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David & Goliath Builders, Inc.
April/May 1998 - Business Today for Waukesha County Wisconsin Magazine Edition
By A.L. Wright
In the early days of his construction career, David Rodrigues could usually be found at job sites in the of what is nowthevery successful business, David & Goliath Builders Inc.
At the age of 15, Rodrigues began working as a carpenter assistant for local builders. He advanced to a carpenter and continued to develop his skills as he worked his way through college, earning a degree in political science and philosophy from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. During his last year of college, Rodrigues set out on his own to start David & Goliath Builders Inc.
These days, David is joined by 14 other members of the David & Goliath team, including his wife Ann, who manages all advertising/marketing, personnel and financial matters for the company. In addition, his brother Jeff, an engineer, is responsible for creating all home designs on their three dimensional computer aided design system.
Founded in 1985, David & Goliath Builders Inc. has since evolved to be a unique entity in the home building industry. While other builders are at the mercy of subcontractors, Rodrigues runs his own crews. From a quality standpoint, this is very important. If the masons don't do the foundation correctly, then the rough carpenters can't rough in the house correctly, and that in turn, affects the finish carpenters. However, since the masons, rough carpenters and finish carpenters are all David & Goliath Builders employees, they work as a team to finish the project.
Howard and Carol Bryant of Waukesha built with David & Goliath Builders a couple years ago. Carol, a Realtor with Re/MaxReality 100, knew what she wanted and David & Goliath Builders helped her create it, "It was a pleasure working with everyone at David & Goliath Builders. David is extremely knowledgeable and the craftsmanship was superb. The masons, rough carpenters and especially the finish carpentry in our home is outstanding. All of those are extremely important elements, especially for real sale value. We really enjoyed building with David & Goliath Builders," said Carol.
"At David & Goliath Builders we actually build the homes, we are not just a general contractor. And since our own employees build the homes, we are not just a general contractor. And since our own employees build the homes, they do the work right from the start - they do not want o go back and fix mistakes!" states David. "As a small company much of our work is by word of mouth, so we make sure the quality of the homes we build for our customers is the same quality we would expect in homes we would build for ourselves," explained Ann.
This philosophy allows the company to maintain control over project quality, completion times and construction costs. "Many people don't realize what they are paying in interest on the construction loan each day of a project. When what should have been a five month job turns into a nine month job, it ends up costing the customer thousands of dollars more in construction loan payments," says David. David & Goliath Builders customers also work with an owner throughout the entire building process. There are no sales people or expediters. All of this means less overhead expenses, shorter construction time and consistently high quality homes to pass on to their customers.
Tom and Sue Wiederstein of Brookfield are building their second home in the past seven years with David & Goliath Builders. And this is what Sue had to say about her building experiences, "The quality and workmanship are outstanding and their crews are a pleasure to deal with. In the event we would ever build again, we would certainly be a 'Three-peat' customer."
The company was designed to appeal to the customer who doesn't want to settle for the average home. In fact, they've only built two homes that are exactly the same. Operating under the philosophy that everyone deserves a home that fits their own unique sense of design, the Rodrigues' take a very hands on approach when working with their customers. Initial meetings with a client include an extensive discussion about all the design and budget considerations. "When people hear custom the automatically believe that this means it will cost more money, but that is NOT true. It is not any more expensive to build a custom home, because we control the most important aspects of the construction process. We have exceptional craftsman directly employed by the company. In addition, we try to educate our customers on the home building experience, the average person doesn't know what questions to ask or what to expect," says Ann. "Everyone has their idea of what they want, but we want to make sure they also understand all other factors that can come into play. No, it is not as easy as buying a car, but it can be a very enjoyable experience!"
"There is nothing like working with an exciting customer on designing their dream home and then making their dream come true, it is very rewarding, especially when you are turning the keys over to them at completion," states David.
Traditional builder work from a small sampling of model homes. Their customers simply pick the model they like best and their home is built to those standards. On the other hand, David & Goliath Builders model homes are used merely to give their customers design ideas and to show the quality of the builder's work.
John and Denise Shorougian of Mukwonago built with David & Goliath Builders last year. This is what Denise had to say about their experience, "It was nice to be able to find a builder that we could say this is how much money we have to spend - can you design something and build something for us so we will be able to stay within our budget. With other builders it was confusing - we were dealing with base prices which didn't even include carpeting and their was no flexibility on making changes. It was also a very personable experience, when we dealt with other builders we felt like we were just a number, but when we dealt with David & Goliath Builders we were talking directly with the owner."
Homes are built for customers within a one hour radius from David & Goliath Builder's offices located in Pewaukee. They've worked with customers as far north as Fond du Lac, and as far south as the Illinois border. However, David and Ann have noticed people seem to be building farther and farther away from major urban areas. Their customers seem to be seeking a life in the country more than they had in the past. On average, the company builds between 15 to 20 hojes per year, each taking approximately 110 working days to complete.
Robert Kapsy of Delafield, has also built two homes with David & Goliath Builders in the last six years,"For the amount of time it took David & Goliath Builders to build our house the quality was way above the standards in the industry. Our house went up in 90 days (56working days). Expediting and everything was really tight. There was very little down time. David & Goliath Builders did an excellent job," stated Robert.
Both David and Ann are actively involved in community and industry organizations. David is on the board of directors of the Metropolitan Builders Association of Greater Milwaukee and serves on their Construction Arbitration Board. Ann is also with the MBA as a member of the Sales and Marketing Committee. David & Goliath Builders has participated in the Parade of Homes three times and been included in the Spring Tour of Homes. They are also a member of the Pewaukee Chamber of Commerce and the Better Business Bureau.
David & Goliath Builders has been recognized for its superior work on numerous occasions. They have been awarded with three masonry awards; two for best masonry fireplace and one for best brick home. Other awards include several sales and marketing awards from the Metropolitan Builders Association and an American Corporate Identity award for logo design.
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