Daerwood Homes

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“That growth is directly correlated to the standards that we set for ourselves right from the beginning,” Kevin says. “We pride ourselves on everything quality – we use quality products, quality trades, quality, suppliers. We want our product to be quality.”

“Our mandate is to deliver a quality product to our client that will hopefully last them a lifetime.”

Prior to starting Daerwood Homes, Kevin came from a background in law enforcement and security. His career in homebuilding started with him building a few houses as investment properties – he didn’t have much experience outside of doing some renovations with his father growing up, but he says “we threw ourselves into it,” and that first year they built four houses that all turned out very well.

“At the time, the tradespeople we had working on the sites said ‘You know, you’re actually building something pretty good here. Have you ever considered building for other people?’ That got me thinking about it, and the next year we acquired some land and started building some properties for other people.”

In the years since, Daerwood Homes has scaled from four houses a year, to six houses the next year, eight houses the year after, then 12 houses the year after that – and this year they are anticipating their biggest year to date, with an expected 20 houses on the docket. In April of last year, Kevin also started a second company called DH Concrete, which has quickly grown to a team of seven. That sister company enables Daerwood Homes to do all their own foundations and flatwork, including basement floors, concrete steps, sidewalks, grade beams, et cetera.

These days, Daerwood Homes’ builds include single-family homes, duplexes, and triplexes, with values ranging from $385,000 to over $1 million. As the years go on, Kevin expects their projects to get even bigger and more valuable – recently, for example, they turned over their first triplex, located at 538 Des Meurons Street. According to MLS in that area, that was the highest-priced triplex that has ever sold.

That record-setting project boasts three luxury suites, all over 1,150 square feet, with each suite containing three bedrooms and two bathrooms, a premium kitchen, quarts countertops, luxury vinyl plank flooring throughout, and premium fixtures. That project was also delivered turn-key, with all landscaping, sidewalks, and parking pad included.

“We took a lot of pride in that project, and we’ve had nothing but positive feedback,” Kevin says.

He credits the success of that project – and the success of all Daerwood Homes’ projects, for that matter – to the extremely high standard of quality they achieved. He credits that quality, in turn, to several cascading factors, starting with the material selection:

“We try to only use top-tier building products,” Kevin explains. “That’s the first layer. For example, we use wood web floor joists – in my opinion, that’s the best type of floor system you can have in a house. It allows you to run your ductwork through the floor system, your plumbing through the floor system, and your electrical through the floor system. That essentially eliminates bulkheads, allowing you to have your full free span ceilings on every floor.”

“So we use wood web floor systems as a standard in all of our homes,” he adds. “With a lot of other builders, you’ll see dimensional lumber or potentially I-joists. But using wood web floors makes things a lot easier for the trades and at the end of the day leads to a much nicer product.”

Another thing Daerwood Homes does as a standard is install nine-foot ceilings in their basements and main floors. A lot of builders go with eight feet, but that extra foot means extra headroom and in a basement setting “it makes you feel like you’re not in a basement.” Similarly, Daerwood’s windows are also larger as a standard.

“We do a lot of little things differently,” Kevin says. “When you add them all up, I think they really set us apart from the rest.”

Beyond selecting the right products, Daerwood Homes also ensures they have the right supervisors on site every day – that’s also a key part of ensuring quality. Kevin has been working with another project manager since almost the start of Daerwood Homes, and he says that either himself or that employee visit every site every day. They try to be there for an extended period of time, but at the very least they will always conduct a full walkthrough of the property.

“We’re constantly ensuring that we’re happy with the work that’s being done, that we’re meeting the standard that we set for ourselves,” Kevin explains. “That’s an ongoing process for the entire length of the build.”

Furthermore, Daerwood Homes utilizes the right roster of subcontractors and tradespeople – Kevin acknowledges that delivering quality would be impossible without them.

“We’ve aligned ourselves with high quality trades,” he says. “And when we find a trade who shares our vision in terms of workmanship and quality, we don’t shop around. Our trades move with us from site to site. We’re not looking for the lowest bidder – we’re looking to surround ourselves with people who can get the job done to our standards.”

“Our trades bring a lot of experience to the table, but at the same time most of them are pretty young,” he adds. “I’m 31 years old myself and a lot my trades are around the same age. My hope is that the relationships we’re forming now will last a really long time. I’d love to carry these relationships on for the next 25 years and beyond.”

Ahead of the curve

Currently, Daerwood Homes has roughly eight projects in the ground. As of now, most of those projects are duplexes, though the company also recently commenced work on their first single family custom home – that home is for a client who recognized the quality Kevin and his team achieved on some of their other projects and specifically sought them out to build their home.

Moving forward, Kevin is open to helping more discerning clients like that, but his main goal for Daerwood Homes is to build even bigger and more valuable projects. He says the company already has a six-plex on the horizon that’s being forecasted to sell for roughly $1.5 million, and they are also looking at larger-scale projects up to 12 units.

Geographically, Kevin says Daerwood Homes will continue to seek out land in mature communities within and around Winnipeg. Typically, they look for land with homes that are derelict or not-structurally-sound, with the intention of demolishing those homes, rebuilding on top of them, and increasing density – which is important, given the ongoing and worsening housing shortage. In taking that approach, the company also seeks to play a part in revitalizing the neighborhoods in which they work.

In terms of size and volume, Kevin reiterates that this year is poised to be the company’s busiest to date, as their goal is to build 20 homes – “which I think is very reasonable given the team we have now,” Kevin says.

“We’re excited about what’s in front of us,” he says. “There’s definitely no shortage of opportunity. At the same time, though our growth so far has been pretty quick, it’s also been pretty strategic. We’ve ensured that we can handle the workload and that we can deliver homes and properties we can take pride in. That’s very important to us.”

“This year is going to be a learning experience,” he continues. “We’re going to get through our first big year of 20 projects, and then we’re going to evaluate and see what we did right and what we can do better. We’ll consider future growth then.”

Lastly, Kevin says they want to keep building with insulated concrete forms (ICF), regardless of the number of units they are building. They have a very close relationship with a local ICF supplier, and they see a lot of benefits in using their system – benefits including enhanced durability, enhanced resistance to the elements, enhanced energy performance, and more square footage for the resident to make use of.

“That’s a pretty big focus for us,” Kevin concludes. “I think in the next 10 years, we’re going to see a lot of people choosing ICF. We’re definitely going to be promoting that product in order to stay ahead of the curve.”

For more on Daerwood Homes, their past and present projects, and for an inside look at their process – and to get in touch with Kevin and his team – visit https://www.instagram.com/daerwoodhomes/