while the dining room table was made from aged timber from a spruce tree taken down during construction. The elegance of the home, meanwhile, is a credit to the high-end features, which include: a 22-foot-high beamed ceiling over the family room, a floor-to-ceiling white brick wall over the fireplace, a tiled walk-in shower and standalone soaker tub in the ensuite off the master bedroom, and a lot more. Other finishes throughout the home include natural engineered oak hardwood floors, off-white/grey quartz countertops, oversized bronze-tinged pendant lights in the kitchen, and a black custom iron railing on the home’s upper level. What excited Cal and Josh about that job was the client really wanted to build something that was not only beautiful, but also sustainable: “Philosophically, we were really well-aligned,” Josh says. “We had the same design principles and it turned out gorgeous. It looks gorgeous and it performs well.” ‘We work hard to create a cohesive team to work with our trades and with the interior designer,” he adds. “When there are issues and concerns and things don’t go the way we had hoped or planned, our relational team work approach means that we can weather the crisis. Our teamwork approach helps us find things that could become issues and figure out how to solve them before we start building’. When it comes time to finish we know that our team will be there to the end and beyond.” “Our clients have often told us that when they are on site and see what the trades are working on, that they are impressed with the attention to detail and care with which our trades work. They appreciate that the trades are good people who are easy to be around, and are proud of their workmanship.” Since completion of the Stonewall house, the clients have also relayed to Cal and Josh how happy they are about the home’s energy performance. “They told us that they hardly have to run their furnace, because the passive heating from the window glazing keeps the home warm,” Josh says. “And when they do have to run it, it’s very efficient and it costs them very little money to heat and cool their house throughout the year.” Moving forward, Cal and Josh envision continuing to deliver homes like that one – homes that are high-quality, highperforming, and cost-effective. They see the Stonewall home as a good example of how it’s possible to tick all those boxes in one product. “Those things aren’t mutually exclusive,” Cal says. “If you’re willing to pay a bit more up front, and have it cost you half as much in total over 60 years, you can have a home that’s green, cost-effective and a real pleasure to live in.” Cal and Josh also both want Dueck Builders to grow slowly but steadily. Their vision is to grow by 10 to 15 per cent every year for the next 10 years. “We’re quite lucky to have an excellent team with us and we think we have the capacity to do more. We’re excited to build high quality homes together,” Josh concludes. “Our goal is to grow by showing that sustainability makes sense for everyone. It makes sense for the customer, it makes sense for the economy, it makes sense for the environment – it just makes sense.” AUGUST 2023
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