COVID AND REMODELING

The world is grappling with an issue of enormous scale and human impact and our hearts go out to all who have been affected by the outbreak of coronavirus

We are closely monitoring and implementing the advice and guidance from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

As always, our customers’ health, safety, and well-being, employees and communities at-large remain our daily focus. We are continuously updating our best practices in an ongoing effort to keep everyone safe.

OUR CORONA VIRUS (COVID-19) SAFETY POLICY

It is a firmly enforced policy of ECS, Inc. to monitor the health of all our workers.

All Employees Wear Masks
All Employees Wash Hands Frequently Between Jobs
All Employees Maintain Social Distance From Our Customers
All Work Areas Are Sanitized Between Visits
Contact Free Estimates Given On-Site or Using Zoom
Project Reviews Given Using Zoom Presentations
Our Showroom, Products, and Tools are Disinfected between Projects

I have received a commitment from each team member to stay home if there is any question about whether they are infected or feel that they may have contacted anyone infected. At this point, no ECS employee has been sick with coronavirus. I am closely monitoring my team’s health.

Any changes in their health will be reported immediately to all of my clients. My promise and commitment are to complete transparency. If you are considering getting a project underway, I want to share several items to put you at ease.

Mask Wearing Required of Employees

All Personnel and Crew are Equipped with Disinfecting Solutions

Social Distancing Measures in Place When Meeting with Clients

Employees Wash Hands and Disinfect Tools Frequently

GETTING STARTED

After we’ve given you everything you need to make a good decision and you accept our proposal, we can begin the process of mobilizing your project. This will include selection and sign off meetings, all conducted by zoom. During this process, we will also have a meeting to introduce all of our team members and discuss how we will build your project in the safest and most convenient way.

Of course, we remain open to meeting in person one on one with you either at your place or our office, whichever you prefer.

It is that easy, so go ahead and call us today at 703.961.1044 so we can get started on the project of your dreams.

THE STEPS WE TAKE TO KEEP YOU SAFE

Fortunately, many of the routine procedures we have to protect your home from dust and dirt will serve us well in keeping you, our customers, safe. For any indoor projects, we routinely isolate the areas under construction with plastic drapes and zipper doors. We train our employees to directly enter the work area, whenever possible, through rear doors that lead to the worksite. Thereby altogether avoiding direct contact with our clients and their living areas.

Perhaps most significantly, I have mandated that all ECS employees and associates must wear face masks. I am incredibly proud of the discipline that all team members have displayed in honoring this request. To further reduce the opportunity for transmission, we have an established practice of having a Porta-John installed on each worksite. Workers are told that they may not use the client’s restroom.

We also have established the practice of wiping down surfaces that may be routinely touched by our workers; this includes railings and doorknobs. Furthermore, we have established a practice of the trades, not sharing hand tools. If, for some reason, they should need to, they are directed to carefully wipe the tool down.

To reduce the chance of breaching the social distancing protocols set by the CDC, we established the practice of the men eating in their car only. There should be no food on job sites other than in workers’ cars. The above steps are somewhat particular to our business. But we have also established a training program to make sure that the routine things that all of us are doing to stay safe are not being overlooked.

Items addressed in training include hand washing protocols and the use of hand sanitizer, the correct use of masks, the respectful way to greet a client without shaking their hand, and of course, communicating if they feel that they have been in contact with someone who is sick and staying home if they do not feel well.

ZOOM HAS CHANGED THE WAY WE DO BUSINESS

In all scenarios, within ten days or less, we would be ready to meet with you to review the design and discuss options virtually using our zoom capability.

Over the last several weeks, we have refined this process to the degree that we are not sure if it is not better than meeting in person. It certainly offers our clients a much greater convenience. Once we have refined your design to meet your expectations, we will create a detailed cost estimate of your project and present it to you in a follow-up zoom meeting.

CONTACT FREE DESIGN AND ESTIMATING DURING COVID

If your project is outdoors, such as a screened porch, a sunroom or a patio, it is relatively easy to do our job safely.

My assistant would arrange a time for me to come to your home and I would greet you outside with a friendly, social distance respecting wave. We would then proceed directly to the part of your home that you wish to modify, and I would interview outside as to what your vision for the project would be. Once we have a clear idea of the project objective, I would take relevant photographs and measurements necessary to do our renderings. All while maintaining the mandated social distancing protocols.

If you are considering an inside project instead, such as a basement, a kitchen or a bathroom, we proceed in a slightly different manner. Wearing an appropriate face mask and respecting CDC suggested social distance protocols, I would enter the home and conduct an interview to understand your objectives for the project. Once completed, I would ask to see the area of the home you are planning to remodel. With your permission, I would take all the necessary photographs and measurements. Alternatively, and for a real contact-free experience, I would instruct you as to what photos I might need and how to take the necessary measurements.

FINANCIALLY STABLE AND OPERATIONALLY SOUND

Although times are tough, our company remains strong, financially stable, and operationally sound. One of the benefits of being in business for so long (over 33 years) is that I’ve experienced various challenging circumstances through my time in this industry. This experience has helped us stay lean and efficient in how we deliver services to our clients.

The governor has declared companies who deliver remodeling services as being essential, and as such, we are open and working hard every day.

We know that our clients are counting on us. Our fantastic team of employees have families to support and are grateful to be busy working in their trade.