Let's Celebrate! A Fantastic End to a Fantastic Renovation

What’s the best way to celebrate the completion of a project for some great clients? With a party, of course! This past weekend, we put down our tool belts and put on our aprons to host a party for the Smith's and 70 of their friends and neighbors to celebrate the completion of their interior renovations.

The Smith’s own a lovely 1940s bungalow in the Charleston’s Wagener Terrace neighborhood (if you read our last post, this is the project that prompted the Shelton's to contact us for their renovation). Over the course of the renovation project, the charming home was updated, bringing it more in line with the homeowners' current needs. The home now boasts a beautiful master suite with a new master bathroom, updated kitchen cabinets and countertops, a new powder room, expanded dining room, and new screened porch. Here are a few before and after shots of the project:

An under-utilized breakfast area was converted into a new sitting room

Master bath, before and after

A crumbling brick archway and porch was replaced with a new screened porch

Once the project was wrapped up, we couldn't think of a better way to thank these wonderful clients, than with some homemade food and an evening spent with friends, courtesy of Classic Remodeling & Construction.

 

Client Testimonial - 1940s Wagener Terrace Condo

One of Classic Remodeling's core values has always been to provide superior customer service to all of our clients. In an industry where referrals are key to the success of our business, customer satisfaction is not something that can be taken lightly. We go to great lengths to monitor our team's performance, using survey services like GuildQuality and review sites like Angie's List or Houzz.

It is extremely satisfying to hear from clients at the end of a project and learn that they had a great experience. We received one such note this month, from a client who hired us to renovate their 1940s condominium. 

From Terese Scarritt Shelton and Tom Shelton

homeowners in Historic Wagener Terrace

downtown Charleston, Summer 2013

“The Classic crew teamed up with us to renovate our old black and white tiled bathroom, circa World War II. While the job seemed like a small endeavor, we knew that it could become complicated.

We really needed the right professionals, since we also faced my husband’s knee replacement and needed a compassionate team to work with us on making our spaces “orthopedically-friendly” and accessible. In older buildings this is often a huge challenge!

As we considered contractors to update our bathroom and repair and freshen other parts of our home, we happened to be able to watch Classic Remodeling crews in action on a large-scale renovation of a neighbors’ charming historic bungalow. Our neighbors seemed incredibly pleased with the skill and organization of their Classic team, so we interviewed with Classic’s front man, Russell Scheider. His listening skill, quick response to our many questions and obvious knowledge of housing and construction won us over fully!

  

Entering into a relationship with Classic Remodeling proved to be the smartest move we could have made. In our case, we needed not only a team with airtight reliability and skill; we needed design help to accommodate our need for home features that would enable us to “age-into” our living space safely.

We needed professionals who were compassionate, too. We were going through a major surgery while the renovation work was underway. This required a great deal of sensitivity to our needs and to the timing of work. Everything had to be neat, tidy and uncluttered during the six weeks worth of construction…because any clutter might pose a hazard to navigation as Tom tried to maneuver about.

I must say, we chose very wisely when we picked Classic’s professional team of skilled craft-folks and project managers. They brought the job in before deadline, under-budget and with nearly perfectionistic attention to detail and quality. All of their communication and organizational talents aided in completing the job with the utmost respect for all of our needs.

Working with Classic’s talented crew was more like undertaking a project with reliable family members whom we felt always had our best interests at heart!

We wholeheartedly recommend them to our neighbors and friends. We would love to work with them again in the future. If others are lucky enough to get to work with Harold Butler, Project Craftsman, Russ Scheider, Sales & Design Associate and the fantastic Cava Compton, Project Manager, they won’t have to worry for even a minute. Just hand them the keys to your house with complete confidence…and they will get the job done!”

Classic Remodeling Featured in Remodeling Magazine

Classic’s Bob Fleming will be a featured panelist in an upcoming Owner Series Webinar sponsored by GuildQuality, which will focus on how company owners preserve their core values and company culture while growing their business.  In advance of the webinar, the panelists shared some of their thoughts with Remodeling Magazine. Below is an excerpt of the article.


Focus Your Culture on Service Excellence
Is your company's culture helping you exceed client expectations?

Managing expectations is important, but exceeding client expectations is essential to growing your business. There's a definite correlation between a company's success and how its culture focuses on service excellence.

Fitting In
Creating defined processes and an encouraging environment where teamwork and accountability are valued is critical to developing a strong culture of excellence. As your business grows, preserving that culture can become a challenge. Bob Fleming, president of Classic Remodeling & Construction in Charleston, S.C., considers whether new hires will be a cultural fit during the interview process.

“First and most important, I hire for attitude," he says. "All the technical skills in the world will not compensate for a lack of people skills. I find that when you find someone with good people skills who is motivated to learn, you can teach the technical skills quickly and easily.”

Fleming also emphasizes the importance of his company’s core values with new team members and trains them to deliver excellence to clients. He monitors his team’s performance using GuildQuality.

