April 2, 2024 • 29 mins
April 2, 2024
129. Don't Build or Remodel with the Wrong Team
Listeners are in for a wealth of knowledge on assembling the perfect team for any home building or remodeling project. George Siegal welcomes Blake Sutton, president of Est Est Interior Design. With Blake's extensive background in construction, interior design, and home staging, he emphasizes the critical importance of a cohesive, well-communicated, and competent team to navigate the complexities of construction and remodeling, thereby reducing stress and horror stories commonly associated with such projects. This episode is packed with actionable insights, from selecting the right contractor and managing unexpected challenges to understanding the intricacies of local building codes and making timeless design choices. Whether you're tearing down walls in an old home or embarking on a new build, Blake's expert advice will guide you toward a successful, fulfilling project outcome.
Here’s how you can follow or reach Blake Sutton:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estestinc/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blakersutton/
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Here's the link to the trailer for the documentary film I'm making: Built to Last: Buyer Beware.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
George Siegal (00:00):
If you've ever built or remodeled a house, you
know how challenging a projectlike that can be.
The team you choose to do thework will make or break how the
job goes, so you need to makesure you have the right pieces
in place before you get started.
My guest today is Blake Sutton.
He's the president of theaward-winning Est Est Interior
Design.
Blake's experience inconstruction, interior design
(00:22):
and homestaging allows him toprovide a unique perspective to
his job and, after listeningtoday, you'll have a much better
idea how to put a plan in placefor your project that will help
you end up much happier whenit's completed.
I'm George Siegal, and this isHomeowners Be Aware the podcast
that teaches you everything youneed to know about being a
(00:44):
homeowner.
Blake, thank you so much forjoining me today.
I'm happy to be here.
All right, today we're going tobe talking about how to build a
team when building orredesigning remodeling your
house, and a lot of people takethat for granted, unless they've
never done it before.
Tell us how important that isand how it can make such a big
difference between a successfulproject or one that goes south.
Blake Sutton (01:06):
Building a team is honestly the most important
thing you're going to do whenyou're getting into this process
.
People understand oftentimesthe complexities that are
involved in doing a remodel or anew construction, and having a
great team in place that coversall of the scope that's going to
be required, that communicatereally well together, that are
qualified and competent, iseliminating the vast majority of
(01:29):
the hard-exit people deal withand the horror stories that you
come across the contractor'shired that isn't licensed or
isn't insured.
They hire an architect andthey're not registered and so
their plans can actually besubmitted to the city, et cetera
, et cetera.
Getting a great team in placecreates the opportunity and the
(01:50):
foundation for success.
George Siegal (01:52):
Yeah, I've been involved with good experiences
and bad, and the bad ones.
Once they go south, it startswith the person who's the
coordinator, the one at the top,but it's also the team that's
assembled below them that, ifthere's loose pieces, if you're
the person responsible forfinding all those people
yourself, you're not alwaysfinding people that work well
(02:12):
together.
Blake Sutton (02:16):
Communication is crucial, but also having really
clean lines of scope of who'sresponsible for what is
incredibly important.
It eliminates finger-pointing.
When you can createaccountability between the
various partners on a project.
It just leads and fosters agreat environment throughout the
process.
I always tell homeowners whenyou're doing a remodel it's
(02:38):
going to take longer than youexpect.
You're going to discover thingsthat you didn't know you're
going to have to deal with whenyou open up the walls, but
having a great team in placewill help to minimize the issues
that you deal with.
I can't stress enough howimportant that is.
George Siegal (02:54):
Yeah, and talk about that when you're
remodeling things.
In the neighborhood that I livein I live in Tampa, florida
there's a lot of really oldhouses that are surrounded by
brand new houses, and every nowand then these people tear open
and remodel an older house, orthey try to not completely tear
it down and leave one wall.
Does that affect the taxes thatthey pay?
(03:14):
Because we only see it walkingby.
What's really going on there?
Blake Sutton (03:18):
Typically when you see that it's one of two things
.
One is it has to do with thepermanent process with other
municipalities.
Sometimes they have rules thatdiffer for a remodel versus a
new build.
So by leaving one wall, whetherit's a structural wall or
fireplace, it changes it.
The other thing is a lot oftimes older structures are
grandfathered in when it comesto setbacks and site conditions
(03:39):
that change over time with citycode, and so by remodeling they
maybe they'll have to do thegrading, redo the grading and
drainage on the property ordifferent, you know different
studies that require massivechange.
Easements change over time, allthose kinds of things.
So a lot of times leaving awall helps them to remain with
(03:59):
the exclusions or exceptionsthat they have on their property
as opposed to having to startfresh.
George Siegal (04:04):
I tried flipping a house one time and the house
ended up nice.
But it was just a disasteralong the way, because once you
tear open the walls or startknocking things out in an older
house, there's a lot ofsurprises behind those walls.
Blake Sutton (04:16):
You know, the biggest thing that I always try
and do when I meet with someonewho's considering a remodel and
they're especially on an olderproperty we have to build a team
first.
So if we're doing anythingthat's involving structure or
exterior of the property that'sgoing to require permitting
through the city, we want tomake sure that there's an
architect on board so that whenwe find structural deficiencies,
there's someone in place tostep in and handle those.
We want to make sure that wehave a competent contractor
(04:39):
who's experienced not just inconstruction but specifically
with the time period of the homethat you're dealing with.
Construction methods changeover time, so I know for a fact
that if I'm doing a house that'sbuilt in the 60s or 70s,
there's completely differentissues we're going to run into
versus one that was built in the90s.
So someone who has the trackrecord and experience of the era
(04:59):
that the homes were built iscrucial.
And then having a design plan inplace the hardest thing with
the remodels is scope creep.
So you start off intending todo X, y and Z and over time the
scope grows larger and largerand larger.
Having a plan in place from thebeginning so that you can get
budgeting numbers in place, witha healthy contingency for the
(05:20):
1F when you open up the walls,is really, really important,
because there's a lot of workthat we've done on the front end
before you ever start theremodel process to make sure
that you're going to be gettingout of the job what you expected
.
The biggest issue I see on aremodel is someone so excited to
remodel this house that theybought they start demo right
away and there's not a plan inplace to put it back together
(05:42):
yet and once you tear open thewalls you're going to have to
put it back together and makecosts far more than you expect.
George Siegal (05:48):
Yeah, that contingency is interesting to
talk about because if I'mbuilding a new house or buying
it usually get that cost sheetand you know what they're doing
and you know what the plan iswith an older home and the
surprises.
I mean you could rip open thatthe walls and find out all the
electrical needs to be replaced,the pipes aren't good, the
supports and the walls aren'tenough to support what you're
(06:09):
doing.
I mean, it's pretty endless,isn't it?
How do you price that?
Blake Sutton (06:13):
That's what the contractor is really important.
So when we delineate scope, thearchitect is responsible for
engineering, dealing withpermits in the city.
Here locally, contractorhandles all the construction
pricing and one of the reasonswhy it's important to find a
contractor who has experience inthe arrow that the home was
built is because they'llunderstand the likely issues
they're going to deal with.
(06:34):
Just from a constructionstandpoint, we did a home
recently that the gas work wasrun through the attic space and
there were gas leaks in thepiping and they couldn't get C
of O on the home at the end ofthe remodel until all that was
fixed Not something that youplan for or think about.
It's in an attic space that'snot affecting air quality or the
home, but they can't move backinto their home until this is
(06:57):
fixed.
The contractor had a really goodidea on the front end, because
of the air of the home that wasbuilt, that they were going to
have some issues that are ableto get into that at the
beginning.
