Sofie's house, in the Fountaingrove Miramonte Division, burned to the ground in the early morning of the first day of the Tubbs fire. She learned of the event after fleeing the house and seeing the attached Press Democrat photo on her smartphone.
The following week, the home owners of the division had a meeting. We sat outside on picnic benches to discuss the options of rebuilding. There were people from the city government, lawyers and contractors there. Among them were the Keith brothers. They came with the house plans for all the houses in the division. Edward Keith, their father, built the division some 20 years earlier. The plans were a godsend for purposes of getting insurance estimates for rebuild! Sofie and I liked the Keiths because they are genuine; no slick sales and no ridiculous promises.
We visited SCB at their office on Santa Rosa Ave to discuss having them rebuild the house. They told us of various upgrades necessary: on demand water heater, fire sprinklers, EV outlet in garage, landscape design and other details. We met with another contractor the next week in a shopping center for coffee. He was a slick talker but was unaware of what plan upgrades were necessary and was pushy about "getting onboard". The Keith brothers are not pushy. Sofie got onboard with them because they were credible, patient and smart. Eric Keith had worked as an insurance adjuster some years back, so he knows the software that insurance companies use to come up with estimates. After Sofie choose SCB, issues with the insurance company were easily solved with Eric making a phone call to the adjuster to educate him on the realistic numbers to put into his spreadsheet.
SCB uses the Buildertrend ( https://buildertrend.com/ ) to track progress and allow homeowners to select the options for the build, such as plumbing fixture finishes, brands and appliances. This is convenient for keeping track of the small but important parts of the build process.
SCB, being familiar with insurance policies thoughtfully selected the best products and building practices to maximize the use of the insurance payout and give the best value. One feature we especially like is the post-tension slab; a series of cables that run through the concrete slab that are torqued down to eliminate any possibility of cracks in the future. We also liked that SCB clearly explained each of the processes needed to be done, who would do it, when it would be done and what the costs would be. There are no surprises with SCB.
We also appreciate that SCB dedicates Mary M. a design coordinator who assists in selection of flooring, countertops, cabinets, paint schemes, appliances and the like. Mary keeps the selections within budget and of the highest quality. read more