S5, E7: Building a Home From a Distance

SEASON SIX, EPISODE SEVEN PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

KELLY: It's actually almost even better than I originally envisioned. Now that I've seen the windows go in it's actually even better than I thought it was going to be. 

We chose the property based on where it was situated and some of the views that we wanted. So I had this idea in my head, based on the property, that my husband and I could kind of live on the first floor and that would sort of be our floor, if you will, with the kitchen, living and dining room. Then the downstairs was really going to be for all of our guests. And our kids are at the point where they're going off to college now, and so we wanted it to be a place where everybody would come home for the holidays and we could all be together as a family and invite friends. 

INTRO: Welcome to The Art of Custom from Hibbs Homes. In this episode, we are talking about long-distance relationships with your builder. Our client, Kelly Day, joins us to discuss the process of building her vacation Dream Home remotely along with the help of designer, Lydia Huffman with LH Designs. Enjoy! 

KIM: How do you know when you've met? Well the right one, the right builder, designer, and architect team, that is. 

If you're a longtime listener of the show, you know that we often compare the builder/client relationship to a marriage. We've done it many times, but one of the things we haven't had a chance to dive into is what is it like when that relationship is a long-distance one? 

KIM: Melody, I got to tell you, I feel like this is some sort of dating game we're getting ready to talk about. 

MELODY: I mean, it kind of is, isn't it? 

KIM: Well, especially when, when our client - who will hear from soon - kind of said that. 

MELODY: Yeah, she did. And, interestingly enough, she's not a podcast listener and she still brought it up.

KIM: Well, she is in the entertainment industry, 

MELODY: She is and she's a fantastic interview too. She had a lot of really great information to share.

KIM: We've had clients on the show  a few different times over our six seasons, and I have to say that Kelly was absolutely the best client interview we've ever had. 

MELODY: And you know what? It's really interesting that she's building from across the country. 

KIM: And that's what we're going to talk about in this episode.

MELODY: Exactly. And we have a lot of people who are hesitant to build from afar if they're relocating to a new area, and a lot of people call in with a lot of questions and so I thought maybe this is a good time to dive into that because people are making some of those big cross country moves and she's doing it with such finesse. 

KIM: Since the pandemic we've talked about how the demographics are shifting as far as where people are living in relation to where they're working. Many more people are working remotely, and I think that's kind of what started us talking about this a little bit over the past few years. 

We have several projects going in the Park City area, and aside from a small handful every one of those clients is somehow out of state and managing their build remotely. So when you came to me and said, what do you think about a podcast on building from afar - long distance relationships in your dream home. You notice how I work the title in there? 

MELODY: I like that!

KIM: Anyway when you came to me and said, what do you think about that? I was like, perfect topic because so many people are going through it right now. And whether you're building in Florida, whether you're building in California, it makes no difference. If you have a long-distance relationship with your builder and with your designer, we hope this episode is going to be helpful.

MELODY: I think it definitely will be and we actually get to hear from the designer who's on the project as well. 

KIM: It is one of our favorites. 

MELODY: Yes she is a longtime friend of the show, as I like to say.

KIM: Yes, Lydia Huffman with LH design. And then our client is from the East Coast, her name is Kelly Day. Kelly and Matt are building their vacation home right now in Park City. But you'll hear during the interview that their long-term goal is to make that their permanent residence. 

MELODY: Take it away. 

KIM: [00:03:47] Kelly and Lydia, thank you so much for joining us. We greatly appreciate it. 

Kelly, tell me a little bit about why you decided to build in Park City and kind of what prompted the whole thing. 

KIM: Yeah, well I mean we had been vacationing as a family - my husband and I and our kids - really since before we were even married. So we've been going to Park City as a family for about 20 years. We just love the environment there. We love to ski. We love spending time there in the summer. 

Over the years, once we got married and had kids and the kids grew up, our ideas about what we would do in terms of real estate in Park City, kind of changed over the years. I think what really prompted us to move forward with building our house was when we finally decided that this was the place that we were going to retire.

