March 26, 2025 • 27 mins
Chad Weaver grew up in home building, learning the trade from his father. Though he once dreamed of becoming a pilot, he returned to the family business after 9/11. Now leading a thriving company with 150 closings annually, he’s committed to quality, customer care, and building homes that stand the test of time. https://weaverhomes.com/
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hey, welcome in. This is the CEOs You Should Know podcast.
I'm your host, Johnny Heart. Well, let's say a loo
to Chad Weaver of Weaver Homes. Thank you for joining me,
Thank you for grabbing me. All right, so tell us
everything we need to know about Weaver Homes.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Weaver Homes is a small family owned business located in Mars, Pennsylvania,
founded in nineteen eighty six by my mom and dad,
Bell and Bonnie. Weaver started off as a small custom builder,
maybe built five ten houses a year. My dad's an architect.
He would design them and build them. My mom would
work with the customers to pick out kitchens and appliances
(00:37):
and kind of fit and finish the house. In nineteen
ninety nine they started to build a patio home, which
is slab on grade, all one level, no basement, no
second story, that has winter maintenance and spring maintenance, so
you don't have to plow the snow, shovel your walk,
(00:57):
you don't have to mulch in the spring or cut
your grass. There's a club house with a pool and
all that fun stuff. So they started doing that in
ninety nine and kind of took off from there. It
was the two of them for the longest time. In
two thousand and five, I came back to join the
company and from there we've We've added a lot of
(01:19):
great people and still build the same thing. We've just
you know, instead of doing one community at a time,
we do about five. And yeah, it's just it's been
a fun ride.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
And what makes you different than other builders? I would
say that the local aspect of it.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I mean, there's there's other local builders, obviously, but in
the North Hills, we strictly stick kind of north of
the rivers, and I grew up in Mars, so when
I come south, I get lost. But yeah, I mean
just the family business, the family atmosphere. You know, we've
got a great company culture. I'm fortunate to have a
lot of really good people that work for us and
with us. You know, our subcontractors, we've been with some
(01:57):
of them for thirty years. You know, we we don't
necessarily offer the lowest price when it comes to mind
a new home, but we believe that, you know, the
quality that we have, the people that we have working
for us. You know, it's if you're going to have
you know, there's there's quality, there's service, and then there's
(02:20):
you know, after the sale kind of a thing, you
can only get three or two of the three, and
we are hyper focused on their customer during the process
of the construction, but also after when it comes to warranty,
and not a lot of companies do that, the bigger companies.
So I would say, just how we do business and
then the product we build. I mean, we're focused one
(02:41):
hundred percent now on the patio home, the amenities making
those homes, you know, comfortable for people who are downsizing,
because that's who our folks are. You know, they're coming
out of a house where they've raised the family, and
you know, for them to kind of get used to
the idea that they're going to have less space but
more opportunities to do fun stuff outside of plowing.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
You know, you don't have to worry about all that stuff,
all right. So to take me back to your father
who started the business. He started out as an architect.
What made him start the business?
Speaker 2 (03:13):
He so he was forty when he started the business,
and looking back on that, I'm fifty one now. But
when I turned forty, I thought, Man, I don't know
if I would have the guts to do what he did. Yeah,
I don't think I would have. But he worked for
some different you know builders. He worked for Melon Stewart Company,
which was kind of a big commercial contractor in Pittsburgh
(03:35):
back in the day. Got transferred to Orlando in eighty four.
We lived down there until eighty six, and some things
were happening inside the company. They were starting to kind
of things weren't going well, So a lot of guys
were leaving, some local you know Jack Muscarel Massero, some
of those guys that are big commercial builders here work,
but back in the day, Yeah, and so he started
(03:56):
the residential side, and we moved from Orlando up here,
literally lived with friends in a basement while we were
renovating a farmhouse and just I mean got it out
and didn't have anybody there to catch him if he fell.
And again, it's a it's a it's a pretty cool
I get emotional. It's pretty cool for me.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
And you were really young when that, when that all happened, when.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
He Yeah, so I was going into Uh, I was
twelve when we moved back, and yeah, it was uh,
you know, I worked in the business, you know, digging ditches,
sweeping floors. I mean I kind of grew up in
the business, didn't didn't have summers off or spring breaks.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Were you aware of the difficulty or how difficult or
the challenges you know?
Speaker 2 (04:37):
They never Yeah, they didn't make it. We never. I
never wanted for anything. I mean I was aware that
it was a struggle for them, but they never they
never made it about that. They just you know, worked hard,
and you know, things would happen that, you know, obstacles
would pop up, but he just they both just you know,
fought through it. They never they never let that persuade them.
(05:01):
There were some tough times, for sure, but yeah, I
just learned that, you know, you need to work hard
and keep your head down and things aren't always going
to go your way, and you get knocked down, you
get back up and keep going.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
So kind of the Pittsburgh way. Yeah, the Pittsburgh way
exactly is exactly all right. And and so you know,
obviously he made a goal of it.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
He did.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
And then so where where did you come into the
picture And you started out digging ditches?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Yeah? No, I did that.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Are you still digging ditches?
Speaker 2 (05:27):
I would love to I would like that better than
being in the office, to be honestly, I'm more of
a builder, not an office guy, like being outside. But yeah,
I went worked for PJ. Dick for a while, worked
for some other commercial companies, moved out of town. Actually
was an airline pilot for five years. That was my dream.
Got hired right before nine to eleven. Bad time to
(05:50):
be an airline pilot. So sluck that out for five years.
And uh, we were living in Atlanta at the time.
And you still have your pilot life. I do, Yeah,
I still fly. So living in Atlanta at the time
with our first son, and my wife said, I'd really
like to raise the kids and be home. Right, So
I wasn't making money as a pilot. You'd be You don't
(06:13):
make money as a as a small regional pilot, right
it was back in the day. My first year made
it was eighteen thousand dollars flying a fifty seat chat.
