Bruce McGuire knows the costs of homebuilding.
With years of experience working for some of the largest homebuilders in the country, he’s seen subcontractors cringe at callbacks, the blanket term for having to return to a job and do re-work after it’s complete, often without additional compensation.
Indeed, rule of thumb holds that callbacks cost as much as 2% of a builder’s total sales revenue, plus $500 per home in administrative costs to oversee warranty work.
Over the course of McGuire’s career, a recurring issue over callbacks surfaced when water lines developed leaks subsequent to installation, often after other trades came on the job.
“One of the biggest problems was when someone would nick a line after the fact and we had a leak,” McGuire recalls. “The subs were afraid to say anything about it, because the builders were so gung ho about assigning blame and taking money back from them.”
So when he launched American Lifestyle Homes, LLC in the highly desirable Portland, Ore., market, he vowed we would do things differently at his homebuilding company.
“I know that I can’t build these homes without my trade partners, and the men and women who actually help me get it done,” McGuire says. “I hold them accountable, and they perform to a high standard for me. But I also want to do everything I can to help them avoid mistakes, or fix them quickly when they happen – because mistakes do happen on a jobsite.”
Since smart home features such as thermostats, lighting and outlets had already become standard in his homes and those of his competitors, he wondered if he could offer buyers an element that hasn’t yet become the norm in new homes – to differentiate his product.
“I thought to myself, it would be nice if there was something that would shut the water off to the house automatically during construction,” McGuire says.
Researching what was on the market for smart home leak detection systems, McGuire found reactive systems that alerted users after a large amount of water had leaked, and others that could help home owners track their water usage per individual fixture, set conservation goals and turn their water off remotely via the app.
Courtesy Moen
When he found an option that did all of the above, but also constantly monitored flow characteristics, pressure and temperature in real-time, while checking for micro leaks anywhere in the water supply line and shut the system down if it detected anything unusual, he knew he had his solution.
“Now, I don’t have problems when somebody nicks a line and fails to tell me,” McGuire says. “I know there is a problem within the home because the water shuts off at the Flo by Moen device. Having that indication, we then know not to move forward until we find the leak.”
McGuire now offers smart home leak detection as a standard option in his homes. A Lexis Nexis study of 2,306 homes found that one year following installation of the Flo by Moen Smart Water Security System, homes saw a 96% decrease in paid water leak insurance claims, while claim costs decreased 72%. That means homes with these kinds of systems had less water-related damage, and when it did occur, it cost a lot less to fix.
The Flo by Moen system typically saves McGuire’s home owners an average of $15 a month on insurance, while allowing them to monitor their own water use and save even more on utilities over the life of ownership. And it’s an option that sets his homes apart from the competition.
“It saves me time and money, it saves my trade partners time and money, and it protects my home owners,” McGuire says. “I think it should be installed in every home.”
To learn more about smart home solutions that can prevent water damage visit Flo by Moen.