Find out more about the SFAHBA here.

Download our application form, ( SFAHBA_Member_Application.pdf ) and become a member of SFAHBA! 

National Association of Home Builders
New Mexico Home Builders Association

Business links:
D.Maahs Construction
Fabu-WALL-ous Solutions
Siteworks, Inc.
Feather & Gill Architects
Century Bank
Evergreen Building Solutions

New Mexico links:

Directory New Mexico
Tourism Department of New Mexico
Statistics from Santa Fe Economic Development, Inc.

State and County links:

City of Santa Fe
Santa Fe City Code & Ordinances
Santa Fe County Statistics
Santa Fe City Water Conservation Requirements
Santa Fe County Home Page
Virtual Los Alamos
Los Alamos Community Pages
TaosWebb
La Plaza de Taos TeleCommunity

Cultural links:

Santa Fe Opera
Santa Fe Indian Market
Spanish Market
Santa Fe Trends 2006
Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce
Santa Fe Alliance
Santa Fe Convention and Visitors Bureau
Native American Events Calendar
New Mexico Culture Net
The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum
Santa Fe Gallery Association

You can find a great amount of information by visiting your local library, in this case, the links repository at the Santa Fe Public Library.

Please, don’t hesitate to make suggestions for our link library.  Leave a comment with your suggestion!

We participate in a variety of activities through out the year:

The Remodelers Showcase & Expo, formerly know as the Home /Design/ Remodel Show, is a combined event consisting of the Remodelers Showcase, an opportunity to publish our Remodelers Council member’s projects in our Home/Design/Remodel edition of the Haciendas Magazine.  Projects are judged and those deemed worthy will receive X-cellence in Remodeling Awards.  These awards are presented at the Remodelers Expo in the Spring.  The Expo, with more than ninty participating vendors and builders, is an opportunity for the public to see the new trends in home design, improvement and decorating.  Non-profit groups are given an opportunity to share their programs with the Santa Fe Community as well. The 2011 Show will be held in the Santa Fe Community Convention Center on May 14th & 15th. 

The Haciendas - A Parade of Homes is a promotion for new and remodeled homes that presents innovative design and technology to the buying public. The event coincides with Indian Market, showcasing our industries’ quality craftsmanship, unique designs, neighborhoods and communities.

The Santa Fe Green Building Council and SFAHBA are the founding sponsor of the Santa Fe Green Building Summit & Expo, an educational Summit for Building Professionals who want to learn more about sustainable building combined with an Expo to Showcase the latest in Green Building materials, products and services. 

SFAHBA also publishes the Haciendas Magazine featuring Builders, Remodelers and the Building Industry in Northern New Mexico. If you wish to advertise, please contact at Bella Media. 

We hold informative and educational seminars and luncheons throughout the year.  The Association sponsors numerous community events.  We are proud to partner with our builder members, associates and sponsors in supporting the Santa Fe Community.  If you wish to learn more, please click on your right to sign up for our e-newsletter. 

Affiliate Programs

New Mexico Home Builders Association has been serving the building industry of New Mexico since 1959. As a member of the Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association, you are automatically a member of the New Mexico Home Builders Association. NMHBA is the state-coordinating body for all local home builder associations and members-at-large representing more than 1700 home builders and associate members. The association provides membership services in these major areas:

• Builders Trust of New Mexico (Workers’ Compensation Insurance)
• Contractor License Bonding
• Educational Programs & Seminars
• Year-round lobbying and industry representation

National Association of Home Builders. As a member of SFAHBA you are automatically a member of National. NAHB offers services in these major areas:

• Industry research: technical and economic
• Legislative and regulatory representation
• Special member benefits
• Education and training
• Business, construction, and legal assistance
• Industry new, information and resources
• Services for specialized NAHB members

The 23rd annual Santa Fe Home Show – Innovative Solutions for Better Living – is back and better than ever at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center Saturday and Sunday March 9-10.  Doors open at 10:00 and ticket are only $5.  The show, featuring over 70 local businesses and contractors, is a celebration Santa Fe’s home building and remodeling industry, an industry that will never be out-sourced, off-shored, or available with an internet click.

Come and talk to Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association’s best General Contractors, all specialists in both remodeling and new construction, and knowledgeable on green building, energy efficiency, and the latest technologies while still keeping creativity and customer service a focal point of their business.

The rest of the booths are filled with all nature of businesses and suppliers who support both the industry and the Do It Yourself weekend warriors.  These businesses are your neighbors and friends.  They are eager for a friendly chat on how you can improve your home and lifestyle.

Every ticket holder will be entered into a chance at ten $100 give-aways to be awarded over the two day event, and for an extra $5 can buy a chance at an $8,000 GE Monogram outdoor cooking center generously donated by Builders Source Appliance Gallery.

On display in the lobby of the Convention Center will be work presented by Santa Fe Community College design students in the fields of Kitchen and Bath Design, Interior Design, Architectural Design and Fine Woodworking.  The work will be judged by local design professionals and cash prizes will be awarded to the top three entries in each category.

