High Caliber Construction, Inc.

While most Winters in the Charlottesville area are tolerable as far as getting projects out of the ground, it’s always nice to see Spring roll around!   If there is rain, it will dry up if the nights are above freezing.

With our custom home and addition projects, we try to pick a ground-breaking time when the weather looks good for the next week or so; however, if you wait too long you’ll find it has become Fall!  Once the concrete footers are in, there is less bad weather can do to hold us up.  The main stage we are looking to get to is when the house is framed and “dried in.”  Getting a house to the “dried in” stage means all framing is complete and at least the tar paper or other waterproof roof underlayment as well as the Tyvek on the exterior walls is in place; we usually shoot for having the windows installed and the shingles on before the HVAC, plumbing and electrical are roughed in.

Getting a custom home or major addition out of the ground is a very  intense time, as is finishing a project, so we try to schedule our building to minimize major projects starting or finishing at the same time.

Bill Ware, President

High Caliber Construction

Custom Homes- Major Additions & Remodels- Historic Restorations

Charlottesville, Albermarle & surrounding Counties

About 90% of High Caliber’s projects involve an architect.  On occasion stock home plans or rough homeowner drawings for a Terrace Level finishing are just fine, but most projects do and will benefit from adding an architect to the design/build team.  High Caliber is affiliated with 4 different architects, each of whom brings something special to the table.

David Kariel of David Kariel Architects has run his own architectural practice for the past 23 years and is well known in the Charlottesville area.  A good number of his projects have involved work on structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Mark Kestner is a principal in the Charlottesville architectural firm Atwood Henningsen & Kestner and has extensive experience with residential custom design.  His partner, Chris Henningsen, is also available as a part of the team to provide continuity in busy times.

Cathy Loman is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified and holds a Masters Degree from Harvard University in architectural design.

Sherri Tracinski is both an architect and an architectural historian (UVA degree) and has collaborated with High Caliber on 3 design/build custom home projects.  Sherri is also available to advise on interior design.

High Caliber does find itself working with other architects as well, as it did recently with a major addition in Ednam Forest designed by architect Bob Tyrrell.  Both Bill Ware, President of High Caliber, and High Caliber’s affiliated architects are available to meet with prospective clients on a no-cost, no-obligation basis for folks contemplating a buiding project.

Bill Ware, President

High Caliber Construction

Custom Homes-Major Additions & Remodels-Historic Restorations

Charlottesville, Albemarle County & surrounding Counties

The Weather Channel is my second favorite TV destination,  just after HGTV.  Every morning I look at the next few days forcast as well as the outlook in the 7 day window.  You have to be careful not to let the longer forecast change your plans because, as we all know, forecasts can be wrong; if you wait around for perfect weather, projects just would not get out of the ground.

A good example of a hesitation being a good thing came 3 winters ago when we were contemplating breaking ground on a large custom home in Ivy, about 10 miles outside of Charlottesville.  The short term forecast was for light snow over a 2-day period but there were ominous warnings for down the road 4 days out.  Well it was more than just a light snow the next few days and that was followed by 2 additional snow storms which left over 18″ of snow on the ground and would have turned the site into a muddy quagmire, which would have taken considerably longer to dry out than the undisturbed ground.

After a while in the business, you get a feel for the rhythm of the weather and when to wait and when to go for it!

Bill Ware, President

High Caliber Construction

Custom Homes – Major Additions & Remodels – Historic Restorations

Charlottesville, Albemarle and surrounding Counties

I’m often asked the difference between custom home building and tract or volume building.  The biggest difference for the client is that with custom building, you get exactly what you want instead of approximately what you want.  Within the paremeters of the budget, the builder, the architect and the clients team up to develop plans that reflect the nuances of the clients’ lifestyle right down to designing rooms around favorite furniture.  This process will typically take 60 to 90 days though we have had clients, who were not in a hurry, take 6 months to finalize a set of plans; when it comes to timing, we always take our cue from our clients’ situation.

Custom home building is much more of a creative process than just repeating a model home time and time again.  Every situation is different and it’s very satisfying at the end of a project when a client declares “success!”

Bill Ware, President

High Caliber Construction/Custom Homes- Major Additions & Remodels- Historic Restorations

Charlottesville, Albermarle and surrounding counties