BuilderFish: Fine, Innovative, Signature Homes

Design, Construction and Service of Private Estates.

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Plaster crown molding, still to be painted, so you'll have to wait to see the difference.

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Tile Girl

On the project site we call her “Tile Girl” for short, but she's not a woman who installs tile, she's a fine piece of art within a guest bathroom.

Technically, John Reinhard Weguelin's Lesbia (1878) mural.

The Lady stands 6-feet tall and 3-feet wide within one of the guest bath showers.

The ceramic mural incorporates 60 pieces of 6-inch tile.

Tip of the cap to our teammates at SariSand Tile.

Another cool aspect, the shower is curbless and entire bathroom designed universally for maximum convenience, comfort and luxury.

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The 8-foot, 6-inch, stingray mosaic, tile floor in Castlebrook Estate’s spa lounge took seven months to place 39,204 tumbled natural stones.

Stones for Water (1.5 CM):

*Blue Macuba *Celeste *Chartreuse *Verde Luna *Kays Green *Ming Green

Stones for Stingray (I.0 CM):

*Nero *Monte Video *Bardiglio (Light & Dark) *Carrara *Calacatta Tia *Afyon White *Lavender Mist

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Carving Artist

Carpentry apprentice, David Owens is a former state champion in Taekwondo who enjoys hunting, hiking and rock climbing. His mom homeschooled him from the start, which developed his curiosity and determination to learn new skills.

Meet the rest of David’s coworkers on our Team page.

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Fishing for Birdies

Sometimes a bucket list is born by happenstance. BuilderFish CEO, Jonathan Fishbeck won the opportunity to play one of the most famous holes in golf, and so began an annual crusade with his dad.

Meet the rest of our team here.

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When Time for Todd

As for many, time is the enemy; however, BuilderFish President, Todd Hawkins enjoys these activities when he’s able to play.

Meet the rest of the team.

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Meet the Mayor

We refer to Jason as The Mayor because of all the people he deals with as Director of Client Relations. Clients have literally said, “We love Jason”, but now there’s less of Jason to love since he discovered high heat yoga.

Click here to meet the rest of our peeps.

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Helga Rocks

Below the sill is real stone, above is carved and painted cement.

So there’s this former college hockey player who worked at a zoo and learned how to create rocks and waterfalls. Meet Helga Feden to learn one way to put a fine arts degree to use.

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The crew hoisted reclaimed, white oak logs 18 feet up into the family room ceiling at Castlebrook Estate. The task required two winches, each with 1,000 pound pulling capacity, as well as six workers to lift the 17-foot trusses. 

CraftWright Timber Frames of Maryland milled the antique logs into these structural trusses, which are merely decorative in this particular application.

Click on each photo to learn more.

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BuilderFish Design Consultant, Amy Turnage explains the practical  convenience of fixtures and features which are universally designed. You likely have some in your home without realizing.

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My favorite fixture makes clean-up easier and is a perfect example of Universal Design for the home. Like power windows, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without.

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A pretty dusting earlier this week in Central Virginia at Castlebrook Estate, where inside some of the fine detail work will begin soon. 

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Our company had fun with the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Site management took a shower first under a skid-steer loader. Then the crew answered beneath 500 gallons chilled with 40 pounds of ice.

Click the pictures to enlarge and watch the videos on our Fan Page.

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Sweet sills at Castlebrook Estate. Travertine limestone mined in Mexico and honed smooth in Texas; each a solid piece, weighing between 40 and up to 100 pounds and sloped for water to run off.

This window assembly also includes mahogany windows from Canada and live fieldstone from West Virginia.

See more at our blog.

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This curved archway is a straight piece of wood trained over weeks to arch, twist and bend into a cylindrical room. In other words, the wood is moving in three directions.

Learn more at BuilderFish.com.

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We study bugs and other critters. Our adherence to building science requires more than simply designing and constructing to a climate zone. We also research the local environment, including wildlife.

For example, most weep holes in brick or stone walls are traditionally round or rectangular; however, blindly following standard practice in Central Virginia and the DC Metro would cause a major problem because of one type of wasp.

  BuilderFish CEO Jonathan Fishbeck explains how a waffled piece of plastic makes all the difference. (If you're wondering, we cut flush to the wall so you won't see plastic jutting out.)

Learn more about our meticulous approach at BuilderFish.com.

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Water penetrates even rock so what chance does plywood stand? BuilderFish CEO Jonathan Fishbeck shows how we assemble a forever dry wall by ensuring airflow behind the exterior cladding.

Watch us do our thing at BuilderFish.TV