Hey guys, welcome to good news York. I'm Matt
from growth mode content joined on my other side
today. This is weird I Don't it's word you're
too close, but Mikey B is with us. Yeah, Matt's
getting his fourth grade pictures done today
He's got his dress shirt on you look good. We
need the laser background My wife said the same
thing. It's like, wow, what are you dressed?
I literally just put on a different shirt. You
look good. I guess this is this is what happens
where you wear hoodies 98 percent of the time.
I look like I'm looks like a tuxedo. I put on
a button up. I'm still wearing jeans. You know,
I appreciate that. You look great and you're
still getting heckled for it. See, it's you know,
story of my life. What are you going to do? The
reason Mike's on this side is because we got
a couple of guests over here. Gentlemen, go ahead
and introduce yourselves. Yeah, so I'm Jeremy
Dorn, co -owner of Stonehammer Homes with my
brother Chris here. That's Chris. That's Chris.
I was going to introduce myself, but. Can you
tell the brothers? I love this. I'm an only child,
so I don't have this experience. But I just love
when I see any time you have family members that
are doing stuff. You guys are. You're not twins,
but you're always together working on incredible
things. And that's something we want to talk
about. Before we mention that, though, I want
to say, I was driving by your place, and I know
you're moving to a new one, so I don't know if
you've done it, but the current one there. Yep.
Two incredible bald eagles. What? Flying straight
over top the roof of your place. They must have
just come out of the water or somewhere near
there or something. And I don't know that I've
seen too many bald eagles in Camillus. Recently
and it was just incredible. I happen to be driving
by and I see those way. That's their play shit
They're coming on tomorrow. It was just a neat
little yeah My head I just think America. Yeah,
that's that plays in your head. Anytime you see
Did you guys plan? It was it was just a big heron.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, but These gentlemen own as
you mentioned stone hammer homes If you haven't
figured that out what they might do is they build
some of the most incredible homes you can find,
mostly in the 315 area. I don't know if you gentlemen
go? Mostly, yeah. Why don't you tell us a little
bit about how did you get into this business
and end up here? Yeah, so Chris and I have both
been building houses since we got out of college
in the early 2000s. We've been in construction.
We've been in construction management, sales.
I mean, you name it. In the housing world, we've
done it. Gotcha. Almost nine years ago now we
decided if we're gonna do this for somebody else
Why don't we just do it for ourselves and do
it better? Yeah, and you know, we took a huge
risk. We both have families We both have bills,
right? We both have responsibilities and we quit
our big corporate jobs and we started our own
home -building company and It's not a super easy
business to break into, right? Like people don't
just flock to you to build a house. Sure. Because
you had a new home building company. Right. It's
a pretty big investment for folks. So it took
some time to grow. Like I said, now we're on
year nine. So we've done a number of parade of
homes. We've had some incredible projects. We've
got an amazing team that works for us. Incredible
designer. And our portfolio just continues to
grow and grow. And it's really just attracting
some amazing buyers that want to do some cool
stuff that know we're traditionally not seeing
in this market yeah like typically in Syracuse
we're used to seeing like vinyl sided boxes and
that's right just kind of the house housing that
we do here and we're starting to get a lot of
people that are like I really like the way these
houses in North Carolina and Arizona and Texas
look can we do that here and it's like well of
course we can do it here right so and that's
what we've been doing that's awesome yeah that's
amazing talk to me about that I like when you
you mentioned you know getting started and the
challenges in that Talk to me about that first
house. Was that one that you were able to immediately
sell to a buyer? Was it a spec house? How did
how did that work out? Yeah, I'll let Christy
answer that question. Yeah, so that was a combination
of things So it was actually my in -laws were
building a house and we took an opportunity to
you know Put a number to it and it was kind of
like start the business and that house all in
one You know give them a smoking deal on a house
Yeah, basically I was like we're gonna charge
you just enough that like if we decide this was
a really bad idea We don't lose it sure lose
our houses right right right? So we basically
took that leap with that house And you know it
was a really good house helped us get to the
next house And then we had you know a big network
for meeting this city we grew up in this city
went to college in this city Yeah, the city so
like that next house just like organically Came
like in the middle of that house and like a lot
of just kind of keep going which was also another
great project But you know so it worked out that
you know timing was good project was good You
know, we took the jump. That was great. And you
looked like a badass to your father -in -law.
I could never do that. Like, I would be such
a hero to my wife. I'm like, I'm gonna build
your family a home. That's the most manly thing
I've ever heard. I mean, also, I feel like it's
a little brave, you know, of all the people that
might be very nitpicky. I feel like the in -laws
are the top of that list. So the fact that that
was your first endeavor is my hat's off to you,
buddy. I think everyone's a little nervous. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I hope you guys don't get divorced
over this. Yeah. Yeah. Chris, we're lucky. Chris,
the in -laws are just amazing human beings. We
did have to bid the project against other builders.
