Upgrading the remodeling experience in San Francisco with Jeff Kann

Show Notes

On this episode of โ€œThe Building Code,โ€ Tom and Paul are talking with Jeff Kann of Houseworks Inc. in San Francisco. Houseworks is a design-build company that focuses on creating highly functional and beautiful spaces for their clients.

Tune in to the full episode to hear about how Jeffโ€™s experience with building homes as a homeowner led to his passion for remodeling houses and how he uses communication to maintain a superior client experience.

How do you help homeowners improve their lives through the space in their homes?

  • Start by identifying the homeownerโ€™s needs and their requirements
  • Work with the existing footprint of the home to make improvements
  • Create flow between the living spaces and the kitchen space
  • Add bedrooms and bathrooms for a growing family
  • Make sure rooms are laid out and accessible for aging adults

How has technology helped maintain client communication?

โ€œNot every homeowner can see a construction site and actually know what happened. We assume that they do because we see it, but if thatโ€™s not what you do, you donโ€™t always know. Sometimes it looks like there was nothing happening for a period of time when actually thereโ€™s a ton of stuff happening.โ€

To keep clients informed we:

  • Post and share schedules through the Buildertrend app, so clients can access it when itโ€™s most convenient for them
  • Use the Daily Logs feature as a way to keep homeowners informed on a daily basis
  • Upload photos, so clients can see what work has been done on their home

Related content:

Check out Houseworks Inc. on their website and follow them on social:

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Transcript

Tom Houghton:

You are listening to the Building Code. Your guide for a better way to run your business. I’m Tom Houghton.

Paul Wurth:

Hey, Tom. I’m Paul Wurth.

Tom Houghton:

Hey, Paul?

Paul Wurth:

How are you doing?

Tom Houghton:

How’s it going over at your house?

Paul Wurth:

Pretty good at Mi casa. How about you?

Tom Houghton:

Yeah. It’s pretty great here, just enjoying fall. Well, I guess we’re kind of in fall. Are we in fall? It feels like summer outside.

Paul Wurth:

Let’s ask our guest if he knows.

Tom Houghton:

There you go. Joining us on the podcast today is Jeff Kann, owner of Houseworks, based in San Francisco, California, where the weather’s probably mild, is my guess?

Jeff Kann:

Well, it’s actually warm today, but we’ve been dealing with some cloudy skies from fires nearby, but today is actually a clear day and fall for us is summer for you all. So at end of August into September, October, those are our warmest months.

Tom Houghton:

There you go. Jeff, thanks so much for joining us today. We want to know all about your business and that’s usually what we’d like to start with our guests. So share with our audience. Tell us about the name Houseworks too. We like to ask people how they kind of came up with the name. So let’s talk about the name Houseworks. Tell us about what you do kind of a day-to-day basis and kind of what your average client looks like?

Jeff Kann:

That’s great. So Houseworks is a creative attempt that a double entendre, your house works after we work, your house works.

Tom Houghton:

There you go. I like it.

Jeff Kann:

So that’s how we put the two together and our company is a design build company here in San Francisco. So we’re a single source solution providing all the design and construction work under one roof.

Tom Houghton:

Nice.

Paul Wurth:

San Francisco unique area, one of the more expensive places to live, right? United States, New York or in San Francisco, right?

Jeff Kann:

It is very expensive to live here. And that’s part of, I think the value that we bring to San Francisco homeowners in a condensed urban area the homes tend to be pretty small and especially the high function areas kitchens, bathrooms connecting those rooms to the rest of the house and with an older housing stock, like we have primarily built in the turn of the century that is then 1800 to 1900s. And then into the mid-1900s, there’s been some additions and things done to homes that are just a bit quirky and not always done with a lot of creativity or forethought. We really specialize in turning those spaces into… first we customize them for our clients and of course we want to make them highly functional and beautiful at the same time.

Tom Houghton:

Fantastic. So you’re a big advocate of remodeling in that San Francisco area. So can you talk about how your passion for the industry started?

