz as much as we do, you probably saw us pop up on the homepage last Friday. Writer Julia Pockett hand-selected Houzzers with colorful remodel projects that inspire, including the eclectic purple kitchen from our 20th Street remodel.

See below for this example of purple-infused San Francisco kitchen remodeling along with living rooms, bathrooms, and bedrooms that boast the same color.

Welcome to our first ever LEED Platinum project!

This is an ambitious certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, awarded to buildings that meet rigorous criteria in sustainable practices and environmental impact.

What is LEED?

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a verification program and internationally recognized standard for green building. The program is part of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a non-profit organization that promotes cost-efficient and energy-saving building practices for a more sustainable future.

As USGBC puts it, pursuing a LEED rating demonstrates leadership, innovation, environmental stewardship and social responsibility.

What Does It Take to Go Platinum?

Homes must earn points to satisfy the LEED Platinum green building requirements. The point system is broken down into the following categories:

    •    Sustainable sites
    •    Water efficiency
    •    Energy & atmosphere
    •    Materials & resource
    •    Indoor environment quality

These requirements encourage homeowners to implement sustainable practices, reduce environmental impact, and create efficiency for ongoing building operations. 

Why Invest in LEED Platinum?

There are many benefits to building a LEED Platinum rated home. First of all, the remodel process is highly efficient with an emphasis on reusing and recycling material. But most importantly, the final product meets the highest standard of quality. The home will have the most advanced energy practices, indoor air quality, and materials that are both sustainable and durable (and higher resale value doesn’t hurt). 

More Than a Remodel: Modernizing a Classic Shingled Victorian

To call this project a whole house remodel is an understatement. It is recognized by LEED as a ground up construction, as we are actually building a brand new house into the shell of an existing structure. (If the structure were not deemed historically important by the city, it would be torn down and rebuilt altogether).

The modernized Victorian home will feature an entirely new foundation, two additional levels of living space, and all new windows and siding. The interior walls have been removed to make way for a new floor plan designed by Feldman Architecture. Not only is this an extra wide lot (45×125 ft instead of typical 25×120 ft) but the LEED Platinum rating makes this an extra challenging project – and we love a good challenge.

Most notably, we developed custom solutions to meet the required diversion rate, foundation standards, and home performance. In this post we’ll talk about the issue that is top of mind during our current phase: construction waste recycling.

3x the National Average for Diversion Rates

Diversion of construction waste is one of the primary concerns in green building, especially because the 25-30% of our nation’s annual solid waste comes from construction and demolition materials. That’s not surprising as the national recycling rate is a meager 20-30%. Luckily when remodeling in San Francisco, the minimum diversion rate is 60% and the average Jeff King & Company project is closer to 70% percent.

The LEED Platinum rating strives even further with a recycling requirement of 90%. This can be achieved through careful tracking of all excavated materials and conscious partnerships for the reuse, repurposing, and recycling of those materials.

How to Increase Diversion Rates

How do you move from a 70% diversion rate to a 90% diversion rate? The key is finding the right partners who a) want the materials you have and b) hold the same level of standard for diversion. We began by dividing materials into categories: brick, wood, wire, metal, glass and hazardous material. The next step involved extensive research and facilitation with six different companies to salvage portions of the house.

For example, a windows & doors shop picked up a load of century-old stable dry 2x heartwood studs and joists to fabricate a line of rustic entry doors. The remaining old growth douglas fir may be reused on site or recycled for furniture. As many bricks as possible will be reused in the landscaping, and old window shutters will be salvaged. Unfortunately lead painted shingles cannot be recycled, though we had no problem finding eager takers for the vintage glass found in the home’s old single pane windows.

While excavating for the new foundation (which we’ll get to in the next post) we ended up with 40 tons of sand. Luckily everyone has use for good clean sand, so whatever does not get reused onsite will be easily recycled.

How Does Increased Diversion Pay Off in the Long Run?

Orchestrating 90% diversion on a jobsite calls for greater management hours, however some of those extra costs can be recouped. For example, the homeowner will receive a government tax credit for all the materials donated to salvage companies. Increased diversion also means less dump loads, which cost about $600 each (with a full truck averaging 20 cubic yards). So far we have saved about eight truckloads to the dump, or $4,800, through higher diversion.

The greatest benefit of shooting for a 90% diversion rate is not in the cost savings but in the long-term benefits to the environment. More recycling means less depletion and extraction from the environment, and less contribution to landfills. We hope to see this sustainable option become standard practice for Bay Area homeowners, and over time we believe it will become the new norm across the country.

Check back for more updates on our first LEED Platinum remodel! In our next post, we’ll talk about the foundation and why this house is “on stilts.”

Jeff King & Company is on newsstands this month! The premiere issue of Kitchens & Baths Summer 2013 features elements from our whole house remodel at Fair Oaks: a project that focused on opening up the floor plan and letting light in. Pick up the magazine at your local bookstore or read the online component from Well Styled Home below.

Victorian Kitchen Remodel for a Young Family

Susan Springer writes about the homeowner’s motivation for remodeling:

“Typical of Victorian design, the house was dark with small, cramped rooms—not conducive to how the family wanted to cook, dine, play and talk with each other. But it was in a great location, so they dove in. Expert contractor Jeff King, President and Founder of Jeff King & Company, got to work: he opened up the floor plan, brought in light in creative ways and added some playful elements. Now the house feels airy and serves this active family’s needs.”

