The Best Builders’ Team

As a young man, Todd spent each summer working for his father, restoring heritage-class government buildings. The work ignited a passion in him for thoughtful re-design and high-quality craftsmanship that continues to this day. By the age of 24, Todd had started his own homebuilding company, and in 1994 he acquired his Red Seal certification in carpentry, followed by a certificate in Construction Engineering Technologies.

Even before he finished his Red Seal, Todd was taking on challenges, finishing two large renovations and a brand new home for clients whose builder had left them mid-project. His reputation for being a good carpenter with a knack for seeing a project’s creative possibilities began to grow with his business.

Todd’s first major custom home project was a modern, steel and glass, roughly 8,000 sq. ft. home in West Vancouver. He had framed many traditional Vancouver homes, but this project, with all of its technical challenges, took him to the next level. “The client said, ‘I trust you’,” he recalls, “and that was all I needed. That project gave me the confidence that I could be that builder who could see a way through almost any problem, and who could build homes that were out-of-the-ordinary.”

“I always want a project to tell a story about the person who lives there. For me, that’s the real definition of a custom home – it’s designed and built specifically for the person who lives there and it’s an expression of who they are. We get to know our clients and their families so that we can add the features that will make their home unique.”

As General Manager and co-owner of Best Builders, Jenn has been by her husband, Todd’s, side helping to build the business and raise their family since the company was founded in 1995. Her primary focus has been on the accounting side of the business, but she steps in wherever she’s needed.

Jenn is part of the leadership team directing the company’s growth. The goal is to ensure that all of the systems and processes Best Builders puts in place follow a central organizing principle: they have to contribute to the client relationship. Even the accounting system at Best Builders has been implemented with client relationships in mind, so that the invoices clients receive are easy-to-understand, with all of the supporting documents needed for absolute transparency.

“For us, growth isn’t about increasing the number of projects we build. We find that when we have too many projects in development, it affects our ability to build a strong, personal relationship with each client. Those relationships are what takes a project from ordinary to extraordinary – and that’s the quality of work we’re interested in doing.”

Aiden has been working in the family business since he was 15, but his love for architectural design and carpentry was evident from the moment he was able to pick up a hammer. He acquired his Red Seal certification in 2016, and has gradually worked his way up from labourer to Site Operations Manager, learning every aspect of homebuilding along the way.

One of Aiden’s roles is company troubleshooter – he’s the person we dispatch if there’s an issue to be handled. He starts each morning by talking to the Site Supervisors and ensuring that they have the crew, supplies, and subtrades they need, and he works closely with our Project Manager to handpick the crews for each new client and project. Like all of the Best Builders team, his favourite part of the job is handing clients the key to their new home and seeing the happy look on their faces.

“One of the biggest advantages we have as a company is that we have complete trust in the skills, work ethic, and friendliness of our crews. Homebuilding is a ‘people’ job – you can teach anyone to swing a hammer, but you can’t teach attitude.”

Matt started with Best Builders in 2006, working as an apprentice towards his Red Seal certification. After attaining his Red Seal and spending more than a decade as a skilled carpenter, Matt returned to school to complete studies in project management. He became our organized go-getter behind-the-scenes who tracks project budgets and schedules, communicates constantly with Site Supervisors, obtains quotes, selects the right trades and teams for projects, and visits project sites to assess progress and attend client meetings. Matt makes sure that each of our projects runs as efficiently as possible, that our crews have all the resources they need on a daily basis, and that our clients are receiving superior service.

It’s a big job, but over his career Matt has seen every aspect of the industry – from digging ditches to preparing budgets and schedules for multi-million dollar homes – and it’s this breadth of experience that sets him apart: he’s able to read plans and quickly solve problems based on his experience in the field.

“Building is a passion for everyone at Best Builders and being able to showcase that for our clients is very rewarding. We run a tight business model, but we don’t just fixate on the bottom line – we genuinely care about our clients and team. Being able to work with our crews to bring clients’ dreams to life, and seeing the excitement on their faces throughout the process – it’s the reason I love coming to work each day.”