Ballard+Mensua has established relationships with structural, civil, mechanical and electrical engineers who consult on all Ballard+Mensua projects where required.

Seth Ballard started working in construction when he was 14 years old and has been around construction sites since. We have built our business largely out of our relationships with contractors, subcontractors, engineers, and vendors who like working with us. Quite often residential contractors are good at building, but not as strong at schedule and project management. We offer a more involved role in construction to assist homeowners in this situation, by providing product purchase assistance, bidding assistance, and schedule management. While we try to let the general contractors control the building process, many of our clients find this service invaluable. All projects are built by Class A licensed General Contractors.

We have always used passive solar and creative ways and manners to minimize energy use and material waste on all of our projects. We are constantly familiarizing ourselves with the evolving green technologies and serve as a resource for our Clients for green product opportunities. Where projects allow, we have solar energy consultants, mechanical engineers, and contractors familiar with geothermal heat and other green technologies. Finally, we have consultants who can team with us to reach whatever standard of Green you wish to reach -- within LEED, energy star, or the Green Building Program of the National Home Builders Assoc.

Much like Frank Lloyd Wright, we believe in controlling the entire design process, and that interior design, architecture, and landscaping should be fully integrated into all projects. We design all of the kitchens, bathrooms, millwork, railings, and lighting design in all of our projects. We have broad resources and strong relationships with kitchen and bath showrooms that employ talented designers who will work hand in hand with us. However, a kitchen should be part of a project, and views from the kitchen, flow to the kitchen, how the kitchen style blends with the rest of the house decor ... are all imperative. Most often, we assist our clients to bring out their own interior decorating ability, though we are not decorators (we do not specify furniture, rugs, accessories, or window treatments). Like decorating, we do not specialize in plant selection or specification, however, we do design ponds, patios, pergolas, walkways and control the locations of planter beds and trees. We have consultants who we can refer for the design and installation of the planter beds.

This is a service that provides a reduced investment for a Client, where Clients hire us to develop a master plan for their home --- including often several phased additions and renovations, broken down into pieces that are affordable.

Whether for an office space or a home, we provide consulting services to lay out the best use of space. All of our projects take advantage of every nook -- we have years of experience working with our clients to fix problems with older homes. We recognize that even a 2ft. addition properly placed, or removing a wall or sometimes adding a wall .. can make a world of difference.

We provide complete design and project management services for our clients. See Our Process for a more detailed breakdown of a Basic Services contract for a residential project.

This service is often for Clients who are considering a renovation or considering the purchase of a house and wish to have consulting help in this decision process.