I've been on job sites
since I was eight years old.
Not as a visitor. As the person sweeping up, hauling rubble, and learning what it actually means to build something right. That was the beginning. This is what thirty-seven years looks like.
Built from the ground up. Literally.
My father, Skip Schimpff, started Hearthside Homes in 1987. I started working for him the same year — I was eight years old and my job was doing everything nobody else wanted to do. Cleaning. Hauling. Sweeping. Being on job sites before I understood what job sites were.
That turned out to be the best possible education. I didn't learn construction from books or from a project management desk. I learned it from the inside — from the trades, from the subcontractors, from the job sites themselves. From watching what happened when something was done right versus when it wasn't. From developing an instinct for the difference between the two before I had the vocabulary to describe it.
Thirty-seven years later, I am still the person who shows up on job sites. Not to check on things from a distance — to look at them. To see whether what's happening matches the standard. To catch the grout gap that's 1/4 inch when the specs say 1/8 inch, and to call the client before they find it themselves.
That's what I do. It's what I've always done. And after nearly four decades, I still believe that the moment you stop looking closely is the moment you start building mediocre homes.
"During an unscheduled walk-through, I noticed the grout gap in one bathroom was closer to 1/4 inch than the specified 1/8 inch. I called the client proactively, explained what I'd seen, and let them know I was having the tile installers come back immediately to demolish and reinstall the floor correctly. They didn't ask me to do that. That's the standard."
The standards I hold myself to. Written down.
These aren't values we adopted. They're operational facts — the way Hearthside Homes has worked for thirty-seven years. I'm writing them here because I believe you should know what you're getting before you sign anything.
The agreement is the agreement
Fixed-price contract. Signed architectural plans. Detailed specifications document. If it isn't in those three documents, it doesn't happen without a signed change order. If it IS in those documents and we got it wrong, we fix it immediately. In both directions. Always.
Best way. Always.
There is a best way to build something, an acceptable way, and a barely-passes-code way. We build the best way. On every project. On every detail. The other two options are not on the table — not because of policy, but because "good enough" has never been acceptable to me.
Fix it and tell you about it
When something isn't right — and on every build, something will be — we fix it and we tell you. Not because you asked. Because concealment is not an option I consider. This is the thing that separates a builder who builds good homes from one who just photographs them well.
The job site is never an excuse
Calls received before 1PM are returned the same day. After 1PM, by noon the next business day. I am on your job site and I am reachable. Those two things should not be in conflict — and at Hearthside, they aren't.
A clean job site is non-negotiable
This is not aesthetic. A clean, organized job site is evidence of how we think — of the discipline that runs through everything else we do. Every Hearthside job site is clean. Not sometimes. Always.
We're not the right builder for everyone.
I'd rather tell you that now than discover it six months into your project.
Hearthside is right for clients who value the invisible work — who understand that the quality of a home is determined by decisions made inside walls and under floors, long before the finishes go in. Clients who want a builder they can trust completely, not one they have to manage.
If you're primarily focused on getting the lowest price, or if you plan to use construction as an opportunity to expand the scope of work beyond what we agreed to, we're probably not the right fit. I say that respectfully — and I'd rather say it now.
If you want a builder who will tell you the truth, fix things before you ask, and build a home you'll still be proud of in thirty years — let's talk.
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Ready to talk to Carter directly?
No sales team. No project manager you've never met. Just Carter — who has been doing this since he was eight years old and who answers when you call.