Click here to find out how we “opened the box” to let light in.

 Kid-Friendly Bath & Fun Powder Room

In a second article, Well Styled Home highlights the custom kids bathroom and powder room:

“When the Libeson family purchased a dark, cramped Victorian row house in San Francisco, they hired Jeff King & Company and Feldman Architecture to tackle the kitchen and bathroom remodel–and add some fun elements, such as the grab bars that are stacked like a submarine ladder in the kids’ bathroom.”

Read here for tips on a kid-friendly bath and fun powder room.

 Thanks to Kitchens & Baths Magazine for highlighting our craftsmanship in your premiere issue!

We are always keeping an eye out for materials that can be reused and recycled, which is how we came across the douglas fir used in our new conference table.

While removing dry rotted deck in the demolition phase at our 2012 Jackson Street project, we discovered several true 2×10 inch joists over a storage area. These old growth timbers had no holes drilled through them for electrical or plumbing, and as a result presented an excellent opportunity for reuse as furniture. The 13 foot boards had to be cut down a little bit due to dry rot on the ends, which gave us enough remaining material for an 11 foot long conference table.

The final product is an 11×3 foot table perfect for our growing company. Thanks to our cabinetmaker and on-staff carpenter, Nathan, for crafting this new spacious new meeting area for the Jeff King & Company team!

We are proud to be a Platinum level sponsor for the 150 Parker Avenue School Auction!

The auction’s live event, Parker Prom, takes place Saturday, March 9 from 6-10pm at Presidio Cafe. The online auction is open through March 10 including items like $100 at Internos Cafe and a one night stay at the Hyatt Fisherman’s Wharf. See a full list of auction items and get bidding here!

Houzz, the online platform for residential remodeling and design, has selected us for the “Best of Remodeling” 2013 award! Over 11 million monthly users chose Jeff King & Company for Best Staircase in the United States. The winning staircase was added to over 10,500 Ideabooks, or online inspiration boards, by homeowners and industry professionals across the country.

We enjoyed working with Jonathan Feldman on this Noe Valley residential remodel, and we look forward to completing our second project with Feldman Architecture in 2013. 

Do you use ideabooks to gather inspiration for upcoming projects? Browse the Jeff King & Company Houzz profile for more ideas from our Bay Area remodels!

How do you make the most of your outdoor space on a San Francisco lot? We helped one client open up her backyard space by removing an intrusive deck and replacing it with an inviting arc-shaped bench. Thanks to the designs of Robert Frear Architects, an area that was not inviting before now welcomes an afternoon read or a gathering of friends.

In a home with many right angles, the curved bench helps to bring the backyard together. Blue stone covers the patio and bench seat, adding an exceptional touch of color and elegance. This material (shown in True Blue Flame Finish) is very consistent in color, thickness and texture, making for a high quality natural product.

 Setting the brick foundation

Curved stone seat and curb were hand-cut and finished by artisan on-site

 All joints were grouted for final finish

Finished blue stone patio and curved bench. Planted by Strata Landscape Architects.

How do you make more space in a city backyard? Tell us in your comments below!

We recently re-sealed an ipe deck for a past client and were reminded how much we like this durable material. Take a look at the transformation a little sealant can bring to a sun-bleached deck, and read below to find out more about the benefits of ipe wood.

Benefits of FSC Ipe

Jeff King & Company only uses FSC Ipe, which is a sustainably harvested hardwood from the Brazilian rainforests. Its dense cell structure makes it naturally resistant to insects, rot, molds, decay, and even fire. These natural defenses mean ipe does not need to be pressure-treated with preservatives, toxins and chemicals like some other decking materials. The US Forest Products Laboratory gives ipe the highest durability rating, defining it as a 25 year + material, however, ipe has been known to last up to 100 years with the proper deck oil treatments.

Maintaining an Ipe Deck

Because ipe is a very dense wood, it is also extremely strong and withstands daily use without splintering or checking. If you like the silver patina that comes with sun-bleaching over time, it’s perfectly fine to leave your ipe deck unsealed. However, to preserve the original reddish-brown color of the wood, use a sealant and re-finish the deck each year. In this case we kept labor costs down by applying oil directly to the ipe; for a deeper restoration we recommend lightly sanding the surface before applying the oil finish.

Are you interested in building a new outdoor deck? Does your ipe need to be re-sealed? We’re here to help!

Today Jeff King posted his first Ideabook on the home remodeling website, Houzz. We are using this online platform to launch “Building Better,” a new series that highlights ways homeowners can promote efficiency, health, sustainability, and durability in the home. Our first Ideabook focuses on long lasting and low maintenance exterior facades.

Read an excerpt below and see the full post here!

From Jeff:

“Materials are what make design and architecture creative. It’s the choice of materials that can really make a project luxurious or simple, bold or subtle. Often times durability is not given much attention when selecting a wall covering material. But from the builder’s perspective, a well-constructed exterior is one that the homeowner will never have to perform maintenance on again…”

See the Ideabook here!