Trust builds a firm foundation

Published 8:30 pm Friday, May 16, 2008

Time is money when building a home. Bringing projects in on time and on budget is a challenge for contractors and key for homeowners.

But that’s what needs to happen these days for contractors to be successful. Gone are the days when most homes were an easy sell.

Adam Storey of Marysville is a Northwest builder who, despite the tough real estate climate, is keeping a steady pace for his business, Storey Construction, as it approaches its fifth anniversary.

What’s the secret of his success?

He said it lies in the relationships he’s built with subcontractors. Co-workers and customers said Storey’s work ethic is also a big factor.

“I learned a lot of my trade growing up,” Storey said. “It started with my grandfather. He built houses.”

Storey said working with people who share his attitude is important.

“You can’t be successful if you don’t have good people to work with you,” Storey said, adding nearly all of the subcontractors he works with are local.

Storey said his staff members also try to help potential homeowners with all aspects of their project. They create cost sheets, find out what the clients really can afford and get to what Storey calls “the happy number down at the bottom” before everyone signs off on the deal.

Financing and permits are next.

Storey said they can be a big issue, noting that on one recent project in King County, approval of permits was taking so long that the bank pulled out of the project. “I had to call a broker, and he searched and found a way to make it happen,” Storey said.

He said he believes that the housing market will begin to open up within the next year. One good aspect of the tougher market, he said, is that harder times have weeded out what he calls “all the little fly-by-day guys.”

Storey said he’s had to trim expenses to keep things going for himself and his three employees. He said he also finds himself using subcontractors who can do more than one job. “If one person only knows how to do walls,” Storey said, “that’s not working right now. It’s not what my company is about.”

Born in Arlington, Storey said he chose construction because he found it fulfilling. He started his company after leaving the Marines. Current jobs are underway in Woodinville, Monroe and Granite Falls.

Frances Coverson, a project manager at Storey’s Marysville company, said the business has been successful because clients trust him. “He believes in that work ethic,” Coverson said, adding Storey’s military experience helped instill that can-do attitude.

Storey said he was a member of special Marine team and helped protect key personnel during the terrorist attack on the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. He said the horrific event helped him put other things in perspective. “There’s nothing that can be put on my plate that can ever affect me like that did,” Storey said.

Paul Evans of Snohomish is one homeowner who appreciates Storey’s work ethic and straight-on approach to problems.

Evans said he was working as his own contractor to build a log home on Storm Lake near Monroe and he hired someone to do some framing work — an unlicensed subcontractor who started to fall behind.

“That’s the biggest drawback to contracting yourself,” Evan said. “You are a one-time person so they put you at the bottom of the list.”

Evans said he and his wife needed framing help before they could get their logs delivered. They contacted Storey, who got right on it and helped them out.

“From that point on we kept him on,” Evans said. “He did the roofing and framing and installation.”

Storey kept the Evans project on schedule, which was essential to ensure financing. Evans said Storey kept everyone up to speed. “He’s a hands-on owner,” he said. “He knows his business. He doesn’t say things he doesn’t deliver.”

Evans said his bad experience makes him appreciate Storey and others like him who try to give clients more than they expect.

“That’s where their success lies,” Evans said.

Coverson said she is encouraged these days by clients and lenders who are level-headed in their approach during the downturn. Now’s the time, she said, for customers to take out the frills to get the home they want.

“They can add those back later,” Coverson said.

Storey said he’s tried marketing and strategic planning, but that most business he’s getting these days is from people who refer his company to others.

In turn, he said, he’s tried to steer other work, such as remodeling jobs, to his best subcontractors.

“They get the guy who does a great job and he gets himself referred to,” Storey said.

Christina Harper is a Snohomish County freelance writer. She can be reached at harper@heraldnet.com.