Jeff Kann:

Well, it’s a long story Tom, but the short version is, I spent 25 years in banking before starting Houseworks, and my family and I had relocated about four or five times. And each time we did, we either built a home or remodeled the home that we had purchased and moved into. And while we’re always pleased with the end result – we loved our houses – the process or the experience going through it wasn’t always smooth. So as I was leaving my corporate job and looking for what I was going to do next, I really thought and was inspired by how to take that experience and make it really positive. And effectively what we do is we provide the necessary administrative support to craftspeople. So they can really focus on getting the job done and doing what they do best. And we train to and set up a system of high-touch communication, managing to schedules, managing to budgets and it’s worked well for us and our clients have been really pleased.

Paul Wurth:

Now, Jeff, you guys are a design-build firm, right?

Jeff Kann:

Correct.

Paul Wurth:

Do you feel like doing both design and building, having that one-stop shop for them, do you feel like that definitely contributes to their positive experience as a homeowner?

Jeff Kann:

Absolutely. And having done it both ways and we all learned both from our own experience and my experience as a homeowner as well as a business owner, because we didn’t start Houseworks as design-build, but we grew to it by just trying to offer a better product, a better service. And at the outset to have that built in collaboration between the people that build the project and the people who design it is really critical. And that’s where the benefit to the clients are really derived as well, because usually what you have and maybe you have this in your own homes, you have a really long list of the things that you want to do, or the problems in your home that you’re trying to solve. And you have a finite amount of resources, whether it’s time, how much time you have to do this and or money, how much does it cost?

Jeff Kann:

And really the only way to answer those questions is early on in a project. Early on in the design and planning phase of a project and they can only be answered when the… construction means method and cost are combined with the creative design portion and that’s really where that benefit is derived. So what it translates to is a project that meets the client’s budget and then keeping that front and center as you work through creative solutions to deliver that, ensuring that they fit within those finite resources. How much time do we have to do? What is it we’re trying to solve and how much money do they have to spend?

Paul Wurth:

Is there also an aspect to it where sort of the design is not always a hundred percent done when we start construction and there’s sort of going to always be a back and forth during construction with design team?

Jeff Kann:

We really try to minimize that. It can be done, but really in terms of you’re balancing as in many situations. You’re balancing, producing to a schedule and to a cost budget and not having decisions made about the critical design elements before that starts is really a recipe for disaster. So we really try to inform those design decisions during the design process, so that as we move into production, that those key elements are already solved. Part of the benefit I think policy as you’re getting to is, if you find something that’s different and in many older homes you do so. Once you start work, you’re going to uncover behind a wall or some other unknown condition that has to be dealt with and that may impact the design intent of the project. So having those resources integrated and throughout a project really helps to sort of jump on and deal with those things and have all the expertise necessary right on hand at that point in time to deal with it.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah. You mentioned obviously earlier the age of the houses that you’re typically dealing with, and then also the space that you currently have to work in. So you probably have to get a little creative with what you’re doing on the job site there. So maybe you could share how you’re working creatively in those environments to help homeowners improve their life, with the square footage that they have there in San Francisco.

Jeff Kann:

Yeah, absolutely. Some of it just comes from experience just knowing how to deal with those structures and a lot of the housing stock in San Francisco has common elements. It’s typically called a Marina style home where garage and storage is below and living space above. And so many of our projects are really dealing with how to integrate those spaces and turn that storage or garage space or a portion thereof into habitable living space. That’s a sort of a common characteristic in homes that we deal with, but really every project starts with what are the homeowners requirements? What are they trying to do? Whether it’s on one end of the spectrum, they’re trying to age in place. So they need a space that’s more single level living, that has enough room for mobility or people assisting, just preparing the home for their long-term use as they age.

Jeff Kann:

The other end is: You take the young family, maybe they’ve added children or maybe they’re dealing with children that are growing up and the space just seems to be cramped and small now. That needs to be reconfigured and re-realized to meet what they’re doing today. So creating flow into kitchens, to family rooms, where there’s interaction and visibility to children doing homework while preparing dinner as one example. Adding bathrooms and bedrooms are certainly another critical aspect of that. So we always start with what is driving the renovation by the homeowner. And then we work within the existing building to determine what the best solutions are to address that.

Tom Houghton:

Sounds like a good plan. One thing I think none of us have planned for was this pandemic that’s happened. So I’m curious how it’s affected your area, but also how has that process affected remodeling in general?