Instead of getting nearcompletion, the inspector comes
in and now your project isdelayed and you're opening
things back up to try and find aproblem.
That's the reason why thecontractor on the front end is
really crucial to help try andanticipate those things, and how
(07:19):
much of a contingency youshould have really depends on
the scope of work and when thehome was built for some of those
issues.
Asbestos is a big one.
It was very heavily involved inconstruction for a very long
period of time until we realizedhow terrible it was.
You have to do remediation whenyou find asbestos.
If you're opening up walls andwet spaces, you need to be
(07:41):
prepared to deal with moldremediation, et cetera, et
cetera.
George Siegal (07:45):
Now, when people bring you in, how much are you
personally responsible for?
And I saw that you had aconstruction background, which I
think is very helpful.
But are you the contractor?
Are you the designer?
Which part of the team are youfilling?
Blake Sutton (07:58):
Yeah, so our company does interior design, so
we handle everything from aschematic standpoint, from a
finished standpoint.
Our job is to go detaildrawings, elevations, specify
all the materials for thecontractor to get a
comprehensive bid.
We don't do any of theconstruction stuff ourselves Not
that I'm not capable of doingthat but we try and keep very
(08:19):
clean lines because it's reallyimportant for relationships.
I won't ever pretend to be acontractor.
I won't ever pretend to be anarchitect.
I stay in my lane.
We do what we do really, reallywell and we rely on partners in
the industry contractors,architects, etc to be creative,
what they do, and that's how thehomeowner gets the best result
at the end of the day.
We've always described it aslike a three-legged stool and we
(08:40):
need each member to be strongindependently in order to
support the whole project.
George Siegal (08:45):
So who's the quarterback of the team?
Who's the one that coordinatesall this?
It?
Blake Sutton (08:49):
depends on the scope that you're looking at and
it changes at different phasesof the project.
So typically on the very frontend, the architect and the
contractor are going to dealwith just site conditions.
What do we have to anticipatefrom a structural standpoint to
achieve what you want to achieve?
Are we trying to raise ceilingheights?
Are we trying to create a greatroom plan that requires
(09:11):
knocking out some walls?
They typically are involvedvery heavily early on.
The ball typically gets in pastto us in the design phase to
make sure that we have a strongplan in place for everything we
want to do in the interior.
Then it rolls to the contractorto actually execute the plan
that's in place, if that makessense.
George Siegal (09:26):
Yeah, it does, but who's responsible for
finding all those pieces?
Because I know where I live.
It's hard to find good peopleand people are constantly
posting on Nextdoor aboutcontractors that have ripped
them off, different trades thatcome through and ripped them off
, especially pool builders,roofers.
I mean there's a lot of peoplethat are not top quality.
Blake Sutton (09:47):
So my strong recommendation is to start with
either on a remodel specificallyit's different for new
construction but a remodelspecifically either find the
designer who's going to help youget the look that you want at
the end of the day, or startwith a contractor, one of the
two.
You want a general contractorwho's licensed, bonded, insured,
(10:08):
has good standing with, likethe Better Business Bureau.
You want to speak to multiplecontractors, interview multiple
people so that you can be reallycomfortable with the decision
that you make.
It's absolutely okay to ask forreferences, speak to other
people they've worked with, seeexamples of the work for you,
hire somebody Typically, whenyou find one person that you
really like and trust, they canthen help refer the other
(10:29):
members of the team that they'recomfortable working with.
But it's important to do yourdue diligence with each of those
partners that you bring inbecause ultimately, at the end
of the day, the homeowner isresponsible directly for hiring
the architect, for hiring thebuilder, for hiring the designer
, but you want all those othertrades to fall underneath your
general contractor, so he's theone that's going to be
responsible for the roofer, forthe plumber, for the electrician
(10:50):
and you have one number to call, regardless of what's going on
from a construction standpoint,to make sure that things are
done right.
George Siegal (10:59):
Yeah, I mean, how that is run is really crucial,
because some of the stories I'veread is where the contractor
might bring in some subs.
They might not get paideverything they thought they
were going to get.
They file a lien on theproperty.
I mean there's a lot of thingsthat can go wrong.
So somebody really has to bejust watching all that stuff to
make sure that it doesn't blowback on the homeowner.
Blake Sutton (11:17):
That's where doing your homework on the front end,
the hire contractor who hasgood standing and you can kind
of find the reputation.
That's really important.
I always, on a remodel,specifically encourage kind of a
cost plus model constructionwhere you can see all the
individual bids from the varioussubcontractors so that you can
make sure that it'scompetitively bid and you know
(11:38):
who's going to be working onyour, on your home at all the
different stages and dependingon size and complexity.
There are other outside peoplethat you can hire owners reps,
as an example.
Maybe you talk to your lendinginstitution.
They have specific requirementsfor bank draws for payments
throughout the process.
You never want to pay 100%upfront.
It should be phased as work istaking place.
(11:58):
You want to.
You know, depending again oncomplexity, you may have someone
that comes out from the bank toexpect work before funds are
released for various stages ofconstruction to protect the
homeowner.
It just depends on what you'relooking at doing, you know.
If you're looking to, you know,change out the floor and
countertops in your house, youprobably don't need to go to
that level.
But if you're looking to do amajor renovation where you're
(12:18):
taking things down to the stunts, it's definitely worthwhile to
do a little bit more homework tomake sure that you're
protecting yourself on a largerinvestment like that.
George Siegal (12:26):
Yeah, some of the stories involve contractors,
pool builders in particular,because the way they do their
draws you can be pretty deepinto that pool pardon the pun
and you don't end up with a pool, and that's a that can be a
real problem.
Blake Sutton (12:41):
Yeah, that's, that's something you know.
If I was doing it myself, Iwould be talking to my, my
lending institution and gettingadvice from them on how we
structure draws to make surethat you're not exposing
yourself to a necessary risk.
George Siegal (12:53):
Yeah, definitely.
And also on references.
You know, when a when a tradegives me references, I almost
like to post or ask around tosee who's not referring them.
It's like reading an Amazonreview.
You could read all the fivestar reviews from their friends
and family.
It's the two and three starreviews that you really want to
take a good look at.
Blake Sutton (13:12):
It's a balancing act.
You know, believe it or not,people are far more likely to
post negative reviews than theirpositive reviews.
I typically, if I'm trying tohire a contract for the first
time, I want to go see examplesof their work.
I want to talk to the otherpeople in the industry that they
work alongside.
So I want to, if it's acontractor, give me the names of
some of the architects that youwork with.
Let me know who some of thetall guys you like to work with
(13:34):
the cabinet guys.
You go and you meet with themand you start to have
conversations about you knowquality and communication.
That will tell you a largestory.
The people that they have towork alongside.
They know more than anybodyelse what it's like to be on the
job site with the generalcontractor.
And the same thing is true withthe architect.
You want to talk to thebuilders that work with to make
sure the architect is timely butthey're not having issues and
(13:55):
harming process with the city,etc.
Etc.
George Siegal (13:58):
So, in your experience, why do you think
more people aren't doing thisand then they end up having a
bad experience?
It's like we're almost lazy,and I can point to examples in
my own life where, if I had justdone a little more, I could
have saved myself a lot ofproblems.
Blake Sutton (14:13):
I think it's really just the knowledge thing.
You know people need tounderstand what their options
are and just doing a little bitmore homework.
You know, to me, updating ahome is, for most people, the
largest investment they're goingto make in their life.
So you want to make sure thatthe changes that you're doing
not only make your time in thehome enhanced, but that you're
(14:34):
positioning yourself so thatsomeday, when you move, you're
getting value out of the moneythat you put in.
And there's all differentpeople you can talk to.
