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Welcome!
At Structure Home, we are every bit as proud of our business relationships as we are about the homes we build. One of the many ways we strive to strengthen those relationships is by being a resource for high quality information related to home construction, home design, renovation and maintenance.
With this issue of The Quarterly Blueprint, we hope to build upon our bond with members of the Structure community… by providing topical information, valuable resources and referrals. Our primary goal is to serve our clients in an honest, respectful and professional manner… to build relationships for life.
Because we understand that your time is precious, we want to make The Quarterly Blueprint as useful as possible - a tool that you'll not only appreciate, but will want to save and share with others. We value your opinion and feedback, so please let us know how we're doing in that regard.
Warm regards from all of us at Structure Home,
Robert Kleiman and Mark Sapiro, Co-Founders |
A New Name To Reflect Our Core Business
For those of you who've known us for years as Structure Development Group, you may have noticed we've recently changed our name to Structure Home to better reflect our core services as a luxury custom home builder. We've worked diligently with organizational design consultants over the last year to refine our vision, mission and systems to strengthen our organization for the future. We look forward to sharing more about this transformation with you in future issues of this e-newsletter!
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New Incentive Program Rewards Referrers and New Clients Alike
One of our most valuable assets at Structure Home is the tremendous support we receive from former clients. Word-of-mouth endorsements result in a vast majority of our new business, and for this we are sincerely appreciative.
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Our referral incentive program has recently been updated to further encourage, recognize and thank those clients who introduce Structure Home to friends, family and acquaintances. In the new program, Structure Home will gift $2,500 to those who make a referral that results in a new client and will provide an additional $2,500 upgrade credit to the new clients who've been referred. In this way, all of our clients, past and new, share our appreciation for their loyalty and support. |
In order to receive your referral gift, simply send an e-mail notification of the potential client to our office and have your friend mention the referral at or prior to the time first contact is made.
To learn more about the incentive program, please contact Robert Kleiman at RobertK@structurehome.com or (818) 598-1330 ext. 102. And again, thank you for your continued support and friendship.
Survey Says…
| As a part of our commitment to continuously improve our management operating system and our client services, Structure Home recently conducted a survey of more than 20 past clients. The results indicated an overall satisfaction with the building process, as well as Structure's organization, management, professionalism and responsiveness. However, thanks to your insight and suggestions we are now working on building some new programs to further improve our clients' experiences. |
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Here are a few of the dominant suggestions from the survey:
" Get the interior designer involved earlier and expand the services of the designer to help client be better prepared to make decisions with long term impacts;
" Create a list of frustrations expressed by past clients and review them with new clients to improve quality going forward;
" Develop a Structure Home "handyman service" or maintenance team that can service our clients in their homes;
" Research and make new products and home improvements available to our past clients.
This advice has encouraged us to make a comprehensive re-construction of the Journey process with a more significant and proactive role of the interior designer in the architectural development phase of the project. We are also in the early stages of developing a maintenance and handyman service to ensure consistency with the quality of your home. In the future, we will keep you updated about new programs to address client suggestions.
With every relationship comes commitment, and the Structure team is committed to our clients. Our client survey has helped us improve clear and effective communication about important ways we can improve and will only help us strengthen these relationships with every project. Thank you again to those who generously gave their time to participate in the survey!
Complimentary Financial Analysis of Your Home Improvement Options
If you like where you live, but your lifestyle has changed and your home just isn't meeting your needs anymore, Structure Home can help. And there's no time like the present: Based on a recently completed study of the housing market in West Los Angeles, many of you and your neighbors are uniquely positioned to take advantage of low interest rates and reduced land and building costs.