I mean we qualified for food stamps. Wow, that was crazy.
But anyway, so I called my parents and you know,
they were they were doing well, and I said, hey,
what if I came back. He never pressured me to
come back. It was never a you know, he just
(06:33):
you know, if you want to come back, come back.
And so he did. Did he say there's more ditches
to be dug. He said, yeah, he said, I'm ready
to slow down. You know, he was in his fifties
at the time, and he was ready to give up
the day to day grind of managing, you know, more
of the field. So when I came back, I was
managing all the construction activities, you know, with the subcontractors
(06:55):
and customers and vendors. He was still very much involved,
but he wanted to kind of pull away from that.
So and what is his name, Bill William Bill? And
my mom, Bonnie was did all the sales and did
all the accounting and the bookkeeping and everything. So and
so I came back Brett Schultz, who I went to
high school with, whose care's husband I went. He was
(07:16):
a landscape architect. So he came back. So it was
a four of us, and now we're up to thirty
three people total that we've hadded over the years as
we've grown, you know, opportunities happened, and it's it's been crazy.
It's been twenty years. I came back in two thousand
and five.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
What's the advice that your father gave you that made
a difference. Did he give you any advice It wasn't
a There was never a scenario. There was never a
moment where I remember him sitting down and saying, hey, here,
I'm going to give you this pearlo wisdom. For me,
it was always about watching him and my mother really
(07:54):
just work hard and really just do the right thing.
I truly believe that. You know, you're faced not only
in business but in life with different times where you
can choose to do the right thing or the wrong thing.
Maybe the wrong things easier, or you know, doing the
right thing is going to cost your money if you're
in business. But what does that look like five ten
(08:18):
years down the road?
Speaker 2 (08:19):
You know? And can you lay your head on the
pillow at night and know that you know you did
right by the people who work for you, the customers
you serve us. Not everybody's going to be happy. We
do our best, but you know, I know in my
heart that we do the best we can, and we
make decisions not necessarily based your own profit, but around
(08:41):
you know, Hey, if I messed this thing up, even
if it's two or three years from now and you
call me, we're going to go back and fix it.
I know it wasn't right when we did it. You know,
we didn't know it at the time. You didn't either.
Things happen, but let's go back and make it right.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
You started, your father started it very modestly, you know,
and the company has exped quite a bit. Yes, and
it expanded under your watch.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Yeah, I mean the first part for sure. I mean
it's been a group effort. I don't like to take
credit for it, but yeah, I mean a lot of
good people. And yeah, it's uh, i'd say for the
first half of it. You know, they they He's still
part of the business, but the day to day operations
he's been out for four or five years, so just
there to have somebody to lean on and guide me.
(09:28):
And you know, as I stepped out of the field
where I was used to building homes and that was
what I grew up doing, you know, the the hr
side of it, you know, dealing with the sales, which
was always my mom, the accounting side of it, understanding
the numbers, you know, the the bank side of it,
you know, making these deals with the banks so we
(09:48):
can go buy a piece of property and build homes.
You know, he was always there to guide me, not
with a heavy hand or not with a you know
you shall do it my way. But yeah, just always
just always there to to guide me and knowing that,
you know, if I needed them, he was there. It's
still there. I still rely on him quite a bit
and my mom. But very fortunate, you know for the
(10:10):
opportunity that they gave me.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
So tell me about the rest of the team.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
So we have, like I said, around thirty some people.
Mom and dad still work, not a lot, but they're
still there. Our CFO Jackie Fennel's been with us for
fifteen sixteen years. All of my field guys, my project
managers are nine to ten years. My friend who leads
up warranties been with me for seventeen years. I've got
(10:40):
a great guy in the field named Gary who's just
kind of does whatever it needs to be done. He's
been here seventeen years. A lot of the subcontractors we
have have been for you know, around for a long
long time. So yeah, it's like a family. I mean,
it's we try to try to keep it like a
family atmosphere and keep it fun and if somebody needs help,
(11:01):
we help. It's still a job, but you know, it's
a lot more fun to come to work if you
like the people you work with.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
There are some large contractors out there that do what
you do right. So what makes you different or what
makes you better?
Speaker 2 (11:16):
I would say, are that we're local. You know that
we're from Pittsburgh. We're all everybody grew up here. You know,
we're neighbors with these people. You know, my name's on
the door, and I know that the folks that work
for us, you know, also feel like it's their name
on the door. So if I run into you the
Giant Eagle or getting gas at sheets, you know, I've
(11:38):
got to be able to look at you in the
eye and you know, make sure that I know that
we did a good job versus you know, some of
the larger companies that are public publicly traded and just
have a lot more turnover. They're more focused on, you know,
a stock price than necessarily the customer. And I respect that.
I mean, that's their business. It's just not who we are.
I have no desire to to be the biggest builder
(11:59):
and Putsburg. I want to be the best builder in
the North Hills, and I think there's a difference there
when you're focused on, you know, being the best in
quality versus just being the biggest and profit.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
What is your biggest challenge?
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Regulation? You know, affordable housing is a keyword. You see
a lot and hear a lot on news or different podcasts,
and it's it's a little frustrating on our end because
you know, the same folks that beat the drum for
affordability typically seem to be the same folks that also
(12:36):
beat the drum for more regulation, which makes it difficult,
which makes it more expensive. Yes, I mean, you know,
whether it be environmental regulation. And I'm not one to
say we should build those streams. I mean, we want
to do it responsibly. But when you compare Pennsylvania to
different states and the hoops we have to jump through
to get an environmental permit, I shouldn't say hoops, the
(12:58):
steps we have to go through. You know, we can
take a year from the time we make ournesshot application.