But it's really just aknowledge thing.
You know the guy that knocks onyour door and sticks a business
card in for roof repairsprobably not the first number
that you want to call.
You want to talk to yourrealtor who sold you the home
you want to talk to.
You know other people that youknow in the industry perhaps, or
(14:57):
other people that you havefriends that have had roof
repairs done.
Call multiple roofers, getmultiple quotes so you can
compare them side by side tomake sure that you understand
what you're getting into.
George Siegal (15:09):
Now, each part of the country probably has their
own things you have to keep aneye on when you're when you're
doing a remodel.
How's, what's the best way forsomebody to arm themselves with
knowledge?
Okay, I just moved to Arizona Imean, scottsdale are one of
those areas and I'm gonna have adifferent set of problems than
if I moved to Tampa.
Blake Sutton (15:25):
Yep.
So if you just moved toScottsdale then you'd found what
you likely worked with arealtor helped you find the home
.
That's where I would start talkwith a realtor, say, hey, I'm
looking to do X, y and Z.
Can you give me somerecommendations of people to
talk to?
A lot of times you can alsolook at who's doing work in the
area.
So, like if you bought in acommunity like Arcadia here in
(15:45):
Arizona, just by driving up downthe streets and seeing who's
building in the area gives yousome names to start talking to
you to say, hey, I'm interestedin X, y and Z.
Can we have a conversation aboutwhat it takes the more time
that you spend on the front endplanning for your project?
The smooth of the project isgoing to go.
Hiring the right people isgoing to save you time and money
(16:06):
, but doing the due diligence onthe front end is is the most
important thing that you coulddo when you're getting into a
big, big project now, whenyou're going out to talk to a
customer, are there ever somecustomers?
George Siegal (16:18):
when you get out there and you're thinking to
yourself, okay, I cannot begetting in a relationship with
this person for the next sixmonths to a year, because
they're being obnoxious to menow, oh yeah, and we're not even
working together when Iinterview on a project it's a
two-way street.
Blake Sutton (16:31):
You know we're talking about relationships that
last Years, when we're doingprojects, depending on science,
I'm interviewing them as much asthey're interviewing me, and
even if it's not, at the end ofthe day, if I go out and do an
interview and it's not a greatfit for me, I'll make a
recommendation for somethingthat I think would be able to,
you know, help them out.
Whether it's a scope issue, atiming issue, a personality
issue, there's always somebodythat's out there that would be a
(16:53):
good fit to work with them, andI'm happy to extend a
Recommendation to someone elseif I don't think that I'm the
right fit, if that makes sense.
George Siegal (17:02):
Have you had any really bad ones or that?
That I'm not you know.
I think it was well.
It says, maybe there's a storyyou could share.
Blake Sutton (17:08):
There's.
There's always situations, youknow.
Some of it's just personality.
I know my team really well andso one of the big things that I
do when I interview for projectsis I'm looking for things that
are going to be exciting forthem to Work on, that they're
going to be passionate about,and personalities have to fit.
You know, when we do a sizewill remodel, you're talking
about two years.
When we do new construction, ifit's hillside, it can be a
(17:29):
four-year process.
If I don't think it's gonna be agood fit, personality wise,
I'll pass on a project becausewe're gonna spend a whole lot of
time together and that doesn'tmean we work with all different
kinds of people from alldifferent walks of life.
So it's not like someone has tofit in a specific mold.
But respect is the biggestthing.
You know they need to respectus.
(17:49):
We're professionals.
We're gonna be working on theirbehalf and then at the same
time, we're gonna respect them,their time, their money.
You know their lifestyle tomake sure that what we design is
gonna fit their needs.
So that's really what we lookfor.
Is that that baseline?
I've walked away from manyprojects just because I don't
think the personality is gonnabe a good fit for us.
George Siegal (18:08):
And I would imagine when, that when you meet
the contractor and see theirteam, you know if it's a
contractor that has a sloppy jobsite, if it's a guy that has a
reputation for Not hiring thebest subs under him.
I mean, you have to probablytake all those things into
account.
Blake Sutton (18:22):
It plays a bigger factor for some people more than
others.
We go far beyond what mostdesigners do when it comes to
documentation and drawings, sowe have the ability to shore up
the performance of a lot ofcontractors just by the way that
we convey information.
We always obviously prefer towork with a contractor who is on
top of everything, but we canbring value to the process even
(18:44):
if it's a contract that's notgreat.
If that makes sense, Will Imake comments to the homeowner
and make sure they understandwhat they're getting into?
Oh, absolutely.
I want to make sure that theyunderstand what the expectations
should be At the end of the day.
You know it's their house andmaybe it's a friend of theirs
that's doing the remodel.
We've done that a lot of timesand we understand that we have
to go a little bit farther inour communication documentation
(19:07):
to make sure the project issuccessful at the end of the day
.
George Siegal (19:09):
And when you come up with a great idea, great
design, you go out to the jobsite very often to make sure
that what the work is living upto the creation that you've come
up with.
Blake Sutton (19:18):
We do.
You know we don't directlysupervise construction but we're
on our job sites frequently.
There's key milestones thatwe're always going to be there.
We're always going to want todo a frame walk.
We're going to want to do awalk Once all the MEP has gone
in to make sure that lighting iswhat's supposed to be, that
niches are framed properly, thatvalves in the showers or where
they're supposed to be, thosekinds of things Before the walls
(19:38):
get closed, in making surethere's backing in walls for
roadbooks and telebars and allthat kind of fun stuff.
But then we do walkthroughsthroughout the construction
process to answer questions thatwill invariably pop up on
complex designs how do we wantto transition from this material
that material, making sure thatthe right products are being
installed?
You know we raise the red flagas early as possible if we see a
(19:59):
mistake, so if there's time tocorrect it without creating
larger issues.
But the level of documentationwe go into in drawings really
eliminates most issues that youdeal with in the field.
On is this what it's supposedto be?
We draw everything to scale.
Everything's properly labeledand elevated, so there shouldn't
be a lot of guesswork in theconstruction process on what
(20:19):
it's supposed to look like atthe end of the day.
George Siegal (20:21):
Well, a big deal here in Florida and it gets lost
in the shuffle.
A lot is the code, the buildingcode and the standard, and I
interviewed an architect thatsaid he doesn't want to be a guy
that's building for today.
He's thinking ahead to what'sgoing to survive tomorrow and
what's coming their way.
It's not okay, let's just buildthis to today's code and walk
(20:42):
away.
What's actually going to lastWithout a doubt.
Blake Sutton (20:47):
I mean, I got my start in construction, so I have
a special place in my heart forbeing able to take care of a
home after you turn it over to ahomeowner.
It's one thing.
If it looks beautiful on dayone.
It's a whole other thing.
When they need to mop that tilefloor and you didn't do a
baseboard because you thoughtthat the plaster would cool
running down to the floor, andnow there's water wicking up the
(21:09):
plaster.
It looks terrible.
How do we maintain that?
We live in a time when homesare temporary and we like to
design things that are going tostand the test of time.
So a big part of what we do isnot designing things that are
trendy, but designing thingsthat are timeless, and one of
the things that I love is seeingprojects that our company
designed 15, 20 years ago.
(21:31):
That's changed hands a coupleof times, so we go out and walk
the home today and it stilllooks immaculate.
Building something timeless is,to me, like one of the most
enjoyable things that we do.
George Siegal (21:42):
So do you incorporate that thought process
into the client and say, ok,well, it'll be more fireproof if
you do this, if you do this,you'll save on your energy bills
?
I mean, a lot of times peoplewant to save nickels when
they're doing a project and theydon't realize that for maybe a
little more or a little morecreative thinking, you can have
something that in the long runis going to save you a lot of
money.
