Construction References

When our offer to purchase a 38-year-old 3-bedroom beach home in Emerald Isle, NC, was accepted in September 2021, we knew we had a diamond in the rough. The home had numerous examples of functional obsolescence, was weathered, neglected, dated, and in some cases, dangerous. But the views! This home sat atop a 2nd row 1/3 acre corner lot hill that overlooked the flood plain and many of the beachfront homes in front of us, with spectacular views of the Atlantic Ocean. You could even see Bogue Sound to the north!

We intended to use the home as a rental property and knew we would have to make some substantial upgrades. Our expectations of construction "at the beach" were low. We expected a relaxed lackadaisical approach with workers "on island time" as we'd often seen on signs and T-shirts. Combine that with supply chain shortages common in 2021, we were skeptical if we could even get a project started before the 2022 summer rental season.

At the recommendation of the listing agent, we arranged to meet with LangFord Builders before we even closed on the house sale. We met at the house with the two principal partners of LangFord - Logan Langley and Chris Vandiford. Chris and Logan attended college together. Logan was the manager/office type with years of corporate construction management experience. Chris was the on-the-ground hands-on type with years of experience in construction on Emerald Isle. We knew their business partnership was a new one, and they seemed like a good combination and foundation for what could be a very successful business.

We talked about our high-level vision of the renovation we wanted to do. Essentially, we wanted to add about a 15' wide addition to the existing 1500 square foot home, adding 2 master bedrooms with private bathrooms, something the existing home lacked. We also wanted a covered ground-level entrance as opposed to the old entrance which was on the 2nd level deck, exposed to the elements. We also wanted to add a pool, something that would be complicated by the fact that the home was so high upon a hill, requiring a massive retaining wall. The septic system was rated for only 3 bedrooms, so that would need to be upgraded. Was this even feasible? How long would this take? How much would it cost? Would the town or county governments stand in the way? How much, if anything, could get done before the 2022 rental season?

The other thing involving design that was relevant is that we asked LangFord, as the overall general contractor, to be responsible for coordination with the pool contractor we had hired separately. We did not want to have to deal with sorting out details between the two parties, especially since we were 3 hours away. Due to the compressed timeline, and the integration challenges with the retaining wall, home addition foundation, and placement of the pool, we knew that someone had to be "in charge" as the project unfolded, so we wrote that into the contract. As for the design, the pool contractor, retaining wall builder, and Chris from LangFord met with us on the site while it was still full of cactuses and brambles. They walked to different parts of the property with a measuring tape, somehow envisioning what only they could see at that time. Marker flags were placed and timelines, prerequisites, and dependencies were discussed by the professionals. They had an agreement and we trusted them, and the rest is history.

When embarking on a renovation project with a contractor, there is always a concern about details. What assumptions were made? Will they nickel-and-dime us over details that we failed to include in the contract? Our experiences with other projects informed us that this is where project costs can run out of control, and relationships can sour. With LangFord, our expectations were far exceeded in this regard. On numerous occasions, if there was a detail not defined, we would hesitantly ask about it, preparing ourselves for the bad news that it was going to cost more or take longer to do it "the right way." Invariably, the answer was, "Of course, we're going to..." followed by the details of how they were already planning to do it not just the right way, but often something even better than we envisioned. This is such a contrast to our other construction projects, where most decision points result in disappointment and more costs because the contractor assumed the easiest or lowest cost option or didn't plan far enough ahead when they estimated the project.

LangFord was also a trusted partner throughout the process. They were transparent about issues and challenges they were having and even shared their schedule with us. We collaborated on detail and design points as the construction progressed. Sometimes we would have ideas, and LangFord would advise on different options or variations. Or they would even say that they would not advise that we do this or that and explain why - which usually was a beach weather-related issue. They would always state that they would do what we wanted, but we took their advice more often than not. We really appreciated this honesty.

We had a few large changes we initiated during the construction phase, including deciding to go forward with the kitchen remodel, replacing a window with a door, adding a window where there was none, and swapping out the carpet for LVP in 2 of the original bedrooms. Not once did LangFord use these changes as excuses for any delays. LangFord went above and beyond in so many cases, entertaining our endless questions and collaborating with us on details.