Why Choose Cheney Builders

Shaun Cheney - Owner - Cheney Builders

Design Build Firm

We are a Design Build firm. If you do not already have an architect or draftsman of your own we can give you a quote to design your home and coordinate the remainder of the Construction Document Process. We will write up a CDS “Construction Document Service” agreement which will describe the work we will do to help you obtain a set of permitted plans for you to start construction. We have found that by helping with the pre-construction phases we can save the owner time and money. As a contractor we are able to help value engineer the design of your home because we know the costs during construction. 

Experienced Fire Rebuild Contractor

We have rebuild several homes in the area that have burned throughout the years. We have experience building with ICF Block, which is a fire resistant block. ICF Block is made with recycled polystyrene, cement and a bit of glue. These blocks look like an oversize CMU block but are less dense and lighter. They are still filled with rebar and concrete the same as a CMU block would be. The blocks act as forms and carry their own insulation value. We also have experience building homes with Steel. These two building materials might add a bit more cost to your project but there are other ways to build a fire resistant home that do not add much cost to your home but can significantly reduce the odds of your home catching fire. Some of those methods include fire resistant vents, eliminating exposed lumber or using heavy timber instead of small light timber if exposed lumber is needed for the design, closing soffit areas, using cement board facia, choosing a fire resistant roofing material…If you decide you would like us to design your home we can give you accurate costs for these upgrades before you start building.

Local

We focus our work in the Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. Because we are a local contractor we have experience working with local building agencies in both the cities and counties of Santa Barbara and Ventura. Many homeowners will find this to be valuable because each city and county has its own way of doing things. We have become familiar with their requirements and processes which helps both the planning and building process.