Blog
Eichler Homes: The Legacy and Need for Energy Efficient Renovations
After WWII, there was a developer in California that created surprisingly innovative and affordable homes, his name was Joseph Eichler. Eichler's brilliant thinking and innovations paved way for methods of construction that revolutionized home building. He was one of...
Why You Should Always Get a Building Permit
My girlfriend is a realtor who works in high end residences and condominiums. She often calls me for a quick assessment of the good and bad aspects of a listing whether it be hers or it is a property that she is about to show a potential buyer. What we often discover...
The Slow Global Uprising of Cross-Laminated Timber in Construction
The choice of construction materials, no matter the size of a project, can create a measurable environmental impact. In the previous blog we discussed the significant attributes of Cross Laminated Timber or MASS TIMBER construction as compared to common steel and...
Cross-Laminated Timber: The Building Method Changing Construction
We are about to witness the next big evolution in the construction of buildings—a true innovation that will protect the environment, create jobs in the timber industry, and save residential builders time and money. This revolution is the use of a building method called CROSS-LAMINATED TIMBER, (CLT), aka, MASS TIMBER.
How to Build Responsibly with Sustainably Harvested Wood
In my capacity as an Owner’s Representative or Project Manager, I quite often have the opportunity to insist that in my projects we consume sustainably sourced products, the main one being structural lumber and finish woods. Forests are a critical part of our survival...
Tasks of an Owner’s Representative
A construction project has a much better chance of being completed on budget and on time if an Owner’s Representative or Project Manager is brought in early, even when a general contractor has been selected. Early in the process it may appear that everything is fine...
Green Point Rated
Several of our previous blogs have focused on why it is important to “Build Green”. Not only is it good for the planet but it saves money spent on energy and water, causes fewer building materials to wind up in landfills, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and produces...
Building Green’s Top 10 Products for 2020
At West Coast Project Management Inc. we like to consider our and our client’s carbon footprint at every step of the building process. With a earth conscious Project Manager or Owner’s Representative, you can be confident that your custom home comes with the latest...
Things you didn’t know about embedded carbon
There has become an increased awareness of the embodied carbon and the products we use in construction. A knowledgeable Owner's representative or Project manager if part of the team can consult to benefit the project in reducing the quantity or volume of products with...
Building Resilience
The climate of the planet is changing. The heat causes more intense weather conditions such as hurricanes, storms, fires and other anomalies. The political divide is astounding regarding climate change. But while people are arguing over weather or not it is happening,...
Environmental Factors in Home Building
The report below is an example of how much detail and care go into the construction of a custom home. It is not as simple as designing a home then going in to build. As we discussed in the last blog, there are many factors to consider when building a home. The...
Differences in Architecture Across the US: Which Style is Right for You
Recently I have been traveling in the midwest. I am a Southern California native so I am always taken aback by the lovely brick homes and basements in more eastern regions. It makes me think about the differences in home architecture in the midwest vs. California and...
Building Green’s Top 10 Products for 2019
Building Green recently published their top ten energy efficient products of 2019. If you would like more information on these products you can watch the video from Building Green here. However, the following are the products and what they replace (in no particular...
What to do When Your Contractor is Making Mistakes and the Budget is Out of Control
Hiring a contractor for your custom home rebuild can be daunting. You are ready to build the home of your dreams. Maybe you have the design team set up and have begun initial planning. But you hired a contractor that you thought was capable and reasonably priced and...
Happy Earth Day! WHY we need a Green New Deal NOW
Photo by Miriam Espacio on Unsplash Climate change is the greatest challenge facing the next few generations of the human race. The more information one acquires the more daunting it feels. It is said that we have 12 years before climate change will...
The Green New Deal Explained
Wikipedia states it thus: “The Green New Deal is a set of proposed economic stimulus programs in the United States that aim to address climate change and economic inequality”. Pretty good goals wouldn’t you say? Data for progress states it this way: “A Green New Deal...
GREEN NEW DEAL
In my work as a residential construction Owner’s Representative and Project Manager I get to interact with some very interesting clients. Just recently I had a thrilling discussion with one of my owners over the Green New Deal currently being proposed by the...