So it was, like, actually competitive. And we
were, like, hustling trying to win it. So. I
really appreciated that process. That should
have just been our job. And maybe it was, but
they didn't lead that on to us. So we had to
make sure our numbers were sharp. We had to make
sure the scope of the project was sharp and the
schedule and all that stuff. You know, you can
only imagine how hard it is building a difficult
house for somebody while you have another full
-time job building houses for another company,
right? So we're basically moonlighting at night
and we could break away at lunch. We would go
up there and check on things and pick up material
and whatnot. So it really worked out great. And
then one house quickly led to the next house.
Yeah, just really just started to spiral. That's
that's incredible. Yeah. Tell us a little bit
about the process. So we talk about you guys
building. Do you guys also design? How does that
all come to be? Yeah, so that's a great question
so People come to us at all different phases
of this process right some people are like hey
I think I might want to build a house right and
they don't have land They don't have plans. They
really have no budget And those processes usually
take a little longer to develop. Some folks will
come to us and they already own property. Some
folks come to us and they own property and they
already have plans designed and we just need
to put a number to it. We're able to jump in
really anywhere that the customer is in their
in their journey. We have an architect we work
with specifically who does a lot of design work
for us. We have an incredible in -house interior
designer who does interior design for all of
our clients. So, you know, when you guys are
looking at our photos You're going, that's sick,
right? Those are super sexy. That house is amazing.
A lot of it's her helping coordinate with the
owner. That's awesome. Picking tile, and counters,
and cabinets, and lighting, and all that stuff.
So what we'll do is we'll get involved early
on. We'll help people with that property. Matt,
if you're like, hey, I want to be in Camillus.
I want one acre. and I want some woods, right?
We'll help put you on a search for how to find
that. If you find something and you're like,
I think this is the one, we'll come out, take
a look at it. We'll talk about the feasibility
of building, any hidden costs that may exist.
If you go under contract with the property, then
we'll start designing a house. The house is usually
specifically designed for the property. Once
the house is designed, Chris and I will put pricing
to it. We'll provide a very detailed pricing
and proposal if everything meets the customer's
expectations. then we move to a contract and
we start construction. Houses nowadays are taking
longer than they used to pre -COVID. You're probably
seeing things from eight to 12 months. Some go
a little longer than 12 months depending on the
scope of the project, but yeah. That's incredible.
Are you guys at this point, are you still? Getting
your hands dirty. You're involved in the actual
building process. Are you doing more of the administrative
side of things at this point? Yeah, more administrative
side for us at this point. We've got some really
great project managers. We've got some carpenters
in the field and some just really incredible
subcontractors. I mean, you look like you could
build a house by yourself. Yeah. You're listening
when you can't see. It would take forever. It
would take forever, but I might be able to figure
it out. Chris, let me ask you, what's your favorite
part of them? the whole endeavor here. What do
you like the most about this business? I mean
really the end product. Billion of houses is
not easy. It's like there's obviously a million
parts. There's a lot of people involved from
the different subcontractors, the clients, the
suppliers, and there's obviously a lot of things
that just frankly it doesn't always go perfect.
But when you get to the end, you got clients
who are nervous the whole time that things aren't
gonna go right, or maybe the money's not gonna
go right, or they're gonna get to the end, and
then we're gonna be like, you owe us a million
dollars. You know, more than we... You know,
and you get to the end, and like, these people
finally realize that all those fears can go away,
and their house is done, and like, our goal is
like, really turnkey. So like, when you move
in, like... You just put your stuff down. Yeah,
and so like when people walk in and they see
that that's like true Right. That's hard. So
it's like extreme makeover home edition like
that. I used to love that show. Yeah, they reveal
it That's the most they do the big. Yeah, but
like it is turn They walk in and like that's
yes fast forward to the end. I'm like, I don't
care I want to see it, you know, so you got it
guys Yeah, right, right, right, but still that's
awesome Yeah, and you try to make sure that the
house has enough design elements that like you
don't need a lot of artwork you don't need a
lot of you know uh decor it's like hey you've
got beautiful windows and trim and built -ins
and kitchen cabinets and your lighting's awesome
that like you know a lot of people come and they
roll in with a whole tractor trailer full of
pictures and artwork and stuff and there's like
really just nowhere to hang it because it's just
getting in the way of some of the natural beauty
of the house yeah I love that. Danny and I have
had conversations recently about the lack of
design in so many things. You look at a lot of
older properties, older buildings, they have
intricate everything and they're really cool.
It seems like we've gone through this period
of the most boring. cookie cutter, you know,
no design elements ever. And, you know, when
I hear you guys talk about doing something different
and obviously I've seen a lot of your incredible
work. It's true what you're saying. I love to
hear that because we need that message needs
to be spread far and wide. These horrible, ugly,
boring buildings. We got it. Yeah. I don't know
who came up with that trend, but it needs to
go away quickly. No, that's a new goal. Like,
you know. build yourself a house so beautiful
that you don't even need to decorate it. I've
never thought of it that way, that you can, there's
beauty in the design itself. Wow. These guys.
That's why they're killing it over here. Yeah,
yeah, yeah. No, I absolutely love that. I think
that's great advice when building a house. Yeah.
