How to: Get your Home Energy Rated
by Sean | Jul 30, 2013 | How-To Video Series, Our How To Videos
Read MoreEasy Ways To Green Your Home
by Sean | Jul 25, 2013 | Building Green, Green Building
Green building, where new homes are built using materials that conserve energy and environmental resources, is one of the fastest-growing segments of the home building industry today. But for the owners of the millions of existing homes in the United States, remodeling is the only way to incorporate green.
NAHB Remodelers offers the following suggestions to home owners who want to increase their home’s efficiency, decrease costs, and take advantage of the other benefits that green offers:
1. Install maximum insulation.
Forty percent of the energy consumed in a typical house goes to heating and cooling. Adding insulation is an easy way to increase efficiency. Insulation is rated by its ability to resist heat flow, known as “R-value.” The higher the R-value, the more effectively the insulation resists heat flow. Adding insulation will help save energy costs, increase comfort by better controlling temperature, and improve indoor air quality by eliminating gaps through which dirt, dust, and other impurities can enter.
2. Install high-efficiency windows.
Read MoreDr and Mrs Chu
by Sean | Jul 22, 2013 | What Customers Are Saying
We needed a top notch team to do this renovation smoothly from long distance and Living Stone delivered in spades. We are thrilled with our results and glad we trusted Living Stone with our home. Many thanks to Sean, Frank and the Living Stone Team. Luis and Nikki Chu
Read MoreJim and Susan Jones
by Sean | Jul 22, 2013 | What Customers Are Saying
We chose Living Stone because of Sean but we love Living Stone because of their team. Molly, Matt, Pam, John, Frank, Laura and our main man Mike! Mike drives our home’s construction, can answer any question at a level you can understand and is a pleasure to work with. Mike Bates who is, as far as Susan and I are concerned, is a national treasure! Mike has been a rockstar throughout the construction of our home with Living Stone. He is that rare individual who combines awesome technical skill (he knows every sub’s job as well as they do) with great communication skills, an immense passion for each of his projects and unflappable calm. If this description sounds over the top I was just thinking it doesn’t come close to praising him enough. Laura, with ID.ology, organizes and improves all of our design decisions, gives us inspiration and keeps everything on track. Sean, it is a credit to you that you have surrounded yourself with so many truly good people. We are having a ball! Jim and Susan Jones
Read More
Testimonials
We are so appreciative that Living Stone reached out to your clients and friends to offer restoration services to our WNC communities impacted by Hurricane Helene. We wanted to take this opportunity to let you know how grateful we are that we chose Living Stone to help us restore our Black Mountain townhome. We couldn’t be happier with the process and progress thus far, from our initial meeting with Mike to see what repairs were needed… to our call with Justin for an estimate of the work… to our conversation with Alfred to review the comprehensive estimate… to our initial meeting with Chuck and everything he has done since to move things along flawlessly with our restoration… to our beautiful fireplace surround and mantle that Michael Blackstone built. We feel blessed that Chuck was assigned as our project manager, as we have had a great collaboration with him. His demeanor is personable, but straight forward. He is extremely accessible, either onsite or via text/phone to provide scheduling updates, answer our questions, offer suggestions, provide feedback on design selections, and discuss next steps. He made a great suggestion to reclaim the unused space under our stairs as storage space. Chuck is also very proactive, quietly working behind the scenes to make things happen seamlessly. He is committed to providing us with a high-quality restoration project while keeping our budget in mind. We already knew that Living Stone has an excellent reputation as a builder, but we are equally impressed by how much you give back to the community. That’s a large part of the reason we selected you to help us with our restoration. You have definitely exceeded our expectations thus far, and we know we will be very happy with our home once the restoration is complete. Although there is still work to do, we wanted to give you some preliminary feedback on how pleased we are to be working with Chuck and the entire Living Stone team. We are delighted to call ourselves Living Stone customers!
Lisa and Juan
We are thrilled with our green built home designed and built especially for us by Living Stone Construction. The care they took in choosing materials and using sustainable building practices are allowing us to enjoy excellent air quality inside our home while we realize amazing savings on our energy bills.
Carol and Warren Strittmatter
Living Stone Construction, and ID.ology Interior Design, were a pleasure to work with throughout all facets of our project. They were integral during our design stage and handled our fast-track schedule like true professionals. It is so rare to work with people who don’t make excuses or point fingers – Living Stone Construction and ID.ology are comprised of those rare people.
Brendan Hoyer
This house is absolutely amazing. It is everything I ever wanted in a home. I have not found one flaw in my house built by Living Stone; everything is done to perfection. Everything.
Christine Dowd
With Sean and Laura’s design-and-build business model, we knew exactly what was going on. It was helpful as far as keeping us on point for the amount we’d budgeted for each part of the house. It was very transparent and reasonable to me, more so than with other builders. We knew what we were getting.
Sarah Watkins
To do a project this size over that amount of time and when you come to the end of it, you’re still friends – that says a lot about the builder. It says that they delivered what you expected.
