Kerry P.General Information
- 32, female, married to Casey P., pregnant, no children, two cats
- Education: BFA Sculpture
- Occupation: Project Supervisor at a construction company
- Interests: Painting, sculpture, home improvement
She works for a high-end residential construction company. She was a carpenter, then a tile-setter and because of her pregnancy, is working more as a supervisor. Most employees of her company have an art background and/or are college graduates. This is one of the things that makes her company really unique in the construction business.
“We’ve done 3 homes on Pine St and completely demo-ing out 98 percent of them. Really the only thing left out of one of the homes is the facade and the back facade. Everything from soup to nuts is brand new, everything from the joists down to the foundations, no center walls between them, so....we go crazy pants.”
EXPLAIN A TYPICAL INTERACTION WITH A CUSTOMER
Most times, when a customer comes to her business, all the decisions have been made. These are typically made by the designer and/or architect with limited input on the part of the client. This is because, at the high-end market, the clients would rather pay for someone else to make the decisions.
So the client comes to her company with the plans at which point they have to either bid on the job or they just get it outright.
1. At this point, her company has to breakdown the costs of all the fixtures and is when they first see the specs for everything.
2. Sometimes, the specs don’t work for the space (often because the designer never bothered to double check everything). This would be like having a faucet that didn’t fit into the proposed sink. In this case, they have to find a replacement.
3. Next they have to figure out whether or not they’ll do all the labor in-house or will need to hire contractors. They can handle almost all the basic stuff but if its really complicated, they’ll call an actual specialist.
Throughout the whole process, they probably meet with the customer more than the designer did.
Her company is often challenged by the ideas of the designer since they’re typically unrealistic. This is partly because the designers simply don’t know better and partly because the designers would rather tell a rich person that something CAN be done rather than tell them it CAN’T be done. This is typical for high-end work, most rich people are never told “no”. Its not uncommon for her company to be the first to build or install a particular technology or innovation. For example, they needed to install a new fire box that came from Europe but had never been used in the US. They had to call the manufacturer for advice and problem-solve a working solution.
While this can be interesting and thrilling at times, it’s often frustrating on a regular basis. This complexity also adds a level of complication that goes beyond the initial install or rehab. Many of the systems they create are really complicated but the client doesn’t want to know any of the details. One client was obsessed with water purifiers but had never bothered to learn how to change the filters. This person eventually called her company to come out to deal with this necessary step even though it was quite simple. They simply didn’t want to be bothered with such details.
For this reason, her company typically offers a 2-year warranty on the work they do. This is pretty unheard of in their business.
The wealthy are willing to pay for a superior system or product but have no idea how to maintain it. In some cases, they’ll hire someone to just deal with keeping their house working as a full-time position to deal with the pump for the waterfall or with the HVAC system. This is somewhat of a contradiction since many of these systems are pitched as being expensive to put in, but maintenance-free afterwards. It’s just not the case. Many of these systems are “energy-guzzlers”.
ARE THERE EXAMPLES OF SYSTEMS OR FADS OR DESIRES, ON THE PART OF THE CUSTOMER TO HAVE SOMETHING THAT IS SORT OF ENERGY-EFFICIENT?
Since An Inconvenient Truth, in her industry there has been a growing desire to move towards that way of life. However, once they’re confronted with the cost of the “responsible” solution, they back down.
One example of a product that has become more prevalent is the low-flow toilets. This is largely because the cost is equal-to or similar-to the regular toilet and comes in “designer looks”. Looks is important because, according to her, 95% of the choices are made for form, not function.
IF THE PRICE IS THE SAME BETWEEN A LOW-FLOW TOILET AND A NORMAL ONE, WHAT DOES THE CUSTOMER CHOOSE?
Its hard to say who makes the choice because the decisions have already been made before the project gets to her company. She believes its often the designer who makes the choice but its really hard for her to know who’s made what choices.
If a specified product is not available, they must come up with several options that are similar. There is often a lot of back-and-forth between them and the customer. Almost all based on form, not function. These types of problematic situations are typically the times when the client becomes engaged in the process which makes the situation tricky for her company. She can’t throw the designer under the bus, assuming it was the designer’s fault, because there is a codependency between her company and them. They just have to make the problem seem like it’s circumstantial and out of their hands while offering five new solutions in the same breath.
ARE DESIGNERS CONSCIOUS OF THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF THEIR DESIGNS?
Contractors are really the middleman between the designers and the clients. There are two parts of working with high-end clientele:
1. GOOD: They get to do things nobody else gets to do, things that are incredibly creative every day. Every day is a new thing.