Blake Sutton (22:02):
We have that conversation all the time across
all of our projects.
It's simple things like whenyou're wiring a home, just
pulling wire, when the walls areopened up to allow for placing
TVs in various locations, evenif you don't intend to use them
right away, because the cost ofa little extra wire now versus
having to pull a wire in thefuture is a drastic difference.
Sometimes it's the type ofmaterial that we're using.
(22:24):
Hey, I know that you think thatthis wood floor looks great,
but it's a really soft wood andso it's not going to last you
more than five to seven years.
Maybe we go to a hickory.
That's going to be more durableand you're going to get 15
years out of this wood floorinstead of five.
We see it a lot with furniture.
People look at furniture andthey don't understand what's the
(22:44):
difference between this sofaversus that sofa.
Well, this sofa is going tolast you two to three years.
That one's going to last you 10to 15.
It costs more now, but if youamateurize it over the lifetime
of the sofa, it's actually lessexpensive to buy the quality one
, because you're not replacingit three, four times.
And that's true for outdoorfurniture and indoor as well.
So we definitely have thoseconversations all the time,
(23:06):
because it's always a valuedecision and one of the first
things I ask every single personfrom every start on the project
is what are your goals withthis home.
Are you gonna live here forthree years, for five years, for
10, for 15?
It makes a drastic differenceon what makes sense for them
with the home.
You know, if they're in anindustry where they move every
three to five years because theyget sent to any location for
their office, well then we needto make decisions that make
(23:29):
sense, to position yourself sothat five years from now, when
you need to sell your home,you're gonna be in a really good
place to do that.
If you're gonna live here for15 to 20 years and this is where
you're gonna retire and spendthe rest of your life you don't
have to worry as much about theshort-term value propositions.
It's really more about makingthe home right for you to enjoy
the space.
So we have those conversationson a daily basis.
George Siegal (23:48):
Yeah, one of the lines we used in my last
documentary film and it's kindof a theme I like to have on my
podcast too is people need to bemore concerned about the
ingredients in the project thanthe icing.
The things that are eye candymay look good at the moment, but
if the core of that projectisn't there and sturdy and
functional, you're really justwasting a lot of money.
Blake Sutton (24:07):
Yeah, without a doubt.
We see, you see it the most byfar in the fix and flips that
you'll see on the market.
All the time Someone comes in,paints over that historic wood
floor, paints the walls whitewhen it's got beautiful trim,
ray washes the fireplace andsays, hey, look at this great
house that I just remodeled andthey've destroyed a lot of the
(24:28):
historic value that it has in it.
To me, it's about the long-termperspective of doing what's
right for that house, and itchanges from job to job and
style to style.
We're unique where we'repositioned in the country,
because the design diversitythat we have here in Phoenix is
unbelievable.
We have everything from Adobeconstruction to steel and glass,
(24:50):
contemporary.
We've got Mediterranean stylehomes, we've got everything you
can imagine.
And far too often we see peoplego into a home with one
architectural style and they tryand make it something that it's
not because they see an articleon design trends that say that
you know, gray is in right now,but their home is a territorial
style home, that gray makes nosense.
(25:11):
We try and make sure thatthey're making wise decisions
and that each home is designedbeautifully for what it is and
that we're creating a timelessdesign that's gonna last, not
just something that's attractivein the moment, if that makes
sense.
George Siegal (25:25):
It does.
What's the biggest hazard youhave to worry about?
Is it it's not those duststorms, Is it heat?
Is it fire?
Is it flash flooding?
What's the-.
Blake Sutton (25:34):
The biggest issue that we deal with here is the UV
, so your wood's gonna wear farfaster than in a lot of clients.
You guys have to deal with saltalso, not just the heat, but
the UV here is really reallyharsh.
So the maintenance involved inmaking sure that things are
gonna last is a pretty big deal,especially on exterior.
(25:55):
We don't really have wideswings from a climate
perspective.
We don't have to deal with, youknow, flooding like you would
have to deal with.
We don't have high winds.
The dust storms are really not abig deal, though you see it in
the news from every couple ofyears you see this giant rolling
.
Yeah, Close to the valley.
It's really not a big deal.
(26:16):
The flooding is a big one.
So making sure that your roofsare is taken care of and
maintained properly so that whenwe hit monsoon season and you
get four inches of rain in a dayand a half, that you know,
you're not having to put up potsand pans to catch water coming
out of the ceiling, that's thebiggest thing.
But the UV is a big one.
So making sure that you'repainting your houses, you know,
frequently to protect the woodeaves and those kinds of things,
(26:39):
and those are the maintenancekinds of things that are kind of
a big deal here.
George Siegal (26:42):
Yeah, the couple of times I've been there, I just
think it was being hot or veryhot, but it's a dry heat, it's
it's.
Blake Sutton (26:49):
you know that's a, that's always the joke, but I
always respond back that youknow we salt our margaritas, not
our sidewalks.
That's true.
We have incredible weatherprobably eight on Saturday year
and we have four months whereit's really really hot.
The good thing is we all haveair conditioning.
The air conditioning it sitsoutside, so making sure that
it's maintained in the heat is abig deal.
(27:10):
So when you get to the summermonths, you don't have to worry
about your AC going out.
That's a big one too, but we'reeither in the air conditioning
or we're just swimming pool.
It's not that big of a deal.
You know how it is if you're in.
George Siegal (27:21):
Florida.
Absolutely, Absolutely Now.
So what's the number one pieceof advice you give to somebody,
whether they're buying a houseor remodeling?
Top piece of advice Ask morequestions.
Blake Sutton (27:32):
You know, don't settle for the first answer.
Talk to multiple people in thesame industry and kind of
compare to make sure that you'reeducating yourself on the
process.
When you're hiring a contractor, it's not just can you build a
house like that, it's, it's howdo you manage supervision?
How do you charge?
What does communication looklike?
How do you do scheduling?
Ask lots and lots of questionsso that you can make sure that
(27:52):
you know what you're gettingyourself into.
If someone's unwilling toanswer questions, that's your
first red flag that you need togo and talk to somebody else.
So take your time on the frontend.
If you plan properly, it'sgonna save you time and money in
the long run.
I had a client not too long agothat was very eager to get
started on their process.
They had a builder lined upalready and they got started in
(28:15):
the demo process before theybrought us in and they sat with
the house that was in theremodel phase for like four
months with nothing happening,because they had to go back to
the city to get permittingbecause the permits that they
had were not what they needed toproceed with construction.
Plan on the front end.
We can minimize the impactduring the construction process.
And there's there's simpleexamples Lead times on
cabinetries really long.
(28:36):
Lead times on appliances isreally long.
So let's get your cabinets andappliances ordered as early as
possible and not tear your houseapart until we're ready for
those components to show up.
So your remodel lasts fourmonths instead of nine.
Ask, just ask, lots ofquestions.
George Siegal (28:50):
Yeah, we just had to order an air conditioning
part and it took over two monthsfor the part to get in.
So you really want to have agood leeway on that stuff.
Blake Sutton (28:57):
You know some high end appliances that'll lead to
have a 14 months during COVID.
Wow, when we were remodelinghouses, one of the things we
told appliances, keep your oldappliances.
You know, don't get rid of thatdishwasher, don't get rid of
that refrigerator.
We'll leave it in the house,even though it doesn't fit in
the hole properly for the newone, until the new one arrives.
Otherwise, you're waiting ayear for your appliances to show
(29:18):
up.
So the more questions you canask, the better.
Try and plan as much as you canon the front end of the project
and understand what your costsand your timelines are gonna be
before you actually start theremodel.