Obviously we weren’t in that mindset 20 years ago when we started the journey, but after spending all these years there we just decided that. When we thought about where we wanted to spend the back half of our lives, that was the place for us because of the great outdoor environment and just really active culture of the community, and it’s a really sentimental and kind of special place for us.

Once we decided that that's what we wanted to do then it was like, okay, well I'm going to build the house that I want to live in, for the rest of my life. And so then it became obviously much more personal and more special.

KIM: Have you built before? 

KELLY: Not a custom home, no. We've had two other experiences working with builders. Both of which we went in and bought spec homes, but not at the phase where we were buying the land and hiring the architect. So this was a new experience for us.

KIM: So let's bring Lydia into the conversation here, and I'll ask you first, Kelly, why did you feel like a designer was important to this particular project? 

KELLY: Well, I think being a designer is critically important. There’s a lot of things that I definitely don't know about designing and building a house. Although Lydia would probably attest that I certainly have a lot of opinions about it even if I don't always know what the heck I'm doing. 

Yeah, we had a lot of ideas. I had Pinterest boards and Houzz boards and ideas that I had for the house, but I needed a partner who actually knew how to bring those things to life, right? I needed someone who had the experience to be able to take what was my picture on a Pinterest board and actually turn it into reality and kind of guide us through making the choices. It was great that we got connected actually through Kim to Lydia. We've now been working together on this for over a year and it's been a really great, rewarding experience. 

KIM: So Lydia not only is Kelly building from a long distance, but in a way you are too because you're based in Seattle. Talk a little bit about the importance of a designer, from your perspective, when working with custom clients. 

LYDIA: Absolutely, I appreciate that. I loved Kelly's words where she said it's a critical element and so that validates that we're really important. I think where our value is for a builder and a client is truly the systems. And if we don't have systems in place then it won't be beneficial to anybody else involved. 

So I love the fact that Hibbs introduced us to the Day Family, and then right off the bat it was the builder, client, and design team all moving forward with the Day's vision together at the same time in an organized format. 

So for us - and we love our work outside of the greater Seattle area - it's all about the process, the systems, and probably the fundamental is communication and how that communication takes place and transfers back to the builders, and your vendors, and your trades to make sure their vision happens the way they wish for it too. 

KIM: And it's interesting you bring up communication because that's one of our core 

values. That's one of the things that we really strive to provide to our clients. To take this a little bit more full circle, one of the things that we, as builders, enjoy about the relationship is when we're putting together a budget we want to make sure that our budgets are accurate. And if we have the designer working with the client up front, it helps make sure that when we're populating our budget with the selections - whether it's cabinetry, flooring, whatever - that we are putting in the appropriate number. 

So, Lydia, how do most clients find you when it comes to design? Is it the builder who introduces you or do you have people that find you through your website? 

LYDIA: I think it's probably a 50/50 thing. Our referrals from our builders is greatly appreciated and is probably the most efficient because you as a builder already validate to the clients that we are the design team, that we are the best fit for them because you sense that up front. So we really appreciate that. 

If and when a client is finding or sourcing us through our website or other social media avenues, it's still positive but it just ends up being more of an extensive process as a whole to help make sure that they believe - the client - we're a good fit. We either help them find a builder or they already kind of have one off in the wings ready to go 

KIM: Kelly, I'll ask you the same question. As someone who lives on the East Coast and, you're building on the west coast. How did you start your search for a builder and then what would you say to people who are looking to find a builder? What are the best ways to get connected?

KELLY: We started our search mostly through our real estate agent, so we had actually acquired the piece of land. We knew the community that we wanted to build in, which was Sky Ridge at Park City, and we had a real estate agent that we had been working with. She was great at introducing us to different people in Park City. And then we complemented that with doing honestly a lot of online research. I tend to follow on Instagram a lot of builders and designers from around Park City. 