There are obvious financial implications with any home improvement decision, but there are also lifestyle implications involved. We have created a model that examines the objective and subjective influences, costs and return on investment involved in buying a new home, remodeling your current home or building new on your existing property.
| We welcome the opportunity to help you analyze your options and provide you with reliable information to make good decisions for your property and family. Just give us a call at (818) 598-1330, ext. 150, to schedule an appointment for a complimentary consultation at your home or in our office, or register online at www.StructureHome.com. |
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The Chinese Drywall Chronicles
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While no Chinese drywall has ever been used in a Structure Home, we want to keep you informed about issues of concern to builders and homeowners. So, we've assembled the latest information on the problem for you here. |
Earlier this year, news reports began circulating about problems in homes containing Chinese-made drywall. Consumers reported corrosion or blackening of grounding wires, lighting fixtures and other metal items, and imported drywall was suspected to be the problem. Failures of copper piping and air conditioning units were also cited and there were reports of health problems, including irritated and itchy eyes and skin, difficulty in breathing and recurrent headaches. The reports prompted an ongoing federal investigation in search of scientific evidence to back up the claims.
The facts are still coming in about this potential health hazard. So far there have been at least 1,192 reported incidents in 24 states and the District of Columbia. California is among the states that have seen suspected cases of the problem, but most of the cases have occurred in Florida, Louisiana and Virginia.
At Structure Home we've been able to avoid this and other quality control issues, largely due to the relationships we've cultivated with our subcontractors. Star Drywall, our main supplier of drywall, has been with us for 25 years and we don't ever have to ask whether we're getting the very best building materials. We simply know it to be the case.
Star Drywall was given an option to buy some of the Chinese drywall when it became available at the height of the housing boom in 2005-2006. The company declined the purchase based on the lack of warranties and safety testing. From their perspective, it simply wasn't worth the risk. As owner Paul Croteau puts it, if you buy untested building materials, you're likely to be looking over your shoulder instead of looking ahead to the future.
If you were wondering why the Consumer Product Safety Commission doesn't simply recall Chinese drywall, such a measure would require a significant amount of scientific data. A federal drywall team investigating the problem has visited China and inspected gypsum mines and drywall manufacturing plants in search of such evidence. They've collected samples of raw materials and finished products and met with the China Building Materials Academy, a state-owned research and development institute.
Investigators continue to analyze information received from consumers, builders, importers, manufacturers and suppliers of drywall to determine how much imported drywall is affected and where that drywall has been installed. The team has confirmed that during 2006, some 6.9 million sheets of Chinese drywall were imported into the U.S.
The federal investigation of Chinese drywall is ongoing and new developments are surfacing monthly. You can follow the updates of the investigations at a Web site set up by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). You can also find information about some of the chemicals that were revealed in the drywall at a site maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Home is Where the Health Is
How Structure Home's Healthy Home Program Helped One Family
Find Relief
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Nida and Steve Hoshimi needed a different kind of home - one that limited the use of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and reduced other toxic agents. The Pacific Palisades couple suffered from compromised immune systems and chemical sensitivity so severe that even the smell of a freshly painted wall could make them feel sick. |
"We took the idea to Structure Home and they were absolutely on board," Nida Hoshimi says. "Anything that had to be done, they did."
With an experienced team of professionals and a large resource base developed over 26 years of homebuilding, Structure Home was well prepared for the challenge. In addition to the companies' knowledge of the component opportunities to create a healthy home, Structure's management philosophy dictates accepting complete responsibility of the homebuilding process - from architectural design, through all the construction phases to final finishing of the interior design and landscaping - allowing Structure to meet the complex needs of each customer and project.
Coordination is key to building a Healthy Home, as projects often involve not only a team of designers, but also project managers, construction staff and support personnel, not to mention additional specialists and health and environmental consultants. In addition to orchestrating the entire design and construction team, project managers needed to verify that the building materials are compatible. There are, for instance, low-VOC adhesives that won't bond with certain other materials.
As the Structure's project manager Karyn Clark describes it, "a home is more of a system - much like the human body - than a collection of parts." This philosophy is reflected in every project Structure Home builds and in the case of the Hoshimis, it was particularly crucial to the project's success. The couple's completed four bedroom, 3,200-square-foot home includes a number of healthy home features - special vapor barriers to prevent mildew, concrete floors with sealed area rugs, a wiring system that minimizes electric and magnetic fields, as well as air filtration and water purification systems - and Nida Hoshimi says she, her husband and two kids have feel better and healthier than ever. The Hoshimis' advice to others interested in the Healthy Home program is to be involved in the process and ask lots of questions.
A Little Peace and Quiet, Please!
