Some production managers visit jobsites daily to keep their lead carpenters on task. But when Chris Levitas became production manager at Teakwood Builders, Saratoga Springs, N.Y., he wanted to be a hands-off “coach” who could help his leads assume more autonomy. More
When Jim Sasko (Big50 2002) of Teakwood Builders returned to Saratoga Springs, N.Y., from a business/pleasure trip to Mexico, he learned a client, a health practitioner, had been charged with double billing patients. More
Despite the rocky road, homeowners, architect, and remodeler are all delighted with the outcome, envisioned by Frost and executed down to hand-planed detail by Sasko's meticulous lead carpenter Josh Rockwood.The seven-month journey entailed knocking out an exterior kitchen wall to add a five-sided, eat-in sunroom and a mudroom that connects the 138-year old brick Victorian to its garage with a covered walkway. More
About a year ago, Jim Sasko, president of Teakwood Builders, found that he was spending too much time interviewing job candidates who simply wouldn't fit in with his company. If an applicant responds incorrectly, Sasko knows that he is probably lying about any prior experience he claims to have had. More
Remodeler: Laura Ferrell Company: Woodenwings Builders, Palo Alto, Calif. Product: Fireclay Tile, www.fireclaytile.com. More
Liability insurance is becoming increasingly expensive and is often completely unavailable to builders and remodelers in California, Mike Pattison, head of the California Building Industry Association, told state lawmakers at a legislative hearing in December.Jim Sasko of Teakwood Builders in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., says his liability insurance went from $3,570 last year to $7,689 this year, and he considers himself lucky to have gotten any coverage at all. More