So I had some sense of different players in the market and who is doing what. And I would go to my real estate agent and say, oh, have you heard of this person? What do you think of their work, their reputation? And then finally, when we were really ready to pull the trigger, we just went out to Park City and spent a few days meeting people, interviewing people. 

Because one of the things that I really thought about when we were beginning this process is that I knew that it was going to be two plus years. I set my expectations up front that this is going to take a couple of years. And so this is someone that you're going to have a relationship with for years. It's not a transaction, it's a partnership. You're going to be in this together for a while. So it was really important to build a personal connection. 

You have to get along and build trust and feel like you have that natural communication because there are bumps along the way. There are things along the way that I think - to be expected - it doesn't always go perfectly smoothly. And so I think you really just want to pick partners - builder, designer - that you feel like we can be friends with because that that's what you're signing up for 

KIM: And I think trust is another key word. You have to pick somebody not only that you can develop a friendship with, but you also have to trust them because it is such a long process. There's so many important decisions and there's a lot of money at stake. So you have to be able to trust the partnership that you're getting involved with. 

And we tell our clients the same thing. I know Lydia does as well. So, this relationship that we've all developed has been really special. I think we all work together exceptionally well. Lydia has an awesome team. We have an awesome team. And I hope that you would agree that it's all going very well. 

So, I want to talk specifically about your home, your original vision. And then, as we're just about about to go to insulation and drywall, is that vision coming true? Has it changed at all?

KELLY: It's actually almost even better than I originally envisioned. Now that I've seen the windows go in it's actually even better than I thought it was going to be. 

We chose the property based on where it was situated and some of the views that we wanted. So I had this idea in my head, based on the property, that my husband and I could kind of live on the first floor and that would sort of be our floor, if you will, with the kitchen, living and dining room. Then the downstairs was really going to be for all of our guests. And our kids are at the point where they're going off to college now, and so we wanted it to be a place where everybody would come home for the holidays and we could all be together as a family and invite friends. 

So I had an idea in my head of how the house was going to be laid out and imagining everyone coming and how we would spend time together around the table. And now that it looks like a real house now and it has windows, and you can stand in it and see the view and see the rooms, it is even better than I actually thought it was going to be like. Now I'm so excited for it to actually be done because it just looks amazing. 

KIM: Were you concerned about the design process and having to build from afar? 

KELLY: No. Honestly, it didn't occur to me to be concerned to be honest because we're all kind of digital natives at this point. My job is very online if you will, and so I'm used to living my whole life through Zoom and the internet and email and texting, etc. So that kind of communication is extremely natural to me. It really didn't worry me at all. 

I think that the main thing that we were looking for is trust but also that really solid communication. I am probably a little bit more of a Type A personality and I like the details. I like fast answers. I like to be on top of things and I always want to know where everything is and when the next thing is happening.

I'm probably a little bit more uptight about those things than maybe other people are, but it was fine. I think having that peace of mind and having the visibility into, okay, here's what's going to come next. Here's how long it's going to take. I actually think it manages expectations better because when I know, oh that's not going to actually happen until December then I'm not even thinking about it, it's not even in my head. 

I'm like okay that's not happening until December, so I'm just going to worry about the things that need to happen right now. What are the decisions that we need to make right now? What are the selections that need to happen? Things that are going to happen in December or January or three or four months from now? I'll cross that bridge when we get to those. So having that And having that communication, I think is not only good to just maintain the communication flow, but it actually gives you peace of mind so that you don't have to worry about the things that aren't relevant right now.

KIM: So Lydia, that's going to bring you back into the conversation because first of all Kelly wasn't concerned at all about making selections which is terrific. You've used the word process a couple of times, I have to believe that your process and your ability to schedule really is something that makes or breaks a project like this. 

LYDIA: Absolutely. For us, designing remotely is exactly the same. The steps that we take with our clients and builders are identical state to state. There is no difference for us. And when we vary from that process or that path, or that journey, that's when things don't go as well. 

