The House That Wisdom Built - EP 03: How to Vet Your Custom Home Team

In this bonus installment of The House That Wisdom Built series, Vince and Nathan are back to take you deeper into the power team concept they introduced in Episode 2. After an overwhelming response from listeners asking for more actionable insights, they deliver big with this episode—laying out the exact questions you should ask every key player on your custom home building team.

From your builder to your landscape architect, they unpack outside-the-box, experience-driven questions that will help you hire smarter, build better, and avoid costly surprises. Whether you’re planning a dream home or refining your current build process, this episode arms you with wisdom that can only come from years of experience (and maybe a few fly-in-the-mouth moments).

This isn’t theory—it’s the real stuff no one else is talking about.

Oh, and don’t forget to grab the FREE Freedom Guide linked in the show notes. Double bonus.

🧠 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• The top 3 questions to ask your builder (that most people never think to ask)

• How to sniff out red flags with your architect or designer early

• Why collaboration should be the #1 trait you look for in your Power Team

• How your home automation guy might be overcomplicating your life

• What most engineers get wrong in residential projects

• Practical advice on sustainability, materials, topography, and more

📥 Download the FREE Freedom Guide:

This companion resource includes bonus tips and more info on selecting the right team for your build.  DOWNLOAD HERE

Building Brews & BBQ
Instagram: @buildingbrewsandbbq
YouTube: YouTube.com/@BuildingBrewsandBBQ

Hosts:
Vince Longo
longocustombuilders.com
Instagram: @longocustombuilders

Nathan Walters:
massarossa.com
Instagram: @massarossa

Produced by:
Michael Newman
michaelnewmanfilm.com
Instagram: @michaelnewmanfilm

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and where we left off.
• 2:51 Building Your Power Team
• 8:40 Key Questions For Builders
• 9:44 Architects: Finding The Right Fit
• 17:47 The Role of Interior Designers
• 22:12 Home Technology Integration
• 27:29 Landscape Architecture Essentials
• 31:31 The Importance of Engineers

Transcript

Nathan (00:00)
What I tell people is the least expensive footage I build is second story footage or basement footage. Right? And the reason being is those things are already there. My second story footage is under roof. The foundation's already there. The slab's there. The roof is there. If we take out a game room on your second floor, if your house's round number, say $300 a foot, and we take out 300 feet of a game room,

We did not save $300 a foot. No. We did. We We saved maybe $100 a foot. That's right. And you nailed something that I tell all the time. like, not all square footage is equal. No.

Vince (00:45)
Hey, welcome back to Building Brews and Barbecue. Today we've got a special bonus episode. And why I call it the bonus is we really threw out a ton of information in our last episode. could have kept going. But let's take it from the top, right? I'm Vince Longo, one of your co-hosts. I'm Atlanta, Georgia.

Nathan (01:01)
kept going.

Nathan Walters, your other co-host.

I build in Edmond, Oklahoma.

Vince (01:13)
and we're just two guys that try to get along.

Nathan (01:17)
I'm not trying to get along with him anymore. I'm pretty wore out.

Vince (01:20)
Well anyway, at the end of the line...

Anyway, at the end of the last episode, we really unpacked a lot into it, and it was about your power team and pre-construction. I feel like we opened up Pandora's box because I said, hey, if anybody's got any questions, please DM us for more. did they ever pile in? It was crazy. I mean, I had to take two days off just to process it. A little shell shock. It's good that people are actually listening.

Nathan (01:43)
Unbelievable

Okay, I get it.

Vince (01:53)
I thought we only had two listeners, my mom and my wife. Anyway, but it was some great questions. So we just wanted to do real quick, expand on some of those things to give you even more benefit, right? that's why we're calling it the bonus. so we know you paid a lot of money for that first episode. We're gonna give this free. Okay, okay, then let's do it. So, you know, we talked about...

Nathan (01:55)
Well, who's that?

This one's free. Totally free. For sure.

Vince (02:22)
if you want to win the championship game, you got to scout championship players. That's right. Right? Yep. It's the same thing in building. That's right. So we went through the power team and why it's so important to set it up early. Yep. Right? And we had our six power players. Yep. And so went through all of that, got the questions that said, Hey, can you expand on that? Yep. And, and, and actually, which was really cool. They said, can you come up with some outside of the box questions that we can ask?

these different players. And so we spent some time, we worked on it, we came up with some questions, we're gonna do some reading from our questions list so we get them right. So get your pens ready or make sure you're recording this and so you can replay it and take all this down. Or I guess there's a transcript maybe in the show notes, I don't know. I don't know either.