ADMINISTRATIVE DUTIES OF A GOOD PROJECT MANAGER
In the last writing we focused on the on-site duties of a good construction project manager. In this issue we will delve into the administrative duties that are also necessary. Construction project managers have come from one or two basic paths: Those that rose up...
Efficient Home Walls: A Good Construction Manager Knows These Rules
If your building or renovating a home in the Bay Area and are installing walls in your home, you might think “can’t be that hard to do right?” You’ve seen it in the movies or on TV, maybe even in real life. You nail in some studs, put up some drywall and you’re done....
DUTIES OF A GOOD CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGER
A home construction project manager will have two different types of duties: Management of the work taking place on siteAdministrative and financial duties In this blog we will focus on the on-site work. On site work management duties are varied and multi...
THE PERILS OF THE HOME MORTGAGE PROCESS
The following applies to mortgages called “jumbo” or over the standard Fannie Mae size that you hear adds for such as “rocket mortgages”. If you are in a position of considering a refinance to help you purchase a home you most likely know someone who has gone through...
Undeveloped 110-acre Tiburon Ridge property for sale for $110 million- The ARK
The ARK published an update of the controversial Martha Property litigation. Will having a single buyer wanting to build a single home fair better for Tiburon Open Space? Or will it leave the door open for the new owner to sell some of the property to developers? The...
Richard Wodehouse Quoted in the Wall Street Journal
In this article from the Wall Street Journal yesterday, October 24th, Richard is quoted below the second picture as the president of TRUST (Tiburon/Belvedere Residents United to Support the Trails). He is discussing the lawsuit to preserve the trails in Tiburon that...
INTRODUCTION TO SERIES ON BUILDING SCIENCE
Over the next few weeks I will be publishing a series of articles on practical applications of what has come to be known as “Building Science”. Yes, there is such a term. “They don’t build them like they used to” is quite true, but in a good way, we build much...
HOW TO CREATE A SMOOTH, PREDICTABLE AND ENJOYABLE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
I am listing below tasks that I have found are critical for creating a smooth running home construction project. These are all tasks that an experienced Owner’s Representative, (a.k.a., Project Manager) should either initiate or ensure are accomplished during the...
IS A FREFAB HOME A GOOD OPTION? CAN IT BE CUSTOM ENOUGH?
The answers are yes, for many situations, prefab or factory built homes offer real advantages. I will list some below, but first let’s mention a short list of situations where prefab is not a good idea. Where tastes and budget demand a truly custom one of a kind...
Help Save Tiburon Trails
About TRUST: We are Tiburon/Belvedere Residents United to Support the Trails or "TRUST". We are an unincorporated, nonprofit association fiscally sponsored by MarinLink. The TRUST mission is to protect, preserve, and promote public access to and use of local trails...
What To Do If Your Contractor Spent All the Money Before Finishing
This is a phone call I get often in my work as an owner's representative. While it seems like a very dire situation it actually is solvable, and it is possible to reach a positive end result. The initial fear for most owners is that they have been ripped off by either...
Key Benefits of Having an Owner’s Representative on Your Project
In addition to serving as a mediator between all parties, I use my decades of custom home building experience to make sure the critical steps of the process are managed correctly. Sometimes I speak to clients who think, “I can do this myself, or I can count on my...
CAN A CUSTOM HOME BE BUILT WITHIN A BUDGET?
Yes, definitely, but it must follow a process that gives the owner control, accountability, and a roadmap with scheduled reality checks. How? The owner needs one person in charge of the entire process, to monitor the budget and ensure the groups communicate and work...
If You Want Confidence You Have a Good System in Place When Building a Home
By hiring me a your owner’s rep early on in the process you can be assured of having a great process that will give you peace of mind and save you lots of money during the entire construction process. (And design, if you bring me in early enough.) Here are four duties...
Sonoma County Fires Will Cause Scarcity of Contractors and Subs
We feel deeply for all those that suffered tragic loss in Sonoma and Napa this October 2017. One of the many unfortunate outcomes is that the construction industry in Northern California including the San Francisco/ Bay Area will become stressed even beyond the...