So when we were hired by Kelly, because Hibbs introduced us the thing is we did know something about Kelly. So we scheduled a vision meeting via that digital native approach and there have been times throughout this process where we're Zooming in four different time zones. But every time I would hang up from those Zooms, I would go check, check, done, done because Kelly is very clear about her expectations and we have a process and hopefully always meet the expectations of the clients and Hibbs. 

For us, there just is no difference. We have a checklist, so once we have that Vision Meeting with our clients, we begin to schedule appointments in a synchronized format. And for us it was meeting Kelly in Utah and working with Hibbs Homes’ vendors and trades and just going through the steps sequence by sequence. So, by the time we got to the interiors Kelly already knew what aluminum looked like. I already knew what our appliances look like. I mean, we have these things sequentially done and then we just got to dive into the fun stuff. And she has great taste! None of our clients have bad taste, but we love working with Kelly's creative and enthusiastic personality and he's very hands-on. 

If you've watched any of our social media on Instagram, her dining room is now her personal showroom of her new home, and it's such fun to see and this helps. And when Kelly was talking about her home, their home, and that it's actually better than she expected I got serious goosebumps. 

KIM: Yeah, I did too. 

LYDIA: I can tell how excited Kelly and her family are about her house just when she did a video of her dining room for us to show us all her parts and pieces. 

KIM: It's interesting because you mentioned meetings in four time zones, we are recording this right now in three different time zones. So technology isn't as bad as maybe it's made out to be after the pandemic. 

But Lydia, talk a little bit about what some of the other technologies you use to help your clients. 

LYDIA: Kelly's way ahead of me and I surround myself with really smart people. So it's my team that kind of takes our technology to the next level. It is drawings. Kelly will put together amazing, Chris border. Hey team, what do you think of these ideas and then we gather and think and then we Rod up for her or if she wants to change the hood color, or she wants to change your wallpaper my team because they're so gosh-darn talented. They can immediately put that into a format so Kelly can get a vision. So she can then say, Okay Lydia done done, check check, we made that decision. Move on. 

KIM: Kelly you, do you believe that with this technology and some of the visions that Lydia and her team are sharing with you, you can get the true look and feel of what it's going to look like, ultimately? 

KELLY: I can. They put together really nice presentations where, essentially, they lay out all the selections room by room and it's all itemized. And once I get that document, it does show a nice board, room by room of what everything looks like. And then I just complement that with my own research. So they'll send a list of what each of the materials are, and I will go on the manufacturer's website and look at more detailed pictures. 

Lydia mentioned my dining room is like my design showroom. I've ordered a zillion samples, so they pick all the hardware selections and the tile and everything and I order samples of all of them and have them sent to the house. Then I can look at them in real life and say, okay, this is what this handle looks like on this type of wood and with this fabric on the drapes or in some cases you can just go to a local showrooms 

KIM: Lydia, I know there's a lot of project management software that you guys use and design software you use. We also are using construction software that helps Kelly keep up to date with selections. We have her go into our software once Lydia has turned in a design that is ready to be selected. We have Kelly sign off on it so we then send a purchase order to our vendors. So it's very organized. It's a great tool. We can record all the communication back and forth. 

If we ever have a question we can go back and research and look at it. We also shared our construction schedule with Kelly there. So she knows where we are with the project. But project management software and just managing the project is so important especially at this level and especially with some of the decisions that have to be made. 

Lydia, I would have to believe that you and your team also are relying on different software systems that help with all of this. 

LYDIA: Absolutely, and because of the number of builders that we work with everybody uses something different BuilderTrend, CoConstruct, whatever we don't overthink that but it is definitely a tool in our box that helps us better manage our time with the clients and for the builders. 

My favorite thing in the whole wide world is on sidewalks. So yes, we travel to Utah we have a very productive day and last time we were with Kelly on the job site and Hibbs and involve their subs and this 7-hour a day on the job sites, with all the amazing people. And that is how you get the feel of the home and you get to where Kelly and Hibbs are today on that project. 