Joe Parks
Sean doesn’t want you to move in unless everything is absolutely perfect,” she said. “He just has to have everything perfect. And I like everything perfect as well. We were a match made in heaven.
Christine Dowd
Sean Sullivan and his group are the most professional and pleasant builders I have the had the pleasure of working with. They go to great lengths to determine what their customers want (and their budget requirements). Then they do everything possible to “under sell and over deliver”. Sean is an exceptional builder that delivers an exceptional home.
Gary Thompson
Living Stone’s trade partners were some of the best subcontractors I’ve worked with. It was very much a family unit.
Betsy Edwards
Over the last 10 years, time has not marked the home – nothing on the inside has needed re-staining, and nothing on the outside has needed re-painting. It’s been very minimal for the yearly things you would think you had to do. We don’t have a list of repair people because we haven’t needed them.
Peggy Scheu
The building supervision was good. The communication was good. We didn’t have any problems with the billing. There really weren’t any surprises. It was really easy, which is almost unheard of in a construction situation.
Bill Scheu
He does things right for the sake of doing them right and that was the impression we got with every facet of our experience with Living Stone. That made us just be able to trust them and trust their system.
Carol Strittmatter
They have a process that is thoroughly thought out, thoroughly vetted and thoroughly effective. The process from start to finish was totally transparent and the bottom line was that it was a fun process and not a stressful process.
Dr. Warren Strittmatter
I was impressed with the emphasis on high quality construction, energy efficiency and an aging in place concept. If you choose LSC and ID.ology you’ll have the piece of mind that you’ve chosen the best.
David Borr
Sean and Frank have done excellent work in the community and have a great reputation so there was no where else we would go but to them when it was time to build our new home.
Daren Pinkerton
I couldn’t be more pleased. Michael and I feel like we are on vacation, everytime we walk into the kitchen. Frank and all the crew has really made this project go smoothly, and I can’t thank Living Stone enough.
Paula Bruder
We chose Living Stone because of Sean but we love Living Stone because of their team. Molly, Pam, Frank, Laura and our main man Mike! Mike drives our home’s construction, can answer any question at a level you can understand and is a pleasure to work with. Laura organizes and improves all of our design decisions, gives us inspiration and keeps everything on track. Sean, it is a credit to you that you have surrounded yourself with so many truly good people.
Jim Jones
I have to comment on everyone’s integrity. Everyone has been of the highest caliber and truly made us feel like they care about us as people, our satisfaction and that we are getting a home, not just a house. I rate every aspect of this process, every member of this team and every subcontractor, an A plus!
Bonnie Holstein
Design+build is an outstanding approach and the implementation of it was just amazing. We had very high expectations based on Sean’s reputation and what we had seen. And they were exceeded.
George Ackerman
We found Sean to be a man of his word, honorable and he takes such pride in his work.
Cheryl Levine
The process of design+build and creating something that is so energy efficient is a miracle to me. Sean has a way of putting things together so that we get the product that we want and then he puts together the quality product that he knows he can build.
Dr. Steve Levine
I don’t know why someone would not choose Living Stone to build their home. It is such a polished production that gives you a polished complete finish. You have no doubt that the product you have is the house you dreamed of!
Rich Sefcik
We built this home from a remote location so we had to put a lot of faith in Frank the Superintendent, Sean of Living Stone, and Laura the designer, to make sure they were building this home to our specifications and to meet our needs. Frankly I have to admit I was extremely impressed. I don’t think they missed anything and they exceeded our expectations.
Mitch Marecki
It’s special, it’s wonderful and I keep pinching myself because I cannot believe that this is our home. Living Stone Construction, headed by Sean Sullivan more than met our expectations. They hit a grand slam out of the ball park. This house is amazing!
Stanlee Stahl
Design/Build is an outstanding approach and the implementation of it was just amazing. We had very high expectations based on Sean’s reputation and what we had seen…and they were exceeded.
George Ackerman
Your integrity, skill, kindness and warmth shows in your words as well as your actions. We are and will forever be grateful to have worked with such an amazing group of people. Being part of the Living Stone family is our blessing. Thank you.
Jan Sefcik
I think the relationship will go beyond the build process and I think that says a lot about Sean and the team he has put together.
Stanlee Stahl
The energy efficiency of the house has made it very comfortable through some very extreme weather and our energy bills have been remarkably low. The energy star rating of the home has really paid off. Truly, I haven’t had energy costs this low in 20 years.
Gary Holstein
Sean has the rare quality of being able to see the big picture while being engaged in the fine details of his projects combined with the ability to effectively and efficiently communicate both in a way that not only gets the job done but gets it done with a commitment to excellence that has enabled him to be a leader among his building industry peers across North Carolina. I have known Sean for close to 10 years and have a great professional and personal admiration of his work and character.
Frank Wiesner
Sean’s knowledge of building practices and principles, conceptually and practically, really impressed me. I eventually saw his work in person and was blown away by the craftsmanship. He is a TRUE craftsman — no cookie cutter work here. The houses he builds are incredible — the floorplans are well thought out, and the details are really special.
