Newsletter February 1999

1999 National Builder's Show

I traveled to Dallas again, this time accompanied by my son Andy, who works for a fine builder in Milwaukee. We attended several seminars on quality and customer service. We learned that we are on the right track with our operations. By the way...96% of our surveyed 1998 customers would recommend us to their friends.

One of the new products we saw was a very strong, molded plastic window well to be used on level lots where larger, daylight or egress windows are desired. We hope to try it this year. Our whole team chuckled when they found that we were also excited about a tiny 50 cent item --- a special door hinge bumper to eliminate dents in steel doors.

Quality Marks

When entering our model homes, look for the new QualityMark™ signs. We include many items of quality and value that most other builders do not and thought it would be helpful to distinguish our many quality features in this way. Just a few of these features are:

	Custom Cabinets by Valley Cabinets
	Corian® Countertops in Kitchen
	All Kohler® plumbing fixtures
	Pre-Wiring for Sound
	"The Silent Floor System"®
	Category-5 telephone wire
	Sound insulation in the bath walls
	Timer switches on all bath fans
	And...23 more items

Come and see them for yourself.

Call Us First!

We encourage our homeowners to call us with technical questions even after the builder’s warranty period has expired. When a homeowner moves, we introduce ourselves to the new owner and explain this policy on our part. We feel our involvement with every Andrew Home we build is forever and we keep the home on a permanent mailing list.

When a homeowner calls us to ask for maintenance advice or for the name of someone they can hire to fix a problem in their 2 or 5 or 7 year old house, we try to be helpful. Sometimes we even send our service manager out to the home to consult.

In addition, it is not unusual for us to volunteer to fix the out-of-warranty item at our own expense if we feel we didn’t build the home right the first time.

"We can‘t thank you enough for your professionalism, and personal service that you gave us in building our new home...we experienced nothing but the "best" treatment a customer could ask for. We‘ve never worked with so many nice people...all first rate-service and quality. I would highly recommend Andrew Homes to anyone building a custom home. We are truly happy with ours."

-John and Bessie Taylor, Homeowners

Ranch-Styel Homeplans

While specializing in 2 story homes, we have always built a few one-story homes for customers each year. Now we are pursuing the ranch houseplan market in earnest and have just completed our first model. Located in Neenah’s Whitetail Subdivision, it sold before completion but will be available for viewing until our closing in June.

Having three bedrooms and both a great-room and den, its size is 2,200 square feet. We hope you’ll come to see the soaring ceilings and interesting windows. We plan a larger ranch model in north Appleton later this spring. We are beginning to see the demographics show increasing numbers of empty-nesters. This makes the need for higher quality one-story homes even greater for those who no longer need two-stories and want even more quality in design and materials.

Parade and Home Show Schedule

Here is just a short list of the Parades and Home Shows that we will be part of in the upcoming months. You may contact us for more information.

Trip to Spain

My wife, Kathy, and I visited our daughter, Barbara, in Seville just before Christmas. Majoring in International Marketing at Madison, Barbara just completed one semester of study abroad. We had a very pleasant visit with Barbara as our private tour guide. She has taken 7 years of Spanish language in high school and college. Staying in the historic district, I enjoyed seeing beautifully constructed buildings aging gracefully.

While flying into and out of the Seville and Madrid airports, I noticed how much of the housing stock seems to be apartments rather than single family homes. We visited the family that Barbara lived with and were struck with how tiny the apartment seemed by US standards.

New Backus Residence

Every 24 years, Kathy and I move. This time limit is up and we are constructing a new residence. What an interesting experience --- to be an Andrew Homes customer!

Located on the Westhaven Golf Course in Oshkosh, our move will be to a ¾ acre wooded lot just 200 feet down the street from our current house. Our houseplan is a custom variation of the Windsor--- one of our larger, more dramatic model home plans. Our experience in finding a standard plan we liked and then making major changes to reflect our own lifestyle is what many of my customers go through each year. My wife, Kathy, has been a great partner in this endeavor and many of the good ideas have been hers.

The new house has nearly 5,000 square feet with several truly wonderful spaces. A two-story family room measuring 20 by 35 feet; a library with 10-foot high walls and a vaulted ceiling (our son Andy is building us one of those tall library ladders); a large kitchen with beamed ceiling; master bedroom with sitting area and private porch. You must see Kathy’s master bath with the big soaking tub.

We plan to have an open house when the house is completed in early April. If you are on our mailing list, we will send you an invitation. If you are not yet on the list just call us. I would love to show you some of our design ideas.

 "I thought Len and I would kill each other if we ever built a home together. I have been pleasantly surprised at how easy the process of building has been. Len says he is treating me with the same patience and open mind that he would any one of his Andrew Homes customers. Hey this is all right! Maybe we should build a new house every year."

-Kathy Backus, Soon-to-be Andrew Homeowner 

Andrew Homes on CD?

We are currently producing an interactive CD-ROM. The CD, which is similar to our website, features many of our floorplans. On the CD, with a single click you can view, in color, the beautifully furnished interior rooms of some of our homes, with none of the load time of the Internet. The CD will be available at our Parades and Home Shows, or call us, and we’ll send you one.

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