George Siegal (29:28):
All right, well, hey, blake, great advice.
Your contact information willbe in the show notes.
Thank you very much for yourtime today.
My absolute pleasure.
Thanks for having me.
If you have a story about yourhouse, good or bad, I'd like to
hear from you.
There's a contact form in theshow notes.
Fill it out, send it my way andyou might be a guest on an
upcoming episode.
Thanks for taking the time tolisten today.
(29:50):
I'll see you next time.
If you've ever built or remodeled a house, you
know how challenging a projectlike that can be.
The team you choose to do thework will make or break how the
job goes, so you need to makesure you have the right pieces
in place before you get started.
My guest today is Blake Sutton.
He's the president of theaward-winning Est Est Interior
Design.
Blake's experience inconstruction, interior design
(00:22):
and homestaging allows him toprovide a unique perspective to
his job and, after listeningtoday, you'll have a much better
idea how to put a plan in placefor your project that will help
you end up much happier whenit's completed.
I'm George Siegal, and this isHomeowners Be Aware the podcast
that teaches you everything youneed to know about being a
(00:44):
homeowner.
Blake, thank you so much forjoining me today.
I'm happy to be here.
All right, today we're going tobe talking about how to build a
team when building orredesigning remodeling your
house, and a lot of people takethat for granted, unless they've
never done it before.
Tell us how important that isand how it can make such a big
difference between a successfulproject or one that goes south.
Blake Sutton (01:06):
Building a team is honestly the most important
thing you're going to do whenyou're getting into this process
.
People understand oftentimesthe complexities that are
involved in doing a remodel or anew construction, and having a
great team in place that coversall of the scope that's going to
be required, that communicatereally well together, that are
qualified and competent, iseliminating the vast majority of
(01:29):
the hard-exit people deal withand the horror stories that you
come across the contractor'shired that isn't licensed or
isn't insured.
They hire an architect andthey're not registered and so
their plans can actually besubmitted to the city, et cetera
, et cetera.
Getting a great team in placecreates the opportunity and the
(01:50):
foundation for success.
George Siegal (01:52):
Yeah, I've been involved with good experiences
and bad, and the bad ones.
Once they go south, it startswith the person who's the
coordinator, the one at the top,but it's also the team that's
assembled below them that, ifthere's loose pieces, if you're
the person responsible forfinding all those people
yourself, you're not alwaysfinding people that work well
(02:12):
together.
Blake Sutton (02:16):
Communication is crucial, but also having really
clean lines of scope of who'sresponsible for what is
incredibly important.
It eliminates finger-pointing.
When you can createaccountability between the
various partners on a project.
It just leads and fosters agreat environment throughout the
process.
I always tell homeowners whenyou're doing a remodel it's
(02:38):
going to take longer than youexpect.
You're going to discover thingsthat you didn't know you're
going to have to deal with whenyou open up the walls, but
having a great team in placewill help to minimize the issues
that you deal with.
I can't stress enough howimportant that is.
George Siegal (02:54):
Yeah, and talk about that when you're
remodeling things.
In the neighborhood that I livein I live in Tampa, florida
there's a lot of really oldhouses that are surrounded by
brand new houses, and every nowand then these people tear open
and remodel an older house, orthey try to not completely tear
it down and leave one wall.
Does that affect the taxes thatthey pay?
(03:14):
Because we only see it walkingby.
What's really going on there?
Blake Sutton (03:18):
Typically when you see that it's one of two things
.
One is it has to do with thepermanent process with other
municipalities.
Sometimes they have rules thatdiffer for a remodel versus a
new build.
So by leaving one wall, whetherit's a structural wall or
fireplace, it changes it.
The other thing is a lot oftimes older structures are
grandfathered in when it comesto setbacks and site conditions
(03:39):
that change over time with citycode, and so by remodeling they
maybe they'll have to do thegrading, redo the grading and
drainage on the property ordifferent, you know different
studies that require massivechange.
Easements change over time, allthose kinds of things.
So a lot of times leaving awall helps them to remain with
(03:59):
the exclusions or exceptionsthat they have on their property
as opposed to having to startfresh.
George Siegal (04:04):
I tried flipping a house one time and the house
ended up nice.
But it was just a disasteralong the way, because once you
tear open the walls or startknocking things out in an older
house, there's a lot ofsurprises behind those walls.
Blake Sutton (04:16):
You know, the biggest thing that I always try
and do when I meet with someonewho's considering a remodel and
they're especially on an olderproperty we have to build a team
first.
So if we're doing anythingthat's involving structure or
exterior of the property that'sgoing to require permitting
through the city, we want tomake sure that there's an
architect on board so that whenwe find structural deficiencies,
there's someone in place tostep in and handle those.
We want to make sure that wehave a competent contractor
(04:39):
who's experienced not just inconstruction but specifically
with the time period of the homethat you're dealing with.
Construction methods changeover time, so I know for a fact
that if I'm doing a house that'sbuilt in the 60s or 70s,
there's completely differentissues we're going to run into
versus one that was built in the90s.
So someone who has the trackrecord and experience of the era
(04:59):
that the homes were built iscrucial.
And then having a design plan inplace the hardest thing with
the remodels is scope creep.
So you start off intending todo X, y and Z and over time the
scope grows larger and largerand larger.
Having a plan in place from thebeginning so that you can get
budgeting numbers in place, witha healthy contingency for the
(05:20):
1F when you open up the walls,is really, really important,
because there's a lot of workthat we've done on the front end
before you ever start theremodel process to make sure
that you're going to be gettingout of the job what you expected
.
The biggest issue I see on aremodel is someone so excited to
remodel this house that theybought they start demo right
away and there's not a plan inplace to put it back together
(05:42):
yet and once you tear open thewalls you're going to have to
put it back together and makecosts far more than you expect.
George Siegal (05:48):
Yeah, that contingency is interesting to
talk about because if I'mbuilding a new house or buying
it usually get that cost sheetand you know what they're doing
and you know what the plan iswith an older home and the
surprises.
I mean you could rip open thatthe walls and find out all the
electrical needs to be replaced,the pipes aren't good, the
supports and the walls aren'tenough to support what you're
(06:09):
doing.
I mean, it's pretty endless,isn't it?
How do you price that?
Blake Sutton (06:13):
That's what the contractor is really important.
So when we delineate scope, thearchitect is responsible for
engineering, dealing withpermits in the city.
Here locally, contractorhandles all the construction
pricing and one of the reasonswhy it's important to find a
contractor who has experience inthe arrow that the home was
built is because they'llunderstand the likely issues
they're going to deal with.
(06:34):
Just from a constructionstandpoint, we did a home
recently that the gas work wasrun through the attic space and
there were gas leaks in thepiping and they couldn't get C
of O on the home at the end ofthe remodel until all that was
fixed Not something that youplan for or think about.
It's in an attic space that'snot affecting air quality or the
home, but they can't move backinto their home until this is
(06:57):
fixed.
The contractor had a really goodidea on the front end, because
of the air of the home that wasbuilt, that they were going to
have some issues that are ableto get into that at the
beginning.
Instead of getting nearcompletion, the inspector comes
in and now your project isdelayed and you're opening
things back up to try and find aproblem.
That's the reason why thecontractor on the front end is
really crucial to help try andanticipate those things, and how
(07:19):
much of a contingency youshould have really depends on
the scope of work and when thehome was built for some of those
issues.
Asbestos is a big one.
It was very heavily involved inconstruction for a very long
period of time until we realizedhow terrible it was.
You have to do remediation whenyou find asbestos.
