Part of our highlight of Bay of Quinte Home Builders and Realtors over the next several months. Find a HOME in the Bay of Quinte Region here: www.bayofquinte.ca/living
By Jim Barber
For 35 years, W.R. Bosiak Construction has specialized in high-quality custom home construction and renovation projects throughout the Bay of Quinte Region.
With more than 100 complete homes created from initial consultation through to final building, and more than 1,000 renovations, additions and accessory building projects, W.R. Bosiak has carved out a niche as the place to go if you have a very special, very unique and very creative project.
“We strictly focus on custom residential homes and renovations, including getting referrals from some of the other developers. Some of them are not set up to do a very specific custom builds and they know that those are the kind that we are best at. It’s hard for the bigger builders in particular because they are set up to do, 10, 20 or 30 homes at a time,” said Chris Bosiak.
“And we are in a bit of a niche where we can do pretty much any kind of specialty custom job. It’s where we fit into the industry in the Bay of Quinte area. And it also helps to be a part of the Quinte Home Builders too because we get spin-off jobs from many of our colleagues. And that’s nice, because it doesn’t happen in a lot of other places. The biggest thing for us is making sure the client is involved in every step of the process.”
The business began when Bosiak’s father, William, took up the construction trade in the early 1970s.
“After he started in construction he went to Loyalist for architectural drafting and then he became partners in a contracting firm. In 1979, the other guy retired and my dad just went out on his own,” said Chris.
“I have been around the business all my life, working there for summer jobs and that kind of thing. I went away to university in 2005 and came back and I have been with the company full time ever since. I got a degree in business management and in a way I guess I did it so I could help the business, although growing up my dad always told me ‘you’d better go to school or else you will be in construction all your life.’ And now here I am in construction. But I love it.”
The clientele for W.R. Bosiak Construction hasn’t really changed in terms of its composition over the past three and a half decades – it is as varied as the projects they ask the company to tackle on their behalf.
“It’s a bit of a mix in terms of the people we deal with. I would say half are from out of town who are looking to retire and wanting a retirement-type home. Or it’s local people who are downsizing or upsizing a little bit, and some who are wanting a little more in the home in terms of things like energy efficiency or other bells and whistles,” Bosiak said.
“It’s a mix of houses and customers but it is all custom. There is no limit in what we can do to accommodate the needs and desires of what the client wants. Giving people exactly what they want is what our business is all about.”
And as a business operating within the Bay of Quinte Region, Bosiak said there is a remarkably collegial and co-operative atmosphere in which to work.
“I would say it’s a great place to do business. There is a lot of co-operation between the builders and subcontractors. Everybody is connected somehow in the community and people work well together within the Quinte Homebuilders Association. We all do a lot of business with one another because you get to know them on a personal level,” he said.
“In the vast majority of cases it’s very friendly and it’s a very relationship-driven way of doing things when dealing with the trades and suppliers as well. I guess it’s because, even in Belleville, it’s still a small community and you see these people out and about a lot more than in the bigger centres.”
And that goes for the various municipalities the company deals with in the district.
“We have everything we need in this region to get the job done. There is a lot of expertise and a lot of companies still have the older generation working now so there is a lot of experience too. And like our company, the younger generations are getting involved and carrying a lot of the trades and development businesses on.”
Prospects for growth also look good for the homebuilding sector, from Bosiak’s point of view.
“We are small so we are always busy but I think there are some opportunities to grow as the region gets busier and more people move here. There is always enough business to share it around with everyone and it seems like it’s going to be like that for a number of years to come. And that’s good for all of us,” he said.
For more information, visit www.bosiakconstruction.ca.
