Born and raised in northern New York, Kristen Diaz-Kleiboer is a construction project manager with over 20 years of experience. Kristen’s building career was influenced by her dad who owned the demolition and excavation business where she worked during her school breaks. Starting her career as a laborer and a heavy equipment operator, Kristen ended up managing construction projects to build dream homes for her customers.

Every project starts with a customer. Kristen takes time to learn about each customer and their needs as much as possible to help get in tune with the finest details of their design and build project.

Even though Kristen loves numbers and is very detailed-oriented and analytical – considering herself “left brained” – in her free time she enjoys creating art, including watercolors and pottery. She is also a huge San Francisco Giants fan.

Kristen resides in the Bay Area with her wife, two children and a 3-year-old cat, Happy.

Discovering passion for building

Since I was a kid, I have always liked taking things apart, fixing them and then reassembling them. I got my first taste of remodeling helping my Dad convert our attic to two Bedrooms, one Bathroom and a Playroom. I grew up in Northern New York, and our house was built in the late 1800’s, so I got to see the pride and quality of workmanship that goes into building a home.

Years later, we expanded our basement to go under our garage. By that time, I was working in the summers for my Dad’s excavation and demolition company. So, I ran the excavator to remove the dirt and then run the dump truck to unload the dirt. It was a hands-on experience building from the ground up that required hard work and brainpower. It was then that I realized how much math is used in construction and that I love the instant gratification of transforming spaces.

Everyday inspiration source

What I really like about my job is that every day is different and that each day brings different challenges. I constantly need to rely on my various skill-set to resolve those challenges. I like planning and creating schedules. Sometimes PM stands for Project Manager, other times it is Problem Manager and best yet it can mean Possibilities Manager.

Work approach

My motto is to make the next person’s job who touches the work that I do easier. In doing this I think about what the next person will need from me to help make his/her job not only easier but be more efficient. The best way to do this is plan, plan, and understand what the next step of the process is.

“Sometimes PM stands for Project Manager, other times it is Problem Manager and best yet it can mean Possibilities Manager. ”

When a challenge comes along, my approach is to figure out the solution and then figure out how it came about. I want to learn from the challenge so I can implement a process/procedure to help avoid it from happening again.

Greatest challenge in building dream homes

Some of the most challenging aspects in helping a client build their dream home is working with the municipalities in which their home will be built. In particular, the planning and building departments. Sometimes what the client wants and what is allowed for that municipality are at odds with each other. Our job is to help facilitate and advocate for our client in working with the two departments. Due to our relationships and past experiences, we know some of the ways to help the projects move along in favor of the client’s dream home. This can also sometimes mean finding a compromise, but we always strive for the client’s vision.

Ideal Client

My ideal client is a person who appreciates quality workmanship, upfront communication, and realize that there is a process to remodeling/building of their home.

Some other characteristics of an ideal client whom I like to work with is someone who likes where they live and want to enjoy their home for awhile (ROE Return on Enjoyment is important to them), has a happy home life, and is detail-oriented but is comfortable letting someone else handle the details of their home project during the construction phase.

Homeowner’s challenges on home building journey

Some of the bigger challenges that I see homeowners face are 1. “not knowing what they don’t know” about the remodeling or building new home and 2. the influence of the construction TV shows. There are many behind the scene tasks that need to be done in a remodel that is not shown on the TV shows. There is one show that performs a Kitchen remodel while the homeowners are at dinner! Even at a really decadent restaurant, that leaves only 3 hours to do the work edited down to 1 hour show, when in reality it might take 8-10 weeks on a less complex Kitchen remodel. An average Kitchen remodel can have upwards of 35+ tasks depending on the scope of work and some of the tasks needing drying and/or curing times.

Also, there is a lot of specialized industry knowledge that homeowners might not be aware of, especially in working with planning and the building departments and Building Codes.

Common mistakes homeowners make

I don’t know if I would call it a mistake, but the biggest challenge that I see for clients is not knowing the timing and the planning that is required for a remodel and a new construction. Depending on the time of year, certain products might take longer to receive due to the higher demand for the product from certain manufacturers. In construction, there is a set sequence of events and decisions that need to be made before an event can occur.

The biggest reward comes …

The biggest reward is seeing the clients’ joy and excitement when we have completed our work in their home. I am lucky that in my profession I get to experience that joy, the journey of a remodel from the “before” to the “after” transformation.

What to expect in the future

I see the role of technology being a bigger part in our industry, whether it is adding more technological features to our client’s home or using more technology when we do the actual work.

I am seeing more and more technology requested by our clients in the building and remodeling of their homes. This can be anything from smart light switches to hidden speakers in the drywall to having an audio/video system experience room to complete home automation.

Free time activities

Since I use the left side of my brain (the analytical, logical and mathematical side) a lot for work, I really like to use the creative function of the right side of my brain when I am at home. I like to throw pottery and watercolor. I also like to play sports such as golf, hiking and bowling. My favorite experience is going to a Giants games to root for my team.

I have two young children that keep me busy whether that is helping with homework (especially understanding the “new math”), reading them stories (I give the characters in the story their own voices), playing & creating with my children, and of course being their personal taxi.

Our PM — Project Manager, Problem Solver and Possibilities Manager