I've got friends who build in other states around the
country and it takes a day. I mean, one year
adds cost expense, the work you have to do, and
then the building codes just you know, keep it harder,
and they just keep forcing more changes, which add to
(13:20):
the costs. So I wish there was a way to
which there is a good way to have that smoothed over. Yeah,
just just for the same people that we all want
the same thing. I mean, I don't want to raise
the price of a home. I want to have more
opportunity for more people. But when the costs go up,
I've got to pass it on.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Well, you know what. The one thing that I love
about Pittsburgh is that, you know, we're an affordable area.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
For sure.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
It's a great area. It has great neighborhoods, and we
have so many things that offer great schools and museums,
and there's so much to offer to our community. And
we're a tight group. Burgers take care of Pittsburgh agree.
And I think you could have gone to another state
where you could build probably the same same home and
(14:11):
make a lot more money and you know, offered the
same quality, but the price of a home would be
a you you'd make more profits. You're here in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Yeah, I don't. I can't imagine being anywhere else. It's
funny growing up, you never think you're gonna I never
I didn't know where I was getting d up and
like I said, moved around a lot. But there's something
about Pittsburgh. There's something about you know, just I don't know.
It's just got a different feel from everywhere else I've lived.
And I truly feel like the people do take care
of their own and we just have so much to
(14:41):
offer here, which is why I mean our The demographic
we sell to is typically downsizing. You know, their kids
are gone, and they love it here. They don't they
don't want to move. We quite often sell homes to
people who have moved to Florida, you know, to retire
quote unquote end I'm coming back, yeah, you know. I
mean it's well, you're down at Sunshine and I was
just there for the weekend. It was beautiful. But there's
(15:04):
just something about Pittsburgh and being close to family and.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
What is it. We're crazy, I don't know the weather.
January and February we're like, why do we live here?
And then you know, April May two comes, You're like
it it's not that bad.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
You have the fall spring, which we had a couple
of weeks ago. Seven You're like, this is great, Like yeah, but.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
All right, So you told us about your family and
your business. What about you? What do you like to do?
What what?
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Uh Mmm? I love spending time with my family, both
My boys played hockey growing up, and I was fortunate
enough to help coach and be with them play golf
a lot, and both my boys golf.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Wait a minute, you had kids in hockey and you golfed.
Where'd you find it? The ad run a business?
Speaker 2 (15:46):
I got them golfing. Okay, that was my That was
the That was the thing, right, you know, so that
my wife couldn't and she doesn't care. She's she's great.
But yeah, to be able to spend time with them
and then with her obviously, I mean it's just, you know,
family's family is very important. We don't have a big family,
but spending time, you know, with them and then flying
whenever I can, you know, just to keep scratching that itch.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
You're passionate about flying.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
I love it. Yeah, yeah, it's uh, it's hard to describe.
Neither of my boys got it. They have no desire,
which is great.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Where'd you get it?
Speaker 2 (16:18):
You know? It's funny. It was when my dad was
traveling a lot growing up, back in the old days
when you could go into the airport you didn't need
to have a ticket to go through security. My mom
and I would always go with him to the gate
and I just I don't know. I just it was
I knew what every plane with, what kinds they were.
And then we lived in Orlando and they were building
the very first My dad was working on the very
(16:39):
first high rise kind of minium in dustin Florida, which
now is blown out. Oh yeah, they built the very
first one in the mid eighties. And his partner had
a little twin engine propeller plane, an aerostar. And in
the summer we say, you know, I'm going, I mean,
why don't you a mom fly along with us? Okay, great?
And his name is Harry. His name is Harry Tottle
(17:01):
was Harry Tottal And he let me sit in the
front seat, in the right seat, which is a co
pilot position. Yeah, And I just I had already built
this thing up to be so fantastic and then he
quote unquote let me fly, which I'm sure he was
on the other set of controls. But that was it, man,
It was like I it was it was a I
was hooked. And that's all I ever wanted to do.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Do you own your own plane?
Speaker 2 (17:22):
We do. We have a plane now, so we're fortunate
we can we can travel. It's a it's a. It's
it's my vice. You know, Like I said, there's there's
there's there's a lot worse vice worse a private cheaper,
but uh yeah, it's fun. So it allows me to
do what my passion is. The business has allowed me to.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
You know, how often do you get out?
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Probably a couple three times a month if I can. Yeah,
I mean the weather sure, yeah, it doesn't always allow
for it in the winter, but yeah, it's fun. Where's
your go to Florida?
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Anywhere South?
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Yeah, so you got the best of both. You got
to you got the hometown pride, and yet if if
the weather's bad, you can always play.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Yeah. No, I mean when I quit flying for the airline,
I never never envisioned that, you know, one day I
would have the opportunity to continue. I quit for a
while just because I couldn't afford it, right, But yeah,
it'd be able to have the ability to do both
and live here in Pittsburgh and maybe get away when
it's a little chilly.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Good for you in January, So tell us about any
of your either your company or your family charitable ties.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
So we offer My mom and dad do a lot
for the mar school districts, too many things to say,
and she's like she prefers to do those kind of
without too many people knowing. So I don't get into that.
But company wise, we we offer four different charities that
customers can select when they close, we give them the
(18:55):
option pick one of the four and then once a
quarter we write a check in the name of that
person who bought one of our homes, just as a
way to get back and it helps. They're all local charities,
none that you know, have a lot of money out
there to fundraise and advertise. But yeah, so it's it's good.
We've done some things, you know with Hoseann Industries for
(19:16):
the day where we'll get some folks in the company
who want to go out and and help with whatever
Hoseana needs. You know, just trying to trying to get
back and run a business and keep everybody busy, you know,
we do as much as we can.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Or talking about business, how has the new home business,
how has it changed from when either when your father
started or when you started to now what what's what's
the climate today?
Speaker 2 (19:44):
I'd say the biggest change from the way we run
the business has been regulation, Like I said, whether it's banking,
what banks can and can't do. After the mortgage crisis
in eight or government really changed how much money banks
can loan to do. The type of work we do,
(20:05):
it's very risky, so there's few of us doing it.
