About Us

Our Values

We started our company to address the need for truly sustainable construction company for homeowners and businesses in the Front Range of Colorado. Our values are important to us, and we try to honor them in all aspects of our process.

Local

Local

Local Material
Local Knowledge
Local People

Healthy

Healthy

Healthy buildings for the people and the planet.

Low-Impact

Low Impact

We aim to have low-impact projects both on the environment and you. 

Our Team

Ben Waldman

Ben got into building as a disaster relief volunteer after Hurricane Katrina, an experience he followed with other disaster relief work in Haiti and the northwest US. After taking several natural building workshops, he dug in to making building better homes his career in Denver. He is a Certified Passive House Craftsperson and a NARI Certified Kitchen and Bath Remodeler. Ben spends his free time biking around Denver and hanging out with his family.

Frank Wetenkamp

Frank started working as a carpenter while in high school. He graduated college with a degree in Civil Engineering and a minor in Architectural studies. A Natural Building course at Yestermorrow Design Build School set him up for a move to Colorado and an apprenticeship with Ryan Chivers of Artesano Plasters. Frank is the current president of the Colorado Green Building Guild. When he isn’t building, Frank likes to snuggle cats, go camping, hike, and mountain bike.

Cheryl Corsiglia

Cheryl got into the construction industry through an internship with Community Rebuilds, building a straw bale home in Moab. An Earthen Building course in Nicaragua led to some connections to the natural building community in CO. Being a tradesperson runs in the family: her grandfather designed and built houses in Florida. She is on the board of the Natural Building Alliance. Most weekends, you’ll find Cheryl rock climbing, a hobby that has taken her to many beautiful places.

Marj Russow

Marj comes to building through disaster relief work. After high school, she spent some time demolishing and rebuilding damaged homes in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. Before joining our crew she worked at a horse stable, also taking riding lessons. Her dream is to own her own land and stables. She has a well-rounded pet family, including a dog named Daisy and a snake named Rhonda.

Beatrice Denham

Beatrice, or Bea, is a Community Rebuilds alumni with a strong background in building and natural plaster, both for other organizations and on her own projects. As an apprentice on CR’s first build in Bluff, UT, she handled both administrative tasks and on site leadership and teaching. She recently moved back west from Virginia, and is excited about growing a garden and exploring new trails around the Boulder area with her dog Turtle.

Tori Hoang

Tori got into the crafts & trades through Bike&Build. She spent over a year in Moab building natural and affordable housing with Community Rebuilds. Plastering and base metal were her favorite days on site. Some of her interests are road biking, cooking and pottery. She would love to continue working with natural materials and fine detailing her crafts. She would someday aspire to keep her plants from wilting, but in the meantime she is trying her best.

Gary Kainz

Gary is a carpenter, builder, and general jack-of-all-trades. Always tinkering and making things, he has been building professionally since 2018. Gary spends his free time on the farm, raising animals, fixing and building things, and spending time with his wife, dog, and two cats.

Lady

Lady is still young, but she loves the job site atmosphere and is always excited to see everyone at our team meetings. She loves running around and playing with humans and especially other dogs. Lady is also a gentle and kind older sister to her family’s human baby.

Sprocket

Sprocket is our part time office/job site dog who spends the rest of his time barking at passersby and napping on the couch. His specialties are really enthusiastic greetings and play fighting.

Maki

Maki is the newest team puppy. She is a social butterfly who came to Colorado from a Gallup, NM. Maki likes all people, all dogs, all other animals, birdwatching, pretty much every toy, chewing on things, going to puppy class, and training.

Turtle

Turtle grew up in the desert near Presidio, Texas and is still a little skeptical of city life. She hates everything about construction, including loud noises, cars, hats and most humans. She likes naps, chasing rabbits, and her frisbee.

Where We Work

Organizations and Certifications

What Our Clients Say

Everything you want in a contractor

Ben, Frank and Cheryl were a pleasure to work with on the project. Our plan was to alter a brick wood burning fireplace with a gas insert and to redefine and modernize its appearance and shape. Our first thought was concrete, which proved to be too heavy and expensive. Living Plasters’ suggestion of a finish …

Pride in their craft

We couldn’t be more pleased with our experience with this dynamic team of professionals. We hired them to build out our unfinished 1000 sq. ft. basement. Ben put together a comprehensive estimate, finding competitive bids for the electrical, heating, plumbing, and drywall portions, plus concrete floor stain & polish. We were pleasantly surprised to find …

My favorite room

I am really pleased with my clay walls. The clay surface creates such a soft beauty full of subtle variations in tone and texture. Their natural, earthen feel gives the room a unique ambience. It’s now my favorite room in the house. Ben and Ethan were a great team and really worked with me to …

Beyond our expectations

We highly recommend Ben Waldman. His outstanding workmanship and professionalism were beyond our expectations.  Reliability, honesty, consideration and attention to detail were several of the qualities Ben demonstrated.  We will certainly call him if we need to have more work done in our home.

The work they did was superior

Ben Waldman and his crew were delighful to have in our home for 7 days; polite, friendly, conscientious, efficient, and hard working. They cleaned up every day, and all the work they did was superior. Ben is a thoughtful and fair businessman, who does what he says he will do, when he says he will …

Wonderful craftsmen

Ben and his partner who remodeled my small bathroom in my 80 year old house are wonderful craftsmen who designed a beautiful room that incorporated the elements I was looking for while suggesting adjustments that made the best use of the small space. The room had given me moisture and leakage problems for 25 years …

A gorgeous upgrade

Frank, Ben and team plastered a large portion of the inside of our house in Lyons over a four month period in 2016. This was over 3500 sq. ft of floor space with vaulted ceilings, rounded arches, and extensive trim work. The craftsmanship is incredible and the end result was a gorgeous upgrade to our …

Their art is a pleasure

We have been living in our straw bale house for two years. Every day we enjoy the beautiful artistic work Frank, Ben, and Cheryl did plastering the walls and applying the tadelakt technique in our bathroom and along our kitchen counters. Their art is a pleasure for the eyes and to the touch. Tadelakt walls …