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Efficient Home Walls: A Good Construction Manager Knows These Rules

January 30, 2019

If your building or renovating a home in the Bay Area and are installing walls in your home, you might think “can’t be that hard to do right?” You’ve seen it in the movies or on TV, maybe even in real life. You nail in some studs, put up some drywall and you’re done. Right? What can be so hard about a vertical structure that supports weight and keeps out the rain? I hate to burst your bubble if you wanted to try DIY home walls, but there is much for a Construction Manager to consider if you want walls that will last and prevent things like leakage and mold.

We began a ground up construction project in Ross in 2018 with a contractor who, in hindsight, was a much better salesman than builder. He started our project with a series of construction errors, which then evolved into a complete breakdown of communication, organization, trust and overall competence. My husband and I stopped sleeping and eating and sat up nightly until 2am researching construction procedures to check our contractors work (most of which was being done incorrectly). The stress was taking a financial and emotional toll on us and we realized our project had become a major sinking ship.
Hitting our breaking point, we turned to our architect and structural engineer on what to do. Richard was recommended by our structural engineer who had worked on several projects with him in the past. Within a few days of being engaged and assessing the situation, Richard took control of the project and systematically put it back together. He created a platform for clear and continuous communication, a process based on best practices for repairing the contractors errors and then used his resources/relationships to get the correct people on site to resolve the issues. Keep in mind, this was during a time when most tradespeople were in incredibly high demand.
Once Richard had a general sense of control over the project, he was able to evaluate the contractors ability to finish our house. With his encouragement we decided we needed to make a change. My husband and I were terrified given the competitive building market and the strict 18 month timeline the Town of Ross enforces. Richard, in his very calm and systematic way, asked us to trust him which we agreed. He created a contractor onboarding questionnaire, introduced us to a handful of contractors, interviewed each of them with us, asked all the right questions and ultimately helped us secure a new contractor. He immediately began transitioning our worksite to be ready for the new contractor (unbeknownst to the old contractor) and helped the new contractor get up to speed without losing any time on our project.
Approximately 3 months after firing our original contractor we are back on budget, back on schedule and my husband and I are not only sleeping but enjoying the process of building a house. We are in a much happier place now and would have NEVER gotten to this point had we not hired Richard. We certainly hope you are never in a position like us on your project but, if you are, you can find comfort to know that you have found the person you can trust to get it back on track.
Collin- Home Ownner

Efficient Home Walls: A Good Construction Manager Knows These Rules

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