So where it used to be where Pittsburgh was almost
exclusively with the exception of one large builder, all family
run businesses. That is changing sadly, and a lot of
it's not because there's not folks out there that don't
want to do it. It's just it's really really expensive
(20:26):
to be in the business where and in terms of
the money you have to put in to get one
out of the ground. So regulation from from the banking side,
just the way we build the homes now and a
lot of them have been improvements. But is anything the
federal government gets involved in, they can go too far,
you know, from bad to good, I guess.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
So what about the appetite for the home buyer? Do
they still do they really want new homes?
Speaker 2 (20:51):
They do, yeah, they and they want you know, they
want affordable you know, but that the folks that we're
selling to they want amenities, they want they want to
be in a community of people who are like them,
that off you know, they have the same interests to
have that social aspect, right, because as your kids get older.
For us anyway, with the kids, like we're friends with
(21:12):
all of our friends parents, or they're friends parents, right right,
Well they go away and all of a sudden you're
looking at each other like, oh we do now, right.
So being in a community where people that are of
the same age have the same interest I think is important.
They still want to It's just locations everything, right, So
just trying to find those spots where people want to live.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Well, how do you find those spots and how do
you find those people? So what's effective for you?
Speaker 2 (21:38):
For us, it's just we stay in the north Like
I said, we're North Hills based and just kind of
stay in the North Hills Butler a little bit into
Beaver County. But trying to find the population centers, whether
it be Cranberry or whether it be Mars or even
up into Butler, staying on the periphery of those two
where people when they downsize, they don't typically like to
(22:01):
move across, even from the South Hills to the North Hills, right.
They want the same bank, grocery store, They want to
be close to their church, friends and family, so we
try to find those spots where there's a good population center.
But we know that there's folks that want to downsize,
so always looking for opportunities. Finding land is difficult, but
(22:22):
you know, we've been around here a long time, so
a lot of times we'll just get calls from people
who are selling. Sometimes they come on the market, just
like you'd find a house that's coming up for a list.
So just different ways to do that is how we sell.
It's really i'd say word of mouth. I mean, we
have our website. Obviously we were homes dot com, but
(22:45):
you know, some directional signage on the weekends, but it's
it's website based. It's pushing people through the internet. But
it's a lot of referrals. You know, we have a
referral programmers. If you bring somebody in, you'll get a
little something. We give them a little something. You know.
As a small business, your your name is everything. I'm
(23:07):
proud of that. We have a great reputation, i would say,
and just having the ability to have folks trust you
with their biggest investment, you know, typically buying a home
is that and then recommend you to a friend. Right
they're putting themselves out there when they do that, so
that means a lot to us.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
You mentioned the word proud. What are you most proud
of when it comes to Weaver Homes?
Speaker 2 (23:31):
I would say making it through. Well, first, my parents
starting it from nothing, you know, really starting a second career,
getting it to the point they got it, you know,
and when I came back in five, making it through
the housing crisis, you know, the mortgage crisis of eight.
(23:53):
And then just proud of the people that that have
spent a lot of time and effort, blood, sweat and
tears who worked for us that you know, they treat
it like it's thrown that have helped us grow it
to the point where it's at now. You know, making
it through COVID was the biggest challenge, and really there's
(24:13):
still a lot of that hangover from you know, mortgage rates.
People are in a house that's a three percent, they're
not moving material costs, labor costs went up. We got
shut down for eight weeks. Our governor deemed our business
not to be essential, so paying people for eight weeks
to stay home. We didn't let anybody off, you know,
(24:34):
just knew it was going to come back around at
some point in time, So nobody jumped.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Shit, it didn't come back very quick, No it didn't.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
And I wasn't sure what was going to happen. But yeah,
nobody left. Everybody stuck around. There was a struggle coming
out of COVID, just because now we were busier, but
you couldn't get material We had all these rules in
place about how you could. You know, just everything we went.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
And that materials cost went through the roof.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
They went up thirty five percent overall. Framing lumber was
the most ridiculous. There was a lot of houses we
built for free. That's how much framing went up. I
mean it ate up all the profit. Wow, but we
still finished the house. You know, we made it through.
It was good, it was stressful. So I'm proud of
(25:21):
the fact that everybody, for the most part, that made
it through that is still here today. We had a
you know, after COVID, when when rates were low, things
got slow, very slow. Two years ago. So I had
the same number of people that I had on the
staff to build one hundred and forty houses. Now we
built far fewer than that. But again, family is important
(25:43):
to me, loyalty is important. Nobody got laid off, we
found other things for people to do, and things started
to come back. And we're not back to where we were,
but we're back to a point where where everybody's busy,
but just found things for folks to do.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
What's the future of Weaver Homes.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Well, the future is I think it's bright. I have
two boys who may or may not come back in
the business, but I think that's long term. Short term,
we're in a great spot. We've got some great communities
coming up, new locations in the North Hills that are
in really really good spots. You know, we're always there's
always hyper focused on the customer and you know, making
(26:23):
sure people understand who we are, what we do, how
we do things, and taking care of the family we
have that work for us, you know, that have been
part of this journey and making sure they're taken care of.
So I think the future is very bright. I'm excited
about it. You know, despite some of the challenges that
come with running a business. You know, it's not you know,
(26:45):
get to see all the fun stuff out in the field.
It's a lot of back office stuff and things that
aren't as much fun. But I really I still enjoy
coming to work every day. I love the support from
my parents and my wife and really everybody that's come
to be part of the Weaver Holmes family. I know
that I've got a great support system, and I enjoy it.
(27:07):
It's fun.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
What's the website again, weaverhomes dot com. Chadweaver, CEO, you
should know. This has been fun. Thank you so much,
Thank you very much. This has been the CEOs you
should know podcast showcasing businesses that are driving our regional economy.