The Santa Fe Home Show is the ONLY Home Show in Northern New Mexico; an event not to be missed.  See you at the Santa Fe Home Show March 9-10!

It has been said that the greenest, most energy efficient home is the one that never gets built - no new home, no new energy usage.  Santa Fe area remodelers, however, take that notion one step further and say the greenest home is one that is remodeled to extend its functional life and to improve existing energy efficiency.

The Remodelers Showcase, an annual component of The Santa Fe Home Show, is a great way to see what professional remodelers can do to turn old, dilapidated energy hogs into sparkling new spaces that will give their owners a lifetime of improved comfort and energy efficiency.  The Remodelers Showcase is presented in a portfolio format with before and after pictures and detailed descriptions of goals, obstacles and solutions for the project.  The portfolios are judged by a panel of architects, builders, remodelers, and building science professionals.  Entries judged worthy of merit will be recognized with Excellence in Remodeling Awards at the Santa Fe Home Show on Sunday March 10th at 1:00 pm.

Entrants for this year chose remodeling categories in kitchens, baths, whole house remodels, historic renovation, and additions.  It is on the work of the historic renovations that this article will focus.

In Santa Fe, because of strict Historical District guidelines, tearing down a home, even if common sense says it is too far gone to fix, is often not an option.  Three courageous Santa Fe Area Home Builder Association members, along with homeowners with tremendous faith, took on the often scary task of renovating old Santa Fe adobe homes.

Bill Deuschle and Chuck Caswell, the partners of Fabu-wall-ous Solutions, LLC, have made a career of historic renovations.  Although they started renovating historic structures back East, their ten years in Santa Fe has given them an entirely new genre of expertise in historic adobe renovations.

Their project off Garcia Street was about as challenging as one could imagine.  The old adobe home was literally falling apart even though it had been cosmetically remodeled just a few years earlier.  A rubble foundation was barely holding up the walls and in some areas there was no foundation at all - just adobes on dirt!  Massive excavation was necessary while shoring up the existing walls, parapets and roof structure that stayed in place until the new foundation was installed.  Great care was taken to dig up mature landscaping to be saved for replanting after work was completed.

Bill and Chuck, who is a Trustee of the SFAHBA Green Building Council, also took great pains to improve the overall efficiency and comfort of the home by adding insulation to walls and ceilings that had none, installing a passive radon control system, and increasing the efficiency of the under-floor ducted HVAC system. 

Another challenging project, undertaken by Lloyd Martinez of Edificio Builders, Ltd, was built in 1929 by the famous aviatrix Katherine Stinson-Otero, a friend and student of John Gaw Meem.  As is often the case with historic adobes, the ceilings were very low compared to modern standards.  But because one of the first rules in the Historic District is that roof heights cannot be raised, a challenge is encountered.  Lloyd and his crew solved that by digging out the existing floor by two feet, and pouring a new floor with radiant heat.

Another area of fanatical oversight by the Historic Design Review Board is windows.  If the old ones are “non-contributing” aluminum sliders, they can be replaced with windows that have an older look, but if the home has old “historic” windows, as did the Stinson-Otero house, then they have to be restored.  Lloyd spent a good deal of time and effort to seal all cracks, rebuild frames, and re-glaze panes.
They also took out the old boiler, which supplied steam heat to second floor radiators, and installed a very modern product called “Warm Board”, which allows for PEX tubing to be installed in grooves in aluminum coated sheets of plywood subflooring.  It means a radiant floor system can be installed on a joisted floor without needing to pour lightweight concrete.  That was especially important in this case since the homeowners wanted a mesquite wood floor, which can easily be applied over the Warm Board..

Danny Buck, of Daniel Buck Construction, also ran into the low ceiling issue when he took on the remodel of a foreclosed and abandoned adobe home in the historic district.  Fortunately for his homeowner, they were able to raise the ceiling without raising the roof.  While that may sound impossible, Danny encountered a situation that is not that is not uncommon in Santa Fe – a dropped ceiling of drywall to cover up beams and vigas.

While that seems ludicrous to us today, drywall was once considered “modern” and folks thought they were improving their homes by covering up those old fashioned looking logs.  Danny was able to spray foam between the exposed beams for half of their 12” depth to create a super energy efficient roof while keeping the beautiful beams exposed.

Danny also tore out all existing electrical, plumbing, and heating systems and replaced them with new energy efficient ones.  He was also allowed to replace windows with energy efficient replicas of the originals.
The portfolios of these fine builders, along with those of Bruno Lindner, The Home Construction Doctor; Bruce Wollens, Wollens Quality Homes; Douglas Maahs, D. Maahs Construction; and Will Prull, Prull Custom Builders, will be available for all to review at the 23rd annual Santa Fe Home Show on March 9-10 at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center. 

STAY TUNED FOR THE LIST OF WINNERS WHICH WILL BE POSTED HERE AFTER JUDGING IS COMPLETE

Kim Shanahan is the Executive Officer of the Santa Fe Home Builders Association