Site Planning + Tree Preservation
Check the Trees Outside the Limit of Disturbance.
Walk beyond the future erosion controls before clearing is complete and approved problem-tree removal becomes harder and more expensive.
Read the Field Note →Heartstone Field Notes
Give Away the Knowledge.
Practical notes across the full custom-home process—from preconstruction, tree clearing, and site work through structure, MEP, close-in, finishes, completion, and project recovery.
No generic construction content. Real field conditions, real coordination problems, and the thinking behind solving them.
Newest Field Note
Site Planning + Erosion Control
Verify the LOD Ribbon Before You Lose a Week.
Engineer marks it. You verify it. The site inspector reviews it. Then the controls go in.
A ten-dollar field kit and a thirty-minute walk can keep a cheap problem from becoming another engineer visit, another inspection, and a schedule delay.
Read the Field Note →Coming through the sequence
Small Decisions That Keep a Site Moving.
Field Notes follows the way a project actually gets built—from site preparation and erosion controls through structure, MEP, finishes, and recovery.
Finishes + Procurement · New
Natural Stone Is a Schedule Item, Not Just a Finish
How lot selection, early procurement, dry layouts, and finish approvals keep variable stone from becoming a schedule risk.
Read the Field Note →
Field Leadership · New
Leadership in Construction: Responsibility Before Authority.
Leadership is removing obstacles, preparing people for unfamiliar work, listening to the field, and making sure tomorrow is ready before today ends.
Read the Field Note →
Electrical Rough-In · New
You’re the Electrician. I’m Not Going to Pay You to Fix Your Work.
Better electrical rough-in management prevents expensive rework—from lighting alignment and outlet placement to change orders and finish protection.
Read the Field Note →
Architectural MEP
Why Your Electrician Shouldn’t Decide Where the Lights Go.
The fixtures may work perfectly and still create the wrong room when rough-in locations are allowed to define the architecture.
Coming soon
Every trade sees its scope. Someone has to see the house.
Field Notes explains the interfaces—the places where individually competent work can still create the wrong finished result. That same whole-house view guides Heartstone’s new construction owner representation.
The library we’re building
Start With the Condition You’re Dealing With.
The goal is not to publish for the sake of publishing. It is to create a useful construction library for owners, builders, architects, project managers, and trades working on complicated homes.
Trade Interfaces
Every Trade Can Do Its Job Correctly and the House Can Still Come Out Wrong.
The trade's scope cannot be evaluated in isolation from what comes next.
Coming soon
Architectural Finishes
Why “It Meets Code” Is Not the Same as “It Was Built Well.”
Code is a floor. Alignment, constructability, durability, finish quality, and trade coordination are different questions.
Coming soon
Scheduling
Why a $10 Million House Can Take 36 Months.
Schedule drag is often hundreds of small interruptions: unanswered questions, partial crews, missing decisions, remobilization, and work that was not ready when labor arrived.
Coming soon
Have a question from the field?
Ask Heartstone
Building a complicated home and something doesn’t look right?
Send us the question—a construction detail, material, drawing, something your builder or trade told you, or simply something you’re not sure about.
Ask Us a QuestionPhotos and drawings welcome.
If you’re wondering about it, it’s probably worth asking before it’s covered up.