PODCAST With Jeff Schlarb
At the invitation of Jeff Schlarb, a great designer, we taped a 45 minute podcast conversation between he and I that is informative and fun to hear. http://www.jeffschlarb.com/richard-wodehouse/
The Process of Building a Custom Home: Part I
The Process of Building a Custom Home: Part I The process of building one-of-a-kind custom structures contains many pitfalls that can derail the project. There are too many bad experiences due to budgets being overrun and delayed completion. However, with the proper...
Point Reyes Visitor’s Center
I recently visited Point Reyes visitor’s center and was surprised at how professional the building and information services are. The lighthouse closed due to high winds, but they directed us to a place where there were still some elephant seals sleeping in the sun. I...
What can go wrong – Episode Two – Over Budget During Construction
The second phase where budget is exceeded is, of course, during construction. Be sure that this is not always because of a greedy contractor. The cause of overruns can be varied and the source of the problem can come from multiple directions. That is why an Owner’s...
What can go wrong – Episode One – Over Budget from the Get Go
I think we can all agree that the biggest problems that arise in custom home construction are budget overruns. This occurs during two distinct phases in the process: during the planning phase and during construction. Surprisingly, budget overruns happen most...
Are We Over Structuring Today’s Buildings?
Quite often we find ourselves removing an existing structure prior to building a new one, or making substantial improvements to an existing building. Once the above ground structure has been taken down, (hopefully deconstructed not demolished), the old foundation has...
When should you hire an owner’s representative AKA construction project manager
Ideally you would hire me as an integral member as you are starting the formation of your building team. However many of the inquiries I get are when the project is underway and not going well. In both situations, the best time to hire an Owner’s...
Who should you hire to manage your construction
In this newsletter Bob Villa discusses the pros, and a con, on the concept of hiring a Project Manager instead of a General Contractor to build your home. In a couple of projects where it became much more cost effective, I have taken on the role of actively building...
Electronic Gadgets for your Home
As a Construction project manager, or Owner’s Representative, I often get the opportunity to contribute information on the merits, or worth, of new electronic devices being marketed. Here is my current assessment and functionality of three products getting current...
IAQ – Indoor Air Quality
We are all concerned with having a healthy environment in our homes. Also we don’t want high humidity which can increase the chances of supporting the growth of mold. We have graduated from relying on leaky construction methods that allowed uncontrolled air movement...
How to Be a Great Host
In many homes here in Marin that I work on as a construction project manager I see owners adding space to create quarters for guests to stay. Yet when we get notice that guests are coming many might find it stressful to get ready for them. Houzz has published a...
An Intelligent Doorbell with Built-in Mobile, Facial Recognition
Many of my clients in my role as Owner’s Construction Project Manager are fond of using hi-tech products in their homes. Here is one that you may find useful featured in Residential Building Products and Technology: An Intelligent Doorbell with Built-in Mobile, Facial...
When tankless water heaters are your best choice
It seems these days when water heaters are the hot topic, many people immediately say they want a tankless one. The next time you need a water heater, should you ask for tankless? Let’s explore the benefits and drawbacks. When tankless water heaters are your best...
The process of building a home, part 3: Decisions, decisions, and when should owners be on site?
Decisions, decisions, and when should owners be on on site? is part 3 in a series. Part 1: Overall strategy Part 2: Budget, builder selection, and contract types Finally, let’s break ground! It will be a long road ahead with many challenges for everyone....
The process of building a home, part 2: Budget, builder selection, and contract types
Budget, builder selection, and contract types is part 2 in a series of 3. Part 1: Overall strategy A good way to start is: budget before design, This is a written set of guidelines prepared by the OPM that includes clear responsibilities and accountability for each...
The process of building a home, part 1: Overall strategy
The process of building one-of-a-kind custom structures contains many pitfalls that can derail the project. There are too many instances of bad experiences due to budget overruns and delayed completion. However, with the proper controls and an informed plan, it can...
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richard@westcoastprojectmanagement.com
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