Nathan (03:11)
We'll figure that out.

Vince (03:13)
whatever y'all whippersnappers with the technology do now anyway. So first thing we were talking about was the builder or general contractor. That was the first key player on our team. And we talked about what to look for. And just to recap on that, we talked about ensure that they're licensed. what? that's a good point. expand on that real quick.

Nathan (03:35)
If they can be. We're not licensed in our state.

We, in our state in Oklahoma, we do not have general contractors licensing. So what can make it difficult for a consumer is really anybody can be a builder, which does make in the free market system, it gives better pricing options to our consumers, but it does not always mean that it'll be the best option at the end of the day.

Vince (04:07)
Yeah, in Georgia, you've got to be a licensed, you got to be licensed to be a contractor and pull those permits. Now that also doesn't mean that a builder can't hire his buddy that has a building license to put a little permit for him. So in your state, they've got to do extra due diligence. And even in our state, making sure they're licensed means you got to do more due diligence, like perhaps calling the Home Builders Association or going onto the Secretary of State's website in whatever state you're in and-

look searching that business or that licensing department. And that's what I really encourage people to do. So do your due diligence. Look if they have licensing. If not, what's one thing that they could do you think that would help clarify in a state like Oklahoma where there's no licensing?

Nathan (04:54)
So

what we have attempted to do for us is we'll give multiple, we'll tell people that we'll give multiple references, but what we actually do, which is sometimes shocking, is we give references that will give good references, and we give references that'll give bad references. That's good. And we give both, but we don't tell them who's who. But we do let them know, but as I said in the previous episode, for us, it is,

black and white and we have because of the lessons we've learned and not delighting our customers, we become even more stringent. When we get outside of our pre-construction process or outside of our process, we have had very unhappy customers. When we have customers that dive into the pre-construction process and follow our process, we have delighted customers. So we send our customers off with us, call these refs.

Vince (05:52)
Reference.

Gotcha, so references. References. And typically that's going to be homes that are similar to what they want to have built. I don't recommend, definitely one of the key things is verify the type and style of home that the builder's traditionally built or has built that's in line with your expectations of quality, size, scope. That's right. And then if you can, expand and talk to those customers, whether the builder gives you the references or not.

Nathan (06:22)
Yeah, you can find them either way.

Vince (06:23)
You can

find them either way. Yep. Yep. And then, you know, obviously we talked about a commitment to quality and communication style systems, things like that. So we won't beat that up. But how about the top three, let's give the listener the top three questions you must ask before hiring a builder. And these are going to be outside of the box questions. Okay. So what, what would be the first question? I think you wrote it down. All right.

Nathan (06:50)
What's the most challenging project you've completed and how did you overcome it? Yeah. No, I'm asking you. What's the most challenging project you've completed and how did you overcome it?

Vince (06:54)
so challenge him.

That's right, that's a great question to ask. Are you asking me? are you? Why? I'm not, you're no. You want me to build your house? No. No, it'd be good. Yeah. And you're gonna look for the nuances that align with what your project is. If it's me, I'm telling them about one of the large, most challenging in terms of design, style, maybe the topography of the land. Yeah. And then I'm actually physically gonna take them over there.

Nathan (07:06)
Yeah, I thought I was asking you.

Maybe.

Vince (07:31)
Yeah, we have great relationships with our customers. And as long as it's okay with the customer, we respect their privacy, then we'll take them over there and show them the challenges and how we overcome it. Sure. I would ask them, number two is, how do you handle unexpected changes in the scope or budget? Yeah. And that's good one. You got to ask the builder that. How do you handle unexpected changes in the scope or budget?

Nathan (07:54)
Because it's going to happen. It's going to happen. And the customer needs to know that I think that everything that we're trying to do here, in my opinion, is we're trying to inform listeners who want to build. And what I want them to know out of this question is there's going to be unexpected changes in the scope and budget. Yeah. So you need to ask your builder how they handle that.

Vince (08:14)
Gotcha. Is it early communication? Is it attacking it head on? Okay, good. Yep. And then the last one is.

Nathan (08:22)
Can you share examples of how you've collaborated with architects or designers?