I briefly mentioned your office over at Camille's,
but I believe you're expanding or you're in the
process of that. I know that's... Ben, is that
is that moving forward? I know you've been looking
for a while for a bigger space. Yeah. So that
happened last week. So, yeah, we're one weekend.
So we're getting settled down at the Deetz Lofts
downtown off of Wilkinson Street. OK. You know,
we basically tripled our space. We've got space
for our project managers our designer We've got
an incredible conference room super sexy. That's
awesome So just a really good spot to inspire
ideas and you know get people excited You know
big conference room screens so we can show some
pictures and no artwork Virtually no artwork.
Yeah. Well, it's an old building. It's an old
loft lantern factory So like the building is
awesome. There's a lot of brick and steel and
you know hundred -year -old hardwoods Yeah, yeah,
14 foot ceilings and it's really cool very cool
space. That's that's great. I'm glad to hear
I know like I said, I know you guys had been
talking about for a while trying Yeah, find something
like that. I'm glad you you've been able to land
that that's really cool I thought for a minute
we were all gonna end up at Remington Arms. Yeah,
I'm alien But I was trying just didn't happen
right once that building so Somebody beat us
to it. So oh did they? Yeah. Yeah Wow, there's
a group. They haven't announced what they're
doing with it yet. That's the big question mark,
but Good as long as something happens. Oh, definitely.
Yeah, you know something has to have you know
building of that magnitude starting got vines
growing all the way It's crazy. But anyway, um,
that's great. I really love to hear all about
that Something else we should mention is is you're
part of an association That I'd love you to talk
about a little bit. Can you tell us a little
bit about the yeah home builders? So I'm the
president of the home builders and remodelers
of Central New York We're an association of trade
professionals that work in the housing industry
We host a number of different events, but, you
know, stuff that probably people would most notice
would be the Home and Garden Show at the Fair
and the Parade of Homes. Chris and I, our companies
participate in the Parade of Homes four times.
We're looking forward to participating next year
for a fifth time. That event's really helped
grow our business. You know, one of my biggest
pushes as the president and Chris is part of
the leadership role there, too, is to increase
membership. So, you know, we've obviously got
Micron coming to town. There's this huge influx
of housing. We're trying to increase the housing
permits by 800 percent over the next 10 years.
So from almost 300 to 2500. So we really want
to build this association up. Like if you've
got a touch point with the housing market or
building, you know, whether you're a real estate
attorney, your insurance provider, you do marketing,
you know, even someone who's in IT, right? Like,
we have 200 members who, you know, we're in home
building, so we need IT services, virtually all
of us. So there's really a need for almost every
different field within our association to help
our association flourish. So we're making a big
push right now for a membership drive coming
up in a few weeks and really hoping to have a
substantial number of new members and grow that
association so that we can help the community.
grow. The association does a good job of networking
too for that so like if you're in the association
like there's member mixers and there's golf tournaments
and there's club bakes and stuff to just as long
as you're willing to show up sure there's a lot
of opportunity to mingle and get to know people
and you know yeah you'll see people coming as
a banker and also they know every builder in
town right right so mortgages right yeah yeah
oh that's uh for years i've heard great things
about your organization from different people
that's that's in it so that's that's really cool
um Pray to homes. So for folks that aren't familiar,
correct me if I'm wrong, the idea is you take
a neighborhood somewhere, or build a neighborhood
somewhere basically, right? With a number of
different builders and folks who are able to
check out these. these houses. Is that kind of
an accurate description of that event? Yeah,
definitely. So last year's event was at Timber
Banks, which I'm sure a lot of people are familiar
with out in Baldensville. And basically we've
got a blank street of lots. It's a new road.
We have a lottery. Each builder picks a lot.
Oh, wow. Then we design a house and, you know,
we usually have like anywhere from five to eight
custom homes. And it's really an opportunity
for builders to put their best foot forward and
show the general public, you know, what they
can do. Sure. We get about You know, it varies
in the year, but it could be anywhere between
10 and 15 ,000 patrons will buy a ticket and
they'll come walk through all the houses. They're
all professionally decorated. We usually have
food trucks and sometimes there's bands and stuff
like that. Yeah. And it's a great opportunity
to shop for builders. It's a great idea to get
ideas for your own house. Sure. And it helps
drive revenue for the association, too. It's
a really, really great event for us. I can speak
for Chris and I that it's been amazing for our
company to basically put up a product and get
10 to 15 ,000 people to walk through it in a
10 -day period and see what we can do, right?
Hand out some brochures and talk to folks as
well. Sure. That's such a neat event. Yeah. And
afterwards, what's really cool is if you love
this thing, you can buy it, right? Yeah. All
those houses are for sale. Yeah. Yeah. Some are
pre -sold. Gotcha. Maybe we'll call it half and
half. Okay. the builder connected with the buyer.
Sure. House for the buyer. And then the other
half are usually for sale. I mean, that seems
like a little little safer deal for the builder.
But yeah, you know, they're all of them are so
beautiful. I don't think anybody has any trouble
moving them. Right. Yeah. They take the perspective
of we want to do something different. Like we're
talking about styles up here. So we always do
a house like we did a black house. Like not a
lot of people in Syracuse are doing black houses.
