Sven Gustafson
Stonewood, Minneapolis
Technological support on the back end of the building process is necessary to get a job done on time and on budget. Builder Sven Gustafson says he picked up the integrated construction management software platform BuildTools on referral from another builder and claims that it has changed internal communications at his Minneapolis-based company, Stonewood. More efficient technology is helping to make inroads with a tech-savvy, design-educated customer base. The platform combines project-related information from the bidding phase through pre-closing work, and it allows the homeowner, builder, dealer, and subcontractors to interact via iPhone and iPad. “Our project managers have iPhones and they’ll take pictures of the jobsite and when clients log in, they’ll see it,” he says. BuildTools. 877.693.2171. www.buildtools.com.
Noel McNamee
McNamee Construction, Carmel, Calif.
California-based builder Noel McNamee was looking for a siding product that would install easily and had a green bent. What he found—Nichiha’s fiber cement siding—helped his team remodel a mid-century home with a tri-level roof and painted board and batten siding into the first LEED Platinum home in Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif. (shown). “We removed the battens, renailed the resawn plywood, and completed our house expansion,” McNamee explains. “Then we wrapped the house with Tyvek and installed the pre-finished white Nichiha siding over it.” The slight technical hitch borne from McNamee’s trimless installation was remedied by a ¼-inch standoff clip system attaching the company’s 60-foot-by-18-inch panels, set in a running-bond pattern, to the substrate. Fifty percent fly ash composition adds a green element, and readily available training materials also impressed McNamee. “They have online tutorials that really helped us understand the process,” he says, “and their West Coast rep was happy to meet up prior to and during construction.” Nichiha. 866.424.4421. www.nichiha.com.
