D2S Construction

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“We work with our clientele through every step of their custom projects,” says David Riendeau, co-owner, “and we expect nothing less than to deliver an incredible space they can be happy with and we can be proud of.”

“Clients can rely on our expertise for all your engineering, plan drafting, project management, renovation and construction needs. We can handle any project, from kitchen and bathroom renovations to home additions and office construction. Our goal every time is to turn our client’s dreams into realities.”

The company was officially formed in 2009 by his two brothers while Scott was doing his MBA at McGill and Shawn was finishing business school at John Molson, where they ran and sold a company before starting full time construction. David joined Scott and Shawn soon after – thus the company name, D2S Construction. 

David personally has a background in sales and finance, while his brothers have backgrounds in engineering and contracting.  Initially, David and his brothers worked other jobs while operating D2S as a smaller building company on the side. Due to word of mouth, however, the company grew quickly and the brothers realized that they had something worth investing in.

“People were constantly asking us ‘Do you guys do this? Do you guys do that?’ There was a lot of interest,” David recalls. “At a certain point, we realized that we couldn’t grow this thing properly if we all had other jobs. So about 10 years ago we all quit our other jobs and we started going full throttle.” 

From that point on, D2S Construction has continued to grow slowly and steadily, getting into progressively larger projects as the years have gone on. The company now has roughly 15 employees, but that number fluctuates based on the size and number of jobs they are operating. They concurrently manage several jobs at any one time, and they take on projects throughout Greater Montreal ranging in value from $200,000 to $2 million.

According to David, within that wide range, D2S is set apart by “the level of attention we give to our clients.” He also believes their level of transparency when it comes to pricing goes a long way:

“We give very, very detailed estimates right from the beginning,” he explains. “We give very detailed budgets.”

“The more old-school method is to just walk in, ballpark it, and say ‘We can get it done.’ That’s not what we do. That doesn’t give the clients a lot of room to plan their finances. And our clients tend to be pretty savvy about that sort of thing. They want to have that room to plan, and we make sure we give them that room by being transparent and up-front.”

D2S Construction also acts transparently throughout the other stages of the project as well. Their full-serving project management offering includes budget updates and projections every step of the way.

“We’re very open with clients,” David says. “If something changes – if something is going to cost a bit more because of things beyond our control – then we relay that message. We explain it to them. And we explain it right away, that way the client can plan ahead; they can potentially make different decisions. We don’t avoid the difficult conversations, because we don’t want the client to be surprised down the line. We want our clients to trust us, and I think clients trust you when you’re open with them. Transparency is so important. Transparency is how you build good relationships.”

At every step, the company and their team also acts professionally, which David believes is very important.  

“We hire very professional staff and very professional trades,” he says. “They represent us very well. They dress well. They’re polite. They keep a clean site. We think that all of that matters. It makes a big difference to the client experience.”

Another big difference maker is the fact that D2S has engineering capabilities in-house, as one of the founding brothers is an engineer. 

“From an engineering perspective, we can help the client develop their plans in-house,” David explains. “With most building companies, the client would have to go to an outside firm. With us, we can do it all in-house and usually we do can do it for a cheaper rate than the client would get if they had to hire someone else.”

Then there’s the quality of the company’s work – David believes that’s perhaps D2S’ most significant point of difference.

“We deliver a really high-end product,” he says. “That’s reflected in the feedback we get. I’m sure everyone says their jobs are really great, but it’s our clients that say that. That’s the reputation we’ve built. That’s the brand we have.” 

“All the other stuff is important,” he adds, “but quality is the most important. If you don’t finish on a high note and deliver a good product, then the rest doesn’t really mean anything.” 

Achieving that high level of quality, David explains, involves “hiring the right people to begin with” and then when the job is ongoing, “constantly checking in.”

“As owners of the business, we’re always there representing the client,” he says. “Either myself or one of my brothers is around all the time. We make sure we understand what the client wants and then we relay that to everyone on site. We’re there to make sure everything is done properly, and if it’s not done properly it’s up to us to make sure it’s corrected.” 

“That doesn’t mean micro-managing,” he clarifies. “We don’t need to do that because, again, we hire the right crew members, the right project managers, the right subcontractors. We hire people we trust and can rely on.”

Many of D2S’ relationships with crew members and subcontractors go back over a decade. According to David, they have been working with some of the same people since the very early days of the company. 

“We use a lot of the same subcontractors because we can trust that they will do a good job,” he says. “The drywall guys, the plaster guys, the electricians, the plumbers, the painters – we’ve been working with a lot of these guys since the beginning. Those relationships are extremely important. We rely on them, not just for quality but also for timelines.”

“The same goes for our suppliers,” he adds. “We’ve been able to partner with suppliers we can trust, who can get us our stuff on time for good prices. We value those relationships really highly. We know that our suppliers and subcontractors are really at the core of us being able to deliver a good product.”

Unique and interesting

Over the years, D2S Construction has done a wide variety of projects – “all of them unique in their own way,” David says, which makes it difficult to highlight any one in particular. 

“We’ve never done the same project twice,” he explains. “Everything we’ve done is different. We’re always doing something unique, which keeps things interesting and keeps us on our toes.” 

Moving forward, David and his brothers also want to continue doing unique and interesting projects as the company grows – and they do want to keep growing, but always in an organic and controlled manner. 

“We’re looking to grow, but we don’t want to grow too fast and take on too much and have the quality suffer,” David says. “We’ve been growing at a rate of about 30 per cent per year, which is pretty good. We see that continuing.” 

As part of that growth, David, Scott and Shawn also see the company diversifying. They want to stay in the renovation market – “because we’re good at it, and because there’s a strong demand to revive many old properties in and around the city of Montreal,” David says – but they also want to do some larger-scale projects, including some multi-family developments of their own.   

“Our ultimate goal is to do some bigger projects and put our own stamp on them,” David concludes. “We enjoy working with clients, and we’re really proud of everything we’ve done with clients, but we also want to be able to do some projects the way we want to do them. We want to be able to say ‘This is us – it was financed by us, designed by us, built by us, owned by us.’ That’s what we’re heading towards.” 

For more on D2S Construction, their services and capabilities, their past project, and to get in touch with David and his team, visit https://www.d2sconstruction.com/