Part of iHeartMedia's commitment to the communities we serve. I'm
Johnny Hartwell, thank you so much for listening.
Hey, welcome in. This is the CEOs You Should Know podcast.
I'm your host, Johnny Heart. Well, let's say a loo
to Chad Weaver of Weaver Homes. Thank you for joining me,
Thank you for grabbing me. All right, so tell us
everything we need to know about Weaver Homes.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Weaver Homes is a small family owned business located in Mars, Pennsylvania,
founded in nineteen eighty six by my mom and dad,
Bell and Bonnie. Weaver started off as a small custom builder,
maybe built five ten houses a year. My dad's an architect.
He would design them and build them. My mom would
work with the customers to pick out kitchens and appliances
(00:37):
and kind of fit and finish the house. In nineteen
ninety nine they started to build a patio home, which
is slab on grade, all one level, no basement, no
second story, that has winter maintenance and spring maintenance, so
you don't have to plow the snow, shovel your walk,
(00:57):
you don't have to mulch in the spring or cut
your grass. There's a club house with a pool and
all that fun stuff. So they started doing that in
ninety nine and kind of took off from there. It
was the two of them for the longest time. In
two thousand and five, I came back to join the
company and from there we've We've added a lot of
(01:19):
great people and still build the same thing. We've just
you know, instead of doing one community at a time,
we do about five. And yeah, it's just it's been
a fun ride.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
And what makes you different than other builders? I would
say that the local aspect of it.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I mean, there's there's other local builders, obviously, but in
the North Hills, we strictly stick kind of north of
the rivers, and I grew up in Mars, so when
I come south, I get lost. But yeah, I mean
just the family business, the family atmosphere. You know, we've
got a great company culture. I'm fortunate to have a
lot of really good people that work for us and
with us. You know, our subcontractors, we've been with some
(01:57):
of them for thirty years. You know, we we don't
necessarily offer the lowest price when it comes to mind
a new home, but we believe that, you know, the
quality that we have, the people that we have working
for us. You know, it's if you're going to have
you know, there's there's quality, there's service, and then there's
(02:20):
you know, after the sale kind of a thing, you
can only get three or two of the three, and
we are hyper focused on their customer during the process
of the construction, but also after when it comes to warranty,
and not a lot of companies do that, the bigger companies.
So I would say, just how we do business and
then the product we build. I mean, we're focused one
(02:41):
hundred percent now on the patio home, the amenities making
those homes, you know, comfortable for people who are downsizing,
because that's who our folks are. You know, they're coming
out of a house where they've raised the family, and
you know, for them to kind of get used to
the idea that they're going to have less space but
more opportunities to do fun stuff outside of plowing.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
You know, you don't have to worry about all that stuff,
all right. So to take me back to your father
who started the business. He started out as an architect.
What made him start the business?
Speaker 2 (03:13):
He so he was forty when he started the business,
and looking back on that, I'm fifty one now. But
when I turned forty, I thought, Man, I don't know
if I would have the guts to do what he did. Yeah,
I don't think I would have. But he worked for
some different you know builders. He worked for Melon Stewart Company,
which was kind of a big commercial contractor in Pittsburgh
(03:35):
back in the day. Got transferred to Orlando in eighty four.
We lived down there until eighty six, and some things
were happening inside the company. They were starting to kind
of things weren't going well, So a lot of guys
were leaving, some local you know Jack Muscarel Massero, some
of those guys that are big commercial builders here work,
but back in the day, Yeah, and so he started
(03:56):
the residential side, and we moved from Orlando up here,
literally lived with friends in a basement while we were
renovating a farmhouse and just I mean got it out
and didn't have anybody there to catch him if he fell.
And again, it's a it's a it's a pretty cool
I get emotional. It's pretty cool for me.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
And you were really young when that, when that all happened, when.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
He Yeah, so I was going into Uh, I was
twelve when we moved back, and yeah, it was uh,
you know, I worked in the business, you know, digging ditches,
sweeping floors. I mean I kind of grew up in
the business, didn't didn't have summers off or spring breaks.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Were you aware of the difficulty or how difficult or
the challenges you know?
Speaker 2 (04:37):
They never Yeah, they didn't make it. We never. I
never wanted for anything. I mean I was aware that
it was a struggle for them, but they never they
never made it about that. They just you know, worked hard,
and you know, things would happen that, you know, obstacles
would pop up, but he just they both just you know,
fought through it. They never they never let that persuade them.
(05:01):
There were some tough times, for sure, but yeah, I
just learned that, you know, you need to work hard
and keep your head down and things aren't always going
to go your way, and you get knocked down, you
get back up and keep going.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
So kind of the Pittsburgh way. Yeah, the Pittsburgh way
exactly is exactly all right. And and so you know,
obviously he made a goal of it.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
He did.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
And then so where where did you come into the
picture And you started out digging ditches?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Yeah? No, I did that.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Are you still digging ditches?
Speaker 2 (05:27):
I would love to I would like that better than
being in the office, to be honestly, I'm more of
a builder, not an office guy, like being outside. But yeah,
I went worked for PJ. Dick for a while, worked
for some other commercial companies, moved out of town. Actually
was an airline pilot for five years. That was my dream.
Got hired right before nine to eleven. Bad time to
(05:50):
be an airline pilot. So sluck that out for five years.
And uh, we were living in Atlanta at the time.
And you still have your pilot life. I do, Yeah,
I still fly. So living in Atlanta at the time
with our first son, and my wife said, I'd really
like to raise the kids and be home. Right, So
I wasn't making money as a pilot. You'd be You don't
(06:13):
make money as a as a small regional pilot, right
it was back in the day. My first year made
it was eighteen thousand dollars flying a fifty seat chat.
I mean we qualified for food stamps. Wow, that was crazy.
