As his father was, Lucas is still in the renovations business. “I do ‘all of the above,’” Lucas says, meaning kitchens, bathrooms, basements, and house additions. Unlike contractors in some areas of Canada, Lucas has not seen his renovations business increasing while his homebuilding is decreasing.
Part of that stability may be the affordability that Lucas tries to build into his projects, while still maintaining high quality. At Pouch Cove (a nearby community), he’s building six split-level homes with three bedrooms and two baths that will sell for $350,000 to $400,000. That part of the market is unaffected—mostly—by the interest rate increases, Lucas says.
When it comes to homebuilding, Lucas’s is a design-build firm, at heart. “A lot of the time, clients will say, ‘We don’t know what we want.’ So, we start with a rough square footage and determine a rough price from that. Then we design it up. We send it out to a few designers we work with to design the exterior.”
When it comes to building supply stores, Lucas is partial to nearby Capital Home Building Centre, in Paradise. The store opened in June 2022 and “they’ve been most welcoming,” Lucas says. “They are really good, have fair prices, and good payment terms. A great, great dealer.”