Right. That's like four years. Right. So like
people came in and they're like, what? This is
crazy. I've never seen a black house before.
I love it. Yeah. They have the chili cook -off
in, follow me here, the chili cook -off in Ithaca
in February. And so all these restaurants compete
with chili, but they'll roll out the cart. They're
going to do a chili that's going to stand out.
And I feel like it's kind of the same effect.
It's your Super Bowl. You're going to give your
best. So what a great event. I love that. I wonder
how that. that comes to be afterwards when everybody
moves in. Because you think about that, like,
meet the neighbors. Literally, all of the neighbors
are at the same time. That's kind of a neat,
you know? You don't have any of that, hey, you
know, I've been here for three days longer than
you. I'm the old guy here in town. Well, and
it's funny, too, because they've all been in
each other's houses. So they go to the event,
and they know what your master closet looks like,
because they came and walked through it. By the
end of the event, we know some. Well, we'll know
the neighbor. We'll go, we hear the neighbor
from next door. We've come to our house five
times during the show. Yeah, it's funny because
the public gets to see it during the event and
then what they don't see behind the curtain is
like we've been planning this thing for a year.
Sure. We've been designing it. We had to buy
the lots. We had to pick out all the fixtures
and stuff. You've got to work with a decorator
and a designer and all that stuff. So there's,
you know, when the doors open day one of the
event and we're standing there in, you know,
blazers and our mother usually is the greeter
at the front door. There's a tremendous amount
of work, time and effort that's gone into getting.
to the event. Yeah. Yeah, I can imagine. For
all the builders. I can speak for everybody.
I can imagine. You know, when you talk about
building and delays and things like that, this
this thing's got a date, right? You've got to
have that house ready. Exactly. You know, and
that's that's a good point. You know, a lot of
times we'll build that house on spec, which I
know you covered in a recent show, because we
can control the timeline a little bit. Yeah.
So we have our own designer and we're not going
to wait to pick light fixtures and plumbing fixtures
because we're like, hey, Ash, you got to get
that stuff done. Right. You got to move. Right.
Whereas if you've got a buyer attached to it,
obviously it's a little safer for the builder
to already have a buyer, but you're kind of at
the mercy of them making selections. But everybody
does a great job moving it forward, and so far
in the years I've been a part of it, nobody's
missed the deadline. That's incredible. When
I was a kid, my dad had a house built, and I
remember we lived out in Herkimer, way far away,
but we came to Syracuse to the light store to
pick out light fixtures. And I, just that process,
you know, you never imagine you walk around your
house, how many light fixtures there are. So
when you're in a shop and there's just a million
of them hanging from the ceiling, and then you've
got to try to pick, this one should go in this
room. And, you know, I can only imagine, you
know, times every other fixture and every other
thing. So that's... So many options. Right. So
many. Want them on a dimmer pack? Yeah. Right.
And then what they do is they tie them together
so they're all... the style actually streamlined.
I mean, I would go in and be like, yeah, this
is kind of over here, modern. Then I got something
over here. Right. But she can tie all that together
for you. I'm with you. That all looks cool. And
none of it goes together. But it's cool. Yeah.
And just imagine now the possibilities are endless
with the internet, right? So you could go to
the local lighting department store and pick
out lighting where there's 100 different options.
Or you can get online and view. Thousands. Yeah.
Thousands and thousands of options. I know you
said you guys have an in -house architect now,
but was there ever a point along the way where...
Like, do you have to like stay up to date on
modern architecture? Like, how do you kind of
keep it fresh and see like trends in architecture
and things like that? Social media, right? So
social media. So everybody's algorithm is figuring
out what you're flipping through. So eventually,
you just start to see the same stuff. And then
we start to share it with each other. And then
we start to share it with the design team. And
social media will help you see like what's trending
in other parts of the country. So you know, Syracuse
is a relatively small market, all things considering
across the country. So, you know, your bigger
markets, you know, in Carolinas and Texas and
stuff, I mean, there is just thousands, tens
of thousands of homes being built every year.
So there's a ton of inspiration stuff, right?
Everybody gets stuff in their news feed. You
know, you think of Cribs and we used to watch
Cribs. It's kind of like that, right? You see
something that's really cool and you're just
trying to recreate it or one -up it. Can imagine
but it's also the buyers, right? Yeah. Yeah,
definitely the same house exactly right, right?
We don't a lot of Martin neighborhoods, right?
So they're on a lake or they're on a piece of
farmland or they're 600 feet off the road So
like these buyers have some inspiration from
their property and others sure and they all have
their own lifestyle, right? So everything we
do is custom. So you're getting the house designed
to your lifestyle Yeah, and then we're helping
with the architect helping to pull the elements
together that make it look I worked with a tattoo
artist that told me he's like I I will never
do the same tattoo twice on two different people.
I always want... something original about that.
I guess it's kind of the same mindset. I can
imagine you guys on vacation, you must be just
constantly driving by, oh, look at that house.
