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Consulting, Organizing, and executing projects in a timely
and courteous fashion.
We are a Construction and Renovation company located on
the West Coast of British Columbia on the North Shore of Vancouver.
Originally we started 11 years ago as a proprietorship under the name
"Due West Carpentry & General Contracting" and a few years ago
we decided to become a limited company for administration reasons. We are
known in the industry and by our clients to be highly skilled, organized, meticulous,
detailed and efficient with all projects that we undertake. We offer
experienced and informed quotations that we stand behind, and continue to
make our existing and new clients very pleased with our Performance,
Accountability and Definitive results.
Our focus is typically aimed at larger scale construction and
renovation projects, but that's not to say we won't have the time, ability or
willing, to build you a sundeck or renovate your kitchen. Diversity is
refreshing and our reputation and client list was 'built' from the ground up
from smaller jobs leading to bigger jobs. So give us a call to check our
schedule and book your free consultation today.
Highly Skilled, Highly Recommended.
Member of the Better Business Bureau without any
complaints in 11 years of business.
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My qualifications and expertise are very broad due to the 25 years of
diversified and 'Hands on the tools' experience that I have in the
Residential/Commercial construction and renovation industry. My founding
facets were in construction carpentry where it all Begins with the
foundation framing, and then the dwelling construction including any beams or
structural components. The process of getting the main infrastructure erected
with doors, windows and roof installed is referred to as the 'lock up' stage.
Then there is the exterior cladding and finishing such as siding,
trim, sundecks and pergola construction. Carpentry finishes with the
interior, like door and window installations, hardwood floor covering's,
baseboard and crown moulding's, kitchen cabinets and any other custom
woodworking that is required where we are also highly experienced and skilled
with both Residential and Commercial applications. I am personally regarded
by my peers, associates, and clients to be a great exterior and interior
'finishing carpenter' which is reflected in all the projects we undertake
wether it is myslef on the tools or one of my trained and skilled employees.
It is of my opinion that if you have some of this experience,
you can then enter the realm of renovations like I did. "Having prior
knowledge" of how the initial construction took place betters ones
understanding on how to alter and integrate it, or restore it and improve
upon it."
Our expertises don't just stop at carpentry either. I have
training, knowledge and 'hands on' experience with all the trade work that is
required which allows me to initiate the best design applications, offer
precise trade scheduling, maintain accurate budgets and deliver flawless
building solutions.
When It comes to 'restorations' people immediately think of the 'leaky
condo' situation. This problem was not just limited to the new condo market
and restorations are not just the result of bad design, inefficient municipal
inspections or building codes, and/or poor construction. But the lack of
skilled trades to accomplish such housing demands. It is only until recently
that awareness and accountability has marked some major improvements in these
areas when there wasn't enough resources in the past to properly monitor the
'building booms'. Unfortunately our previous 'building booms' have left us
with some reminder's that we don't want to be reminded of, and if you happen
to own a older home and plan on renovating it, once again you might be faced
with a shortage of skilled trades to complete your project to the quality
standards and budget that is deserving in a reasonable completion time frame.
It so happens that most of the newly skilled trades head for
the new construction business when times are good which has a tendency to pay
more with quicker turn around time's and with less under skilled competition
to worry about. This creates a vacuum of under skilled people, in the
renovation sector than the new construction sector, because the
commercial/new construction sector can 'weed out' the lesser experienced
contractors in 'short order' This is when you may see 'new construction'
workers and 'financially backed' individuals with Insufficient skills heading
for the residential sector as newly self appointed renovators and contractors
because they see financial opportunity in a un-regulated and un-suspecting
market. In recent years this has been hampered by reality renovation TV where
you can watch an entire series and receive your Mike Holmes Diploma from
Marks Work wear house with your first purchase of Carnhart overall's.
Comments like " Well he seemed to know what he was talking about",
and "I had no idea that the work was done improperly", or "we
didn't realize the project should have only taken 2 months not four
months" are a little to common in this field. Most of these contractors
in all likely hood may only posses a small fraction of the experience
necessary in this field and rely on 'Google search' and the trades they hire
to inform him on how to convince you that he knows what he's doing.
In the construction industry, respect is mostly given to those
that are experienced and good at what they do. Most quality sub-trades have
'started off' as 'grunts' and worked very hard for many years to get where
they are now and some have spent long hours studying to get 'ticketed' and
licensed, which is Not required by contractors by provincial regulators. It
is needless to say that some trades get quite disgruntled when hired by a
contractor or person who expects to earn fee's from managing them' when the
contractor himself has no trade to speak of, and makes things more difficult
instead of easier for them.
