Although the African proverb is about raising a child, we are borrowing it for this week’s article about our subcontractors and vendors because it seems to take a village to build a house! All of our projects, from our commercial office renovations, to our home remodels, to our new construction projects, require teams of subcontractors and many, many product vendors. So, we thought we’d dedicate this article to discussing how much we rely on, and appreciate, our subcontractors and vendors as project team members.
As a design + construct firm, we create the vision and then execute the work, all of the work. To accomplish the work, we contract subcontractors to perform all construction tasks on site, from framing to finish, from foundation to roofing, and everything in between. At a small project we may have 23 subcontractor companies involved; 40 or more on a larger project. All of our subcontractors and vendors are seasoned professionals who take pride in their work. We believe in hiring craftspeople who are not only skilled at their trade, but who we often rely on to work with us on solutions to complex or unique design requirements.
Our subcontractors are also good team members. They are good about working with, and around, other trades. Each of these subcontractors’ work is dependent upon the completion of work by other subcontractors, they know this and work well with each other to move the whole project forward. A lot of our designs are very detailed and tight subcontractor coordination is paramount. For example, a custom flush medicine cabinet requires the precision of the framer, cabinet maker, tiler, glazier and electrician.
Our subcontractors and vendors also have full lives outside of work, families and hobbies. Some pull up to the job site in antique cars or race bikes, some hum tunes to their kid’s favorite movie, some are soccer coaches and others collect coins. All are interesting people who make the village a pleasant and productive place to be!