I like the roof on that. Do you guys do that?
No, we drink as many margaritas as we can when
we're on vacation, and we bury our head in the
sea trying to enjoy ourselves. That's the right
way to do it. No, but we actually do that. That
is 100 % true, Mike. I mean, we are literally
like, the market research never stops. Yeah.
I mean, I'm not in your line of work. And when
I'm on the road, I'm always like, oh, Oh my God,
I love the way that porch looks. I imagine that
must be a constant thing for you. Yeah, yeah.
I went to the Parade of Homes in Saratoga last
year just to check things out. And they do a
different type of event. And actually, we're
going to do something similar next year. But
they do what's called the Scattered Site Parade
of Homes. So instead of being in one neighborhood
on the same street, they're all over town. And
you get a passport. And you go from house to
house to house. But you've got to drive there.
It's a little more challenging obviously because
you got to hit the road to see everything, but
it allows the builders to build a lot of different
product and showcase a lot of different stuff
that you can't necessarily put in one neighborhood.
Right. And at some point I feel like there's
got to be a limit to the developments or ones
that have open lots and things I would think.
For sure. So that's got to be a challenge for
sure. And everybody's all the towns, local towns.
I mean, obviously, we know there's a lot of growth
coming. Sure. So everybody's trying to grow very
deliberately. Right. Yeah. Want to just be like
scattered with thousands and thousands of, you
know, cookie cutter. builder grade houses. So
the towns are being very deliberate about what
they're allowing through and approving for subdivisions
for builders to move forward with. So it's been
it's been an interesting growth phase. Like demand
is there. The lots aren't necessarily there.
We're like growing slowly, but about to grow
really quickly. Yeah. Along those lines, are
you seeing people looking for things like in
-law apartments and sort of extra units in the
house? Yeah, those reasons. Yeah. yeah more like
uh not necessarily like a true in law but like
a potential right like my parents are getting
older at some point they need to move in so like
this bedroom is going to be a little bigger it's
going to maybe have a tiny kitchenette it's going
to have its own owner's suite style back sure
kind of thing like the just in case yeah yeah
Now, we've talked about that ourselves for our
parents. Like, they don't want them in the house,
you know? And they don't want to be either. They
want their own space in it. It makes a ton of
sense. But to kind of share some space would
make a lot of sense. But yeah, that's awesome.
Do you guys find, because you know you hear the
old saying like you shouldn't, you shouldn't
go into business with family. How is that dynamic
with two brothers? I feel like there's a benefit.
That's a great question. Because I feel like
you can be like, you know, fuck you, fuck you,
and then. You can be honest. And then go back
to business, where that's hard to do if you're
not related. I don't know. That's pretty much
how it goes sometimes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Most
days not, but there's days where it goes like,
then we're like, get the other day like, want
a beer? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Honestly, it's great.
Chris and I have different strengths in the business.
We have different roles within the business.
We complement each other very well. That's great.
Our mom works with us too, and she's absolutely
amazing. She wears a lot of different hats, as
you can imagine, like most moms would. But we
we just see things differently. We both have
an entrepreneurial spirit and we literally see
how to run this business differently. And then
we just come together and we just make it work.
We we honestly agree on ninety nine percent of
the things that we get into. So it works out
great. And, you know, our goals are aligned.
Our trust is incredibly aligned. We went to college
together. We live two houses. Oh, wow. So we're
super tight. We spend a lot of time together.
That's awesome, man. I love that. As you know,
our time in profound, we're attached at the hip.
No, that's awesome. I'd love to hear that, too.
It was a great question, buddy. Yeah, I really
love it. We duked it out enough when we were
little that we got it out of our system. Yeah,
yeah, yeah. I think the biggest element, though,
is trust. You're not going to be able to trust.
Nobody invests anyone more than your brother
or your sister or something like that. And I
think that's wonderful. And I think in any sort
of process, especially a creative process, because
I would consider what you guys do. Obviously,
it's blue collar. It's manual layer. But there's
a lot of creativity to it as well that people
don't give enough credit for. But in my experience,
you know, My ideas have only been made greater
by other people. So I think whatever you said
you're lacking that he brings and vice versa,
I think it makes you both better. 100%. Because
it's a different point of view. Yeah. It's a
different skill set, so. Yeah. It's a good recipe.
Absolutely. Yeah. Look, I don't have to worry
about Chris stealing coffee mugs or boarding
pens or anything like that. Danny. Oh, man. Fellas,
I know I've got to get you back to building houses
here in a few minutes, but one of the last things
I want to ask you is tell us a little bit about
some of these trends, if you wouldn't mind. A
couple of these, maybe design elements, things
that are coming might not be in the market yet,
but you know are going to be popular in homes.
Any neat innovation things along those lines
that come to mind? Or something you're seeing
a lot of lately all of a sudden. Sure. Yeah,
we're definitely seeing like a shift away from
the farmhouse style. People are moving away from
white shaker cabinets in a lot of instances.
We're starting to see some more color, some more
warmth. You know, we do still see a lot of, you
know, black window designs and stuff like that.
