Winterset Two-Level
Square Feet: 3,824 finished
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 3 full, 1 powder room
Levels: 2 story walk-out
The Story:
When we met Tim and Luann, Tim was strongly considering general contracting the house himself. They had been through the building process several times with various builders. They decided to give me a shot. This house was their "forever" house, so they just really wanted a well-built house. They have a beautiful property, so the covered deck was a big deal. A cool design element Tim really wanted was a big steam shower in the master bathroom . . . it’s a really, nice shower. Tim would tell anyone who asks that deciding to use Brighton as a general contractor instead of doing it himself was the best decision he could have made.
The Customer’s Story:
“This was the seventh house that we have built, so we are not new to the homebuilding process. We moved to Des Moines about nine years ago and built a house. For this one, we spent about six months researching and trying to decide if we were going to hire a general contractor or general it ourselves.
“There were several reasons we chose Brian over the other builders we looked at. For one, we looked at his prior work and were impressed with the quality of work. That was first and foremost. What we really liked was, we didn’t need to pull him into our vision. He understood the type and feel of the house we wanted. It’s pretty risky choosing a builder as some want to push their style. But Brian really understood the feel that my wife wanted and understood exactly what we wanted.
“Also, it was a very easy conversation with him. He was probably the fourth builder we talked to. The other builders wanted us to go to their cookie cutter method.
“As for the actual building experience, it was better than we expected. Some builders have issues with a customer coming on site, but he didn’t. In fact, he felt the more the homeowner is involved the better. He welcomed us on the job site and was open to any discussions we wanted to have. He would talk to us about pros and cons of different methods and he took the time to explain everything to us. He never gave me the sense that I was bothering him.
“We have lived in our house for two years and it has absolutely met our performance expectations. It has been tested in major storms going through and we couldn’t even tell there was a storm. It is so buttoned up and tight. It has totally exceeded our expectations. We can be inside and just don’t hear anything. We are very impressed with the lack of nail pops. In previous houses we had to have them come back to repair, but not with this house. We continue to be very impressed with their quality and attention to detail.
“My advice to others looking for a builder: find a builder who can build the style you want. And most importantly, understand what their standard level is. Brian’s standard level of finish would be an upgrade or upper level for other builders we talked to. How he trimmed windows, was standard for him but would have been an upgrade for others. Because of this, you need to be careful when making comparisons. Brian doesn’t really have a low end. If his quote is higher, it may be because of superior quality and products that are included. You are getting a much higher quality house compared to other builders and it is well worth it.
“A phrase that caught my ear from Brian is that he looks like every house he builds is a legacy house and that a family will live in it for a long time. I thought that was a great perspective.” --Tim
