In his two decades in the construction industry— serving as a union electrician for a large portion of that time—Keith Blose has found himself in many chaotic situations where organization was not always top of mind. Too often he has been on job sites where the project was segregated, and different trades or departments were not aware of what the others were doing.  

He finally found the stability and collaborative environment he was craving five years ago when he joined Amiano & Son Design-Build, which has been beautifying homes with custom kitchen and bath renovations and additions since 1968.

“At Amiano, everyone knows what everybody else is doing because we work together as one  whole team,” he says. “You don’t see a family business thrive for 50 years very often anymore. [Owners] Lou and Wendy Amiano put a lot of hours and hard work into this and they have a great business to work for. They’re very successful at what they do and the procedures they put into place allow them to succeed.”

As soon as a customer signs a contract with Amiano & Son until the final hammer is swung, the entire team is on the same page. That includes not only the sales department, designers and production crews, but also the finance professionals and office personnel. The courtesy extends to the homeowners as well, as they are kept up-to-date through every step of the process.

 “Communication is the biggest part of any renovation or construction project,” Blose says. “If you don’t have good communication, you’re not doing your job correctly. As a company, as an individual, that is key. That can be the difference between being a successful company or not.”

With that in mind, Amiano & Son stresses the importance of getting the project off on the right foot with a pre-construction meeting. Blose—who serves as production manager and oversees all of the company’s project managers—runs  the meeting with the homeowners. Also present are the designer and the project manager who is assigned to the job.

The pre-construction meeting ideally takes place about one month before the job starts.

“It’s extremely important and sets the tone for the job,” Blose says. “I thank the client for choosing us and it gives me an opportunity to formally introduce myself and the project manager. We tell them how we’re going to protect their home, explain in detail what to expect and give them a chance to ask any questions.”

It is during the pre-construction meeting when the homeowner should point out any valuable items that need to be protected during the renovation, such as artwork or a family heirloom. Blose also confirms the schedule as agreed upon in the contract, discusses warranties and prepares them for the disruption to their everyday routines. “A renovation can be stressful,” he says. “We try to make it has hassle-free as possible for the homeowner. There are so many layers to a pre-construction meeting, but once we go from the beginning to the end of this meeting,  they know what to expect so we don’t see many frustrated homeowners.”

The communication continues throughout the duration of the project. Several years ago, Amiano & Son adopted Buildertrend, a cloud-based,  construction management software program, and that tool has made the process even more streamlined.

 “It allows us to monitor the jobs without having to be on-site at all times,” Blose says. “We also used to have set weekly meetings with the homeowners, but it could be difficult for them to attend because they were taking care of their children or dealing with hectic schedules. Now we take pictures of each phase of the project and upload them to Buildertrend so they can be updated on the progress. Our entire company  also has access, so everybody knows what’s going on in every project, every single day—not just the project manager and myself.”

During his time with the company, Blose has learned how crucial these procedures are because Amiano & Son has such high standards to live up to in terms of quality of work and customer satisfaction. When the project is completed and homeowners are left with an expanded and updated kitchen or spa-level master bathroom, they are grateful for the experience.

 “Believe it or not, the feedback is amazing,” he says. “Even toward the end when the homeowner is getting tired of dealing with a big renovation, by the time we’re out all the clients are ecstatic. The end product is always magazine worthy at Amiano & Son.”

Amiano & Son Design-Build
1637 Route 206 | Tabernacle, N.J. | (609) 268-5923 | AmianoAndSon.com

Published (and copyrighted) in House & Home, Volume 21, Issue 3 (October 2020). 
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