“There is nothing more satisfying than getting the feedback from our clients that everyone involved with the project was great to work with and knowing that those results occurred without any daily involvement from me as the company owner.”

To read the full article, check out Remodeling.com. 

8 Tips For Keeping Your Home Safe While You Are Away

Planning your summer vacation? Don’t forget to make plans to keep your home and belongings safe while you are away. Here are a few practical tips to ensure your house stays safe, whether you are gone for a week or a month.

1.     Install interior lights with timers. Use the “random” setting to make your home look occupied while you are away.

2.     Keep your home’s exterior looking tidy. Stop newspaper and mail delivery or have a neighbor pick it up for you. And, if you’ll be away longer than a week, make arrangements for your lawn to be mowed.

3.     Unplug your garage door openers to prevent tech savvy burglars from gaining easy access to your home.

4.     Don’t hide a spare key. Instead, leave a key with a trusted neighbor.

5.     Unplug your electronics to prevent damage from lightning strikes.

6.     Lock up or hide your valuables. Burglars are usually most interested in what they can get their hands on easily.

7.     Make sure you have deadbolts installed on all outside doors and lock them. Pushbutton locks are easy for burglars to open.

8.     Don’t advertise your vacation on social media. This is an easy way for people to find out when you won’t be home. Share photos and details of your trip after you return.

Classic Remodeling Wins 2013 Guildmaster Award for Residential Remodeling

We are pleased to announce that Classic Remodeling has been awarded a 2013 Guildmaster Award for exceptional customer service. GuildQuality, an independent customer satisfaction surveying company, has powered the Guildmaster Award since 2005 to celebrate service excellence in the building, remodeling, contracting, and home services professions.

Over the past few months, GuildQuality reviewed numerous survey responses submitted by customers of all Guildmaster candidates. In order to receive the award, Guildmaster candidates must meet established standards of performance in two key areas:  the percentage of customers who would recommend and the percentage of customers who responded. We achieved a recommendation rate of greater than 90% from our customers, who were surveyed through GuildQuality.

This marks the eighth consecutive year we have received the award, and we are proud to be one of only six companies nationwide to be honored with the Guildmaster title every year since its inception.

Providing exceptional customer service is one of our core values at Classic Remodeling. GuildQuality provides an invaluable opportunity for us to garner important feedback from our clients about what we are doing well in addition to areas where we can improve. We are thrilled that our customers have been so consistently happy with our work and we appreciate their willingness to participate in the GuildQuality survey process.

For more on the 2013 Guildmaster Award and qualifications, visit www.guildquality.com/guildmaster/.

The Classic Difference – Superior Quality, Value and Service

What makes Classic different? We believe it is our commitment to providing quality craftsmanship, exceptional value and superior customer service that sets us apart from other design-build remodeling firms.

It’s these principles that guide us every day and we strive to put them into practice on each project – no matter how large or small. The true measure of our success, however, is how the client feels at the end of the project. Did we live up to all that we had promised? Did they have a good experience? Would they recommend us to their friends and family?

Check out the video below to learn more about the Classic Difference.

Universal Design Unites Form and Function

Although the housing market continues to show signs of improvement, the overwhelming majority of older homeowners are still expressing a desire to remain in their current homes as they age. As a remodeler, we are seeing an increase in the number of requests to retrofit our clients’ homes to accommodate their changing needs.

This is where universal design (UD) comes into play. UD is an architectural practice that allows occupants of all ages and capabilities to live independently and comfortably for a long period of time in the same house.

While in the past, the idea of remodeling your home for “aging in place” may have conjured up images of industrial-looking grab bars and wheelchair ramps, today UD elements are designed to be subtle and almost undetectable.  

Cabinetry is a great place to add UD elements. Pull-out shelves which make cabinet contents more visible and accessible are one popular option. Soft-close drawers and doors also help to protect against pinched fingers. Other accessories like lazy susans, door shelves and flip-down fronts enhance storage capacity as well as accessibility.

Grab bars are also being integrated into the design of many bathroom fixtures. From faucets and towel bars to shelving and soap dishes, these elegant fixtures provide discreet support, making them both beautiful and functional. 

Single-lever handles for doors, sinks and showers are easier to manipulate, whether you have an armful of groceries or lack strength for gripping. “D”-shaped handles also make cabinets easier to open.

And let’s not forget appliances. Many of the current popular appliance options also deliver UD benefits of better accessibility and increased safety. Wall ovens and warming drawers, French-door style refrigerators and microwave ovens with flip-down doors are just a few examples.

Over the past few years, universal design has come a long way, in large part because the products available have become more attractive and flexible. Be sure to talk with your contractor about your needs as you begin the design and product selection process. You have many options for remodeling your space to suit your lifestyle needs both now and in the future while also enhancing the beauty, comfort, convenience and long-term value of your home.