But anyway, so I called my parents and you know,
they were they were doing well, and I said, hey,
what if I came back. He never pressured me to
come back. It was never a you know, he just
(06:33):
you know, if you want to come back, come back.
And so he did. Did he say there's more ditches
to be dug. He said, yeah, he said, I'm ready
to slow down. You know, he was in his fifties
at the time, and he was ready to give up
the day to day grind of managing, you know, more
of the field. So when I came back, I was
managing all the construction activities, you know, with the subcontractors
(06:55):
and customers and vendors. He was still very much involved,
but he wanted to kind of pull away from that.
So and what is his name, Bill William Bill? And
my mom, Bonnie was did all the sales and did
all the accounting and the bookkeeping and everything. So and
so I came back Brett Schultz, who I went to
high school with, whose care's husband I went. He was
(07:16):
a landscape architect. So he came back. So it was
a four of us, and now we're up to thirty
three people total that we've hadded over the years as
we've grown, you know, opportunities happened, and it's it's been crazy.
It's been twenty years. I came back in two thousand
and five.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
What's the advice that your father gave you that made
a difference. Did he give you any advice It wasn't
a There was never a scenario. There was never a
moment where I remember him sitting down and saying, hey, here,
I'm going to give you this pearlo wisdom. For me,
it was always about watching him and my mother really
(07:54):
just work hard and really just do the right thing.
I truly believe that. You know, you're faced not only
in business but in life with different times where you
can choose to do the right thing or the wrong thing.
Maybe the wrong things easier, or you know, doing the
right thing is going to cost your money if you're
in business. But what does that look like five ten
(08:18):
years down the road?
Speaker 2 (08:19):
You know? And can you lay your head on the
pillow at night and know that you know you did
right by the people who work for you, the customers
you serve us. Not everybody's going to be happy. We
do our best, but you know, I know in my
heart that we do the best we can, and we
make decisions not necessarily based your own profit, but around
(08:41):
you know, Hey, if I messed this thing up, even
if it's two or three years from now and you
call me, we're going to go back and fix it.
I know it wasn't right when we did it. You know,
we didn't know it at the time. You didn't either.
Things happen, but let's go back and make it right.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
You started, your father started it very modestly, you know,
and the company has exped quite a bit. Yes, and
it expanded under your watch.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Yeah, I mean the first part for sure. I mean
it's been a group effort. I don't like to take
credit for it, but yeah, I mean a lot of
good people. And yeah, it's uh, i'd say for the
first half of it. You know, they they He's still
part of the business, but the day to day operations
he's been out for four or five years, so just
there to have somebody to lean on and guide me.
(09:28):
And you know, as I stepped out of the field
where I was used to building homes and that was
what I grew up doing, you know, the the hr
side of it, you know, dealing with the sales, which
was always my mom, the accounting side of it, understanding
the numbers, you know, the the bank side of it,
you know, making these deals with the banks so we
(09:48):
can go buy a piece of property and build homes.
You know, he was always there to guide me, not
with a heavy hand or not with a you know
you shall do it my way. But yeah, just always
just always there to to guide me and knowing that,
you know, if I needed them, he was there. It's
still there. I still rely on him quite a bit
and my mom. But very fortunate, you know for the
(10:10):
opportunity that they gave me.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
So tell me about the rest of the team.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
So we have, like I said, around thirty some people.
Mom and dad still work, not a lot, but they're
still there. Our CFO Jackie Fennel's been with us for
fifteen sixteen years. All of my field guys, my project
managers are nine to ten years. My friend who leads
up warranties been with me for seventeen years. I've got
(10:40):
a great guy in the field named Gary who's just
kind of does whatever it needs to be done. He's
been here seventeen years. A lot of the subcontractors we
have have been for you know, around for a long
long time. So yeah, it's like a family. I mean,
it's we try to try to keep it like a
family atmosphere and keep it fun and if somebody needs help,
(11:01):
we help. It's still a job, but you know, it's
a lot more fun to come to work if you
like the people you work with.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
There are some large contractors out there that do what
you do right. So what makes you different or what
makes you better?
Speaker 2 (11:16):
I would say, are that we're local. You know that
we're from Pittsburgh. We're all everybody grew up here. You know,
we're neighbors with these people. You know, my name's on
the door, and I know that the folks that work
for us, you know, also feel like it's their name
on the door. So if I run into you the
Giant Eagle or getting gas at sheets, you know, I've
(11:38):
got to be able to look at you in the
eye and you know, make sure that I know that
we did a good job versus you know, some of
the larger companies that are public publicly traded and just
have a lot more turnover. They're more focused on, you know,
a stock price than necessarily the customer. And I respect that.
I mean, that's their business. It's just not who we are.
I have no desire to to be the biggest builder
(11:59):
and Putsburg. I want to be the best builder in
the North Hills, and I think there's a difference there
when you're focused on, you know, being the best in
quality versus just being the biggest and profit.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
What is your biggest challenge?
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Regulation? You know, affordable housing is a keyword. You see
a lot and hear a lot on news or different podcasts,
and it's it's a little frustrating on our end because
you know, the same folks that beat the drum for
affordability typically seem to be the same folks that also
(12:36):
beat the drum for more regulation, which makes it difficult,
which makes it more expensive. Yes, I mean, you know,
whether it be environmental regulation. And I'm not one to
say we should build those streams. I mean, we want
to do it responsibly. But when you compare Pennsylvania to
different states and the hoops we have to jump through
to get an environmental permit, I shouldn't say hoops, the
(12:58):
steps we have to go through. You know, we can
take a year from the time we make ournesshot application.