Vince (08:27)
Perfect, yeah, because that's the collaboration we talked about in the last episode. Yep. I'm big on that. I like that. Those are three great outside of the box questions to ask. Red flags.

Nathan (08:40)
Avoid contractors who can't provide detailed bid or timeline. Transparency is key.

Vince (08:46)
Perfect. Agreed. I agree. 110%. That's good. Good job on those. Thought that was real good. Now, jumping over to architects. Okay. Okay, we talked, let's expand on that a little bit. You know, when we talked about architects, went through, number one, does the architect do projects that match up with the style, vernacular, detailing that you want and need and desire in your home? Yep. That's number one.

Problem solving skills, because you always run into these problems on the job site and in design. Can they identify potential challenges and offer solutions early? Conflicts with different elements of the home. How do they do that and how do they handle that? then collaboration, right? That's another big one with the architect is how do they collaborate with the builder and the architect? And are they willing to, because some aren't. That's right.

Nathan (09:38)
And are they willing to? Some are not. That's right.

Vince (09:44)
And so we created three outside of the box questions. So we've got our three outside of the box questions of how to know if an architect is right for you. Yep. Okay. You want to do the first one?

Nathan (10:00)
do

the first one. How do you incorporate sustainability into your designs?

Vince (10:05)
Ooh, that's a good one. How do you? I don't. you're not a we do, yeah. But the funny thing is, is we help with that. That's right. Right? If they're going to do, if the architect draws a, I'll call it a staggered wall. That's not the right, I'm using the proper, improper termalize, but it's basically staggered stud. We take a two by six for the bottom plate and the top plate.

and we use two by fours in the wall, but this two by four is towards the inside of the house on the two by six. The other one is on the outside. So it allows for continuous insulation all the way through. There's no breaks where insulation has to stop at each stud. And then you get a thermal and a void there and it's colder. So you want to know if an architect's going to take that into consideration and will the architect work with the builder?

Nathan (10:37)
Are you doing that?

Vince (10:57)
to determine if that stagger stud is the best way to go and understand the costs associated. That's right. So, you know, they got to be willing to do that. And then I'll do number two was what's your process for ensuring the design stays within budget? mean, that's huge.

Nathan (11:14)
Well, what makes it huge is I kind of tell customers there's three ways for a house to be less expensive. One of them, when you're talking about going back to red flags for a builder, which you should have a builder say, and again, learn this through the hard way, one of them, which is a way we won't touch, builders shouldn't touch, is you can use lesser quality trades, right? Because you can. That's what you can do. You shouldn't do it though. If that's what you're looking for, that's not what the builder should do.

Number two is what I call is the fake way, the fake way of, of lessening your budget, which is reducing selection, the amounts, the allowances and the selections, right? Okay. We'll reduce it. The reason I call that the fake way is okay. We reduce it on paper, but then we go to the appliance store and we want that wolf package. So one way to help on the design, those square footage, man, square footage. And I'm sure you've seen this too with architects. Hey, we want 4,000 feet.

Right. And then draw it's 5,000 feet, 5,500 feet. Well, you really need your study to be this big. I've seen that a lot and it's like, no, we needed it 4,000 feet so we can meet the budget. If it's 5,000 feet, it's too expensive.

Vince (12:26)
Right, right. And I know we'll talk about this in another episode, but one of the big things is when we're trying to reduce the budget, they've got a house drawn, it's exactly the way they want. One of the biggest challenges that we have and we're getting off of our questions, just to let the customer, the little Well, this is what it's about. Yeah, a little insight is the architect is going to get rid of cheap square footage. There's a big difference. you, you know, we get that question all the time, God.

How much are you per square foot? I don't know. How much does it cost for your manufacturer to make your car per pound? Yeah. It's such a bad question. is. And I feel bad, and I'm sorry if you've asked me that, you know, Mr. Whoever's listening in the past, but it's a horrible question.

Nathan (13:12)
It's

a horrible question. you, what I tell people is the least expensive footage I build is second story footage or basement footage, right? And the reason being is those things are already there. My second story footage is under roof. The foundation's already there. The slab's there. The roof is there. If we take out a game room on your second floor, if your house is round number, say $300 a foot, and we take out

300 feet of a game room, we did not save $300 a foot. No. We did. We We saved maybe $100 a foot. That's right. And you, you nailed something that I tell all the time. I'm like, not all square footage is equal. No.