Jeff Kann:

Yeah, I think it’s really amplified those needs. So for us, a lot of people are already dealing with how to maximize space and in smaller buildings and smaller homes. And then you amplify that by now those spaces need to do double duty. They need to be an office or they need to be a classroom and they’re all you have. Two people that need to work from home at the same time and sitting on the edge of the bed with the computer on your lap might work for a week or two. But eventually as we look towards working from home through the end of the year and maybe beyond, you’d have to have a more permanent solution. The same thing with distance learning that’s been implemented here with the school systems where now you have parents who are working from home, children who are learning from home and they need dedicated space to do that. So it’s really just really amplified those needs to take that, how do you use the existing space in the home and reconfigure it and re-imagine it to serve those multiple uses?

Paul Wurth:

Yeah. So one of the questions I have for you being in San Francisco, as we all know the pandemic has really opened up companiesโ€™ eyes to work from home, and you guys are dead in some of the area where some of the biggest technology companies are Apple, Google, Salesforce, are right downtown San Francisco. There’s been reports that people are moving out of San Francisco because of the cost of living, because they don’t have to go to the office. Are you seeing that? Is that one of the concerns you have for your business or what’s your take on that?

Jeff Kann:

Right. We are trying to stay tuned into that because obviously we’re concerned. We haven’t seen it yet. In fact, we’ve sort of seen the opposite, and I think there might be a real demographic divide amongst who’s leaving and who’s staying. And for folks who may be more established, people with families as one example or people who may have a lot more time and money invested in their home are really redoubling their efforts to make their current home work for them. So we’re actually super busy because I think part of the effect of people spending so much time at home is, if something wasn’t working for them, it’s really not working now. I mean, if you have a problem with your house and you’re in there all day, every day, all of a sudden it just becomes a real burden to deal with.

Jeff Kann:

We haven’t yet seen an impact from people leaving. I have a sense that it might be more of the rental market that’s impacted by that. And so people who may not have been tied to a home or a longer time in the place that they’re living or are looking for lower cost, easier commute. And I think we see is with our own children who are older and living in San Francisco, all the attractions of the city that aren’t available to them right now make living in the city that much harder. So restaurants and all that San Francisco has to offer. But right now for our business, it’s been just the opposite that the impact is really increased the need for what we do.

Paul Wurth:

Yeah. I mean, I think you make a good point. I think if there’s an age difference, probably Tom, right? If your younger, you probably don’t make as much money. So the cost of being in San Francisco is more, but you’re also probably more comfortable working from home and like truly leaving the area where your business is. And I think maybe the older generation is not, so that’s a pretty good point. Just stay in that high price point.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah. I love that you’re still busy though Jeff, that’s really good to hear. And I did want to transition that a little bit. Paul mentioned probably some of your clients are very familiar with tech and of course you have a big fan of technology and construction. So I’m assuming a lot of your clients that come to you probably expect some sort of experience with technology. How have you guys handled that in your business?

Jeff Kann:

Well, there’s different aspects of it. One is the home itself, so there’s a building technology aspect to it. So things like you probably use all the time, home automation or having a house wired to support working from home, whether it’s amped up Wi-Fi network or a dedicated connectivity through the home and rooms. So and then the other part of building technology is really about the environment. How to keep the home environment safe, how to make sure that the footprint and the energy usage of a home are maximized so that there’s not such a demand on utilities and fossil fuels and that sort of thing. So that’s one aspect of it. So I call that the building technology, and it can span from internet connectivity, home automation to appliances, to windows, to installation that whole aspect.

Jeff Kann:

Then there’s the communication technology part of it and really this is something that you guys have helped us with tremendously. And that is providing a platform that our homeowners can really access information about their project when it’s convenient to them. So as an example we build schedules and we post and share them through the Buildertrend app, to our clients. We use the Daily Log function as a way to keep homeowners informed on a daily basis. What happened at their house? Who was there? What work was done? We use photos and upload those. So there’s this whole technology piece, which they use all the time in their own lives that we really had to cobble together in the past. But now it’s on one platform for them to use and it’s super convenient, and we found it’s just an amazing communication tool.

Tom Houghton:

That’s fantastic to hear. Communication is key obviously, and making sure the jobs run smoothly and then your customers stay happy. So it sounds like you’ve got that covered. I love that you guys are saying, you’re doing daily logs daily. It sounds like… which is always good.

Jeff Kann:

Our mantra: Every job every day.

Tom Houghton:

Oh, I love it. That’s good. That’s-

Paul Wurth:

Good thing itโ€™s in the name of the feature. It helps you remember, it’s not just logs, its daily logs.

