The 16 Principles of the Master Craftsman:

The following 16 principles are not only the principles that every Craftsman should be following to always ensure they achieve high quality results for their customers, but it’s what you can expect from us when we are working on your property all day long for days or weeks on end.

Clean
We will do everything in our power to keep all messes contained to the working areas and other designated areas. We will clean up all messes as we go in order to keep the work area always in neat and clean condition.  We will leave the work area and any other affected areas in neat vacuum clean condition at the end of all working days.  We will always clean out your Kitchen Sink or Utility Sink when we are done cleaning our tools from water soluble materials.  Any non-water soluble materials will be cleaned outside in buckets.

Organized
Organization is one of the most difficult things to maintain as a Craftsman, but it is also the key to efficient work flow.  We will always do our best to keep all work areas, as well as all materials, tools and supplies neat and organized to maximize workplace efficiency and keep tensions low.

Careful
Remodeling always involves working in and around pre-existing structures that we do not want to disturb while working. Demolition should not be violent, but more of a gentle deconstruction. We always deconstruct everything carefully so as not to disturb its surroundings. We also make sure to move furniture carefully by using foot pads as needed.  We are also careful to keep dust contained to the working environment, such as through masking with plastic or ensuring HVAC units are shut off.  Furthermore, we will put down drops or other floor protection over our walking path through the house to protect the floors throughout the property.

Safe
We will follow all OSHA safety regulations to protect ourselves and our customers for the duration of the project.  Customers and their children, pets or guests must remain outside the working areas while any potential safety hazards are present.  We will not do any work we are not properly certified or licensed to complete for both yours and our protection.  We will follow all building code regulations and always strive to practice safe working habits.

Methodical
We work methodically in order to work as efficiently as possible.  We have typical Order of Operations (OOO) that we follow for every task to ensure thorough completion every step of the way.  This allows us to achieve higher quality results in less time.

Patience
While everything in the trades is constantly trying to cause us frustration, we do our best to maintain patience and calm to handle every tiny little surprise that your project will throw at us.  As we are human, even we will have occasional outbursts of frustration due to the nature of our work, but we understand that, as a principle, we have no control over the nature of our work, we only have control over how we react to it.  Patience allows us to maintain better workplace harmony, allowing us to work better together to achieve higher quality results.

Calm
Time is the enemy of all contractors.  It is easy to lose our calm when we begin to feel the pressure of the clock working against us.  This is why we structured our estimates to include a price range to give us additional time to help us complete all the unknown and hidden variables of your project.  This helps us remain calm and patient while taking care of the extra details so we can achieve higher quality results for you.

Accuracy
Accuracy may sound simple, but it’s not always easy. After all, if something is too perfect it won’t fit right. If it’s not good enough, it won’t fit at all. So, we developed the saying, “Perfect isn’t good, but good is perfect.” We aren’t working on rockets here, we’re working on residential homes.  High Quality doesn’t mean absolute perfection as that would literally take forever and no one can afford that.  But High Quality doesn’t mean that something is simply “good enough” either.  High Quality Craftsmanship in the Building and Remodeling Industry is in that sweet spot between “good enough” and “absolute perfection,” that is simply called “good.”  We define good as 99% of perfection 99% of the time.  We achieve this by aiming for perfection knowing that we will fall short.  We forgive ourselves for falling short and move on once we’ve achieved 99%.  This allows us to achieve high quality results in a reasonable amount of time that people can actually afford.  Our reason for telling you this is that we don’t want to make empty promises, such as by saying “We’re the best!”  Instead, our goal is to be as realistic and as transparent as possible with you such as by saying, “We are always improving.”

Efficient
We work hard, but as importantly, we work smart.  Efficiency requires equal amounts of both.  We always strive to think ahead so-as not to get in our own way while working, but not too far ahead that we end up doing more thinking than working.  We also have the same two-man crew do the majority of the work on your project, outside of any subcontractors we might need to hire, which makes scheduling more efficient and causes less frustrations between different crews enabling us to achieve higher quality results in less time for you.

Detail Oriented
This one is tricky because there are infinite details to any project.  If we focus on too many details, the project will never get finished, but if we don’t focus on enough details the project will not be finished to high enough degree of quality.  We do our best to remain in the sweet spot between the two in order to achieve high quality results for you in a reasonable amount of time.  Again, while striving for perfection we are aiming to achieve 99% of perfection 99% of the time.

Knowledge
We live in a fast-paced world that is always changing now. While 90% of the information we need to know has been the same for thousands of years, there is an increasingly large amount of information that is constantly being updated with new tools, new products, new materials, new methods, and better techniques. We always strive to stay up to date with the latest continuing education in our fields and we have every employee take certification courses for the work they do.

Leverage
Leverage is what makes difficult things become easy, such as using a fulcrum and a rod, or a rope and pulley to lift heavy objects. We leverage using the right tool for the right job to help us achieve higher quality results in less time.  We leverage our continuing education to help keep producing higher quality results in less time. We leverage the resourcefulness of our minds to find ways and means of making things work when everything seems impossible. Leverage is what makes our jobs a little bit easier, a little less frustrating, and a bit more possible. We use it whenever and however we can.

Speed
In the military there is a saying, “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.”  If we try to rush we will make more mistakes that will have to be fixed that will slow the whole operation down.  On the other hand, however, if we work like sloths the project will take equally as long to complete.  The idea is for us to “Hustle Slowly,” which means to work as fast and as efficiently as we can while remaining calm to achieve smooth results in a reasonable amount of time.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness consists of Attention and Awareness.

Attention is the result of Focus and Concentration upon a single thing.  Everything must given the attention it deserves.  If our attention is divided between the task at hand and any other thing, then we are only giving half our attention to the task.  If we only give half our attention to a task, it will take us twice as long to achieve mediocre results.  If we maintain our attention upon a given task, fully and completely, we will achieve high quality results in a reasonable amount of time.

Awareness is the ability to pay attention to your surroundings without losing attention upon what you are doing.  Safety requires that we always maintain a vigilant awareness of our surroundings at all times.  This also enables us to keep our awareness of the Whole Project without getting lost in the details so we can keep the project moving in a timely manner.  We always practice maintaining a balance between awareness and attention to achieve the proper results in a reasonable amount of time.

Health

Health is the single most important principle of the Master Craftsman. If we don’t keep ourselves healthy, we can’t work hard or smart. Physical and mental well-being are the foundation of quality Craftsmanship. We encourage all our employees to see Holistic Healthcare Professionals, such as Chiropractors, Massage Therapists, Acupuncturists, and Nutritionists to keep their bodies is peak condition – and we pay for their appointments (it’s actually less expensive than paying for insurance). We also have all our Employees practice Mindfulness Meditation and Stretching Exercises every morning before work.

Spirituality

This may seem out of place, but it’s not. Spirituality is extremely important. But to me it’s not so esoteric and mystical. As I see it, there are many Minds and Bodies, but there is only One Consciousness. Spirit and Consciousness are the same thing to me. So, to me, spirituality means understanding the unity of all. That we are not separate. Everything we do to ourselves and each other effects the whole. We believe in serving others and treating everyone with the utmost respect at all times because we wish only to spread Peace, Love, Compassion and Truth.

Ready to get your next project started? Call us now at 860-817-7191, or Click Here to schedule your Free Consultation.

To learn more, see our Article, “Holistic Building and Remodeling Contractors.“