August 2008
----------NEWS RELEASE----------
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CONTACT: Michael or Lisa Viola
(917) 319-5955
CONSTRUCTION COMPANY GOES GREEN AS IT GROWS
As Michael and Lisa Viola seek to grow their business, CADD Construction, Inc., they are seizing the opportunity to also go “green” in the process.
Michael Viola, the president of the Fair Haven business, said going “green” means more energy efficiency for the client and makes for a safer home.
For instance, he is using shredded clothing for insulation, which he said is formaldehyde-free. He uses paints with less toxic fumes than their predecessors.
He has turned to bamboo for some floors, which he noted is a very renewable resource, and when he is ripping up hardwood floors in a building being torn down, he will salvage that wood for reuse in another project. In addition, he encourages the installation of solar panels to provide energy for a house.
“The idea is to make the home healthy and safe for the family,” he said.
Adds Lisa: “It’s not more expensive. It’s just that people don’t know their options.”
Michael Viola founded the company in 2003 after working as a carpenter for 10 years. His wife, the chief financial officer, came aboard when they got married two years ago this August. She brought 13 years of working with figures in advertising and finance firms in New York to the job and was vice president of finance for an advertising agency, Mindshare, when she joined CADD.
“When Michael and I decided to work together, I left my job,” she explained.
“Working together has been great,” she added.
Michael Viola said CADD Construction, Inc., is a “design-build” business. The letters CADD stand for Computer Aided Design and Development.
“Basically, he said, “ ‘design-build’ is the process of going into a conversation with the client and asking them what direction they want to go in and being able to give them ideas of different design possibilities – structurally and also interior design – and then being able to provide them drawings of whatever the compilation of our ideas is that are submittable for a permit if they choose to go without an architect.”
Viola said he uses a computer-aided design program called AutoCAD™.
“We use the exact same program that most architects are using, “ he said. “In most cases the homeowner is able to submit the plans we provide.”
Up until now, Viola had limited his work to residential properties and did additions and renovations. Now he’s branching out into building new houses and taking on commercial work. He particularly likes doing remodels and takes special pride in his ability to see what’s possible on a job and to bring a client’s vision to life.
Lisa Viola said her husband’s ability to envision what’s possible was extraordinary.
“Michael will look at a house where I can’t see the potential, and Michael will know what needs to be done and see it as either an investment or the perfect home for someone,” she said. “Investors want him to come and see a house and tell them what can be done, whether as an investment property or a high end custom home, and how much it would cost.”
Their own home serves as a showcase for Michael Viola’s work. It was so run down when they moved in, that Lisa Viola cried. But her husband assured her that he would have it in good shape in about six months. And he did.
He gutted the house, knocked down walls and rebuilt from the ground up. He put down oak flooring, hand made all the cabinets for the kitchen, remodeled the bathrooms, built a corner mantle with bookshelves over a vent-free gas-burning fireplace and installed detailed moldings throughout.
They are about to start the process all over again with a house they have bought in Belmar that’s only two blocks from the beach.
Michael Viola said it takes from six months to a year to remodel houses of 1,500 to 3,000 square feet. He said he delivers a finished product to a client, calling on the services of a network he has of architects, financial institutions, licensed plumbers, licensed electricians and other trades people he uses
“Besides the work I would do myself, I would manage all the other contractors,” he explained. “That’s called construction management.”
“The customer wouldn’t need to hire anybody else,” he said, but him.
Lisa Viola said her husband also can make modular homes look like custom homes by adding porches, sunrooms or any other detail the client wants.
“Depending on what the client’s needs are,” she said, “we can hold the hands of clients from the beginning, when they don’t even have ideas of what they want yet, to the very end.”
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