So if at all possible, I prefer to be on the job site versus digital. But at the same time, each builder uses a different software and I know CoConstruct is accessible to us. I just try to give it to him and let Hibbs put it in the right places for our plans. 

KIM: Kelly, what do you remember about that very busy time when you visited Park City recently and we had all of our trades there and you spent a couple of days on site with the trades? And how do you think that relates to the success of a project like this? 

KELLY: Well, first, I would agree that software like CoConstruct is super helpful. I mean, it's just really easy. You guys put things in, I pull it up super fast. Look at it, approve it. So that's been an awesome communication tool but I do think when you're building a home from afar, you really have to bake into the schedule certain times when you can go and spend time at the house. Because it is pretty hard, unless you're standing there in the room looking at things and really get a sense of proportions and how you think it's going to look. So we try to carve out certain trips every so often. We made sure during key milestones that we were able to get there. And I think that it's really, really important. 

The last time we were there was right after the house was framed so it was really the first time that we could see the proportions of the room. You could really stand in it and get a feel for. oh, this is about how big it's really going to be. You can look at it on the plans, but it's kind of hard to visualize until you stand in it for the first time. It was great. 

As soon as we walked in the door, we went, first let's walk through and do this or that. We got a bunch of plumbing decisions made. We got electrical decisions made. We looked at HVAC. And in some cases we found places where we had to change some things. We had to change some of the measurements on a few of the cabinets. And our cabinet partner was there right on site measuring and saying, okay, here's what we can do. We made some really quick on-the-fly decisions that I think definitely saved us some headaches later. 

There were a couple places where we thought we were going to make certain choices and then we looked at it and said, I don't think that's exactly the way we thought. So let's not do that. I thought it was really efficient. 

A lot of things happened in a very short period of time and we walked away with some really tangible action items so it was good. 

KIM: Yeah, I think it's key for those building a far to reach to you say, bacon to your schedule making sure you're planning three, maybe even four, maybe even more if you need it. Trips to the job site to meet with the team and with your designer and with the subcontractors because it's critical that you're there to put your eyes on it. 

But we talked about technology, if you can't be there our superintendents try to take photos and videos, occasionally and post them so Kelly can see what's going on. I know with some clients that is what is needed. We've also done FaceTime, so you can get real-time information on what's going on to make decisions. So just from a technology standpoint, that's something to think about as well. 

We've talked for a while greatly appreciated, ladies, maybe a final piece of advice, if you're building from afar. 

KELLY: I think it's being really honest, you have to be not afraid to say, I don't really like that. And have that open, honest communication, because I think, at least from my perspective, it's my home, and it's the place that Matt and I are going to live in. It has to be super comfortable for us. It is a big investment as you say and it's one that hopefully we're going to live in for a long, long, long time. And every decision we make feels personal to us. 

Creating an open and honest environment is really, really important and you guys have enabled that, and you guys have created that feedback mechanism. I know when I say things that you listen and you understand, and never try to push us into making decisions that we are not comfortable with. 

KIM: When you're building a custom home, it is your home. Lydia, final word?

LYDIA: Well, I have more than one word but I appreciate it. Kelly saying that having a designer is critical - I think it's absolutely a must for any custom home and that is not about driving my business. That is in support and respect of first the homeowner and second the builder. 

And so many of us are good at, oh, I love the look of this but what is the critical path? How does the builder know how to implement that? What is the specification on that piece of tile? That's why I believe that designers are incredibly important, especially the process that LH Design has in place because I know it's going to get implemented correctly because I'm working with Kelly and I'm working with Hibbs Homes. I know Kelly is going to get the house that she and her family wish for. 

KIM: That's the ultimate goal for everybody that's involved: Put that team together and build that dream home and make everybody happy. Kelly and Lydia, I cannot thank you enough for sharing your experience and sharing your time because I know you're both extremely busy. Thank you so much to both of you for spending a few minutes with us today. We appreciate it. 