A lot of outdoor living, so front porches, back
porches, terraces, stuff like that, even though,
you know, we're going to get back to the days
of the big wraparound porch like they used to
do. Maybe. Yeah, maybe. I mean, it's only nice
weather in Syracuse for 60 days a year. So maybe
those go away. But, you know. It's really funny
the way things trend. So, you know, a lot of
the things you're going to see are going to be
trending in like tile and lighting and cabinets
and stuff like that. And not so much like the
design. I don't know. Do you have anything else
to add? I mean, the reality is different buyers
have different preferences, right? We're doing
everything custom. So you don't come and you
say, hey, you can pick from these five hardwoods.
Like you share our hardwood store and they have
three thousand hardwoods. Right. So like, you
know, we might build a house over here that is
a totally different. They don't look like they're
the same. Yeah, designer. Yeah, right But it's
really about the person going to the store and
saying like this is kind of looking for and helping
tie that That this type of design together versus
like this type of design together It's about
like just tying what they're really want at the
end of the day together So there's definitely
like some trendy stuff like you see a lot of
boredom that inciting now that you didn't see
ten years ago You see a lot of black windows.
You didn't see ten years ago white oak is like
people love white oak. Yeah, you know, but it's
really at the end of the day, like, you know,
we might do white oak in every house for the
last year. And then like this year, we're doing
10 different things. Only one house has white
oak. Sure. It's like our buyers are all different.
And they're from, you know, some of them are
out on a 40 acre piece a lot. It's like a farm
kind of. And they have that they want that farm
style versus someone who's on the lake. And they
like want that lake style with blue cabinets
outside a hardwood flooring. Is vinyl flooring
still a thing? Is that still king right now?
Because that was big. you know five ten years
ago everybody was getting vinyl like the vinyl
planks and yeah it's like it's like per like
it it snaps together but it's it's like waterproof
it kind of looks hardwood like hardwood but it's
it's not and i don't i don't know it's it's more
affordable but it's it's i think there's a lot
of things where they're trying to use plastics
instead of wood right yeah yeah we don't use
a lot of that on our projects you know our people
are usually getting into like eight inch white
oak type stuff um but the luxury vinyl plank
is still super popular it's affordable and and
i think that that affordability is probably the
biggest thing you're gonna see and term you're
gonna hear in home building, right? So prices
are through the roof, right? So the price of
building a new house has almost doubled since
before COVID. So a lot of the challenges we're
all up against is how do we still build this
big, beautiful, sexy house and not spend $3 million
on it, right? Keep it under a million dollars,
which is even becoming a challenge. So the market
and the buyers are having to get a little creative.
It's weird to feel like you've got to make sacrifices
in your house building. and you're spending a
million and a half dollars. But the reality is
you kind of have to, right? Sure. You can't have
all $2 ,000 faucets in your house and still maintain
a budget. So that's probably one of the biggest
challenges in home building is just maintaining
expectations and budgets and still making sure
that when the house is done and you deliver it
to the buyer that they're stoked, right? They're
like, this is sick. This is exactly what we wanted
you guys delivered. And not like, hey, we spent
a ton of money and we didn't get. Sure. It didn't
land where we wanted it. Would you say that's
the biggest reason somebody would build rather
than buy an existing home? Is that custom element
they want it to be completely unique? Are there
other kind of driving factors that might make
somebody want to build rather than buy? Yeah,
I think that's one of them. I think here locally
that the prices on the resale market have gotten
so high, right? So people are spending $400 ,000
or $500 ,000, $600 ,000 for a house that was
built in the 70s or 80s. And it needs $500 ,000
or $600 ,000 of love to it, right? Sure. Or regulation.
And even when you spend that money and you renovate
that kind of house, you still have eight foot
ceilings, right? And you still have maybe a leaky
basement. You're not in the best lot. So I think
that's what's pushing a lot of people to building
is they don't want to buy something that exists.
and have to renovate it. A lot of the folks we
see that are building are either baby boomers
looking to get into a retirement one level. We've
got a lot of millennials that are just looking
to get into something like their forever home.
And they don't want to live in the houses that
we all grew up in. So they're looking to do something
unique, and that's kind of pushing them to building
as opposed to buying existing. Absolutely. That
makes a lot of sense. Are you guys involved in
solar at all? Is that something that's on your
radar at this point? Oh yeah, solar, geothermal,
yep. Yep, absolutely. Heat pumps. So we basically
just connect with the vendors on that stuff because
there's basically a federal tax credit, there's
a state tax credit, so we basically will do the
prep and then the homeowner will run that on
their end so that they make to make sure that
they get all the credits associated with. Yeah,
I'm always interested in that, but I get overwhelmed
because there's all these companies that claim,
you know, we're the best, we're the best. And
I don't know where to go. Oh, yeah. Half of them
are just nonsense. Well, one came to me and I
was close to pulling the trigger because I'm
interested in it. But then I was like, wait a
minute. So what happens when I need to redo my
roof? Well, you will have to uninstall. I was
like, there it is. I'm so glad I thought to ask
that because those are the little loopholes you
don't think about. Yeah. And solar is amazing.