I've got friends who build in other states around the
country and it takes a day. I mean, one year
adds cost expense, the work you have to do, and
then the building codes just you know, keep it harder,
and they just keep forcing more changes, which add to
(13:20):
the costs. So I wish there was a way to
which there is a good way to have that smoothed over. Yeah,
just just for the same people that we all want
the same thing. I mean, I don't want to raise
the price of a home. I want to have more
opportunity for more people. But when the costs go up,
I've got to pass it on.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Well, you know what. The one thing that I love
about Pittsburgh is that, you know, we're an affordable area.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
For sure.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
It's a great area. It has great neighborhoods, and we
have so many things that offer great schools and museums,
and there's so much to offer to our community. And
we're a tight group. Burgers take care of Pittsburgh agree.
And I think you could have gone to another state
where you could build probably the same same home and
(14:11):
make a lot more money and you know, offered the
same quality, but the price of a home would be
a you you'd make more profits. You're here in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Yeah, I don't. I can't imagine being anywhere else. It's
funny growing up, you never think you're gonna I never
I didn't know where I was getting d up and
like I said, moved around a lot. But there's something
about Pittsburgh. There's something about you know, just I don't know.
It's just got a different feel from everywhere else I've lived.
And I truly feel like the people do take care
of their own and we just have so much to
(14:41):
offer here, which is why I mean our The demographic
we sell to is typically downsizing. You know, their kids
are gone, and they love it here. They don't they
don't want to move. We quite often sell homes to
people who have moved to Florida, you know, to retire
quote unquote end I'm coming back, yeah, you know. I
mean it's well, you're down at Sunshine and I was
just there for the weekend. It was beautiful. But there's
(15:04):
just something about Pittsburgh and being close to family and.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
What is it. We're crazy, I don't know the weather.
January and February we're like, why do we live here?
And then you know, April May two comes, You're like
it it's not that bad.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
You have the fall spring, which we had a couple
of weeks ago. Seven You're like, this is great, Like yeah, but.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
All right, So you told us about your family and
your business. What about you? What do you like to do?
What what?
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Uh Mmm? I love spending time with my family, both
My boys played hockey growing up, and I was fortunate
enough to help coach and be with them play golf
a lot, and both my boys golf.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Wait a minute, you had kids in hockey and you golfed.
Where'd you find it? The ad run a business?
Speaker 2 (15:46):
I got them golfing. Okay, that was my That was
the That was the thing, right, you know, so that
my wife couldn't and she doesn't care. She's she's great.
But yeah, to be able to spend time with them
and then with her obviously, I mean it's just, you know,
family's family is very important. We don't have a big family,
but spending time, you know, with them and then flying
whenever I can, you know, just to keep scratching that itch.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
You're passionate about flying.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
I love it. Yeah, yeah, it's uh, it's hard to describe.
Neither of my boys got it. They have no desire,
which is great.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Where'd you get it?
Speaker 2 (16:18):
You know? It's funny. It was when my dad was
traveling a lot growing up, back in the old days
when you could go into the airport you didn't need
to have a ticket to go through security. My mom
and I would always go with him to the gate
and I just I don't know. I just it was
I knew what every plane with, what kinds they were.
And then we lived in Orlando and they were building
the very first My dad was working on the very
(16:39):
first high rise kind of minium in dustin Florida, which
now is blown out. Oh yeah, they built the very
first one in the mid eighties. And his partner had
a little twin engine propeller plane, an aerostar. And in
the summer we say, you know, I'm going, I mean,
why don't you a mom fly along with us? Okay, great?
And his name is Harry. His name is Harry Tottle
(17:01):
was Harry Tottal And he let me sit in the
front seat, in the right seat, which is a co
pilot position. Yeah, And I just I had already built
this thing up to be so fantastic and then he
quote unquote let me fly, which I'm sure he was
on the other set of controls. But that was it, man,
It was like I it was it was a I
was hooked. And that's all I ever wanted to do.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Do you own your own plane?
Speaker 2 (17:22):
We do. We have a plane now, so we're fortunate
we can we can travel. It's a it's a. It's
it's my vice. You know, Like I said, there's there's
there's there's a lot worse vice worse a private cheaper,
but uh yeah, it's fun. So it allows me to
do what my passion is. The business has allowed me to.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
You know, how often do you get out?
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Probably a couple three times a month if I can. Yeah,
I mean the weather sure, yeah, it doesn't always allow
for it in the winter, but yeah, it's fun. Where's
your go to Florida?
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Anywhere South?
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Yeah, so you got the best of both. You got
to you got the hometown pride, and yet if if
the weather's bad, you can always play.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Yeah. No, I mean when I quit flying for the airline,
I never never envisioned that, you know, one day I
would have the opportunity to continue. I quit for a
while just because I couldn't afford it, right, But yeah,
it'd be able to have the ability to do both
and live here in Pittsburgh and maybe get away when
it's a little chilly.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Good for you in January, So tell us about any
of your either your company or your family charitable ties.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
So we offer My mom and dad do a lot
for the mar school districts, too many things to say,
and she's like she prefers to do those kind of
without too many people knowing. So I don't get into that.
But company wise, we we offer four different charities that
customers can select when they close, we give them the
(18:55):
option pick one of the four and then once a
quarter we write a check in the name of that
person who bought one of our homes, just as a
way to get back and it helps. They're all local charities,
none that you know, have a lot of money out
there to fundraise and advertise. But yeah, so it's it's good.
We've done some things, you know with Hoseann Industries for
(19:16):
the day where we'll get some folks in the company
who want to go out and and help with whatever
Hoseana needs. You know, just trying to trying to get
back and run a business and keep everybody busy, you know,
we do as much as we can.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Or talking about business, how has the new home business,
how has it changed from when either when your father
started or when you started to now what what's what's
the climate today?
Speaker 2 (19:44):
I'd say the biggest change from the way we run
the business has been regulation, Like I said, whether it's banking,
what banks can and can't do. After the mortgage crisis
in eight or government really changed how much money banks
can loan to do. The type of work we do,
(20:05):
it's very risky, so there's few of us doing it.