KIM: Kelly's, awesome. We've been together many times out in Park City. Obviously, during the project, I had a chance to go to have a really nice, sit-down dinner with Matt and Kelly and Amy, who's our general manager. They're just such wonderful, warm, friendly people. We're just thrilled to be working with them. 

I hope this has given our listeners a chance to understand a little bit better how the process can be a successful process if you have the right team together. 

MELODY: What was really interesting to me was she was talking about the construction schedule and how really she needed it. The whole process is so overwhelming for someone, especially if you're coming to it for the first time and her response, oh I can chunk out what I'm thinking about it. I know that that's a future deadline. I was like, oh yeah, that makes a lot of sense that it would create a sense of comfort, and not so much overwhelm with the process. 

KIM: We created a little bit of angst because we did not get it to her as quickly as she wanted. But that brings up a point though, every client has a little bit of a different priority. For some clients, they don't know or need to know what the schedule is because our superintendents update them every week on what happened the week before, what's coming up the week, are we on schedule. 

But Kelly mentioned she's Type A personality, which, I’m totally A and we get along great. I have type A as well. So when I really understood why she needed that schedule, it made sense.  We can share different levels of our schedule too. We can give Kelly more of the Gantt view with everything, which is what we allowed her to see, and then some clients just want that very simple, high-level milestone schedule. 

So, talk with your Builder. And that's the beauty of a custom home - there's not a one size fits all when it comes to the design or how you communicate with clients, what you share with the clients. Kelly brought this up. It's really what she needed and what she and Matt needed for this build. That's what I think everybody should learn and talk to your builder about what's right for you and your family during this project, right?

MELODY: And we have some clients who are not as comfortable with technology and so, for them, getting a text message with a video walkthrough or photos is much more helpful. Whereas someone very tech-savvy is going to be comfortable going into CoConstruct and seeing those photos uploaded and know what they're looking at a little bit more. 

KIM: It really is amazing with the use of technology how much easier it's made the process for everyone. The fact that if a very important decision needs to be made and if you need to share real time video, you jump on FaceTime or something similar, and you can show the client what the issue is or what the decision is and you can make it right away. 

I know the technology has gotten invasive with the 24/7 responses and communication, but if you look at it from a productive standpoint, it really has made building from afar much easier. So we can communicate with our clients and get some pretty important decisions made. 

MELODY: So I guess my takeaway from this is when you're building something long distance that you want to check on your builders, AV, check out their website. Ask what they're using and dig into whether they are using a program like CoConstruct or how have they managed it in the past. Because somebody who maybe doesn't have the most slick website may not be quite as comfortable, right? 

KIM: But you know what? That might be okay for some people as well, right? They might be okay with a phone call:  the builder calls me periodically, here's what I need from my builder. So those are great questions to ask though. Make sure you understand how they're going to communicate with you and figure out if it is the appropriate way for you. Because, as we’ve found, most people are tech savvy and they want instantaneous communication and various forms of communication. Having that project management software available to them, 24/7, makes this so much easier. 

MELODY: And from the perspective of a client, if you're walking into the project, I'm not going to be thinking about everything during the day while I'm trying to work on my creative work for Hibbs Home, right? So my thoughts are going to come in the evening and that's not the right time to reach out to the building team because they're working during the day. I'd be sitting watching Wheel Of Fortune or something and getting an idea of what I'd want to do, that would be the time to go through CoConstruct or a similar tool and leave a message so that you're not having it get lost, maybe in their personal texts. 

Number two, making sure that it's not just a text to that one person but to the whole team. I know our designers, and some of our trades will even see whatever comments or thoughts you have if you use CoConstruct 

KIM: Or BuilderTrend, there are a lot of different software programs out there, just talk to your builder. This really is just to help everyone understand the industry and help everyone understand what builders go through because most custom builders have several projects going on. And they all have superintendents who are running those projects. The one thing hat I know from our perspective is work-life balance is extremely important for the Hibbs team and we try to make sure that our team members aren't overwhelmed with messages after hours. 

