About us
A house can only be environmentally responsible if it lasts a long time and is treasured by its occupants for its beauty and comfort. By focusing on good design and controlling heat, weather, moisture and drafts, we craft homes to last generations.
We both keep up with current research and perform our own, monitoring our projects to ensure they are performing as expected. We will always be available to look after our projects, and are proud of our long-term client relationships. We also work with a small group of designers, architects, suppliers, and subcontractors, many of whom have been part of our work for most of the company’s history.
Locations we serve
We serve the following communities in the greater Portland area. Part of our environmental commitment is to avoid long commutes for jobs. If you have a job outside our service area, we are happy to refer work to similarly minded colleagues.
Scarborough
Cape Elizabeth
South Portland
Portland
Falmouth
Cumberland
Yarmouth
Our capabilities
The Portland area has always been home base for Kolbert Building. We know the housing stock well, having worked on buildings from the 18th through the 21st centuries. We have repaired and renovated homes designed by prominent architects from long ago, and build the designs of many of today’s best as well.
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The Pretty Good House grew out of our experience building new homes, and its principles guide us. An efficient shell, excellent air and weather sealing, healthy and low-carbon materials, and minimal concrete – we won’t build any other way.
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We love to make existing houses work better by improving energy efficiency, functionality, or comfort. If we can’t make the footprint work, we have many great ways to add space as well. Depending on scope, we can often handle design and product selection in-house, improving communication and reducing turnaround time.
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Whether a new house or a small single room renovation, we always have our eyes on improving efficiency and comfort. Reducing energy usage, improving comfort, managing water and humidity to reduce materials failure, and minimizing environmental impact, are our everyday concerns. We also monitor large projects for years, to make sure walls are staying dry, energy consumption is on track, and air quality is healthy.
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It’s particularly gratifying restoring some of Portland’s older gems. Whether it’s safely mitigating and removing lead paint, re-creating or repairing historic details, preventing water intrusion, or figuring out how to retrofit cutting edge equipment into a 19th century home, we have the experience and trade partners to solve most problems.
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Dan Kolbert
GENERAL MANAGER
Dan has worked in the trades since 1986, and moved to Portland in 1988. Since starting his own company twenty years ago, he has homed in on energy efficient, thoughtfully built and renovated homes. He has written or been featured in many articles on construction-related topics, and is the co-author of the 2022 Taunton Press book, Pretty Good House. His two kids, both Portland natives, are proud graduates of the Portland Public School system.
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Josh Blye
LEAD CARPENTER
Josh has been doing carpentry in some form or another for more than 15 years. With a B.S. in Forest Science, he has experience in all phases of bringing wood from the tree to the house. Josh loves music, art, woodworking, and nature.
Publications:
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Liz Zelnick
OPERATIONS MANAGER
Liz is a staff carpenter, kitchen and bath designer, scheduling coordinator, and occasional office manager. She fell into carpentry in 2016, after an unfulfilling education in civil engineering, a stint in finance, and several soul-sucking [but lucrative] years waiting tables. She knows too much about environmental impacts to feel good about anything, but tries to occupy her time outside of work making fine crafts. Alongside Helm, Liz co-founded the Non-Trad Tradies group, a Southern Maine meet-up/networking/support group for #ladytradies, non-binary, and trans trades!
Publications:
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Ashley Barnes
ASSISTANT LEAD CARPENTER
Ashley has a fine arts background; earning her BFA in sculpture. After years in the jewelry business; designing, teaching, writing and filming she was tempted from the bench to pursue her interest in building. When not onsite Ashley stays busy obsessively checking the housing market and chasing her kid Baz, who makes frequent KB Instagram appearances.
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Tobey McKinley
PROJECT LEAD / CARPENTER
Tobey made a shift to carpentry after 10 years in the graphic design field where he led brand direction and user experience strategies for businesses and nonprofits across Maine. His passion for accessible spaces on the web and in the physical world is what led him to carpentry, along with his experience living in a self-built 216 sq ft tiny home. Tobey is the co-founder of the trans health startup, Transcapsule.
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Mei D.W.
CARPENTER
After an unfulfilling and thankfully short career in marketing and design, Mei made the switch to high-performance building in 2021. Dedicated to creating sustainable and accessible spaces, she has since earned her Passive House Tradesperson Certification and plans to continue nerding out over building science. Outside of work, Mei is involved in providing mutual aid in Portland. She is currently designing and building a Mobile Free Pantry for Portland which hit the road mid-summer 2023.
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Richard Vokey
CARPENTER
Richard got his first carpentry job in Midcoast Maine at the beginning of the pandemic, and what started out as merely a job soon developed into a strong passion for building. Most recently, Richard worked on a crew in Salt Lake City, further honing his carpentry skills and spending his free time skiing in the Wasatch mountains. Outside of work, Richard loves art, eclectic music, biking, and spending as much time in the water as he can.
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Adrian O'Barr
CARPENTER
Adrian is a carpenter and musician living in Portland. He has 6 years of experience in renovation and loves working on old homes, and is enjoying learning more building science/new construction with the Kolbert crew. When he is not at the job site, he is usually gigging with his band Wildflower or out with his dogs.
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Lily
HUMAN RESOURCES
Lily is a schnauzer-of-all-trades.
Want to join the team?
We are always interested in meeting with people who might be a good fit with the company. We have hired people with zero experience, people who’ve run their own construction companies, and everyone in between.
We have a deep commitment to expanding the hiring pool beyond the norm.
Interested in joining our crew? Send us an email.