Passion for Quality and Community
While remodeling his first home, Tyler Sparks enjoyed the process so much that it changed his life’s direction. He left an aerospace machine shop to join a local contracting company, and in 2018, he and his wife, Taylor, started Elite Restoration in Roseburg, Oregon. Today, their company serves customers from Eugene to Oregon’s southern border, providing insulation, weatherproofing, water mitigation, attic restoration, crawl space remediation and more.
“I really like incorporating building science protocols to make homes healthy,” Tyler says. “Figuring out why something went wrong is where we shine. We want to provide a full-service solution and prevent the problem from coming back.”
For example, if a home has mold in the attic, the root cause of the moisture issue is sometimes as simple as a disconnected bath fan. Once they find the issue, they create a permanent fix that works with the home’s systems.
Putting Pieces Together
Understanding how a house should function is something Tyler doesn’t leave to chance. He and his team members are Building Performance Institute (BPI) certified, and the entire field staff is certified in Lead-Based Paint Renovation. Ongoing education is another company hallmark.
“Leveraging Comfort Ready Home offerings and processes is a big part of our continuing education,” Tyler explains. “We blend everything we’ve learned from Comfort Ready Home and BPI and apply it in the field. When we train a new person, we show them best practices and teach them why they matter.”
They also keep up with local utility rebates to help customers save money through utilities like Central Lincoln PUD, Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative and Douglas Electric Cooperative.
A Real Difference
Saving money is important, and Elite Restoration sees great overlap between energy efficiency, cost savings and improved indoor air quality in projects. Now, Tyler and Taylor are bringing these savings, efficiency and health benefits to people in Douglas County’s and Coastal Oregon’s income-qualified programs.
“From the day we opened our business, we wanted to bring quality work to underserved communities. When you start tracking inefficiencies and inequities in housing, they are often in the low-income sector,” Tyler explains. “This is our community, and we found our passion in helping income-qualified families.”
The goal is to bring projects to the utilities that meet the income threshold, allowing Elite Restoration to perform blower door and duct testing and provide a full-measure weatherization package. By partnering with several community-based organizations, they can connect with people who would most benefit from the projects. At the end of the day, their power bill will be lower, and people in the home will have increased comfort and well-being.
“It makes a huge difference,” Tyler says. “This work also extends the life of the house, and if we can preserve and update existing housing, we can prevent the need for new housing to be built, reducing the strain on the grid. Ultimately, that’s what we want to overcome: impacts on the people, the community and the grid.”
Comfort Ready Home contractors get free access to homeowners in their area looking to make weatherization, HVAC and water heating upgrades — plus complimentary tools, training and support to perform energy-efficient installations with confidence. ComfortReadyHome.com/join