Vince (13:55)
No. Well, and that's what I say. Let's say your house averaged out to $450 a square foot, which is about where we build, we start at here with our services. If we're at $450 a square foot, like you said, that's not bedroom square footage, because all that is, when you've got a bedroom that's 16 by 16, and they want to cut square footage and they make that bedroom 14 by 14 or 12 by 12, yeah, you just reduced 50, 700 square feet.

but that is paint, flooring, sheetrock, it's the cheap stuff, Whereas a bedroom, like you said, maybe a hundred, $125 square foot room where you're really gonna save your money as you start cutting down the size of your kitchen, the amount of appliances, things like that, because a kitchen is a $2,200 a square foot.

Nathan (14:47)
room.

Vince (14:50)
For

my customers that want to talk about price per square foot. That's right. It's like, no, no, no, no, no. And all the houses we're seeing now have sculleries, which is another kick with the appliances. tongue of that. Now we're up to $3,000 of square foot space. into what you said about the foundation or the basement, cheap square footage, that's if the foundation's in, it's just unfinished.

Nathan (15:10)
That's what I mean. You're just finishing it out. well, you know what? We won't finish those two bedrooms down in the basement, right? But I already poured your basement, right? So we're not saving, you might as well just finish though.

Vince (15:18)
That's right.

Yeah, yeah, that's exactly right. And then I would just say the last question for the architect that we had written down was, can you show examples of projects where your design had to adapt to site challenges? Yeah, that's great. Because you have Topo topography. We do. And we have topography. mean, heck, in Atlanta, we're on the, I think they call it the ninth largest wonder of the world, or eighth, whatever it is, in that stone mountain. It's a gigantic piece of granite. Yeah.

you don't know lot from lot what type of rock you're gonna hit. And it's expensive, trust me. You could dig a foundation and only spend 15 grand in excavation to 25 grand in excavation fees, rough grading we call it. Or you could hit rock and now you're at 75 to a hundred thousand. And that's an unknown. it is an unknown. And so it's the key is how can the entire power team shift when challenges like that happen? And it's really critical for the architect to be able to explain how they can do that with

flexibility in design or quick

Nathan (16:22)
We're

looping this all back together. It's why you need a power team because at this point and you need a power team that collaborates because at this point when we've hit rock This is in the builders hands, but the builder can't Redesign the floor plans if we hit rock in a certain way. We need the interior designer We need the architect we need the team the landscape architect when we hit these challenges to come up with solutions together

Vince (16:49)
Yeah, and you just touched on interior designer and that's next on our list. So, you know, we talked early on about the interior designer. You know, we want them to balance the aesthetics and functionality. Yep. You your home should be beautiful and livable. Yep. Is the idea, right? And that's what we talked about in the last episode. Adaptability to the listener style, the owner style. Yep. Right? They should listen to your preferences rather than imposing their own style. We talked about that ad nauseam. Detail orientation.

Yep. That's the most. Yeah, I think so too. Great designers know how to choose materials and finishes that fit both your vision and your lifestyle, which is key, you know? And we do have a freedom guide that I'd be happy to share with our listeners, and that's gonna be a double bonus. We've got a bonus and then we're laying a second bonus on there. It's like, can't give away.

Nathan (17:40)
They're getting a couple things.

blessing so many listeners.

Vince (17:49)
Yeah, so maybe Dan will give away my boots. He'll the third and final bonus. It'll be good for him. Yes. So that'll be in the download. I'll include our freedom guide. It has these tips in there. Yeah. But what it doesn't have in there, what I think is critical, is the three that we could, again, three questions we came up with for you to ask your interior designer, and you came up with these three, so I'd love to hear them. All right.

Nathan (18:11)
How do you approach blending aesthetics with daily functionality? Which is very important. That goes back to balance and functionality. What's your process for sourcing sustainable or innovative materials?

Vince (18:24)
Interesting. Are you asking them to find out, are they going outside of the country? Because there's also logistical challenges. There is. Sourcing materials from outside the country. How long is it to take to get here? When does it have to be ordered? Important for pre-con. Yes. That's fine if your interior designer has something really cool to go in your home. Spectacular. We want those cool pieces that maybe are heirlooms eventually. Yep. Right? But that might need to be sourced months.

ahead of time. So if you can get that during pre-con...

