|
|
| About Us |
| - Home Page - 1797 Peters Road. North Vancouver. B.C. Canada. V7J-1Y7 |
|
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. |
|
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.  |
|