About
A family business, since 1989.
Summit is still run by the family that started it. We're tradespeople first: early mornings, clean layout, and job sites you'd be happy to have next door.
01Our story
“If your name is on the truck, the walls have to be straight enough that you’d hang a door in them yourself.”
Frank Calder, founder
Frank started Summit in Aurora after three years on a volume crew that could stand a house in two days, and never wanted to work that way again. The first jobs were ranch additions, garages, and bearing walls opened by someone who shouldn’t have. He measured twice, pulled diagonals in front of the homeowner, and came back if a header sat proud.
Three decades later, that rule still shapes how we hire, how we bid, and how we leave a site. There’s no sales office and no rotating project manager. There’s a lead, a crew, and a standard that was passed down because it worked. We frame, and we leave finish work to finish trades.
1989
One truck, one crew
Frank Calder starts Summit with a used F-250, a worm-drive saw, and a rule: frame every wall like you'll hang the door yourself.
1990s
Growth by referral
Builders who saw the last job call about the next one. The crew stays small on purpose, so the standard never slips.
2008
The second generation
Luis Calder comes in from the field to run estimates, bidding what's actually there instead of what the drawing hopes for.
Today
Still family-run
Custom homes, additions, structural work, and garages across the Denver metro. Better tools, same expectations.
02What we stand for
Trust is earned on the job site.
Accountable
The people who bid your job are the people who build it, and the people who answer the phone afterward.
Precise
Layout, hardware, and load paths get checked before anything is covered. Square and plumb isn't a slogan.
Straightforward
Clear scopes, honest schedules, and change orders written before the work, not after.
Built for Colorado
Snow load, Front Range wind, and freeze-thaw cycles are part of every decision we make on site.
03The crew