If you're opening up walls andwet spaces, you need to be
(07:41):
prepared to deal with moldremediation, et cetera, et
cetera.
George Siegal (07:45):
Now, when people bring you in, how much are you
personally responsible for?
And I saw that you had aconstruction background, which I
think is very helpful.
But are you the contractor?
Are you the designer?
Which part of the team are youfilling?
Blake Sutton (07:58):
Yeah, so our company does interior design, so
we handle everything from aschematic standpoint, from a
finished standpoint.
Our job is to go detaildrawings, elevations, specify
all the materials for thecontractor to get a
comprehensive bid.
We don't do any of theconstruction stuff ourselves Not
that I'm not capable of doingthat but we try and keep very
(08:19):
clean lines because it's reallyimportant for relationships.
I won't ever pretend to be acontractor.
I won't ever pretend to be anarchitect.
I stay in my lane.
We do what we do really, reallywell and we rely on partners in
the industry contractors,architects, etc to be creative,
what they do, and that's how thehomeowner gets the best result
at the end of the day.
We've always described it aslike a three-legged stool and we
(08:40):
need each member to be strongindependently in order to
support the whole project.
George Siegal (08:45):
So who's the quarterback of the team?
Who's the one that coordinatesall this?
It?
Blake Sutton (08:49):
depends on the scope that you're looking at and
it changes at different phasesof the project.
So typically on the very frontend, the architect and the
contractor are going to dealwith just site conditions.
What do we have to anticipatefrom a structural standpoint to
achieve what you want to achieve?
Are we trying to raise ceilingheights?
Are we trying to create a greatroom plan that requires
(09:11):
knocking out some walls?
They typically are involvedvery heavily early on.
The ball typically gets in pastto us in the design phase to
make sure that we have a strongplan in place for everything we
want to do in the interior.
Then it rolls to the contractorto actually execute the plan
that's in place, if that makessense.
George Siegal (09:26):
Yeah, it does, but who's responsible for
finding all those pieces?
Because I know where I live.
It's hard to find good peopleand people are constantly
posting on Nextdoor aboutcontractors that have ripped
them off, different trades thatcome through and ripped them off
, especially pool builders,roofers.
I mean there's a lot of peoplethat are not top quality.
Blake Sutton (09:47):
So my strong recommendation is to start with
either on a remodel specificallyit's different for new
construction but a remodelspecifically either find the
designer who's going to help youget the look that you want at
the end of the day, or startwith a contractor, one of the
two.
You want a general contractorwho's licensed, bonded, insured,
(10:08):
has good standing with, likethe Better Business Bureau.
You want to speak to multiplecontractors, interview multiple
people so that you can be reallycomfortable with the decision
that you make.
It's absolutely okay to ask forreferences, speak to other
people they've worked with, seeexamples of the work for you,
hire somebody Typically, whenyou find one person that you
really like and trust, they canthen help refer the other
(10:29):
members of the team that they'recomfortable working with.
But it's important to do yourdue diligence with each of those
partners that you bring inbecause ultimately, at the end
of the day, the homeowner isresponsible directly for hiring
the architect, for hiring thebuilder, for hiring the designer
, but you want all those othertrades to fall underneath your
general contractor, so he's theone that's going to be
responsible for the roofer, forthe plumber, for the electrician
(10:50):
and you have one number to call, regardless of what's going on
from a construction standpoint,to make sure that things are
done right.
George Siegal (10:59):
Yeah, I mean, how that is run is really crucial,
because some of the stories I'veread is where the contractor
might bring in some subs.
They might not get paideverything they thought they
were going to get.
They file a lien on theproperty.
I mean there's a lot of thingsthat can go wrong.
So somebody really has to bejust watching all that stuff to
make sure that it doesn't blowback on the homeowner.
Blake Sutton (11:17):
That's where doing your homework on the front end,
the hire contractor who hasgood standing and you can kind
of find the reputation.
That's really important.
I always, on a remodel,specifically encourage kind of a
cost plus model constructionwhere you can see all the
individual bids from the varioussubcontractors so that you can
make sure that it'scompetitively bid and you know
(11:38):
who's going to be working onyour, on your home at all the
different stages and dependingon size and complexity.
There are other outside peoplethat you can hire owners reps,
as an example.
Maybe you talk to your lendinginstitution.
They have specific requirementsfor bank draws for payments
throughout the process.
You never want to pay 100%upfront.
It should be phased as work istaking place.
(11:58):
You want to.
You know, depending again oncomplexity, you may have someone
that comes out from the bank toexpect work before funds are
released for various stages ofconstruction to protect the
homeowner.
It just depends on what you'relooking at doing, you know.
If you're looking to, you know,change out the floor and
countertops in your house, youprobably don't need to go to
that level.
But if you're looking to do amajor renovation where you're
(12:18):
taking things down to the stunts, it's definitely worthwhile to
do a little bit more homework tomake sure that you're
protecting yourself on a largerinvestment like that.
George Siegal (12:26):
Yeah, some of the stories involve contractors,
pool builders in particular,because the way they do their
draws you can be pretty deepinto that pool pardon the pun
and you don't end up with a pool, and that's a that can be a
real problem.
Blake Sutton (12:41):
Yeah, that's, that's something you know.
If I was doing it myself, Iwould be talking to my, my
lending institution and gettingadvice from them on how we
structure draws to make surethat you're not exposing
yourself to a necessary risk.
George Siegal (12:53):
Yeah, definitely.
And also on references.
You know, when a when a tradegives me references, I almost
like to post or ask around tosee who's not referring them.
It's like reading an Amazonreview.
You could read all the fivestar reviews from their friends
and family.
It's the two and three starreviews that you really want to
take a good look at.
Blake Sutton (13:12):
It's a balancing act.
You know, believe it or not,people are far more likely to
post negative reviews than theirpositive reviews.
I typically, if I'm trying tohire a contract for the first
time, I want to go see examplesof their work.
I want to talk to the otherpeople in the industry that they
work alongside.
So I want to, if it's acontractor, give me the names of
some of the architects that youwork with.
Let me know who some of thetall guys you like to work with
(13:34):
the cabinet guys.
You go and you meet with themand you start to have
conversations about you knowquality and communication.
That will tell you a largestory.
The people that they have towork alongside.
They know more than anybodyelse what it's like to be on the
job site with the generalcontractor.
And the same thing is true withthe architect.
You want to talk to thebuilders that work with to make
sure the architect is timely butthey're not having issues and
(13:55):
harming process with the city,etc.
Etc.
George Siegal (13:58):
So, in your experience, why do you think
more people aren't doing thisand then they end up having a
bad experience?
It's like we're almost lazy,and I can point to examples in
my own life where, if I had justdone a little more, I could
have saved myself a lot ofproblems.
Blake Sutton (14:13):
I think it's really just the knowledge thing.
You know people need tounderstand what their options
are and just doing a little bitmore homework.
You know, to me, updating ahome is, for most people, the
largest investment they're goingto make in their life.
So you want to make sure thatthe changes that you're doing
not only make your time in thehome enhanced, but that you're
(14:34):
positioning yourself so thatsomeday, when you move, you're
getting value out of the moneythat you put in.
And there's all differentpeople you can talk to.
But it's really just aknowledge thing.
You know the guy that knocks onyour door and sticks a business
card in for roof repairsprobably not the first number
that you want to call.
You want to talk to yourrealtor who sold you the home
you want to talk to.
You know other people that youknow in the industry perhaps, or
(14:57):
other people that you havefriends that have had roof
repairs done.
Call multiple roofers, getmultiple quotes so you can
compare them side by side tomake sure that you understand
what you're getting into.
