SOS Homecare

Living in a vintage home presents its challenges. Our lifestyles have changed so rapidly over the past century that those charming (but small) kitchens and bathrooms may have a negative impact on your daily life.

If your home isn’t able to accommodate your needs, a remodel may be in order. That said, most homeowners would prefer to honor their home’s unique architecture, while enjoying a more functional and energy-efficient kitchen, for example. That requires an experienced remodeling company.

SOS Homecare has been in business for more than 20 years. Working with vintage, inner-city homes is its specialty.

Cofounder Lee Switzenberg says, “Understanding the architecture and understanding how an older home is put together gives us a heads-up compared to someone who’s used to working in Eagan with another kind of home. We’re vintage-house experts at this point in our lives.”

Kitchens and bathrooms are SOS Homecare’s favorite projects, but it also will tackle construction and framing; decks and patios; tiling; brick and concrete work; windows and door replacement; outdoor lighting; landscaping; and siding and trim work.

For the breadth of work that they do, cofounder Todd Oberg and Switzenberg believe in keeping their company small, placing a high priority on customer service.

Switzenberg explains, “We will help our customers from beginning to end, and try to make it a really enjoyable experience for everybody.”

It was also important to both founders to cater to the gay community. Currently, GLBT customers are about 50 percent of their business.

Switzenberg shares, “We are gay. These days, it doesn’t seem to matter, but that’s one of the reasons we got involved in this 20 years ago. People were really uncomfortable just having anybody come into their house. We’re easy to get along with in those regards.”

It may seem like a small point, but having contractors you get along with really can make a project run more smoothly. In fact, Switzenberg feels it may be one of the most important aspects of choosing a remodeling company, next to proper licensing and experience.

Switzenberg remarks, “I know that sounds really odd, but when I first started my business years ago, I thought there were good customers and bad customers. And I know now there are only good customers, but some people work better with some kinds of people!” Heidi Fellner

Name of Company: SOS Homecare Inc.

Year Founded: In business more than 20 years

President/CEO: Todd Oberg

Number of Employees: 2 full-time, 1 part-time

Phone: (612) 374-3222

Website: www.soshomecaremn.com