Heritage Foundation Award

We are pleased to have one of our projects win the 2012 Utah Heritage Foundation Award for Stewardship.

The Porch restoration project in Provo won the award. Our clients are amazing people who go to great lengths to preserve the historic nature of their home and we are pleased they have been recognized for their efforts. To see more photos of the project including before and after photos visit our Facebook page. To learn more about our historic restoration services contact Matthew Harper at (801) 472-1211

Spring is on its way... Already!

The start of the new year has been a whirlwind of activity for us. We have obtained the construction rights to several building lots in Utah County and have built a partnership with Bank of American Fork to help our clients obtain the financing you need for the new construction and remodeling projects.

The addition of these new business partners enables us to provide additional solutions to help solve your needs and desires and better serve you.

It is an exciting time to be in business. Things are still difficult in the construction industry but the market appears to have stabilized somewhat and new construction and land development is moving forward again. We have personally seen an increase in clients moving forward with their project planning and also starting their projects. We are especially thankful for each of you, your business, your referrals, and the help we have received so we can continue to grow and better serve you, our clients.

We have also been busy working on two renovations and permitting a new home. We are updating our blog and our Facebook page with information about these projects. It is a great time to get your new home built or your remodeling/addition project started before the summer rush begins.

If you would like to discuss your upcoming project(s) please call Matthew Harper at (801) 472-1211.

Merry Christmas

To our valued clients and associates,

We are grateful for the many blessings we have received this year. We have been blessed with good work and excellent clients. We appreciate you and your business! 2012 is shaping up to be another blessed year as well. We hope each of you are blessed with success, health and happiness. May the Spirit of Christ and His joy fill our hearts during the holidays and throughout the year. We thank you for the blessings each of you has brought into our lives.

Merry Christmas and a successful New Year!

10% Home Design Discount

With the housing market in Utah stabilizing and beginning to grow slowly again the cost of construction is also begining to creep up slowly. If you are thinking its time to move forward with you project in the next several months get the ball rolling now to take advantage of the lower materials and prices before they begin to rise next spring and summer.

To add a little extra motivation we are offering a 10% discount on our new home and remodel/addition design services between now and December 30, 2011.

If you would like more information about building and/or remodeling your home give us a call ar send us an email.

Added Design Services

We are pleased to announce that we have recently added the services of the Joe Carrick Design to our team of design professionals. Our partnership with them has enhanced our ability to design and build the custom homes, additions and remodels, and historic restorations you are looking for. You can learn more about them at their website http://www.jc-design.com/

We have also been busy with restoring and replacing windows in a historic home in Springville. To see pictures of the project visit our Facebook page.

We will also be posting information about two new custom home projects that will be starting in the next few weeks for those who would like to follow along.

Happy Thanksgiving season to all. We are extremely grateful for your business and friendship!

Success to all,

Matt-

Completed Foundation

The foundation and drain system work is completed and we have moved onto framing the basement and building the new stairs. If feels good to have the basement "space" in and move on to making it part of the home. We have added several pictures to the album on our Facebook page.

Basement Addition Progress

We poured the final sections of the new foundation yesterday. It is a big milestone on these projects. I sleep better at night knowing that the house is on is permenant foundation once again. I've added several photos to our Facebook page album for the job. The next stage is building the drain system that will keep the basement dry. We are adding full drain under the entire floor. I'll post photos of the drain system this next week and talk about how it works.

Warmer Weather is on its way

The spring weather has kept the ground wet and prolonged the ski season and made for adventurous working conditions on our projects. It looks like warmer weather is going to prevail over the next few weeks and summer is on its way. The basement addition in Park City is moving along nicely. We will finish pouring the foundation this week and begin installing the drain system. We will add more pictures to our Facebook page later today. Other projects are also moving forward. We are building a large retaining wall and landscape in Springville, and will be starting a historic restoration on part of a home in Provo soon. We are also beginning the preliminary work on remodeling another home in Provo and adding an elevator. We appreciate your continued support and interest in our work and projects. If you have been thinking about starting your project we still have capacity to add additional work to our schedule and would be pleased to take care our your home building and remodeling needs. Thank you for your patronage and for all who have expressed their interest in our services. The first of our summer BBQ series is this Saturday April 23. The Address for the BBQ is 359 N 200 E American Fork, beginning at 1 pm. Several of you have already sent an RSVP and we appreciate all you who want to attend but have conflicting plans. We will have other events throughout the summer that are available to all our friends and clients and hope you can make it to some of them.

Progress on the Basement Addition

We have most of the basement excavated and started forming the fisrt sections of the new foundation walls. We will pour the fisrt sections today. Progress has moved along steadily hampered only a little by the spring weather. It has been a challenge to get remove the excavated soil with the ground outside so wet. I have added several photos of the progress to our Facebook Page. We will continue to add additional photos to the album on Facebook as we progress.

Fruit Heights couple locked in battle with homebuilder, city - ksl.com

Fruit Heights couple locked in battle with homebuilder, city - ksl.com


This a KSL story about a couple whose home is failing because the builder cut corners and materials to make an extra buck and the city turned its head the other way. I wonder how many other homes are having similar problems and the owners don’t know what to do.

It is a sad commentary on the building industry. There is a distinct lack of craftsmanship in homebuilding today. Too many builders are more interested in how cheaply they can build a home and still charge top dollar for them rather than building a home that will last for centuries. All too often we are called in to repair failing homes that are only a couple of years old because they were poorly built to begin with. I hope the homeowners are able to get both the city and Richmond America to do the right thing and stand behind their work.

Our driving force at Harper & Company is a passion for our craft and our commitment to quality. We stand behind all of our work and know our clients will never have to worry about their home developing problems caused by poor construction practices and materials. One of our specialties is performing historic restorations. In the older structures we work on you can see the care taken by the craftsmen of decades and centuries past. We are committed to building new homes toady that will still be beautiful and functional homes in a hundred years and stand the test of time.