In turn those trades are going to make things equally as difficult for
the contractor when they have to deal with his poor scheduling, overlooked
issue's, mistakes, being unprepared, and his general lack of knowledge and
experience which can result in absentee trades, poor workmanship,
overcharging, delays, and other reliability issues which inevitably will
cause the customer to suffer the most.
You may ask.
Q; "If the new construction industry is so lucrative, why am I not
doing just that?" A; "Don't get me wrong, there are aspects
of the new construction industry that I have really enjoyed, but I prefer to
alternate my 'work load' and renovation's at times can be less repetitive
than new construction with a cleaner and more articulate enviroment.
Renovation's can also present more challenges and a diversified work load
which inspires my creativity."
"I also feel that now, more than ever there is a demand for good quality
renovation's and people are getting tired of spending their hard earned money
sorting through sub par products and services, especially when it comes to
there living enviroment. Every client has a different balance requirement
when it comes to Form and Function. This is an area where I can be
very beneficial to my client and give them the value that they are looking
for.
If you do own a new house that is only a couple of years old, the
worst that could happen is you may have received poor 'finishing' and/or
framing. The floors and stairs might squeak, or your dresser doesn't lean
against the wall because the walls aren't plumb or the walls are 'wavy'
because the studs weren't 'crowned in one direction. The doors may rub on the
frames after awhile, cracks may appear in the moulding joins and drywall because
the framing wasn't tight. Some electrical plugs and switches may not work
properly or sinks and tubs may not drain properly. Sloppy building practices
account for these scenarios which can't necessarily be 'inspected' or noticed
until some time after the project has been completed, but I am sure it
wont' leak.
If you do own a older house that is 30+ something years old
chances are that it might have been built quite well, but on the other hand
it may have seen a few building booms and maybe some 'sub par' renovation's
all ready. It may then require some restorative and 'corrective' methods by
improving as you rebuild or renovate. This sort of restorative renovation
requires experienced and skilled trouble shooting and problem solving
capabilities not only in carpentry but in electrical, plumbing,
waterproofing, etc.. in order to maintain realistic schedules and budgets.
Possessing the knowledge and experience of how the building codes,
construction methods and styles varied over the decades in 'with all the
Trades' is another valued asset soon realized by my clients before and
during the embarkment of a renovation project.
Be wary of 'false' value in the 'slow building' times as well
as the 'busy'. The many that decided to jump on the band wagon and become
their own contractors during the building booms are the first ones to be
short on work when things slow down because of the lack of residual clients
and referrals. As I have mentioned earlier, most of them opted for the 'quick
money' before aquiring all the necessary skills and knowledge when their
skilled and experienced employers made it look so easy to them when the
labour demand was high. There is also an influx of 'new construction'
contractors who enter into the residential renovation work force aswell but
the new construction arena is usually task specific training based on
thoughtless repetition with a skill set that's not even comparible in a
renovation enviroment.
More often than not, mistakes are made from lack of knowledge and not
from lack of confidence which usually has a tendency to compound the
mistakes. So be weary of under value quotes backed by personal gurantees
intertwined with speachfull bravado that is used, just to 'land the job'.
This will inevitably lead to sloppy workmanship, mistakes, cover ups, and
cutting corners in order for them to benefit from the project once they
realize that it is more work and time than they had originaly anticipated to
do it properly, or not. The priority becomes that of getting paid or charging
more without arousing customer suspicion of incompetance which will go
unnoticed until some time later, after its too late. Compare your contractors
like you would compare their quotes because a good orange tree doesn't
necessarily produce good apples. And...Confucius says: "Good work
ain't cheap, And cheap work ain't good."
To put it simply, at one end of a scale, an intelligent person
given 'enough time and resources' may eventually finish the same task
as an intelligent and experienced professional. The questions are; how long
are you willing to wait? How much money are you willing to spend ? How long
do you want you life's routines disrupted? How particular are you about the
final outcome and the appearance of quality ? How smoothly and efficiently
would you like your project to be expedited? How long do you want the
workmanship to last? How convinced are you, that you will receive what you
anticipated? How do you know the person you hire, will provide you with all
the options and pertinent information that is available through out the
course of your project when you base all your choices and decision on that
information that they provide?
If these questions are indeed important to you, then you really should
consider looking at the other end of the scale and put your trust with
myself, Michael Ravenscroft with Due West Carpentry and Renovations LTD.
I have spent many long hard hours and years working and improving my skills,
knowledge and business practices as a renovation contractor in order to be
one of the best in my business. This is refected in every project that I
undertake. My Accountability, my experience, my skills, my portfolio, and my
references are transparent. Not only might I save you time and money, and
make your construction or Renovation experience a great one, but there is an
excellent chance you will get exactly what you imagined, and far more.
Michael Ravenscroft, owner and operator. Due West
Carpentry and Renovations Ltd.
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