Seattle General Contractors and Green Building

Green building is a loaded term these days.  Seattle general contractors are constantly striving to reuse and recycle in an effort to be more green.  There are many products available to Seattle builders and remodelers that claim to be green and more coming everyday.  What really makes something green?  The reality is that not one thing makes a project green and trade-offs are inevitable when walking the line between green and practical.

What it means to go green-

• Should be a positive benefit to a healthy environment for the inhabitants.
• Should conserve energy which is good for the earth and good for your wallet.
• Should be manufactured with materials that are sustainable.
• Should be durable and able to perform for a long period of time.

In my opinion longevity is of the highest importance.  Seattle green builders and general contractors need to incorporate "green" materials and methods that will last.  Keever and Associates - Seattle general contractors provides green building services and construct buildings that last a lifetime.

Seattle General Contractor - Design Build

What is design build?
Seattle General Contractor design build is when the Seattle General Contractor handles the design and the construction of your project.  Rather than hiring design professionals and a Seattle General Contractor separately all of those services are rolled into one Seattle General Contractor design build company.

The traditional method of hiring an architect and getting plans developed and then seeking Seattle general contractor bids often leads to higher than anticipated construction costs and costly re designs to bring the project in line with the budget.

An advantage of using a Seattle design build firm is that the design is taking place by the same company that will implement the construction.  The cost of the design can be analyzed during the design phase thereby streamlining the process and saving money.

Keever and Associates, Inc. offers Seattle design build services for commercial and residential construction projects.

Need more space - Hire a General Contractor and gain a basement

Just because the economy is in the dull-drums doesn't mean people have given up on improving their homes.  Lately our Seattle General Contractors business has seen an increase in home owners wanting to add space by either finishing an existing basement or converting a crawl space into basement living space.  If your home construction lends itself to basement finishing it can be a very cost effective way to add livable squarefootage to your house.

Unfortunately it's not the highest return on investment like adding a second story addition.  But if you plan on staying in your home for many years the ROI may not be as much of a factor.  Depending on your homes configuration, basement finishing with new windows and glass doors can be very light and uplifting spaces.

Probably the biggest mistake made when converting a crawl space into a basement is not planning for surface and ground water.  Great care must be taken to ensure that the new depth of the house is protected from water intrusion.  Every project is different and there is no one size fits all solution.

Thanks for reading.  You can view a short video of a Seattle basement finishing project here. We also have additional construction related information on our Squidoo - Seattle General Contractors lens.