Since its inception, customers looking to build their perfect piece of paradise have been ecstatic with the quality of products and services available through the Beaver Homes & Cottages program offered by Home Hardware Building Centre.The comprehensive and easy to understand process, with its step-by-step approach to designing and building, makes what used to be a sometimes daunting and nerve-racking experience much more accessible to would-be homeowners and builders working within almost any budget. It should come as no surprise that - for many of the same reasons - the program has become an attractive and often times favourite resource for contractors and building teams; serving as an invaluable tool of the trade when it comes to keeping clients consistently satisfied and beaming.
Working out of the Espanola Home Hardware Building Centre (proudly serving much of Northeastern Ontario,) Erik Carlson has been a Beaver Home design consultant for close to two decades. His immersion in the program and vast personal experience with all areas of building and design for both residential and commercial projects has garnered him significant insight into what keeps contractors coming back to the Beaver Homes & Cottages program when new projects arise.
“(Contractors) are able to focus on the actual build,” says Carlson, “instead of working nights and weekends with material lists or waiting for product approval.”
Those hours, suddenly freed up by working with design consultants like Erik Carlson, resonate with contractors and builders on a number of different frequencies. On one hand, “More available time directly translates to the opportunity to take on more clients and accomplish more builds.” Carlson notes, adding that “It also means that there’s more time to spend with family or simply reclaiming personal time.”
There are close to a dozen contractors whom work closely with Carlson on a number of builds annually. Some he works with on several projects a year, others less frequently, but all seem to echo the same appreciation for the added focus which Beaver Homes & Cottages allows them to deliver in making sure that the build goes smoothly from start to finish.
Lakeland Custom Homes & Commercial Construction is a team of craftsmen headed by master builder Jason Wilcox and project coordinator Patricia Tucker. The team has worked alongside Carlson on countless builds in and around the Elliot Lake / Sudbury area for over half a decade. Tucker muses, “The Beaver plan book gives so many options,” adding “it’s a great jumping off point. Clients come in seeing a plan that has quite a bit of what they like but that they can customize with bigger bedroom or eliminating a wall, etcetera.”
Two instances of the Lakeland Custom team working in tandem with Carlson utilizing the Beaver Homes & Cottages program include a build with minimal customization for Lee and Lana H. in Lively, Ontario and a more highly customized build for Ed and Jane R. in Sudbury proper. Regarding the difference between the two builds and the versatility that contractors respond to when working with floor plans from the Beaver catalogue, Carlson stated that “Customers appreciate our relationship with the builder that gets them a well built home for the money they want to spend. Builders like that the customer has been given information about every step of the build and that I know about all internals before the builder is even called.”
From a builder/contractor perspective, Patricia and Jason spoke highly of the fact that “Lee and Lana wanted a more straight-out-of-the-catalogue build; a country home that’s been a bit citified. Ed and Jane were looking for something more high-end and customized. Even though they were very different, the time Erik spent talking to the customer about flooring, kitchen hardware and materials…since it is such a built-in operation, it allowed us time to focus on what we needed to do.”
When Lee and Lana H. were looking to have their property built in Lively, they knew that they wanted to work with a Canadian company and it was through an online search that they found Erik Carlson and learned more about the Beaver & Home Hardware Building Centre operation. “I don’t know why anyone would want to do it differently,” says Lee. “You can go as elaborate as you want without worrying about breaking the bank. It was all very hands on with open communication lines. After we worked with Home Hardware and Beaver staff to pick styles, paint and fixtures, Erik pointed us toward Pat at Lakeland…and we know that with their reputation they would only work with the best.” Lee also notes “Since we didn’t have to walk through the aisles of the hardware store picking out fixtures with Pat and Jay, we liked that they would be focused on building the house already knowing what we were looking for.”
Ed and Jane R. were equally enthusiastic about their experience working with the team for their custom build in Sudbury, Ontario. “Erik was my point guy,” Says Ed, ”He dealt directly with any concerns we had and communicated them to the build team.” Ed and Jane also enjoyed the simplicity of the entire process, stating that “We chose an existing model out of the catalogue as a basic framework. From there, pretty much everything was totally custom. The model was totally redone under Erik’s direction.” When asked about the overall project, Ed says, “We highly recommend the whole experience. The responsiveness of the Home Hardware team was spot on.”
Given Patricia and Jasons’ extensive professional experience working with Home Hardware and the Beaver Homes & Cottages program, it seems all too fitting that the two opted to work with the operation once again when the time came to build their own home and base of operations for Lakeland Custom Homes & Commercial Construction. Patricia notes, “As contractors we had kept going back to Beaver and Home Hardware… so, it seemed logical and smart to turn to them when we were looking to build for ourselves.” The duo was looking to build on water, and ultimately decided that Elliot Lake would be a suitable place to set up shop. “We wanted our base of operations to showcase the quality of work we could provide, as well as the quality of product available through Beaver and Home Hardware.” says Patricia, adding “It was important for us to show the alliance between builders, and it was a combination of the personality compatibility, ability to support one another and the fact that Beaver offered a great product for the location. That’s what kept us going back.”
