Kelly Assiff - Partner

Kelly Assiff has been in the building trades for almost 30 years. He has a long list of clients who are so happy with his work that they call him directly, instead of the companies he worked for, when they want additional work. With experience in a wide variety of practices and procedures, he built a record of planning and achieving goals, on time and on budget.t that helps them make the best decisions.

In all his jobs, he developed personal relationships with the clients who came to rely on his managerial skills that produced exceptional quality work with high-quality materials and components, using environmentally responsible practices.  These clients tended to call him directly with their needs, rather than the company he worked for.

Kelly graduated from University of Hawaii at Hilo, having gone through college on a full basketball scholarship (he’s tall!).

After working various jobs, he apprenticed with Michael Murry Carpentry as a cabinetmaker during most of the 1990s, then left to become a carpenter/supervisor at the Hapsmith Company.  There, he worked on all aspects of general construction from pouring concrete to finish carpentry on both residential and commercial projects, supervising personnel and laborers.  At Form Design in the early 2000s, he supervised construction projects and workers, and coordinated schedules and sub-contractors.

From 2005, Mr. Assiff was a project manager at HAS Construction.  He oversaw and directed the construction management team. He communicated directly with designers and subcontractors on project costs, staffing, and scheduling, and prepared project status reports to ensure plans adhered to contract specifications.

George Baral - Partner

George Baral is the rare contractor with quality MBA education. He brings a professional approach to managing a business, along with many years of entrepreneurial experience, primarily as a home inspector and secondarily as a home performance contractor.

After earning his PhD. research in chemistry came to a dead end, he embarked on an entrepreneurial venture that made him realize that he needed to learn business to succeed. So he got an MBA from Stanford, which oriented him towards big business.  After a year with Price Waterhouse, passing the CPA exam with a high score, office politics soured him on accounting and large organizations, so he returned to working for himself.

After trying and failing in several businesses ranging from music video production to promoting a luxury cruise line, he started a home inspection company.  The 1990 recession hit at an inopportune time, wiping him out and leaving him with no more inspector employees or office staff, and a phone that still rang occasionally.  He started doing home inspections himself, and became an expert after about 10 or 15 years.  Currently he is recognized not only as a top home inspector, but also a troubleshooter for construction problems ranging from moisture intrusion and mold to safety hazards and environmental issues.

He started a contract home maintenance company and formed a partnership with a contractor, who turned out to be unethical.  A couple of years later, an architect acquaintance wanted to bring professional business practices into his design/build business, so they formed a partnership. After doing over $1 million in business the first year, the architect and his organization simply could not adopt proper business practices (like using contracts and change orders). The architect turned out to be less-than-competent at construction, and unethical to boot, so Mr. Baral terminated the partnership.

A few years later, Mr. Baral obtained his own contracting license, and started Green Building Solutions, a home performance company.  He became quite knowledgeable about energy efficiency and related construction practices, accumulating numerous credentials along the way.

Johan Trimble - Senior Project Manager

Johan came to this country in 1992 from South Africa and started installing windows and doors in South Central, working on homes that were of significantly lower value than the homes we work on now. The windows were vinyl, and were not insulated or energy efficient.

While doing this, he learned about Milgard windows, which were much higher quality.  Johan started installing them and found there was a lot of work–we were doing a house a day, and about 5 to 6 houses a week, but homes at that time only had 12-15 windows and two doors with the occasional slider.

After a few years on a small crew with Jimmy Nichols Construction, Johan decided to go out on his own.  At the same time, he was offered a job as a code enforcement officer in Lynwood, and there he met his first mentor in the construction business.

He was a great building inspector and code enforcer, and always told Johan that he had unlimited potential in this business. He gave me a depth of knowledge about building homes that few people ever get.

 

Johan left the code enforcement position after his mentor died, and took a job at FH Passion doing warranty work for the companies doing the sound proofing work around the airport (LAX).  He got the opportunity to work with Milgard again but this time with their Sound-Proof line, and worked with them from 1999 to 2005. Working with them, Johan learned the importance of the “small things” when installing doors and windows. He also found that he loved working on bigger and more expensive homes.

While working with the airports, Johan met his second mentor who was probably the greatest builder he has known—Charlie DiAugistino.  He took Johan under his wing and taught him the art of building a house from basement to the roof.  He taught Johan how to deal with inspectors from beginning to end.  How to build homes on the beach.  How to properly waterproof window and door installations.  How to remove and remediate mold.  How to ensure doors and windows were properly hung and set. He taught Johan his philosophy to take a look at what you are about to do, think about it, formulate a plan and take your time, so you only have to do it once.

He told Johan that he had a gift: the understanding of how to install doors and windows correctly, and the ability to solve construction problems creatively in a way that most people could not do.

With that encouragement, Johan built a few large homes by himself on the beach.  While building his last house, he was introduced to Neil Singleton, who is a master in fireplace installation.  Neil invited Johan to work with him installing custom fireplaces, and it was a tremendous learning experience.  He started creating fireplaces that were works of art.

When the market crashed in 2008, the demand for custom fireplaces dried up, but his high-end clients started asking for windows and doors. Soon, Kelly’s company began working with me on their luxury projects.  After Kelly set out on his own with his new partner, they invited Johan to work with them, and the rest is history.

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dream together!