Nathan (18:57)
Yeah, and I love this because this is huge. Yes, builders have vendors and trades and things of that nature. Of the sourcing of special materials when you get into high-end luxury custom homes, interior designers are the ones who really do that. That's why you need them on a power team. A builder asking us, we got good ideas, but the interior designer is really who tells us, this is what we want, this is where you get it, and this is the lead time on it. Perfect.

Vince (19:25)
Perfect. And we can build our schedule around it. Around it. Even before we start. Exactly. Spectacular. Those are spectacular. You have one more.

Nathan (19:34)
How do you handle situations where a client and builder disagree on design choices? Which is very big because designers aren't builders. Interesting take. I know I just blew everyone's hair back. I know. Designers aren't builders. Look, sometimes we really want to work closely with our designers because designers do a great job of being creative, but sometimes, if they are

pitching something to a client that maybe we're not privy to, they may get a client dreaming about something that isn't possible. And we need to be able to collaborate through that.

Vince (20:14)
What do you think a big red flag is for interior designers? I've got it. Can I tell you mine first? Yeah, tell me. So I've written it down. Beware of designers who prioritize aesthetics over practical needs. Okay. Designing outside of the customer's I.E. Yeah. Basically, that's what I'm trying to say. You know, and so I think that's a big thing.

Nathan (20:39)
Then,

then like you said to pick, it needs to be one of two things. Pick a designer that is not going to force their design on you. They'll listen to you or, or if you want to go the studio McGee model, pick a designer that you know, you love their style and just let them go with it. Right. It needs to be one of the other, because I have customers that are like, well, we want to be involved in the process. Okay.

Vince (21:01)
Right.

Nathan (21:09)
I work with two different type of designers. I work with one that is, call the hand holder. She will go to the stores with you. She will hold your hand. Yeah, she has her style, but I've seen her put her style to the side to make sure the customer gets what they want. Okay. But if you're a customer that's like, no, I love this designer style and I just want them to design my home. Know what kind of designer you want, because if you want that, that's great too. That's great too. But if you want hand holding,

Don't go to the designer that's going to just do their stuff.

Vince (21:41)
Perfect, perfect, yeah. I think you've hit it there. We can end it with the interior designers on that note. And let's move over to the home automation specialist, AKA AV for those old, listening in. yeah, they love to be right. We know that now is AV. Now they're home automation specialists because of the evolution of home technology and how it's here to stay and it's changing life for the better. Yep, that's right. So, you know, when we talked about

in the other episode about picking that person to be on your power team. We talked about things like, you know, they should know how to integrate not only speakers and the traditional thing, coaxial cable, you know, but things that you've always seen in homes, wiring, whatnot, that they should also know how to integrate lighting, security, right, sound, HVAC.

Right? All these things are talking to each other. They appliances. Appliances. Yeah. We got them here in the kitchen behind us. know? I can make you a coffee right now. I'd love it. OK. Let me get it. Are you serious? Yeah. Do you want light cream or sugar?

Nathan (22:48)
on from your phone.

I don't like any of that.

Vince (23:00)
Okay. Anyway, we digress. But these are real things, right? Yes. That you want to make life better. And I think that that was one of the big things that we look for. Can they do it all? User-friendly designs. Yeah. You know, when we're building, it's funny that one, you have a limitation to the price of this stuff. right. For some of our homeowners, it can get crazy. So that's why we wanted these folks involved up front so we can figure out the pricing.

that fits the needs of the homeowner that comes to home automation. But I also noticed when we've got our customers that are in their final home, maybe they're empty nesters or getting a little up or maybe retired, they I'm seeing wanna go back to simple. And so these systems like the Crestron or the Control 4, there's a point where there's too much automation and it gets intimidating. so I also wanna make sure we talked about having an AV

or an integrator that also can take those needs into account and balancing that.

Nathan (24:06)
Well, they're going to have to because, so much stuff can be done wireless these days, you know? And so I think that choosing the right AV guy that isn't going to push the extremely technical thing on you is great because, you know, you can go get some Lutron light switches at Home Depot, you know, and run them from your phone. So finding somebody that's going to work with you on what you want.