George Siegal (15:09):
Now, each part of the country probably has their
own things you have to keep aneye on when you're when you're
doing a remodel.
How's, what's the best way forsomebody to arm themselves with
knowledge?
Okay, I just moved to Arizona Imean, scottsdale are one of
those areas and I'm gonna have adifferent set of problems than
if I moved to Tampa.
Blake Sutton (15:25):
Yep.
So if you just moved toScottsdale then you'd found what
you likely worked with arealtor helped you find the home
.
That's where I would start talkwith a realtor, say, hey, I'm
looking to do X, y and Z.
Can you give me somerecommendations of people to
talk to?
A lot of times you can alsolook at who's doing work in the
area.
So, like if you bought in acommunity like Arcadia here in
(15:45):
Arizona, just by driving up downthe streets and seeing who's
building in the area gives yousome names to start talking to
you to say, hey, I'm interestedin X, y and Z.
Can we have a conversation aboutwhat it takes the more time
that you spend on the front endplanning for your project?
The smooth of the project isgoing to go.
Hiring the right people isgoing to save you time and money
(16:06):
, but doing the due diligence onthe front end is is the most
important thing that you coulddo when you're getting into a
big, big project now, whenyou're going out to talk to a
customer, are there ever somecustomers?
George Siegal (16:18):
when you get out there and you're thinking to
yourself, okay, I cannot begetting in a relationship with
this person for the next sixmonths to a year, because
they're being obnoxious to menow, oh yeah, and we're not even
working together when Iinterview on a project it's a
two-way street.
Blake Sutton (16:31):
You know we're talking about relationships that
last Years, when we're doingprojects, depending on science,
I'm interviewing them as much asthey're interviewing me, and
even if it's not, at the end ofthe day, if I go out and do an
interview and it's not a greatfit for me, I'll make a
recommendation for somethingthat I think would be able to,
you know, help them out.
Whether it's a scope issue, atiming issue, a personality
issue, there's always somebodythat's out there that would be a
(16:53):
good fit to work with them, andI'm happy to extend a
Recommendation to someone elseif I don't think that I'm the
right fit, if that makes sense.
George Siegal (17:02):
Have you had any really bad ones or that?
That I'm not you know.
I think it was well.
It says, maybe there's a storyyou could share.
Blake Sutton (17:08):
There's.
There's always situations, youknow.
Some of it's just personality.
I know my team really well andso one of the big things that I
do when I interview for projectsis I'm looking for things that
are going to be exciting forthem to Work on, that they're
going to be passionate about,and personalities have to fit.
You know, when we do a sizewill remodel, you're talking
about two years.
When we do new construction, ifit's hillside, it can be a
(17:29):
four-year process.
If I don't think it's gonna be agood fit, personality wise,
I'll pass on a project becausewe're gonna spend a whole lot of
time together and that doesn'tmean we work with all different
kinds of people from alldifferent walks of life.
So it's not like someone has tofit in a specific mold.
But respect is the biggestthing.
You know they need to respectus.
(17:49):
We're professionals.
We're gonna be working on theirbehalf and then at the same
time, we're gonna respect them,their time, their money.
You know their lifestyle tomake sure that what we design is
gonna fit their needs.
So that's really what we lookfor.
Is that that baseline?
I've walked away from manyprojects just because I don't
think the personality is gonnabe a good fit for us.
George Siegal (18:08):
And I would imagine when, that when you meet
the contractor and see theirteam, you know if it's a
contractor that has a sloppy jobsite, if it's a guy that has a
reputation for Not hiring thebest subs under him.
I mean, you have to probablytake all those things into
account.
Blake Sutton (18:22):
It plays a bigger factor for some people more than
others.
We go far beyond what mostdesigners do when it comes to
documentation and drawings, sowe have the ability to shore up
the performance of a lot ofcontractors just by the way that
we convey information.
We always obviously prefer towork with a contractor who is on
top of everything, but we canbring value to the process even
(18:44):
if it's a contract that's notgreat.
If that makes sense, Will Imake comments to the homeowner
and make sure they understandwhat they're getting into?
Oh, absolutely.
I want to make sure that theyunderstand what the expectations
should be At the end of the day.
You know it's their house andmaybe it's a friend of theirs
that's doing the remodel.
We've done that a lot of timesand we understand that we have
to go a little bit farther inour communication documentation
(19:07):
to make sure the project issuccessful at the end of the day
.
George Siegal (19:09):
And when you come up with a great idea, great
design, you go out to the jobsite very often to make sure
that what the work is living upto the creation that you've come
up with.
Blake Sutton (19:18):
We do.
You know we don't directlysupervise construction but we're
on our job sites frequently.
There's key milestones thatwe're always going to be there.
We're always going to want todo a frame walk.
We're going to want to do awalk Once all the MEP has gone
in to make sure that lighting iswhat's supposed to be, that
niches are framed properly, thatvalves in the showers or where
they're supposed to be, thosekinds of things Before the walls
(19:38):
get closed, in making surethere's backing in walls for
roadbooks and telebars and allthat kind of fun stuff.
But then we do walkthroughsthroughout the construction
process to answer questions thatwill invariably pop up on
complex designs how do we wantto transition from this material
that material, making sure thatthe right products are being
installed?
You know we raise the red flagas early as possible if we see a
(19:59):
mistake, so if there's time tocorrect it without creating
larger issues.
But the level of documentationwe go into in drawings really
eliminates most issues that youdeal with in the field.
On is this what it's supposedto be?
We draw everything to scale.
Everything's properly labeledand elevated, so there shouldn't
be a lot of guesswork in theconstruction process on what
(20:19):
it's supposed to look like atthe end of the day.
George Siegal (20:21):
Well, a big deal here in Florida and it gets lost
in the shuffle.
A lot is the code, the buildingcode and the standard, and I
interviewed an architect thatsaid he doesn't want to be a guy
that's building for today.
He's thinking ahead to what'sgoing to survive tomorrow and
what's coming their way.
It's not okay, let's just buildthis to today's code and walk
(20:42):
away.
What's actually going to lastWithout a doubt.
Blake Sutton (20:47):
I mean, I got my start in construction, so I have
a special place in my heart forbeing able to take care of a
home after you turn it over to ahomeowner.
It's one thing.
If it looks beautiful on dayone.
It's a whole other thing.
When they need to mop that tilefloor and you didn't do a
baseboard because you thoughtthat the plaster would cool
running down to the floor, andnow there's water wicking up the
(21:09):
plaster.
It looks terrible.
How do we maintain that?
We live in a time when homesare temporary and we like to
design things that are going tostand the test of time.
So a big part of what we do isnot designing things that are
trendy, but designing thingsthat are timeless, and one of
the things that I love is seeingprojects that our company
designed 15, 20 years ago.
(21:31):
That's changed hands a coupleof times, so we go out and walk
the home today and it stilllooks immaculate.
Building something timeless is,to me, like one of the most
enjoyable things that we do.
George Siegal (21:42):
So do you incorporate that thought process
into the client and say, ok,well, it'll be more fireproof if
you do this, if you do this,you'll save on your energy bills
?
I mean, a lot of times peoplewant to save nickels when
they're doing a project and theydon't realize that for maybe a
little more or a little morecreative thinking, you can have
something that in the long runis going to save you a lot of
money.
Blake Sutton (22:02):
We have that conversation all the time across
all of our projects.
It's simple things like whenyou're wiring a home, just
pulling wire, when the walls areopened up to allow for placing
TVs in various locations, evenif you don't intend to use them
right away, because the cost ofa little extra wire now versus
having to pull a wire in thefuture is a drastic difference.
Sometimes it's the type ofmaterial that we're using.
