Why Pay More For An Archadeck Project?

As owner of Archadeck of Central SC, I know that if you try hard, you might find someone to build your project for less money than we can. So why should you have Archadeck build your project?

There are many things that impact our cost structure, including insurance, warranties, affiliation with a national company that provides technical expertise, a design consultant who can answer your questions and guide you through design decisions and materials choices, and an office and design center that you can visit to see material samples, color choices, etc. Also, our staff is knowledgeable and our tradesmen are among the best in the industry – these skills don’t come cheap!

Often I am asked who our competition is – and usually the answer is “two guys in a truck.” Will they build your project cheaper? Almost certainly. So what will you get from Archadeck that they won’t provide:

• Insurance Coverage – I put this first on the list because it is a serious consideration. When workers are on your site, you have two kinds of liability. Items covered by General Liability insurance include damages such as fire or water damage that could happen to your house as a result of the work being done. If your builder isn’t covered, then this will come out of your pocket.

Perhaps even more important is Workers Compensation insurance. If you hire two guys in a truck and one of them gets seriously injured, if they have workers compensation insurance then the insurance company is responsible for paying them everything they are covered for according to the law. However, if there is no workers compensation insurance, the injured party can sue his boss as well as you, the homeowner, to recover his damages. As these damages may include loss of ability to earn a living, the costs can be very significant. Employers with less than 4 employees are not required to carry Workers Comp insurance in South Carolina. And with workers comp rates in SC at 21% of wages paid for construction work, you can see how this is a major cost driver for companies like Archadeck who do the right thing and cover their workers. So even if you don’t choose Archadeck to build your project, I highly recommend that you obtain a certificate of insurance proving that the people working on your home are covered. A reputable builder will not balk at being asked to provide a certificate of insurance.

• Warranties – Archadeck provides 3 kinds of warranties on all of our projects:
o An “edge-to-edge” warranty covering all materials and labor for a period of one year.
o A structural warranty covering structural issues for 5 years.
o A builder’s warranty from a 3rd party assuring you that if we become unable to build your project, another Archadeck office will step in and complete your project.

The best thing about these warranties is that we stand behind them. You know where to find us, and you know that in 9 months or 5 years we will be here to fulfill our obligations. That is something you won’t get with two guys in a truck.

• Archadeck Nationwide – In addition to the strength of our office, which has been in Columbia for 17 years, we are supported by Archadeck’s headquarters in Richmond, Virginia, and affiliated with more than 60 Archadeck offices across the U.S. There are Archadeck offices nearby in Charlotte, Greenville, Atlanta, Asheville, Greensboro and Raleigh. With this experience base, we have seen just about everything, or we can reach out to someone who has seen it.

One of the best things about Archadeck’s headquarters in Richmond is their engineering and drafting department. They have a staff of six people who create drawings and blueprints of each project we do, and who direct us as to technical specifications for all aspects of your project. This depth of experience and technical knowledge can be the difference in hoping something is going to be built properly, and knowing it will be built properly.

• Design Consultants( – What is the sales pitch from two guys in a truck? I bet it goes something like this: “What is it you need me to build?” (You answer with a description of your project.) “OK, I can do that.” Your Archadeck Design Consultant has been trained on structural design, material choices, best pricing options, as well as best use of space. They also offer advice on what not to do based on problems we have run across in the past. The depth of the advice we will provide almost always results in a better project overall than you would come up with on your own.
• Design Center & Office – We have an office at 1427 Gregg Street in downtown Columbia where we work and meet with clients every day. We carry samples of a wide range of products here, and we have pictures of projects we have built. We can work through the details of your project with you in a convenient, quiet environment. And our office staff is always available to answer your questions. Isn’t it comforting that you’ll know where to find us if you need us?
• Professional Staff and Tradesmen – Our staff has over 100 years of combined experience in residential construction and outdoor building. And through 17 years in Columbia we have built a team of tradesmen ranging from carpenters to masons to electricians to painters that consistently meet the high standards of Archadeck. We pay our tradesmen well because we expect a high quality of work from them. When you are hiring two guys in a truck, you take a huge risk as to what type of work they will do. We take that risk off of your shoulders.

Every month we get a call from someone who wants us to finish a project that someone else started – often it’s a guy they found on Craigslist or someone from their church who does this work on the side. Invariably something goes wrong on the project, or the contractor just disappears, and the customer is left with a mess. Often we can’t salvage the work that has already been done, and we have to tear it down and start again. Which essentially answers the question of this story: Why should you pay more for a project designed and built by Archadeck? You pay for the peace of mind of knowing that the job is going to be done right by a builder who will stand behind our work.

Call us today for a personal consultation with one of our designers – there is no charge for this service. Or come by our showroom at 1427 Gregg Street to look at samples and ideas to see what Archadeck can do for you. You can reach us by phone at (803) 784-1566 or via email at centralsc@archadeck.net.