Vince (24:28)
That's right. So Ben, again, back, you gave me the task and you said, Vince, why don't you tell me three out of the box questions to ask an automation specialist when you're in that interview process? I got it written down here. What I came up with is, number one, what's the most innovative system you've installed recently? The most innovative system you've installed recently. That's good. Get them to talk about it. And what's interesting, what you might find is most of these,

home integration companies, if you listen to our first episode, is they're building these things in their office now. Yeah, yeah they are. they're fully completed and they're just going out in a plug and play. so I say, I come up with that question because it might not even mean that they're gonna send you to a customer's house, but what they might just do is invite you into the back, nitty gritty bones and see it as they're creating it.

and see the innovation. So that would be number one. Number two would be, how do you ensure your designs integrate seamlessly with other team members? how does your lighting controls integrate with that light that the interior designer picked? That's right. Or how does your shade controls integrate with that fabric that you wanted to use with your interior designer? How does your builder handle the wiring in the systems that go inside the wall?

How does the home automation company work with the electrician to make sure outlets and things are in the right spot? All that has to be done ahead of time.

Nathan (26:05)
Making

sure returns and supplies are in the right spot, not messing with the certain type of lighting.

Vince (26:10)
That's right. Yeah. And so these are questions that's a good quiz outside of the box quiz questions, and it'll make them feel like, these folks know what they're looking for. That's right. And then the third one was, what's your process for troubleshooting or maintaining the systems after installation? That's good. We know what that means, right? Oh, yeah. When does all your system go down? Saturday. Yeah,

Nathan (26:31)
Saturday when the games are Saturday when you's gonna beat George

Vince (26:35)
Yeah, so peace of mind is knowing who can I get a hold of? Are they available? What's the turnaround time? And do they have a great online service that I might be able to have easy steps to fix it? That's right. Red flags for me would be if they can't explain technical concepts. Yeah. In simple terms. Yeah. Explain to me technology, listen, I can build a house, but it comes to some of the stuff.

Nathan (26:48)
I will shoot it myself.

Vince (27:05)
as my wife will tell you, keep Vince away from the TV. yeah. Because all he's gonna do is make it worse. And make sure they're great communicators, because that's important. that's really basically it. And so I wanted to move to landscape architect. review kind of what we were talking about before, what to look for with a landscape architect.

Nathan (27:29)
Okay, mean, so kind of one of them is do they use native plants or water efficient landscaping techniques? And, and you know, that depends on what you want, right? What do you want as a customer? What style are you going for? Are you not wanting to use as much water? Those kinds of things matter. Creativity with outdoor spaces. Can they design areas for entertaining, gardening, or relaxing? So again, Oklahoma, the builder does it all.

Hey, lay out the outdoor kitchen. Hey, all this. We can do it. But landscape architects, that's their job. Pools and outbuildings and outdoor kitchens, that's what they do for a living. Experience with topography challenges. Can they work with steep slopes or drainage issues? Very important to most people.

Vince (28:10)
Yeah.

Very

important. Get the moisture away. Water is our worst enemy.

Nathan (28:23)
away.

Yes,

it is. it will find its way in if you don't get it away.

Vince (28:30)
Yeah, and then what are three, based off of our listeners, their questions, and some doozies, right? Yeah. What were three of outside of the box questions that you came up with for a landscape architect?

Nathan (28:45)
So how do you ensure your designs are sustainable? And what that really means is for your market. Okay, because we have certain trees that for some reason, landscapers, not landscape architects, love to plant. And I promise you, 50 % of them die. So is your landscape architect picking plants that fit your climate, that will sustain?

Vince (29:04)
So with a cold.

Why you don't like palm trees and...

Nathan (29:14)
In Oklahoma?

Yeah, I mean, we love them until December. them Atlanta. Uh-huh. Yeah. It always works out good. What's your process for integrating hardscape with natural elements? Which is very good. Yeah.

Vince (29:27)
Very

good. Especially with those transitions and topography.

Nathan (29:30)
Exactly right. That's exactly right. Can you provide examples of outdoor spaces designed for year round use, which is very important for you and I's markets because it can be very hot, it can be very cold, and as Vince found out in Oklahoma, his favorite thing are the flies.

Vince (29:51)
That's right, it's horrible. Like I just blacked out for a minute. You loved them. it was horrible. Like I had to keep my mouth closed. Remember, I opened my mouth to talk, because I, like my wife said, why don't you keep your mouth closed? But a fly flew in my mouth. I didn't have time to spit it out before I swallowed it.

Nathan (30:09)
I think that's a, he's making. Either way, in Oklahoma though, all joking aside, how can we enjoy the patio in July, not be too hot and not get attacked by flies? Are you thinking?

Vince (30:11)
No, no, that was serious.