(22:24):
Hey, I know that you think thatthis wood floor looks great,
but it's a really soft wood andso it's not going to last you
more than five to seven years.
Maybe we go to a hickory.
That's going to be more durableand you're going to get 15
years out of this wood floorinstead of five.
We see it a lot with furniture.
People look at furniture andthey don't understand what's the
(22:44):
difference between this sofaversus that sofa.
Well, this sofa is going tolast you two to three years.
That one's going to last you 10to 15.
It costs more now, but if youamateurize it over the lifetime
of the sofa, it's actually lessexpensive to buy the quality one
, because you're not replacingit three, four times.
And that's true for outdoorfurniture and indoor as well.
So we definitely have thoseconversations all the time,
(23:06):
because it's always a valuedecision and one of the first
things I ask every single personfrom every start on the project
is what are your goals withthis home.
Are you gonna live here forthree years, for five years, for
10, for 15?
It makes a drastic differenceon what makes sense for them
with the home.
You know, if they're in anindustry where they move every
three to five years because theyget sent to any location for
their office, well then we needto make decisions that make
(23:29):
sense, to position yourself sothat five years from now, when
you need to sell your home,you're gonna be in a really good
place to do that.
If you're gonna live here for15 to 20 years and this is where
you're gonna retire and spendthe rest of your life you don't
have to worry as much about theshort-term value propositions.
It's really more about makingthe home right for you to enjoy
the space.
So we have those conversationson a daily basis.
George Siegal (23:48):
Yeah, one of the lines we used in my last
documentary film and it's kindof a theme I like to have on my
podcast too is people need to bemore concerned about the
ingredients in the project thanthe icing.
The things that are eye candymay look good at the moment, but
if the core of that projectisn't there and sturdy and
functional, you're really justwasting a lot of money.
Blake Sutton (24:07):
Yeah, without a doubt.
We see, you see it the most byfar in the fix and flips that
you'll see on the market.
All the time Someone comes in,paints over that historic wood
floor, paints the walls whitewhen it's got beautiful trim,
ray washes the fireplace andsays, hey, look at this great
house that I just remodeled andthey've destroyed a lot of the
(24:28):
historic value that it has in it.
To me, it's about the long-termperspective of doing what's
right for that house, and itchanges from job to job and
style to style.
We're unique where we'repositioned in the country,
because the design diversitythat we have here in Phoenix is
unbelievable.
We have everything from Adobeconstruction to steel and glass,
(24:50):
contemporary.
We've got Mediterranean stylehomes, we've got everything you
can imagine.
And far too often we see peoplego into a home with one
architectural style and they tryand make it something that it's
not because they see an articleon design trends that say that
you know, gray is in right now,but their home is a territorial
style home, that gray makes nosense.
(25:11):
We try and make sure thatthey're making wise decisions
and that each home is designedbeautifully for what it is and
that we're creating a timelessdesign that's gonna last, not
just something that's attractivein the moment, if that makes
sense.
George Siegal (25:25):
It does.
What's the biggest hazard youhave to worry about?
Is it it's not those duststorms, Is it heat?
Is it fire?
Is it flash flooding?
What's the-.
Blake Sutton (25:34):
The biggest issue that we deal with here is the UV
, so your wood's gonna wear farfaster than in a lot of clients.
You guys have to deal with saltalso, not just the heat, but
the UV here is really reallyharsh.
So the maintenance involved inmaking sure that things are
gonna last is a pretty big deal,especially on exterior.
(25:55):
We don't really have wideswings from a climate
perspective.
We don't have to deal with, youknow, flooding like you would
have to deal with.
We don't have high winds.
The dust storms are really not abig deal, though you see it in
the news from every couple ofyears you see this giant rolling
.
Yeah, Close to the valley.
It's really not a big deal.
(26:16):
The flooding is a big one.
So making sure that your roofsare is taken care of and
maintained properly so that whenwe hit monsoon season and you
get four inches of rain in a dayand a half, that you know,
you're not having to put up potsand pans to catch water coming
out of the ceiling, that's thebiggest thing.
But the UV is a big one.
So making sure that you'repainting your houses, you know,
frequently to protect the woodeaves and those kinds of things,
(26:39):
and those are the maintenancekinds of things that are kind of
a big deal here.
George Siegal (26:42):
Yeah, the couple of times I've been there, I just
think it was being hot or veryhot, but it's a dry heat, it's
it's.
Blake Sutton (26:49):
you know that's a, that's always the joke, but I
always respond back that youknow we salt our margaritas, not
our sidewalks.
That's true.
We have incredible weatherprobably eight on Saturday year
and we have four months whereit's really really hot.
The good thing is we all haveair conditioning.
The air conditioning it sitsoutside, so making sure that
it's maintained in the heat is abig deal.
(27:10):
So when you get to the summermonths, you don't have to worry
about your AC going out.
That's a big one too, but we'reeither in the air conditioning
or we're just swimming pool.
It's not that big of a deal.
You know how it is if you're in.
George Siegal (27:21):
Florida.
Absolutely, Absolutely Now.
So what's the number one pieceof advice you give to somebody,
whether they're buying a houseor remodeling?
Top piece of advice Ask morequestions.
Blake Sutton (27:32):
You know, don't settle for the first answer.
Talk to multiple people in thesame industry and kind of
compare to make sure that you'reeducating yourself on the
process.
When you're hiring a contractor, it's not just can you build a
house like that, it's, it's howdo you manage supervision?
How do you charge?
What does communication looklike?
How do you do scheduling?
Ask lots and lots of questionsso that you can make sure that
(27:52):
you know what you're gettingyourself into.
If someone's unwilling toanswer questions, that's your
first red flag that you need togo and talk to somebody else.
So take your time on the frontend.
If you plan properly, it'sgonna save you time and money in
the long run.
I had a client not too long agothat was very eager to get
started on their process.
They had a builder lined upalready and they got started in
(28:15):
the demo process before theybrought us in and they sat with
the house that was in theremodel phase for like four
months with nothing happening,because they had to go back to
the city to get permittingbecause the permits that they
had were not what they needed toproceed with construction.
Plan on the front end.
We can minimize the impactduring the construction process.
And there's there's simpleexamples Lead times on
cabinetries really long.
(28:36):
Lead times on appliances isreally long.
So let's get your cabinets andappliances ordered as early as
possible and not tear your houseapart until we're ready for
those components to show up.
So your remodel lasts fourmonths instead of nine.
Ask, just ask, lots ofquestions.
George Siegal (28:50):
Yeah, we just had to order an air conditioning
part and it took over two monthsfor the part to get in.
So you really want to have agood leeway on that stuff.
Blake Sutton (28:57):
You know some high end appliances that'll lead to
have a 14 months during COVID.
Wow, when we were remodelinghouses, one of the things we
told appliances, keep your oldappliances.
You know, don't get rid of thatdishwasher, don't get rid of
that refrigerator.
We'll leave it in the house,even though it doesn't fit in
the hole properly for the newone, until the new one arrives.
Otherwise, you're waiting ayear for your appliances to show
(29:18):
up.
So the more questions you canask, the better.
Try and plan as much as you canon the front end of the project
and understand what your costsand your timelines are gonna be
before you actually start theremodel.
George Siegal (29:28):
All right, well, hey, blake, great advice.
Your contact information willbe in the show notes.
Thank you very much for yourtime today.
My absolute pleasure.
Thanks for having me.
If you have a story about yourhouse, good or bad, I'd like to
hear from you.
There's a contact form in theshow notes.
Fill it out, send it my way andyou might be a guest on an
upcoming episode.
Thanks for taking the time tolisten today.
(29:50):
I'll see you next time.
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