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

2011 Home Building and Remodeling Outlook

The past several months have been an economic roller coaster for many and have brought trying times for all. We have been fortunate to have weathered the storms both natural and economic and hope you have as well. The economic ebb has provided the opportunity for you to be able to move forward with your new home, remodeling projects, or restoration in ways that were not available last fall and probably won't be available in the future. While market prices for materials continue to fluctuate most materials prices are still low but may rise significantly throughout the year due to increased oil and gas prices and inflation. Building lots are still available for 50% less than in the past but the existing inventory of lots is being bought up and prices may start creeping up as the inventory continues to diminish.
New home projects are now more cost efficient than they have been in the past several years. The price of materials has dropped to more reasonable rates and labor rates have also dropped with the lower demand on contractors’ time.
Many builders and remodelers have closed their doors and/or shifted their market focus over the past several months. At Harper & Company we have taken the time to expand our resources and increase our capabilities to better serve our clients and their needs. We have teamed up with suppliers, subcontractors, and real estate professionals who provide excellent service and value for their products.
We have teamed up with suppliers who are committed to provide the best materials for the best prices on the market. Rocky Mountain Power and Questar Gas are still providing significant rebates for improving your home’s energy efficiency. We have also teamed up with EnviroWise Consulting to provide Energy Star certified projects for our clients.
Add these factors together and this spring is one of the best times to build a new home, add an addition, remodel your kitchen, finish your basement, or restore that old brick bungalow you love.

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