My Story
Early years as a Framer
I've always been interested and involved in housing. My high school summer jobs were on construction sites. After a one year stint in college, I made the decision to fully commit to a career building houses. As a young carpenter, framing houses, I quickly learned the processes. I've had the pleasure of working for and with some highly skilled people. I remember days when I was a fresh "kid" on the job and as I was the only one there who could read plans and do layout, when my boss left, I was in charge to keep the build moving. Learning to get respect from older, more experienced men was a challenge in the beginning. And these were the day before everyone had a cell phone to get help if needed. But I learned how to figure things out, how to improvise, how to keep a project moving forward. I made mistakes, but learned and grew. I stayed with my first boss for 12 years, as he aged, we shifted into a role on some condo projects, him as the site supervisor, me as the do everything guy. I did every job possible on a big site, rough carpentry and finishing, clean-up, I unlocked doors in the morning and locked them all up at the end of the day, I ran equipment, I dealt with the continuous city and engineering inspections, and I met a lot of new home owners as we fixed all the little deficiencies that pop up in new construction. The project schedule was typical to fully complete 2 units every week, so there was always something to do.
Mid years as a contract Carpenter
After work on the condo projects slowed down, a contact in the industry connected me with a builder who was looking for a layout framer to run his crew. My love of efficiency got a lot of projects completed accurately and quickly. I bounced around a bit working for a few builders doing all kinds of jobs. My vast knowledge of the entire construction process landed me quite a few roles as the onsite project manager, but usually unofficially. It was always, find Jason, if there were any questions or issues from subtrades on a project. I was often framing the house, doing the siding and then inside for the finishing carpentry, maybe some hardwood floors or cabinet install, so I'd be onsite for most of a project. As time went on, I shifted away from the rough work and did a stint as a finish carpenter. I love the high degree of accuracy needed and I did some amazing projects in some of Vancouver's richest neighborhoods'.
End years as a Project Manager
Towards the end of my carpentry years, I shifted to mostly doing project management. BC Housing brought in requirements that all licensed builder need annual training to maintain their license. I volunteered to be the one to take the training for my builder. As the program was in its infancy, there were many shortcomings in the classes. Hundreds of hours were taken for me to achieve my first designation. CHBA Certified Building Professional. I enjoyed the process, so added the CHBA Certified Renovation Professional. Not satisfied, I achieved the full CHBA Master Residential Builder. I continue to take courses annually both to maintain my license and for personal growth. After 30 years in the industry, I figured its time I go my own way, besides several of my builders were up in age and they were retiring. Timberstone Fine Homes was born!
Future as owner of Timberstone Fine Homes
With 35 years on construction sites, I've seen what works, what doesn't work, what used to work, and what could work in the future. I attend seminars/watch webcasts on new products and systems. Tomorrows home is better than everything we've seen. Building code continues to evolve, to improve. Insulation requirements continue to increase. Net Zero ready homes are only a few years away from being a requirement, and I'm learning everything I can to build amazing homes. I also know everyone has a budget, and every one of my jobs is built to one. And I don't hide my numbers, your budget is always available to view, to see the effect any changes will make to the bottom line. Every client is unique and has unique needs and wants in their home, some want cutting edge technology, some the latest finishes, some love highly efficient homes, but everyone wants a comfortable home. And Timberstone Fine Homes is your one stop builder for your unique needs and wants and budget. Lets sit down and discuss your new home!
Jason Cullum