Questions About JAT Specialties

ICF stands for Insulated Concrete Forms. Hollow blocks of rigid foam are stacked like formwork, reinforced with steel, and filled with concrete. The foam stays in place permanently, so you end up with a solid reinforced concrete wall that is insulated on both the inside and the outside face.

The walls cost more up front. What you get back is lower cooling bills for the life of the house, significantly better storm resistance, a much quieter interior, and, depending on your carrier, potentially different insurance treatment. We build both wood-frame and ICF, so ask us to price your specific plan both ways and you can decide with real numbers instead of generalities.

Two reasons, and they are the same decision. Storms: a steel-reinforced concrete wall does not rack or flex in high wind the way a framed wall can. Heat and humidity: continuous insulation plus concrete's thermal mass means the house holds its temperature instead of fighting the air conditioning all summer. On this coast you are solving both problems at once.

No. Once it is finished, an ICF home looks like any other well-built custom home, siding, stucco, trim, porches and roofline are all up to you. The difference is in the wall behind the finish, not in the way the house reads from the street.

Concrete and foam are not food for either. Removing the organic structural material takes away what mould and termites are actually after, which matters more in a climate as humid as this one than it would further north.

No. Plenty of clients come to us with a rough idea, a lot, and a budget. We can talk through what is realistic before you spend money on a full set of drawings, and help you get from concept to a permitted plan.

The owner. JAT Specialties is a family company, Jeremy founded it in 2006, Mitchell joined in 2016 and Mason in 2023. The people who own the business are the people on your job.

Line by line, in writing, before we start. You should be able to see where the money is going and make choices while they are still inexpensive to make. Surprises part-way through a build are usually a planning failure, not an unavoidable fact of construction.

Yes. JAT Specialties holds two current Florida contractor licences: Certified Building Contractor CBC1255741, held since 2007, and Certified General Contractor CGC1539372. You can verify both yourself on the Florida DBPR licence search.

Yes, and we do it regularly in the north of the county. Building on acreage brings in well, septic, site access and drainage, all of which are far cheaper to solve before the slab is poured than afterwards.

It depends on size, site and how quickly permitting moves, so we would rather give you a real answer for your project than a number here that turns out to be wrong. What we will commit to is an honest schedule up front rather than an optimistic one that slips.

Usually, yes. We sequence work and contain dust so you keep a functioning kitchen or bathroom wherever the scope allows it. On larger whole-home renovations we will tell you honestly if moving out for a stretch is the better call.

Yes. Additions are often cheaper and far less disruptive than moving, particularly if you like where you live. We detail new work to match existing rooflines, trim and proportion so it does not read as bolted on.

Small commercial projects and tenant build-outs, retail, office and similar spaces. Our retail work in Seaside is a fair example of the custom millwork and finish standard we are set up to deliver.

Often, yes. Bring us the drawings and whatever exists on site. We will assess the work honestly and tell you what can be kept and what has to be redone.

All of Walton County, including Santa Rosa Beach and the 30A corridor, Freeport, DeFuniak Springs and Ponce de Leon. We work across both the coastal and northern halves of the county.

We provide residential and commercial building services across the Destin to Panama City Beach stretch of the Florida Panhandle. If your project is near that footprint, ask us.

Both, and they are genuinely different jobs. Coastal work brings wind load, flood elevation and salt exposure. Inland and rural work brings site access, drainage, well and septic. We build in both halves of the county regularly.