Yeah. And

here mosquitoes are horrible because of the moisture and the humidity in Atlanta. so, you know, one of those, what comes to mind to me to wrap this one up is a big red flag for our listeners to keep an eye out for is avoid, and I got this from you, avoid professionals that don't address practical maintenance plans or materials for your

your your landscape, just because it stinks to have to plant stuff twice. does.

Nathan (30:59)
It does. you want it to indefinitely early on you get in a new house, you go through your first winter and two of your big tree.

Vince (31:04)
Mm-hmm, that's right. And now I wanted to address the last one. Okay. And that's engineers. Structural and civil engineers, because they're kind of that last key player. They are. Mix and match however you want, but these are the key players on our power team in pre-construction. And we went over before what to look for, problem-solving skills, you know. They should adapt to unique site challenges.

Right? Like unstable soil or steep slopes. Collaboration, they need to coordinate closely with the architect. talked before about this obtrusive beam that has to be there because it's a structural member that the architect doesn't know. Yeah, that's right. And they need to figure out, are we going to redesign this to get rid of the beam altogether? Or do we need to use a different type of material, like a steel to get it more sleek, slim-lined?

low profile to make it and hide it. And that's that collaboration between, and then we also talked about ensuring that they're licensed and have experience in projects like yours. Cause I've run into some engineers that, yeah, they're licensed and can they do your project? Yes, but that's not what they do every day. You get engineers that are designing apartment buildings. They might slow down or not be able to model your home.

effectively because it's a different mindset. Totally different. yeah. So you, back to me, you asked me what are three outside of the box questions that our listeners should ask an engineer. This is probably one that it'd be odd because usually homeowners won't interview engineers. They usually don't. They usually just take the builder's reference or the architect's reference. I would say most likely, most of the time, the owner

Nathan (32:29)
Single-family residential is completely

Vince (32:55)
our listeners going to ask the architect who's great with your stuff. So that's probably the biggest outside of the box question is ask your architect who do they like to work with that understands or your builder either or.

Nathan (33:08)
You are right. I was going to say, our market, rarely does my buyer collaborate with the engineer. Right. The engineer, we source the engineer, the architect sources the engineer.

Vince (33:19)
Yeah,

yeah, exactly. And so I would say the three outside of that would be, what's the most complex site issue you've resolved to the site engineer, the civil? Number two would be, how do you balance safety, function, and budget in your designs? That's gonna be the structural, because I've seen them way over engineer houses too, to cover their assets. CYA.

Uh-huh. But they use a different word instead of assets. Uh-huh. Right? Yeah, this is a G-rated program. G-rated. Kids, you can... Well, the kids aren't drinking the beer. We are. We've got a Sweetwater 420 today.

Nathan (33:49)
Is this G-rated? G-rated with beer.

Has everybody noticed that he changes a beer every time?

Vince (34:02)
Hey, variety is the spice of life.

Nathan (34:04)
is it? I thought Millerite was, but okay, go on.

Vince (34:07)
No, that's your general pork chop of life. Anyway, but I think that that's one of the big things right there. How do you balance that in your design? And number three is, you provide an example of a project where collaboration, again, with the team was critical to success? I was going to say, it feels like- What did they overcome?

Nathan (34:26)
I

was gonna say it feels like we've used the word collaborate a lot.

Vince (34:29)
I think we're seeing a trend, know, but how do they overcome these challenges? Cause that's, in building there's always conflicts and challenges, but they can always be overcome with the right team that wants to work together. you know, then red flags, really simple. I had written down, if they don't ask detailed questions about your site, they might not have enough expertise for the civil. Pretty simple. Can you think of anything else for the power team? We just wanted to expand on that for this episode.

Have one.

Nathan (35:00)
And make sure the builder you choose wants to collaborate with one. Just make sure that the builder you choose is you meet with them, and all they talk about when they're going into pre-construction is the team that they have.

Vince (35:14)
Right, yeah. So I think that's it. Let's leave it there. hope that our listeners got a lot out of this and we answered those questions. Thank you so much for sending those questions in. Please keep them coming. We love doing little bonus episodes of this. Make sure, like I said before, you download the Freedom Guide, which is going to be in the show notes. And if you like this episode, please like and share with your friends. We're always looking to grow the audience. You can find us on YouTube.

and wherever you get your podcasts nowadays where all the cool kids are going. And please stay tuned for our next episode in the series and thanks for tuning in.