Stefanie Beierschmitt
Sean is detailed, honest and conducts himself and his company with character and integrity. Fantastic and loyal employees. I’ve known and worked with Sean for over 7 years, highly recommend.
Dan Collier
Sean builds an outstanding product as evidenced by the many awards and accolades he has received.
Gary Hill
The Living Stone team are unmatched in what they do. We are so grateful to get to be part of their team and look forward to bigger and better things to come.
Tildon Whiteside
We have enjoyed our relationship with Sean and Living Stone Construction thru the years. They have an excellent eye for detail and are enjoyable to work with.
Marcus Duarte
The Living Stone Construction Design/Build team, are the best in the area. I have been in, and around, the building and real estate industry throughout my life and I have never met a builder that has as much integrity, passion for what he does, care for his clients and the motivation to always exceed expectations, drive to continue learning and honing his skills and techniques to offer his clients the best. Anyone who hires Living Stone Construction will not be disappointed and will have the home of their dreams!
Laura K. Sullivan
I have known Sean for many years and can say with out a doubt he has the highest degree of professionalism, attention to detail and desire to provide a spectacular customer service experience I have ever seen.
Brian Polofsky
Sean has an extremely professional TEAM who supported my clients initially and now throughout the process. He builds trust and it is deserved — Sean has high standards for himself and that is obvious in how he does business.
Stefanie Beierschmitt
I have built or renovated 5 homes and completed tens of millions of dollars of commercial construction. Sean is the most professional, knowledgeable, honest, organized residential builders it has been my pleasure to know. He recently completed our custom home in the Settings of Black Mountain and exceeded our expectations in every way. From his staff to his sub contractors, excellence is practiced every day.
Jim Jones
From a professional standpoint Sean Sullivan with Living Stone Construction goes above and beyond to make sure his clients as well as the general public and colleagues are as educated as possible with building homes in the mountains.
Holly Ray
Simply awesome company !!!! If your looking for the best, you need not look any further. Custom built quality homes and fantastic folks who care about you and your new home! Living Stone Construction you are the BEST!
Tom Fink
Sean Sullivan’s team of builders are top notch. They converted a small residential building into a arts n crafts commercial masterpiece.. With over 2,000 sq ft of addition; everything looks as if it’s been here since day one. I highly recommend Sean and his team of experts.
Kyle Wright
The process of design/build and creating something that is so energy efficient is a miracle to me. Sean has a way of putting things together so that we get the product that we want and then he puts together the quality product that he knows he can build.
Dr. Steven Levine
Sean is the most organized manager I have encountered. I would match his management skills against any of the Managing Directors of the Fortune 500 Company that I worked with in project management, financial planning, and negotiations. He expects and demands the best from his employees, as do Living Stone’s clients. He is a true leader. Pam Potter
Pam Potter
From the beginning, Sean was a great listener, offered ideas and introduced us to his team. We have been extremely happy with everything that has been done so far. We anticipate the building phase with great joy! A top professional for sure.
Ednamae Fisher
Having worked together on an award winning home, I found Sean and his team to be attentive to the quality of construction, committed to incorporating sustainable building practices and materials, and thorough in tracking costs. He was very willing to work with my team during the construction process which provided the best level of service to our client. Sean is a builder that I recommend highly.
Amy Conner-Murphy, AIA
LSC was a pleasure to work with throughout our remodeling project. Frank worked diligently to meet our deadline for completion of late January, despite snow and ice. Their ability to deliver a quality product in a timely manner while still being able to adapt to unforeseen circumstances was greatly appreciated.
Ronnie Seals
Building with Living Stone Construction gave us a sense of comfort, with ongoing confidence and trust that the job would be done well!
Cheryle Sullivan
We love our home. In addition to building a quality home, Sean is honest, responsive, a pleasure to work with. He really makes the entire process flow quite comfortably. Living out of state when we had our home built was initially cause for some concern for us. Sean and the superintendent of our project were in constant communication with us, letting us know well in advance when decision points were approaching. And the weekly pictures were wonderful. I wouldn’t have been able to cope without them. Probably the best comment I could make is that if we were to build again, we’d use Sean again in a heartbeat
Dr. Matthew Kraus
Sean Sullivan’s skills and experience exemplify superlative leadership in business and construction. His commitment to doing the right thing and being focused on the best interests of his customers is always clear. The consummate professional, Sean’s strong relationships with the many disciplines within the trade establish him as one the best go-to contractors in the business!
Travis Childs, Senior VP First Citizens Bank
Living Stone did a fantastic job on our mountain house. They far exceeded our expectations and always kept us informed throughout the entire job. Their crew are real craftsmen- from carpenters to painters, they were professional in every way. If you want a beautiful and well-done job, these are the guys. We highly recommend them, so if you have bad experiences in the past, call Sean and deal with a real pro
Marie Tanner, owner and Interior Designer