Building Trust the Key to Success for Sweepstakes Winners

Our Q3 Won & Done Sweepstakes winners, Ross and Grant Ticknor, grew up working part time with their father, Brad, their summers spent working on small-scale remodels and custom millwork in people's homes. They learned not only the importance of good work, but also how to take care of clients. "Dad always said," Ross told us, "Leave it better than you found it."

It's those relationship building skills - along with a reputation for excellent craftsmanship and attention to detail, that has helped build their business into a referral-only, full service general contractor with an emphasis on large-scale residential remodeling.

They didn't start out big. Brad worked as a one-man operation most of the time. Grant spent the early years of his professional career working for a large homebuilder in Wisconsin, where he learned about energy-efficient building. Nevertheless, the family business continued to grow from referrals, and Ross and Grant joined him full time.

At times when the building industry has been negatively impacted by changes in the market, Ticknor Design Build has continued to see growth. They attribute this to emphasis they've put on building trust with their clients through all phases of the work. It's not just design and building, but how the entire project is managed.

"It's not a job site - it's a home," says Ross. "When you're a remodeler, often the clients are living in the same spaces you're working on. Our team becomes part of their daily life. Floor protection, wall protection, keeping doors shut and locked, cleaning up at the end of each day - it's essential."

What many builders find as a barrier to growth, finding good labor, the Ticknor's have solved in the same way they have growing their business. They take care of people.

"We are a team of 11, with a number of different skill sets, so each of us wears a lot of hats. We self-perform as much as possible. It allows us to have more control on the process, and the final product," said Grant.

The Ticknors have a great deal of respect for their people and the trade. Without their team, they can't do what they need to do. "This is a real job. A real profession. We created a culture; we have the buy-in from our people," said Grant. They make it known that they've developed a work environment where people can come out of high school and work with their hands, make a good living, and not destroy their bodies.

When it comes to building healthy, comfortable, and sustainably, the Ticknor's often find that they have to start those conversations with homeowners. They're more interested in putting money into finishes than things like upgrading their HVAC system or insulating. Customers often don't want to pay for "above and beyond".

"As remodelers, we see firsthand the damage from using cheaper materials and systems. Homes full of mold," said Grant. They've been using both ROCKWOOL Comfortbatt and Safe'n'Sound for a long time, because it's a superior product. But performance can still be a tricky sell to homeowners, is there really that much difference between insulation materials? That's one of the many questions we will explore on this 13,000 square foot home build in climate zone 5.

The Ticknor family appreciates not only the value of the ROCKWOOL prize winnings for this custom home build, but also, the opportunity to join the R‑Class Builder Program. "We want to help elevate the building community as a whole. Sharing our process through the R‑Class will help us achieve that," says Ross.

Keep an eye out for more on this project through the R‑Class Builder's Blog. And don't forget! This sweepstakes is another exclusive perk for R‑Class builders — join today and enter for your chance to win by submitting your build by December 31.