By Andrea Palmer
Hinman Construction of Saratoga County won the 2019 Master Design Gold Award for an entryway and laundry redo project they completed in Clifton Park.
An article regarding the achievement was written in the September issue of national industry magazine Qualified Remodeler.
“We tend to submit some of our projects for awards,” said Kim Hinman, co-owner of the company based in Ballston Spa. “Whether it’s the National Kitchen & Bath Association, or Builders & Remodelers or other associations.”
Hinman is a design and remodeling company, featuring a lot of kitchen renovations.
“We work in a two-part program. We design first, so we play with form and function, coordinating that with a budget. You hate to design something that won’t work within a budget range, because that’s not fun for anybody,” said Hinman.
“We’ve been doing this for 30 years. Five years ago, we partnered up with a custom cabinet making company located in Indianapolis. We work with our clients directly to provide absolutely everything that’s needed for a project,” she said.
“We have our cabinet partners. We work locally with our countertop fabricators. We go with the client to make the selections and guide them in coordinating all the parts and pieces. It’s really a nice process, and over the years people have seemed to enjoy that.”
She said clients “are committing to a major remodel and they want to make sure they get a return on a major investment. They want to understand what’s going to take place, feel really good about what’s going to happen, and love the project when it’s all done,” said Hinman.
Hinman Construction provides photo-realistic drawings similar to those seen on HGTV programs such as “The Property Brothers” and “Fixer Upper”.
“It gives the client the ability to visually walk through what’s going to take place,” said Hinman.
Hinman’s husband, Jamie, knew early on he wanted a career in construction.
“Jamie went to college down in Florida, played a little baseball down there, came home and started working construction for the summer and decided he really liked that. He’s been doing this since he was 18 years old,” said Hinman.
“When we got married, I was in the ski industry as the advertising director for a major ski company. Once we started having children, I became more involved in what he was doing. I realized that I really enjoyed it,” said Hinman.
She said as the computer industry grew and more software programs became available for builders and remodelers, “I was fortunate enough to start with a really good CAD software program that I still use to this day. I do the updates so it remains the latest and greatest. Twenty years later, and I’m still drawing in that program, whether I’m drawing a kitchen, a bath or a whole first floor,.”
The Hinman’s have two children, Jesse and Caroline. Both are involved in the business.
“Jesse does a lot of the management on-site, and a lot of the work. He got his first tool belt when he was 10 years old,” said Hinman. “Caroline joined us in the design and kitchen end of things, especially with our cabinet lines. She’s working on her designer certification from the National Kitchen & Bath Association.”
“We work as a team, so it took all of us together to make the award happen. The bottom line is, our clients are really happy,” said Hinman.
Hinman Construction plans to focus on the design aspect of remodeling, especially pertaining to additions, kitchens and baths.
“If you pay attention to what’s going in the trade world, people learning the skills are becoming scarce. They don’t realize it’s a beautiful industry where you can achieve anything you want to if you do a good job and deliver on what you promise.”