It's a great product. Solar providers are not
apples to apples, right? Right. Like you can
get three or four different quotes and they could
be wildly different, but their scope of work
will be vastly different. But you're not. I mean,
at this point, it's safe to say that there's
really no. companies that are out to get you.
They're all fairly reputable, the ones that are
out there on the map. Yeah, I mean, I go back
to the Home Builders Association, right? So like
if you're shopping for a reputable contractor,
that's a great place to shop, right? So they're
basically, we vet these folks out before we bring
them in as members. And there's like a level
of accountability that we hold. So that is like
an amazing place to search for contractors. It's
almost like your local Angie's List. See, I didn't
know you could do that, right? You go right to
the website. Yeah, yep, and you can search by
like, you know different different industry,
right? I'm sure solar I'm looking for a builder.
What's the name of the website? The home builders
and remodelers of CNY. So hbrcny .com. That's
amazing That's really where I've been at it.
I In these kind of interviews, I always represent
just the general public. I'm not hugely knowledgeable
in this. So that's important to know. Because
like I said, I'm interested in solar, but I didn't
know who can I trust, where can I go. So there
you go. Thank you for that. I remember the last
time I attended a parade of homes, the modern
efficiency and the energy and things like that
was a huge factor that a lot of the places had
on display. How much of that are things that
you have to now accommodate for that you maybe
didn't have to in your design? Like are there
extra wires, are there extra piping, things like
that that you have to now account for for some
of these modern? Yeah, I mean, that stuff is
always evolving, right? Yeah. A lot of it just
evolved with code. Yeah. Right. Because, you
know, with all of that stuff also comes cost.
Sure. Right. So code is constantly changing.
Like literally this year we're talking about
is up January 1st, like we can't put gas to a
house. Yeah. And so all houses will have to be
electric only. So electric stoves. No gas fireplaces,
no gas furnaces, any of that stuff. This is a
state thing? State? Yes. State. It's part of
that climate action. a thing that state passed
a few years ago. So these are like the challenges
that are. coming constantly sure efficiencies
and stuff so especially as we all talk about
climate change and all this other stuff these
these things just keep changing and changing
and changing so I would assume on a state and
federal level when there's an administration
change you guys kind of got to be in tune with
what changes right with regulations and grants
and whatever else is it is that something that
you've got to kind of pay attention to yeah and
it's something that the association our association
so when you're a member of the local association,
you're also a member of the state association,
you're also a member of a national association.
So you're kind of like it's like a triple tier
association. So we get, you know, fed a lot of
this stuff that you don't necessarily have time
to be on top of all the time we get to. They
have their folks plugged in. Yeah. Yeah. The
luxury of getting the Cliff Notes version. Yeah.
Right. No, that's great. And, you know, the association
helps, you know, lobby and do those the types
of things that needed to get are appropriate
for our association. The last thing I'll ask
you is I've heard some talk about sprinklers.
What what tell me a little bit about that and
in how that might play out if you got to put
sprinklers in home I love that yeah, so same
thing This is another thing that's been getting
right really it's been getting passed around
and potential sure I think over a decade This
past spring I think we're over the hump, but
they we won't if they almost required sprinklers
in all new houses They decided not to so it's
only but it will if you build I think townhouses
with three or more units I see You have to start
putting sprinklers in. But essentially, if you
put a sprinkler system in, you're going to have
pipes running through your house. And you're
going to have basically a second water service
that comes in. You're going to have something
to maintain, honestly. So obviously, in the case
that there's a fire, it's excellent to have a
sprinkler system. But the reality is a lot of
fires are in houses that are much older and aren't
going to have sprinkler systems regardless. it's
you know on our end it's one of those things
it's great if it saves a life yeah but it also
is a cost sure every new construction as we fight
cost daily for for folks that are uh real apprehensive
about the look of the thing you know we we think
of these sprinklers we've seen a lot of buildings
are retrofitted and there's just a pipe running
in the middle of the wall can you just talk for
a second about how that might work in a design
if you're planning for those things from the
jump can you make it look a little better Yeah,
I mean in new construction all those pipes will
be in the wall Yeah, it's not in the walls, but
um and the heads will be like what they call
concealed sprinkler head So we'll just have like
a white circle cap ceiling that you see so you
won't necessarily see like an exposed head You
may be see exposed head in certain locations.
Yes, man or something like that And it all depends
on how the code gets passed. So they tell us
we got to sprinkler porches. Right, right. Because
obviously we live in Syracuse and that line will
freeze in the winter. So there's, you know, I
used to work in commercial and there's different
ways that all those things get. accomplished.
Yeah. So really, if they write the code and it
gets written to, you got to do all your porches
too. Then you got to have a whole separate system
for that called a dry system so that those don't
freeze. So first of all, shows you how I don't
belong in this conversation. When you said sprinklers,
I'm thinking like the sprinkler on the lawn.
Oh, you think a lawn sprinkler? Like you run
through. Yeah. Why are you at it? Standard with
every home now. Yes. Yes. I have something fun
for the kids. No, but the art I'm thinking of
though is like I remember growing up, my mom
cooking. Yeah. And just like the little bit.