2. BAD: Because everything is new, its usually followed with a problem.
Many problems come from clients or designers wanting to make their mark on the world and therefore try to get ridiculous things to work.
WHERE DO DESIGNERS GO TO FIND OUT ABOUT HOT, NEW THINGS?
They have to be subscribed to every thing pertinent to that field. Every day they’re getting a different magazine or spec catalog from manufacturers. To do this, they have to get their name out there. In the last 10 years, the internet has become an incredibly useful tool. Being connected with the manufacturers and suppliers is really important and often requires reaching out to them.
The one other group involved is also the Distributor! They’ll carry a variety of products by particular manufacturers. Sometimes the designer won’t specify where they found a given fixture and it’ll be up to her company to find that parts distributor in the hopes of finding the part.
IS THE PROCESS OF HIGH-END CONTRACTING SIMILAR TO THAT OF THE AVERAGE CITIZEN?
In these cases, the designer is often left out of the equation and the client simply relies on the contractor.
HOW PREVALENT ARE GREEN PRODUCTS
Unless you’re specifically looking for them, they’re not specified as such. There is no designation.
One example of when there is a little bit of discussion on this subject is lighting fixtures. Oftentimes they come in low-voltage. Unfortunately, contractors use these so they can get more lights on the same circuit.
DO PEOPLE ASK FOR ENERGY STAR PRODUCTS?
Not particularly, at least in her market. There are some things that people know to ask for, like windows and doors. Customers want to know they’re properly “R” rated to conserve energy. This is so they don’t “lose” money by allowing heat to leak out of the house, which will affect their heating system and ultimately their bill.
There is a contradiction to this because they’ll spend a “gazillion” dollars on a sub-zero refrigerator that’s “an energy eater”.
“It's funny what they’re picky about.”
SO AT SOME POINT, SOMEONE WAS ABLE TO CONVINCE THE POPULATION THAT THEY COULD LOSE MONEY FROM THEIR WINDOWS AND DOORS. WHERE DO YOU THINK THAT CAME FROM?
She wasn’t sure but guessed that it could be influenced by comfort. If someone can FEEL a draft when sitting next to a window, they know that air is coming in and going out of the house.
There has also been hype over the last couple years for better “things” like advertisements telling you to get “better windows and doors”.
Gas prices are also high, therefore using better products can lower your bill.
Also, people think in terms of “whole house” rather than individual items. Especially if the house is big, like 3000sqf. You’re not thinking of an individual stove but you’re thinking of big money that gets associated with the walls and windows of your house. If you’re losing money through them, then you’re losing a lot of money!
Again, this seems like a huge contradiction because the same people who ask for nice windows also have houses which are inherently wasteful with energy. She worked on a house which used radiant floors as the heat source. Because the heat was not forced-air, dropping the temperature of a given room was really tough. To correct this, the air conditioner would kick on. So in the dead of winter, they could be using an air conditioner in a room that was just poorly designed. But they had nice, energy efficient windows!
IS THE DESIGNER/ARCHITECT AWARE OF HOW INEFFICIENT THE SYSTEM IS?
Not really. The two systems (heating and cooling) were designed independently. The architect just spec’d a particular system in the beginning that was really intended for a specific situation and in this case, its really being stretched to fit a situation it wasn’t designed for. Apparently this is pretty common which is crazy considering how expensive these types of situations are.
This also happens because the customer doesn’t really ask questions when they probably should be, namely in the beginning of the process.
The customers also don’t know HOW to ask the questions. Largely because the systems are so complex.
There are really 2 schools of thought in regards to why clients go to designers:
1. They just like the designer’s style and want them to just do their thing in the client’s space
2. The designer is good at just making the ideas of the client a reality.
DO YOU DO COMMERCIAL WORK?
Sometimes, but mostly small offices or gallery spaces. These are often building that were once residential anyway.
DOES YOUR COMPANY EVER DO PROJECTS DIRECTLY WITH THE CLIENT?
The business actually started out like that. Sometimes they’ll get a basic idea from a designer and then they’ll come to her company.
COULD YOU SHOW US SOME OF THE FIXTURES YOU’VE PUT IN TO YOUR HOUSE?
Most of what she’s replaced has been appliances. The originals were either “harvest gold” or “avocado” from the 50’s or 60’s.
She does have the newer light bulbs but hates the way they look and the way they work. The light they put off is not really natural.
WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU WHEN PICKING YOUR FIXTURES?
1. Price
2. Form
3. Function
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