SGSANDY GRIFFIS

1. Article · Sep 11, 2026 · SANDY GRIFFIS, Courier Columnist

   What does it cost to build a home? Why there’s no such thing as a ‘price per square foot’ (opens the original)

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   I have had an outpouring of calls recently “Sandy what is the price per square foot to build?” A “price per square foot to build” is really a shorthand people want to be a single number, but it’s an average masking a pile of variables that each swing the number by a lot on their own, and they compound: Location, labor rates, material, shipping costs, permitting fees, and impact fee requirements vary enormously within Yavapai County, let alone I am sure from state to state. A house in P

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2. Article · Aug 28, 2026 · SANDY GRIFFIS, Courier Columnist

   Ask The Contractor: Why everyone's ripping out their bathtub (opens the original)

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   The calls are surging: “We want to convert our tub/shower unit to a walk-in shower.” It’s mostly demographics I have figured out and not a fad. AARP’s latest survey found 75% of adults 50+ want to stay in their current home as they age and grab bars/entryway safety are the top modifications people expect to need. Tubs are also the single biggest fall hazard in a house stepping over that high wall is exactly the injury insurance companies and Physical Therapists warn about. Add in that Ya

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3. Article · Jul 31, 2026 · SANDY GRIFFIS, Courier Columnist

   Ask The Contractor: Is your home hardened against wildfire? (opens the original)

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   I probably get this call as often as Conrad Jaskson, City of Prescott Wildfire Risk Management Supervisor does, once the grass on the hillsides turns from green to gold and homeowners have just watched the news, seen smoke on the ridgeline somewhere in the county, they call and want to know one thing: if a wildfire came through my neighborhood, would my house survive it? It’s a fair question, and up here in our community surrounded by ponderosa pine and chaparral, it’s a question every homeo

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