Mead Construction Designs and Builds Dream Homes
When you’re best known for designing, renovating and building some of the Southeast’s most technically innovative structures – e.g. a lab buildout at Northrop Grumman, Weapon System Laboratories, ESS Labs, EMI chambers at DRS Tactical Systems, and sterilized rooms at Holmes Regional Medical Center – it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Mead Construction does the same exceptional work in residential real estate.
“We currently have over 40 different projects underway and 60% are residential. This is a direct result of our reputation for high standards,” explained CEO Doug Mead, who founded the company in Brevard County some 34 years ago primarily as a custom home remodeler. “Customers recognize Doug’s industry expertise in all facets of the trades and painstaking attention to detail,” said Tom Ganley, who oversees business development for Mead. “It’s a part of the company culture and the reputation Doug has built over the past three decades.”
Unlike many other general contractors, Mead Construction “self-performs” much of the work themselves, rather than outsourcing jobs to multiple sub-contractors. “We’ve hired very experienced staff and crew members that we’ve had to retrain to our way of thinking and performing,” said Mead. “We teach them, ‘You do what needs to be done and you do it correctly the first time.’ We believe our client focused philosophy is key to maintaining repeat business and positive referrals.”
No Cookie Cutter Approach
In a competitive marketplace where getting homes constructed quickly to minimize costs and maximize return is an industry norm, Mead sticks to an old school building philosophy of not cutting corners or using unproven materials to pad his timeline or bottom line. “I use what I know works,” said Mead, “Even when they’re behind the walls or under the floors where you’ll never see them.” Just because the industry’s minimum standards may have dropped over the years, Mead won’t change its standards, thereby creating a greater advantage when it comes to quality, reliability and sustainability over time.
By doing what’s right on the frontend, Mead has avoided costly repairs and client dissatisfaction on the backend. “Our callbacks and warranty claims are practically non-existent,” explained Mead. “And if a client does have a problem that we feel should not have happened, even five years after completion of the work, we’ll gladly go back and fix it.”
One-of-a-Kind Home
This Merritt Island custom home was built by Mead for a local executive and his family. Some of its unique features include:
- Structural 10,000 gallon underground water reclamation system that utilizes all natural resources of water before using the well to irrigate
- Integrated cooling mist system at the poolside summer kitchen & lanai
- Over a mile of sound system cabling throughout the property
- Whole house management system
- High energy efficient construction
- Full IT infrastructure
Creating the Client’s Vision
Mead sees his role as not just a general contractor, but as an advisor and consultant to his clients. “My approach to the process of designing and building a custom home, or any commercial or remodeling project for that matter, is to educate the client and give them choices. For example, we may present three options for a specific building material or fixture, share the pros and cons and costs of each and then offer our recommendation, but ultimately it’s the client’s informed decision.”
Designing and building a custom home or undertaking a major remodeling project can be an exciting albeit daunting task for any homebuyer. “We focus on the client in order to bring their vision to life,” said Mead.
Mead Construction is located at 1301 W. Eau Gallie Boulevard in Melbourne. For more information, visit MeadConstruction.com