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As the world around us becomes more noisy and chaotic, many are seeking ways to reduce the clamor within their own homes. By addressing the issue of sound attenuation, or noise reduction, Structure Home has been able to help many of our clients achieve the peace and quiet they've been seeking. |
Sound attenuation is a building science. It serves to reduce the transfer of sound from pipes, ducts, appliances and other noisy household objects, aka "structure-borne" sound. It can also apply to street sounds, noisy neighbors, outside noise pollution, sounds from room to room and other forms of airborne sound, in which case the goal is to prevent noise from entering the home or prevent it from traveling room to room.
Airborne sounds can be direct or reflected and can be treated with sound absorbing materials such as draperies, acoustical ceilings and wall treatments, also called acoustical absorption. These measures reduce echoes and sound levels within the source room. Sound barriers are used when trying to limit the transfer of sound from the source room to other areas of the home.
When the situation warrants, the amount of sound transferring from one area to another through a wall system, window, or any type of sound barrier can be analyzed and measured in terms of Sound Transmission Loss (STL). A single number rating called the Sound Transmission Class (STC) is used to make a quick identification of the efficiency of a sound barrier.
For example, a single pane window in an aluminum frame might have an STC rating of 24 whereas a dual-glazed aluminum clad wood window's rating can reach more than 30 on the STC scale. That sound transmittance difference can be significant as the STC ratings are a logarithmic scale similar to the earthquake Richter scale, which means each number is significantly higher than the number before.
The most practical way Structure has found to control noise is at the source. Practical solutions may include placing appliances or equipment on non-vibrating surfaces or isolating them from the structure itself. Water pipes, heating and air conditioning ducts can be strapped properly, keeping them isolated from the structure or building frame, minimizing vibration and sound transfer.
In many instances, however, it is not always possible to control the source of a noise and that's when the use of sound absorbing materials and sound barriers comes into play. Products such as soundboard and dense sound attenuation insulation can be very effective. There are products such as Audioseal, a dense material made of high-temperature fused vinyl that can be installed under drywall. Commonly used in urban apartments, the product effectively keeps airborne noise in or out. When used in a laundry room, it can prevent the clunking sound of a dryer from reaching nearby rooms; when used in a kitchen adjacent to a garage, it can muffle the sound of a car or an automatic garage door.
Sound isolation, absorption and barriers are most affordable and effective during the design and construction phases of a home. This type of planning is consistent with Structure Home's systematic approach to the building process. By identifying our clients' needs at the outset and coming up with a comprehensive plan to reach those goals, we can minimize surprises, discrepancies and inefficiencies. This applies whether we're choosing how many bedrooms to build or whether a sound dampening product should be applied to the walls of a children's playroom.
For most clients though, the bottom line is that sound attenuation is easy to achieve and doesn't have to be a highly involved or expensive process. A knowledgeable project manager and experienced general contractor can help you make major improvements in soundproofing with just a few adjustments to the design and construction of your new home.
Pacific Palisades Junior Women's Club 24th Annual Home Tour and Boutique a Success!
Structure Home was once again proud to sponsor the Pacific Palisades Junior Women's Club (PPJWC) annual home tour and boutique, held on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009. The 24th annual event raised approximately $65,000 (net) to benefit local charities and schools.
The Home Tour featured the area's most historic neighborhood, the Huntington Palisades. A companion Holiday Boutique, boasting a wide variety of unique gifts and treasures from more than 50 artisans and craftsmen, was staged in the new expanded space in the large gym at Palisades Park. Visitors also took breaks at the cafe in the small gym, which featured treats from Pinocchio in Cucina and Mogans Cafe.
All the proceeds from the PPJWC's signature event are awarded to schools and local nonprofit groups in the Palisades. Over the past five years, PPJWC has donated more than $500,000 to local public schools, Palisades Park and Recreation Center, Palisades Branch Library and the Palisades/Malibu YMCA, among others.
For information, visit www.ppjwc.com or call (310) 285-3218.
Got Feedback? We Want to Hear From You.
The Quarterly Blueprint is intended to be a reliable source of information for members of the Structure community. We're eager to hear from you about topics you'd like to see in future issues and suggestions for ways we can make this e-newsletter more useful. Please send your suggestions to info@StructureHome.com.
