Hey Jake, how's everything going? We finally live in our home - just moved in Labor Day! It's wonderful to live here. Somewhat surreal also. I still have a ton of things to finish on it, but we're in and it's great. I have always found you and your approach to your work to be intelligent, mindful, efficient, thorough, courteous, collaborative and professional. I'm happy to tell anyone who asks. Thank you, Jeff
Everything looks great. You’ve developed a good team and I can tell that you’ve been honing your process over the years.
We love the house and wouldn’t build with anything but ICF’S. The two things that amaze us most about that house are how quiet it is and how stable the temperature and humidity is.
Jake was the concrete specialty contractor on my ICF home, the 2nd LEED-H Platinum house in Michigan. I worked with Jake and his R-Value crew as the least-skilled part of the contractor's (Hybrid Homes) team, and can attest to the skill and effort that they brought to the job. I have a complete slide-show of the construction process.
Jake, Yeah, this time of year, passive solar shows its worth, as the sun will heat the house up into the mid to upper 70s (I never find out how hot, since Faye opens windows and doors at around 76 degrees). At night, the honeycomb shades slow heat loss so that we end up heating for fewer hours through the nights. And the overhangs prevent overheating from May through August, so it's a comfortable house.
Jake and his crew did all of the concrete flat work, icf's from footings to trusses and the rough framing of our home. Jake was a great communicator, extremely knowledgeable, detail oriented, honest and fast. He achieved everything that we agreed on before the start of the project - the work to be completed, the time frame and the price. Jake resolved all obstacles that presented themselves in the course of the project quickly and to my satisfaction. If I were to do it all over again I would definitely hire Jake to do every part of the project that he was interested in.
R-Value was a major subcontractor on a project of mine (I am a general contractor). This was a 4,000SF custom home new-build. R-Value provided ICF foundation, flatwork, framing and deck construction on the project. All of their work was excellent . Jake is highly experienced, well organized and a man of his word. The project was relatively detailed and a bit unique, and not surprisingly there were a few unexpected twists along the way. Jake and I were always able to agreeably sort out the implications on work flow, cost, etc. The end result was a beautiful, well constructed and efficient new home for the homeowner. R-Value had a significant, positive impact on this result and I fully expect to hire them again. PS - If you have not used ICF foundations before, I can just say that I love them because, in my opinion, they provide a highly insulated and "tight" building envelope, sound insulation from exterior noise and better engineered foundation wall system.
Walls look awesome! Thank you so much. Not sure we'll know how to frame on such square walls? 
It's wonderful to live in our home (even though much work remains for me to complete on it). Our energy bills are lower on this house than on our old home which is 1/2 the size and sits vacant Thank you.
Jake has worked on numerous homes that I have designed. He is one of the most knowledgeable ICF contractors I know. I had a chance in 2007 to help build a home I designed and Jake was the ICF contractor on the project, while on this project I learn more from him about ICF construction than anyone else in the industry. I would highly recommend him as your go to source for anything to do with ICF construction.
Jake, Yalanda and I want to let you know how impressed we are with you and your crew. Your work ethic is to be commended! Thank you for your labor and excellent craftsmanship. Yalanda told me that the garage pour has been put off until next Monday. Sorry that we will miss that. Would have really like to see how you accomplish the slope needed for proper drainage out of the garage since no flow drains are allowed. No need to explain… Thanks again for working with us.
Jake, I didn't properly thank you. The driveway and stairs are spectacular. Thanks.
I have done several projects with RValue homes, dating back to 2007 up to our current project. Jake's (RValue's) professionalism and knowledge of ICF construction is second to none in Michigan. His block selection, timeliness and attention to detail ensure a quality project. If ICF is in your future, RValue should be as well.
I really don't think it matters nearly as much when you start building with ICFs. We started in the middle of December 2008 during some pretty heavy snow storms. We were dried in by the end of January, and that included lumber delays caused by the bankruptcy and closing of a major lumber distributor. We had three 50 degree days in a row in February and were able to shingle the roof, which was a very cut up design. I spoke with the couple earlier this week and they have yet to turn the heat on--it is still in the 70's in the house.
We are pretty settled in the ICF home which you had a great hand in building. If I were to build another home, I would choose ICF all over again. Just as a matter of perspective, we have officially lived in the home since last October. We have had a chance to go through an entire year and learn about its temperature retaining and stabilizing characteristics. Here are a couple: 1. Regarding AC, we almost never turn it on. I would say it is on about 12 days in the last year. 2. Regarding heat, we have established ourselves on a budget system with the local natural gas provider. Our heating bill is $67 per month. I was thrilled with this as our home as you know is a sprawling ranch with a full 9 foot basement and about 4000 square feet per floor. 3. Although not directly related to the characteristics of ICF, all our lighting is LED. This helps keep our electrical costs low also. So for all this I thank you.
Hi again Jake. Our experience working with you was very pleasant and we love the house. We were there in November for a month and lost power for a couple of days. We used a generator to run the basics but did not use it for the geothermal system. Even with no heat the temperature in the house only went down about 2 degrees over the two day period. It was very comfortable and we were thrilled.
Jake, I consider the experience of building my first ICF (Insulated Concrete Form) home extremely positive. In this component of home building, literally foundational, the fundamental aspects such as: plumb, square, timely, well planned, quality, all impact not only the overall quality of the home, but the ability to build upon this figurative and physical foundation. There is no down side. Cost, home performance, efficiency, longevity and quality are top of the line. To ensure all the qualities described above are incorporated in what is actually a complex and highly technical endeavor, I would again select R-Value as the ICF contractor of choice. Bottom line, I would do it all again in a heartbeat. In the meantime I look forward to enjoying all the benefits inherent to ICF construction and its many livability advantages.
Jake has always been my go to guy when I need an experienced ICF installer. I have complete confidence that Jake will deliver when he takes on a project. The job will be done right and on time. He cares about the quality of his buildings and it's clearly evident that his experience will save the owner money but no short cuts will be taken if workmanship is sacrificed.
We had done a 2 story addition on our house with a full basement. R-Value Homes installed ICF walls for all of the exterior walls. They also installed the basement floor, an underground root cellar, the framing for the sub floors, interior walls and roof, and the window installation. They were professional, reliable, thorough and accurate in the estimates and billing, and provided great workmanship. Working with Jake and R-Value was easy and I highly recommend him.
Jake and his crew work in a professional and trustworthy manner. In my dealing with Jake, I can count on his honesty and attention to budget and time schedules. When installing our products I am confident that Jake will do things with a high degree of accuracy and follow design details thoroughly. He invest in education for himself and his team so they can continue to improve their skills, while providing added value to each customer that chooses to work with R Value Homes.