How often you set that off? You can't with sprinklers.
It's spring. Is it that sensitive or okay? They
look for actual. It's heat. Yeah fire melts like
a little Device that sets off the water. I think
yeah, yeah picture and cooking You know they
get a little smoky and now you know I'm in four
feet of water Yeah, we had our place remodeled
in the new smoke detectors. We put in are the
worst on the big go off For everything really
drives me insane. Yeah, but yes luckily that
We wouldn't get flooded. That was the case. Yeah.
Well, and that's one of the challenges, right?
So, like, the sprinklers are going to add about
$30 ,000 a house and cars, right? Which is a
lot of money. But also, like, the argument that
they're going to save the structure is... Not
really true, right? If you've ever been in a
house where a sprinkler system's gone off, it
is completely destroyed. You go from fire damage
to water damage. That was nasty. It is waterlogged
from top to bottom, and everything has to get
replaced. So it's a whole different set of challenges
with bringing a house back to life that's been
water damaged as it is smoke damaged. That's
when the airbags come out of your car. It's wrecked,
right? You know what I mean? So what's the point?
I guess to stop the fire, but once it's activated,
that's your toast. What are you gonna do? Good
times. That's why we have... I love these guys.
...experts in an association that stays on top
of these things. I love this, guys. I've learned
so much. in this conversation. You definitely
need to come back anytime. When are, just real
quick, when are the dates of these events that
folks should put on their calendar? Yeah, so
Home and Garden Show is typically mid -March.
We just had that a couple months ago, so look
for the Home and Garden Show coming up again
March 2026. Right now we're talking about these
scattered site parade of homes being next September,
so September 2026. Gotcha. We're all starting
to work on our designs and our locations and
all that behind the scenes stuff. that I mentioned
before right now so that we can have a really
cool show for everybody next fall. What else
you got for plugs? Website, social media handles,
what do you got? Yeah, so we can be found on
Facebook, Instagram, websites, stonehammerhomes
.com. Come visit us at the new office space at
the Dietz. It's a really cool spot. We've got
some really nice things to see down there. And
yeah, we're pretty easy to get a hold of and
pretty accessible if you're looking for us. Well,
we appreciate your time. And especially me, I
learned a lot from you guys. And if I'm ever
building a home, I'm coming to you for sure.
We appreciate that. You might have pulled up
their Instagram already because you're the king
of research. But if you look at these fellows
work, it's. It doesn't get any better than that.
So thank you. It's pretty cool. We appreciate
that guys. We appreciate you guys having us on.
Top notch stuff. We appreciate it. Really? That's
amazing. That makes our whole thing. And I love
to see all of our friends on here doing all their
thing. Absolutely. We're building a little community.
Yeah. Yeah. It's going great. And we're spreading
the word. All of our creators are getting noticed
all over town. Oh, yeah. That's the wild part.
They tell us, yeah, some guy in the street was
like, hey, are you the one I saw in that video?
Yeah. That's what we're doing. And we've got
our boy Danny behind the scenes over there. I
also realize I'm old today because at one point
I wrote it down. I quoted and I was serious.
I said, clearly I'm in my 40s. I'm like, I'm
a sucker for exposed brick. That's the oldest
man. That's a very dead. After I said it, I went,
I'm a sucker for exposed brick. Wow. You are
but I'm embracing it. Well add that to your fetish
for lawn work, right? Yes. All right. Love lawn
work, dude. You know, I'm a fan do I'm a fanboy.
I This is amazing. Yeah, I'm a huge huge landscaping
guy You just met me 25 minutes ago, but like
I know about you no awesome awesome. I feel so
cool, right? Yeah, no, this has been awesome
Just a little programming note before we dip
out of here tomorrow. Oh, yeah, you're gonna
you're gonna recap. Yeah, I went to the Dave
Matthews band concert last night and Holy shit.
I I was front row for the first time in my life
made new best friend new best friends this this
mother and her two daughters We were we were
VIP front row buddies We experienced some crazy
shit, but at the end of the show, I turned to
them, and they were like, can we get your number?
Because they wanted to sell me tickets so they
can't go to a show. I said, I'll do you one better.
And I handed them a card. And I said, I think
you should come on the show, and we'll recap
the show together. So I'm going to bring them
on, and we're going to talk about the Dave show.
That's a great idea. Yeah, it was awesome. And
then I got to, I was starving. And as I'm leaving,
Toss and Fire were there in their food truck.
I grabbed a pizza pie and handed the owner a
card. I said, I want to get you on the show.
So he's coming on so I was working nice. I was
you know, I'm still not paying for you I was
trying to get you to reimburse. Yeah, it's on
your desk man Side note, I got to get one of
those hats. Yeah Yeah, we got a new line. We're
working on all new apparel right now for us.
Look at this guy Yeah, I love these guys. It's
great If you need a home Stonehammers where it's
at I'm Matt. He's Mike. That's Danny. We will
see you tomorrow Peace out. Thanks everybody.