Our Company Story

“The Way We Do Things Around Here”

In the late 1980’s our company was building new homes in the Des Moines area.  Our main thrust was building executive homes and we also participated in a couple of home shows.  Within our new homes company, we operated a small remodeling and restoration division.  In both arenas, customer communication and satisfaction were of utmost importance.  Honesty, integrity, excellent customer relations, competitive pricing, delivering a quality product, and maintaining an admirable reputation in the community were among the earmarks of our company.

The satisfaction that came from remodeling and restoring homes in the Des Moines area from that small division came full circle during the flood of 1993.  The course of events that followed the Des Moines Iowa flood made it clear to us that that our small remodeling division needed to expand; shortly after that expansion, remodeling and restoration became our main focus. 

The threads of high standards permeate our company.  Toward the end of one remodeling project, one customer was having a phone conversation with a friend.  Hearing the construction noise in the background, our customer’s friend questioned how in the world she could stand being around “those construction types” all day, with all of the swearing, smoking, and rude behavior that comes with them.  Our customer replied,” I don’t know if any of them smoke, and I haven’t heard a bad word, except maybe my own; since they started this project, they have been complete gentlemen.”

Communication with our customers is an integral part of every job. When someone suffers a major loss, such as a fire, good communication is needed all the more.  One such incident happened to a family very early one morning.  As the family was going about the usual day’s routine, their young adult daughter who lived in the lower level of their home was just finishing her shower when she noticed a smoke smell.  She ran upstairs and warned her dad of the smell.  He proceeded to tell everyone to get out of the house; they did, using the front door.  As he went to the lower level of their home to investigate where the smoke smell was coming from, he opened the laundry room door and flames shot out at him.  The flames headed towards the oxygen source at the front door.  He escaped by using the back door, even though the flames had followed that path also.  Needless to say, by the time the fire was put out, they had lost everything they owned and cherished, including most of the structure of their home.  We met with this family and discussed some optional ways to put their home back together that would include some additional things that they had wanted to do for a long time.  This customer later shared with us that our compassion towards them and our willingness to make a bad situation result in such a positive outcome were the main factors in hiring our company.

That’s what we’re all about here at Firstcall…practicing high standards and maintaining a good reputation as we give our customers a positive remodeling experience.