Haven Builders: How one home builder uses construction tech for drafting and interior design

Their story

Their goal

Implementing an all-in-one home builder platform to manage their all-in-one services.

Dallas and Buildertrend go back – way, way back to a time even before Haven Builders. Prior to starting the construction business in 2010, he was working for a cabinet shop that used Buildertrend.

He was impressed with its robust features and how it digitized the building process. In fact, he was so impressed he knew this tech tool had to be a part of the new company he was starting.

To him, the value of the construction app had been undoubtably proven – even if he hadn’t discovered its full potential quite yet.

“It just made a lot of sense with the way it helps manage multiple projects at once,” Dallas said. “When I brought it over for Haven Builders, my mind was on the calendar. But there were all these features I use today that I wasn’t even aware of.”

Their solution

Construction tech that makes design less dizzying.

As a company that handles both the building and design of homes, Haven Builders faces a unique set of challenges. The details more cumbersome, the projects larger and longer and clients want to stay involved every step of the way – because, after all, there really isn’t a step this team doesn’t touch.

Buildertrend is their secret weapon for tackling it all. That starts with Scheduling, Messaging and Daily Logs. These three features act as triple threat when it comes to running the design side of business.

“With Schedule templates for design, I can create a new job in three minutes,” Dallas said. “Then, all of a sudden, clients can access that schedule from Buildertrend and really early on in the process they’re latched on.”

Templates help Haven Builders efficiently create timelines, but then the team takes it a step further. Each calendar is customized so they know dates for invoicing, landscaping, furniture delivery and more. Those details link into one view that’s shared with the client.

Adding even more context is Daily Logs. This Buildertrend feature acts as digital journal entries where project managers from Haven Builders keep detailed notes and processes written out. These can then easily be linked to tasks within the Schedule feature.

“With Daily Logs, all the information is there in one location and you can go back months and months to track it,” Dallas said. “There’s even been a point where we printed out daily logs for a lawyer to protect us against a lawsuit.”

Messaging further helps centralize information and communication. Instead of juggling texts and meeting notes with emails and voicemails, design decisions are made using this tool in Buildertrend.

Their team uses this tool to track costs, mark ups, what the client is paying and coding it into the business’ budget. By doing so, this takes care of all the questions related to work that wasn’t included within the original contract.

“We recently completed a job with 22 change orders. This stuff happens in construction. The Change Order feature forces us to figure out the cost and communicate to the client before thing are approved and work starts happening on site,” Dallas said.

Their success

Disciplined design processes that save time and stress.

Buildertrend has been a part of Haven Builders from the very beginning, so it’s hard to measure the exact amount of hours construction software saves Dallas and his team every week. They know nothing other than the efficiency the home building platform affords them.

However, they’ve been pleased to see the construction app grow alongside their business with each coming year. New features are introduced, and older ones are made better. Every time Buildertrend levels up, so too does Haven Builders.

“I’m a 10-year Buildertrend vet,” Dallas said. “Today, every facet of the design process seems to happen here. Messaging, doing the budget, client communication, having our totals up to snuff. I’m not even sure what the alternative would be to running your business without tech.”