That's the beauty of having the CoConstruct or BuilderTrend or a Ressio - or all these other software programs that are out there. You can communicate with your builder during off hours and it does not disturb them. When they come in the next morning, it's there. The communication is recorded within the software, so it's always there.

KIM: My takeaway, I was so thrilled to hear Kelly say the project is actually turning out better than she expected. I think the connection that we all made here with this long distance relationship has really been a good one between the Hibbs team, and Kelly and Matt, and Lydia and her team. And we’ve developed a really nice, very good relationship. We enjoy each other's company. We work very hard and we're halfway through, we're just about to go to insulation and drywall. 

So we're halfway through the project and next spring, Kelly and Matt will have their beautiful new home to move into. Lydia and the Hibbs team will be forever grateful to have worked with them and so thrilled to have been able to deliver their dream home and everything that they were hoping for and then some some. We made that connection. 

MELODY: I am going to put up some links on our show notes because you can follow along with the build too. It's just such a neat project. And the communication tools that Lydia is using with Kelly, they tell a great story about the house. She has to tell the house story to the owner and so we've been able to take some of that communication and put it on our website so that other folks can follow along with it.I'm going to link to the project page and you can get an idea of how they're sharing their ideas from one coast to another, 

KIM: I understand you have a new way for our listeners to communicate with us. Communication. One of the key words we talked about during this episode and it's one of our core values. So how do our listeners communicate with us?

MELODY: Well, we have an email address. It is podcast at hibbs homes.com. We will be manning that constantly. A lot of times with the phone things would get lost and so we are 

KIM: That’s old technology. You're talking about a landline phone, too, aren't you?

MELODY: I thought maybe some of our folks would appreciate reaching out with the email. I think email makes it easier.

KIM: We are very sincere when we say that we welcome our listeners to ask questions or ask for advice or ask for guidance because the purpose of the podcast, sixth seasons strong now, is to try to make the custom building process easier and more enjoyable for everyone. 

KIM: Whatever we can do to help you. Make sure you do communicate with us at podcast at hibbshomes.com. Okay. We're getting toward the end of our season 6, which is a little bit sad. 

I know that a few episodes ago, we did a deep dive into insulation because we build high-performance homes and the wall assemblies and the windows insulation are extremely important and so coming up on our next episode we're going to kind of stay inside the house a little bit and start focusing back on some of the high-performance features that go into homebuilding. 

MELODY: Yeah, we're going to talk about HVAC and air quality, which we've touched on in several episodes. But getting down to the nuts and bolts, if you will, of how.

KIM: We need to because, Melody, there are so many different options out there and you don't want to leave it up to your builder. Not that the builder is going to do something wrong, but you want to be involved in the decision and you want to be able to make some decisions on how you want that house to perform for you, and what is the most important component of the HVAC system and indoor air quality. This is where I will geek out a little bit because I love talking about insulation and HVAC packages and the wall assemblies. But we do we feel that - especially with our listeners who know we build high-performance homes - we want them to understand the importance of that HVAC system 

MELODY: We are actually in the process of planning season seven and talking about future episodes. If you want to email us with questions, or something that you'd like to hear or topics, I think that's great I'm all ears. 

KIM: They could use the new mail address, the podcast at Hibbs homes.com, and email us what topics you would like us to cover for season seven. 

Thanks everyone. We really hope you enjoyed this episode. We really hope that you could feel the sincerity of Kelly Day and Lydia Huffman. It's been an awesome project. That's the way custom home building should be. We hope everyone is having the same experience or will have the same experience if you decide to build your custom dream home. 

And just know we're always here to help you. And we hope you join us for the next episode of The Art of Custom. 

OUTRO: [00:39:26] For more information visit www.artofcustompodcast.com or find us on Facebook and Linkedin as The Art of Custom. Be sure to subscribe to get the latest episodes and please rate and review. The Art of Custom is produced by HugMonster sound with original music by Adam Frick-Verdeen. Thanks for listening.