We are excited to share the new Builder Magazine article that details our Tampa Chinese Drywall Remediation Video Series and the work Charter Bay is doing to help Tampa Bay homeowners who have defective drywall in their homes.  The article is written by Ted Cushman of Builder Magazine:

Those Who Can Do, Also Teach: Charter Bay’s Chinese Drywall Videos

I had an interesting conversation last week with Eric Stockland, the owner of Charter Bay Homes in Tampa, Florida.

Eric has a fairly long history in the Tampa area, going back to about sixteen years ago when he started a remodeling company there, shortly after graduating from college. As an educated guy, he quickly moved up in the building world, first as a project manager and V.P. for a couple of national homebuilders, and eventually taking over as Chief Operating Officer for Nohl Crest, a luxury builder in the Tampa market.

Nohl Crest went bust in the recent housing market crash dive, however, and Eric Stockland wound up back where he started, running his own remodeling business — this time, however, with a decade’s worth of executive experience under his belt, managing production building operations. And like any good entrepreneur, he applied that strength to the opportunity that presented itself — which happened to be Chinese drywall.

The Tampa market has its share of homes afflicted with that nasty stuff. Nobody knows exactly how many, but it’s probably in the thousands. Every one of those houses needs that drywall torn out and replaced if the house is going to be livable. And it’s not just the drywall, of course: the job also involves tearing out and replacing, or re-installing, a full array of other materials and components in the house — wiring, air conditioning units, carpets, insulation, and on and on.

It’s a challenging, demanding project, and not something any contractor should take on lightly or casually. And as Eric points out, it’s a job that calls on the skills of both professional remodeling and production building. When you’re demoing — removing and salvaging valuable parts of the house like cabinets and fixtures — you’re a remodeler. But once the thing is gutted to the studs and it’s time to rebuild, you’re not much different from a production builder who’s completing the interior of a dried-in shell.

And there’s another angle too: there’s probably a lawsuit. You have to preserve the evidence. So when Eric’s crews rip the drywall out of a house, they take pictures. They take notes. They make detailed drawings. They file documents.

Most of us would stop there. Not Eric Stockland. He also has to make a video. Well, a series of videos, really — a whole  YouTube video show demonstrating how to remediate Chinese drywall homes the way it should be done. And that’s what this blog post is about. I love it when my work brings me in touch with somebody who really knows his business, and who really cares enough to teach about it. This is one of those times. Eric Stockland’s videos for Charter Bay Homes are the best learning resource I’ve ever found for this Chinese drywall problem. And I’ve been studying Chinese drywall for a while — just go to Hanley-Wood’s www.coastalcontractor.net website and search for “Chinese drywall,” and you’ll see that we’ve hit that story about forty times in three years. But Charter Bay Homes’ video series is the best learning material on the Web. Everyone who wants to fix a Chinese drywall house needs to watch these videos.

And you can, because Eric is posting his growing video set on his Chinese drywall blog at his website. And because these are YouTube videos, I can also embed them in my blog. Here they are. Take a look.

By the way, even if there’s no Chinese drywall in your market, these are worth watching. There are other things to learn here. For one thing, this is a good example of homeowner education as a marketing tool. The most highly capable contractors have the edge in that game: When you’re good enough to teach what you do, you should show that off.

Any builder or remodeler could also learn something from Eric Stockland about systems. At the meta level, these videos are about how to turn a complicated, chaotic task into a manageable one — by getting organized. (People who know me well may find this observation humorous … okay, go ahead and laugh. Nobody’s perfect.)

To view the rest of the story go to:

http://www.builderonline.com/blogs/postdetails.aspx?BlogId=tcushmanblog&PostId=103379

To view other articles by Ted Cushman go to:

http://www.builderonline.com/blogs/post.aspx?BlogId=tcushmanblog&UserName=tcushman

 

Charter Bay Home Builders is a full-service Tampa Chinese Drywall Remediator, Remodeler, and Custom Home Builder working throughout the greater Tampa Bay area including Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, Manatee, and Sarasota.  Charter Bay can help with your Chinese Drywall Problems and Remediation, Additions, Kitchen Remodeling, Bath Remodeling, Renovation, Remodeling, Home Design, Cabinets, Design Build, and New Home Building needs.

In addition, as one of the few Tampa remodelers, contractors, or home builders with multiple green building and green remodeling certifications (FGBC Certifying Agent and NAHB Certified Green Building Professional), Charter Bay can also assist those clients who want green features and sustainable building practices incorporated into their projects.

Visit our website – www.CharterBayHomes.com – today to learn how “The Charter Bay Way” delivers:

“Yesterday’s Values • Today’s Technology • Tomorrow’s Vision”

(813) 357-9030

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