Blue Sound Construction

Ben Gebhardt dropped by today. He's the owner of Blue Sound Construction, probably in his 30s. He used to work at JAS Design-Build of Wallingford, which he calls the right kind of design-build. Blue Sound is build only. Ben has three crews, so three lead carpenters, and an office staff. They treat their estimate like a fixed price bid, but they work on a time and materials basis. Throughout the job, potential variances from the estimate are flagged on a weekly basis. There are change orders the customer asks for, change orders for unforeseen work, and ICOs--internal change orders--that Blue Sound pays for.

Blue Sound spa suite project in Cedar Park

I showed Ben the house, including the basement, and went over the plans and SketchUp model with him. Looking at the flat roof, he said his roofers won't do torch-down anymore. They prefer PVC to EPDM. We talked about the asphalt shingles at 814 NW 118th; he said it looked like a 30-year roof, maybe $9,000. In metal, maybe $18 or $20,000.

I asked for a ballpark per square foot--he said $250. When we were through looking at the SketchUp model for B.6, he was talking about $500,000 (closer to $500 per square foot). "It gets expensive where..." He hestitated. "...where good taste is involved." Good design is expensive, but it's art.

In the basement, I asked about strengthening the floor and he said many squeaks are in the subfloor, the 1x6 diagonal sheathing. He had a job where they needed to remove the subfloor and glue and screw plywood to get a better floor. But some squeaks are inevitable. I asked about insulation, and he said fiberglas batts. I asked about spray foam and he said 2 or 3 times the price. You don't generally care as much about air infiltration in a basement--that's for cathedral ceilings. He said a gas furnace will usually pay for itself quickly compared to oil.

The existing hardwood floor is "short boards" that you can't get anymore. So, it's painstaking work to patch it, hand milling each board and, in the end, you don't get the tongue and groove strength. Putting in all new, while expensive, might be cheaper than all the labor of fixing the old.

We talked about cutting the project into two phases. The kitchen and two bathrooms might be 2/3s of the project, the Master suite and glazing wall of the Trees Room might be the other 2/3s. (My joke.)

Next step: I'd like to talk to Rejean Idzerda and Bruce Mosely, from his list of references. They did a kitchen remodel, master suite, and main floor reconfiguration. Ben offered to put me in touch with Daria, the house on 122nd where I saw the Blue Sound sign.