When an Amish Construction Crew Renovated My House (and what it taught me about project management)

Finding contractors during COVID was impossible. Like, completely impossible. So when I needed to renovate my house, I had to get creative.

Enter my Amish construction crew – and boy, did they teach me some lessons about quality work and sticking to your values.

Renovation in progress: demolishing bathroom + breaking through wall

What started as just adding a master suite turned into a full-blown home transformation:

• All new windows

• Metal roof installation

• French doors to the deck

• Complete lighting update

• New cedar shake exterior

• Shaker-style interior doors

Large wooden roof frames unloaded by hand!

Here's where it gets interesting...

Working with an Amish crew meant some, let's say, unique situations:

• Cash only – but don't even try handing it over on Sundays! (True story: I showed up with $20,000 in cash one Sunday and they wouldn't touch it. Not even touch it.)

• No power tools. Everything done by hand.

• Community comes first – if someone needs help raising a barn, that's where they'll be.

Roofers securing underlayment

Amish builder installing wooden framing on roof

Rethinking My Project Management Game

I've managed construction projects for 30+ years, but this one made me completely overhaul my approach:

1. Basic Amenities? Not So Basic

The Amish don't use electricity at home. Try planning modern lighting and electrical systems with someone who's never plugged in a phone! We had to get creative with every system in the house.

2. Nothing Assumed, Everything Discussed

Usually, contractors know the standard features of a modern home. Here? We walked through every single detail. Every. Single. One.

Finished bathroom with handmade wooden cabinets and a rustic sliding barn door

3. Flexible Timeline? More Like a Rubber Band

Your subcontractor might disappear for a few days to help build a neighbor's house. And you know what? That's just how it works. I learned to roll with it.

But here's what really hit me...

These guys shared our core values at KRC without even trying:

• Quality isn't negotiable - their hand-crafted work puts some machine-made stuff to shame

• Community matters - they drop everything to help their neighbors, just like we support our partners

• Problems are just puzzles - no power tools? No problem. There's always a solution.

• Integrity isn't just a word - when they commit to something, they deliver, no matter how difficult

inviting porch

beautifully renovated

romantic deck ♥

The result? A renovation that exceeded my expectations and reminded me why I love what I do.

🎉 Speaking of Building New Things...

We've got something else fresh and new – our completely redesigned website just went live! Head over to www.krcrossing.com to check out our:

• Services (spoiler: we're really good at what we do)

• Project wins (lots of them)

• The faces behind the magic

• And more cool stuff we're cooking up

photoshoot for our new website

The bottom line? Whether you're hand-cutting wood or managing multi-million dollar retail projects, quality work and solid values never go out of style.

Until next time,

Michele

KRCrossing Consulting

P.S. Got a crazy construction story? Send it our way – might just feature it in our next newsletter!