Tom Houghton:

Just logs.

Jeff Kann:

Right. Yeah, exactly. It’s like anything, it’s once you exercise that muscle, then it becomes routine and it’s good. And everybody… the guys that are responsible for doing it they get positive feedback and reinforcement from the clients and how much they like it, so that helps too.

Tom Houghton:

That’s great. That’s actually something that we don’t talk about often enough is that obviously homeowners can comment back on the logs so they could give positive reinforcement. That’s a really interesting take on that, that one way to get feedback from your clients would be through a comment on a daily log.

Jeff Kann:

Yeah. I think if you talk to folks who have renovated or maybe you have yourselves and everybody either has a horror story or knows of one, you can be central to that is, I don’t know what’s happening. So-and-so didn’t show up today or I’m not sure when the next phase of construction can start, but communication is just so central to everything we do and proactively resolving problems. And also, when things do happen, having a very fast way to get in touch with people and get the issues on the table so that we can deal with them.

Paul Wurth:

One thing our sales team hears all the time from remodelers is that, I don’t need Daily Logs because my clients are there. They know what’s going on, and I think you were speaking about that a little bit. Can you talk a little bit more about your homeowners, even though they may be in the property while the renovation is going on, they still like the daily log for all the reasons you talked about, right?

Jeff Kann:

Yeah. They like it for that reason. One it’s very specific. Right. And not every homeowner can see a construction site and actually know what happened. So we assume that they do because we see it, but if it’s not what you do, you don’t always know. And sometimes it looks like there can be nothing happening for a period of time when actually there’s a ton of stuff happening. So I think it helps to do that, it also keeps a record for them. It’s a log, they can go back and look at it. So whether they’re there or not, I think it’s important and we use it that way too. We also use it to go back as a record of what happened, and we have weekly meeting notes that we post to daily logs. So we really rely on it as a way to recap what’s happened, not just that day, but you can go back for your whole job and see.

Paul Wurth:

Yeah, that’s great stuff.

Tom Houghton:

So Jeff, you’ve given us a lot of great points of how you make a great client experience during a remodel for your company. There are other remodelers though, out there listening to this podcast right now, you’ve talked about using Daily Logs. You’ve talked about the communication with the homeowner. What other tips do you have for making sure that our model goes as well as it sounds like most of like yours go?

Jeff Kann:

There’s a couple of things that are just must-haves. You must do good quality work, right?

Tom Houghton:

Sure.

Jeff Kann:

You must be respectful of the homeowner’s property and of their time and of their neighbors. And then to me, the most important thing beyond those must-haves is communication.

Tom Houghton:

Sure.

Jeff Kann:

And I think every problem can be solved if you’re talking. Usually problems occur, not problems that you discover on the job like, “Oh my goodness, we didn’t realize that the old wiring to the rest of the house needs to be replaced type of thing,” but problems can be avoided if expectations are clear. So usually something goes awry with a client because they expected one thing and they’re getting another. So proactive communication, first and foremost will help to alleviate that. But then if there’s just a built-in dialogue, and I think it has to be a number of things so Daily Logs, weekly meetings, documented communication are I think the best way to keep people informed. And you can augment that with other communication, but by capturing those key things, that to us is really important. And the feedback that we’ve gotten from our clients just helps to illustrate that and reinforce it.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah. That’s fantastic to hear. And again, the fact that you’re focusing on the clients so much, I think that’s what helps set you apart from the competition.

Jeff Kann:

Yes.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah. So that’s good. Keep that up. Jeff, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. We appreciate you sharing your expertise on the San Francisco-area with remodeling. We loved hearing all about that. Your history there 25 years as a banker, I would love to talk to you more about that, that transition. We’ll save that for another podcast though, but thank you so much for coming on and sharing your story. We of course wish you the best of success continuing in your business out there.

Jeff Kann:

Thank you, Tom. Enjoyed it.

Tom Houghton:

Love what you heard? Don’t forget to rate and subscribe to our podcasts so you can hear from more guests that will benefit your business. Also, please check out our show notes page for more information on what we discussed on this episode, you can find it at buildertrend.com/podcast. Thanks for listening. And we’ll see you next time on โ€œThe Building Code.โ€

Jeff Kann | Houseworks Inc.


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