Project Profiles
Below are the most recent projects by Norton Construction. Read what our owners had to say about their homes.
Remodel - Fall 2009
After accepting Laurie's bid, his clients became more interested in the benefits of energy efficiency, and US made products. With a better understanding of the value in energy efficient housing, the clients decided to change direction midway and opted for the most energy efficient enhancements available for a remodel. The result is a very attractive, comfortable, and efficient home.
This house utilizes closed cell foam insulation. This provides superior insulation in applications where traditional insulation is inferior. The windows are highly efficient and were sourced locally, and a thermal syphon hot water system was installed to address the concerns of wasted water.
New Construction - Spring 2008
This home was build by Laurie who worked closely with his clients Jeff and Patty to create yet another truly eco-friendly home. This 1866 square foot home is unique as ICF's (insulated concrete forms) and advanced framing techniques were used to create a well insulated air tight home. The concrete floors throughout were finished using tongueoil and carnauba wax. All of the finished interior woodwork including the cabinets were made using salvage material. Furthermore, a conscious effort was made to source services and materials locally when and where possible.
We have known Laurie for almost 20 years. He was the superintendent on the job when our house was built in Chico years ago, and he has helped us with other building projects over the years. In 2008 we decided to build our dream home on property we already owned. Laurie was our first, and only choice of contractors.
We trusted Laurie so much that we didn't get multiple bids. We wouldn't recommend not getting bids from others in the building process but our trust in Laurie was so solid that we knew he would give us the best product and craftsmanship for the money we had. As it turned out, we are extremely happy with our new home and Laurie and his team did a wonderful job.
Laurie also accommodated and even encouraged us to use reclaimed materials. Almost all the interior wood is from an old stage
floor that Jeff collected. Patty found some beautiful old Douglas Fir
doors that cost $7.00 per door. Of course, the time spent stripping the
doors just added to our commitment to the house. The old claw foot tub,
black walnut cabinet trim, sinks, mirrors, and other reclaimed items just made the home more personal.
We have always felt that one reason you hire a contractor is to keep you from making uneducated decisions about the building process. Jeff has always contemplated being our own contractor or doing a lot of the house on our own. Laurie has taught us that a good contractor is worth his weight in gold. There were numerous times that Laurie gently steered us away from making a foolish decision and helped us make the right one instead.
You will be very pleased with Laurie as your contractor. He is a man of his word, he is dedicated to his project, works very hard, keeps his subs on task, keeps the customer apprised of the budget and takes pride in keeping the project within the budget. In spite of what others have said about building a home and having your marriage fall apart, it was the opposite for us. We still love each other, we love our new home, and we love Laurie for helping us make our dream come true.
Jeffrey Mott
New Construction - Spring 2007
This home was build by Laurie Norton and his partner Maurry Smith. Together they created a truly unique eco-friendly home. Much of the materials used to construct this home were recycled. The carpet was made of recycled plastic bottles, the stairwell banister is recycled wood from a ship, the oak cabnitry came from a burn pile on the Northern California coast. Equipped with a 2 Kilowat solar system, energy star apliances, state of the art windows and insulation; this green home is the definition of efficiency. Chico News & Review Article #1
Chico News & Review Article #2
New Construction - Summer 2005
Inside Out Article
Because this home was built on an infill lot, Laurie worked closely with the architect to ensure windows would not be directly facing neighboring housing. It is also unique in the sense that the air conditioning ducts were contained within the conditioned envelope of the house. This was facilitated by employing an open web floor truss system; reducing energy loss. A state of the art computerized Klipsch zone home wiring system was installed allowing each room to receive digital content and media from a centralized location.
“I cannot say enough about our Norton built home. We have lived here for a year and a half and I still come across amazing little details that demonstrate how Laurie goes above and beyond the call of duty in his workmanship. Laurie takes pride in every detail.
Our house and lot are a modest size but feel much larger because of Laurie's creative use of space. Our house is a perfect marriage of form and function. Even the space under the stairs is made useful by housing all of the home entertainment and computer networking equipment.
Norton Construction is one of the best-kept secrets in Chico. Laurie's building techniques are way ahead of their time. Our house is so efficient... It is inexpensive to heat and cool and easy to keep clean. The deep windowsills not only look great, but also demonstrate how thick the walls are. The Small transoms windows upstairs are perfect for letting in light but not heat. We open them in the evening to create a cross breeze for ventilation; and the extra bonus is that they are above eye level so they offer more privacy than a traditional window.”
- Maria Venturino
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New Construction - Spring 2003
With energy efficiency in mind, this home was created using advanced framing techniques, along with compact fluorescent lighting and R30 insulation in the walls. This home uses a fraction of the energy of a conventional home.
"Regarding the house that we bought from Laurie: Joe and I are just thrilled with both the quality of construction and the level of professionalism that we have experienced in our dealings with Laurie. We often think about how lucky we are to have bought such a perfect home for our family.
In comparison to our neighbors, our energy bills are about half (on average) for the same amount of square footage.We truly believe that the extra insulation and the energy efficient lighting have both contributed to our low PG&E bills.
We would gladly buy another home from Laurie, and fell that we have been spoiled by his innovation and attention to detail."
- Holly and Joe Ahmadi
New Construction - Summer 2000
The emphasis of this house was ultimately energy conservation. This was achieved through creating a tight building envelope. High R-Value insulation was used along with CFL lighting and energy efficient appliances. Even though this house was built 10 years ago the homeowners are still have a substantially lower utility bill than their neighbors.
"We have been in our house for nine years now and have had consistently low energy bills. Compared to our neighbors, we run the air conditioner and heater a lot less, there's not as much need with the excellent insulation and cross breeze design.
- Catherine Himberg