So where it used to be where Pittsburgh was almost
exclusively with the exception of one large builder, all family
run businesses. That is changing sadly, and a lot of
it's not because there's not folks out there that don't
want to do it. It's just it's really really expensive
(20:26):
to be in the business where and in terms of
the money you have to put in to get one
out of the ground. So regulation from from the banking side,
just the way we build the homes now and a
lot of them have been improvements. But is anything the
federal government gets involved in, they can go too far,
you know, from bad to good, I guess.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
So what about the appetite for the home buyer? Do
they still do they really want new homes?
Speaker 2 (20:51):
They do, yeah, they and they want you know, they
want affordable you know, but that the folks that we're
selling to they want amenities, they want they want to
be in a community of people who are like them,
that off you know, they have the same interests to
have that social aspect, right, because as your kids get older.
For us anyway, with the kids, like we're friends with
(21:12):
all of our friends parents, or they're friends parents, right right,
Well they go away and all of a sudden you're
looking at each other like, oh we do now, right.
So being in a community where people that are of
the same age have the same interest I think is important.
They still want to It's just locations everything, right, So
just trying to find those spots where people want to live.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Well, how do you find those spots and how do
you find those people? So what's effective for you?
Speaker 2 (21:38):
For us, it's just we stay in the north Like
I said, we're North Hills based and just kind of
stay in the North Hills Butler a little bit into
Beaver County. But trying to find the population centers, whether
it be Cranberry or whether it be Mars or even
up into Butler, staying on the periphery of those two
where people when they downsize, they don't typically like to
(22:01):
move across, even from the South Hills to the North Hills, right.
They want the same bank, grocery store, They want to
be close to their church, friends and family, so we
try to find those spots where there's a good population center.
But we know that there's folks that want to downsize,
so always looking for opportunities. Finding land is difficult, but
(22:22):
you know, we've been around here a long time, so
a lot of times we'll just get calls from people
who are selling. Sometimes they come on the market, just
like you'd find a house that's coming up for a list.
So just different ways to do that is how we sell.
It's really i'd say word of mouth. I mean, we
have our website. Obviously we were homes dot com, but
(22:45):
you know, some directional signage on the weekends, but it's
it's website based. It's pushing people through the internet. But
it's a lot of referrals. You know, we have a
referral programmers. If you bring somebody in, you'll get a
little something. We give them a little something. You know.
As a small business, your your name is everything. I'm
(23:07):
proud of that. We have a great reputation, i would say,
and just having the ability to have folks trust you
with their biggest investment, you know, typically buying a home
is that and then recommend you to a friend. Right
they're putting themselves out there when they do that, so
that means a lot to us.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
You mentioned the word proud. What are you most proud
of when it comes to Weaver Homes?
Speaker 2 (23:31):
I would say making it through. Well, first, my parents
starting it from nothing, you know, really starting a second career,
getting it to the point they got it, you know,
and when I came back in five, making it through
the housing crisis, you know, the mortgage crisis of eight.
(23:53):
And then just proud of the people that that have
spent a lot of time and effort, blood, sweat and
tears who worked for us that you know, they treat
it like it's thrown that have helped us grow it
to the point where it's at now. You know, making
it through COVID was the biggest challenge, and really there's
(24:13):
still a lot of that hangover from you know, mortgage rates.
People are in a house that's a three percent, they're
not moving material costs, labor costs went up. We got
shut down for eight weeks. Our governor deemed our business
not to be essential, so paying people for eight weeks
to stay home. We didn't let anybody off, you know,
(24:34):
just knew it was going to come back around at
some point in time, So nobody jumped.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Shit, it didn't come back very quick, No it didn't.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
And I wasn't sure what was going to happen. But yeah,
nobody left. Everybody stuck around. There was a struggle coming
out of COVID, just because now we were busier, but
you couldn't get material We had all these rules in
place about how you could. You know, just everything we went.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
And that materials cost went through the roof.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
They went up thirty five percent overall. Framing lumber was
the most ridiculous. There was a lot of houses we
built for free. That's how much framing went up. I
mean it ate up all the profit. Wow, but we
still finished the house. You know, we made it through.
It was good, it was stressful. So I'm proud of
(25:21):
the fact that everybody, for the most part, that made
it through that is still here today. We had a
you know, after COVID, when when rates were low, things
got slow, very slow. Two years ago. So I had
the same number of people that I had on the
staff to build one hundred and forty houses. Now we
built far fewer than that. But again, family is important
(25:43):
to me, loyalty is important. Nobody got laid off, we
found other things for people to do, and things started
to come back. And we're not back to where we were,
but we're back to a point where where everybody's busy,
but just found things for folks to do.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
What's the future of Weaver Homes.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Well, the future is I think it's bright. I have
two boys who may or may not come back in
the business, but I think that's long term. Short term,
we're in a great spot. We've got some great communities
coming up, new locations in the North Hills that are
in really really good spots. You know, we're always there's
always hyper focused on the customer and you know, making
(26:23):
sure people understand who we are, what we do, how
we do things, and taking care of the family we
have that work for us, you know, that have been
part of this journey and making sure they're taken care of.
So I think the future is very bright. I'm excited
about it. You know, despite some of the challenges that
come with running a business. You know, it's not you know,
(26:45):
get to see all the fun stuff out in the field.
It's a lot of back office stuff and things that
aren't as much fun. But I really I still enjoy
coming to work every day. I love the support from
my parents and my wife and really everybody that's come
to be part of the Weaver Holmes family. I know
that I've got a great support system, and I enjoy it.
(27:07):
It's fun.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
What's the website again, weaverhomes dot com. Chadweaver, CEO, you
should know. This has been fun. Thank you so much,
Thank you very much. This has been the CEOs you
should know podcast showcasing businesses that are driving our regional economy.
Part of iHeartMedia's commitment to the communities we serve. I'm
Johnny Hartwell, thank you so much for listening.
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