SIDNEY — “In 2021, we faced many challenges but the demand from consumers was not one of them. Luckily, we were able to combat most of the issues thrown at our industry. Material pricing and shortages stand out as our biggest hurdles. We implemented an in-house design team in 2020 that allowed us to stay ahead of materials and selection issues,” said Sean Rank, member, D&S Construction.
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The process of building a custom home with D&S Construction starts with a lot of discussions with customers about selections and styles they prefer. Our inhouse design team works with clients to make all selections first. Our project coordinator/purchaser & estimator then works to pull together the pricing. Once everything is packaged up, we can get contracts signed and pull permits. This preplanning allows us to order materials earlier in the construction process and keep up with the long lead times we faced this past year and anticipate facing in the coming years. This also allows us to know exactly what is going into every home and how it gets installed before we even start. Considering all of the supply chain issues and materials pricing increases we saw this year, I couldn’t imagine how 2021 would have looked for our new homes and remodels without that preplanning.
We added two positions to our office team in 2021 with the hiring of a design intern and a project coordinator/purchaser. Both have allowed the design team and construction team to succeed. These positions are crucial for customer communication and overall satisfaction throughout our customers’ journeys.
The biggest news of 2021 was our location change! The D&S Construction office moved to 1121 Milligan Court in Sidney. The building was vacant and perfect for the remodel we had planned. Our new focus on design and selections required us to rethink our office functionality and construction space. We needed more offices, more meeting spaces, and most importantly a design show room. We were also able to secure the 3 acres of adjacent land for future expansion.
The Western Ohio Home Builders Association Parage of Homes was able to return to Sidney/Shelby County again in 2021. We were blessed to start this tradition back up in 2020 with one home in Sidney for the show. Most of the homes were South in Piqua, Troy, and Tipp City. We had a lot of fun and so did those that toured the show. For the 2021 parade, D&S Construction showcased two custom homes in the show; Eisenhardt Homes from Anna had one as well. Going from zero for many years, to one, then three is amazing. Hopefully we can continue to build on this tradition and get other local builders to join the HBA and the Parade of Homes.
We want to thank everyone who supported us and other local builders. We appreciate you understanding the challenges we faced, and we look forward to serving you in 2022. We also want to thank you for voting us the best home builder by Sidney Daily News readers for the last four years. Lastly, we need to thank our team of office and field crews for going above and beyond in 2021