If you have any questions about your home’s integrity please contact us.

Basement Finish Article

This is a neat article about how you can make your basement a more functional and welcoming part of your home. It fits with the basement addition project(s) we have and are building. Enjoy.

Out of the Darkness: Transforming a Dark Basement Into a Light, Open Living Space - Basement, Design

To better integrate this downstairs space into the home and make it more than just a basement demanded some bold spatial manipulation from architect Joe Eisner...

Excavation Begins

We started the excavation and concrete cutting for the Basement Addition. This is the long, slow part of the process but it's also the most important. We go to great lengths to make sure the foundation is strong and stable. For more pictures of the project and to see the progress as it happens look up the photo album on our Facebook Page: Harper & Company

We will aslo post updates to our Twitter account: Harpercompany

We welcome your comments and insight. Let us know what you think.

New Basement Addition

We are starting a new basement addition project in Park City. It's a unique process to add a basement to an existing home. We have added basements to homes several times now and are becoming specialists on foundation retrofits. We'll post some photos as the project progresses and let our readers in on the details.

We have found that we enjoy working on unique projects that are out of the ordinary and require unique problem solving to help our clients achieve their goals and dreams. As we progress with the project please feel free to ask questions or post comments.

Success,
Matthew Harper

Question: I know I want to build (or remodel) but I don't know where to start. Can you give me some direction about where to begin?

We have many clients and potential clients approach us with and idea in mind of what they want in their new home and/or remodel but aren't sure how to move forward with their idea. We recommend beginning with conceptual designs (sketches) and spending time looking at other homes or projects you like and don't like. You will learn as much or more about what you want in your home from the things you don't like as the things you do. This is a good time to meet with your builder and ask him for recommendations about where to go to look at design ideas and what works well and what doesn't. He should have access to design centers, recent projects you can look at, tickets to home shows, and suppliers who will provide samples for you. It may seem a little early in the process to be looking at material samples but knowing what type of materials you like and want now will help you focus in on the perfect design for you and your home. It will also help eliminate costly changes later on in the process.
Your builder will also be able to help you get a feel for what a given project may cost and ways to maximize its value.
After you have a conceptual plan put together you can begin to move forward with the final design process. Your builder should also be able to provide you with the professional design services you need.

Please feel free to contact us with your questions (801) 472-1211

Mobley's Comments

After setting our blog up a nd letting our clients know about the resources here we had one of our clients ask if they could post some comments about their experience with our company. Naturally, we were pleased to oblige. Here are their comments:

We had an amazing experience with Matt Harper. His very first impression was exactly how we was for a complex 6 month project- clean cut, educated, polite, creative, and always positive and energetic. We dug out our 5 foot deep crawl space and completed it to a nicely finished basement complete with media room, 9 foot ceilings, storage, etc. Matt and his team did a great job on the project. We had a few normal “butting of the heads” along the way and that is to be expected in any sort of large scale home remodel. The reason I share this, is that those moments of (brief) conflict are when Matt’s impressive character really shined through. Matt was always a true professional and each of these (very few) conflicts was resolved to 110% of our satisfaction. Its easy to be nice, professional, etc when everything is humming along. But, when the normal challenges of construction are encountered- that is when you really see how good or not so good your GC is. Matt is the best and we continue to recommend him without any reservation.

Steven & Britta Mobley

Early Spring Promotion

The warmer weather the past few weeks here in Utah has started people thinking about their upcoming home improvement, remodeling, and renovation projects. We have seen an increase in clients wanting to start the budgeting and design process. We appreciate all our clients and their patronage.

In an effort to show our appreciation to our clients we are offering an "early spring" project incentive. Schedule your remodeling or addition project with us before February 25, 2011 and we will provide project design services and plans free of charge. For more information contact us at (801) 472-1211.

How can homeowners participate in their home remodeling or renovation project?

When we meet with clients in preparation for their home remodel they commonly ask how they can participate and help the project move forward. Sometimes they want to perform some of the work themselves to contribute to the finished product and/or they may want to save some on costs and out of pocket expenses. Regardless of the reason(s) there are many ways homeowners can assist with their remodel and/or new home construction.

One of the most important things that every homeowner must do is make product selections for the lighting, flooring, plumbing fixtures, tile, paint, appliances, counter tops, cabinets and trim elements. This can be an overwhelming task! Your builder and/or designer can provide samples and recommendations to aid in the process and narrow selections down to fit with your style and budget. Making the time to finalize these selections on schedule is critical to the timeliness and success of your project. Meeting regularly with your builder during the course of the home remodeling project to make product selections and review the project schedule should be every homeowner’s priority.

If you have additional time and/or desires you may consider taking on some of the remodeling work yourself. In general, we recommend that our clients work with us at either the beginning or end of the project. Demolition, painting, installing trim work and floor coverings are a few examples of areas where homeowners can contribute “sweat equity” to their project. Working closely with the builder minimizes conflicts with the project schedule and allows for more effective collaboration between the builder and the homeowner.

When evaluating whether to work on your project yourself, be sure to consider the price tag on your own time and expenses. How much work will be missed or personal time given up? With these considerations included it may be less expensive to let you builder provide all the work needed. Let your own interests and skills influence your decision.

We enjoy working with our clients and developing a mutually beneficial relationship throughout the course of their home construction and remodeling project(s). We appreciate the time and efforts they put into home and enjoy helping them make their dreams become a reality.

If you have any questions about building and/or remodeling your own home. Please feel free to contact us and discuss them via email, over the phone or in person.

Success,
Matthew Harper
President
Harper & Company Homes, LLC