A Behind-the-Walls Look: Our Build Show Experience

Dec 9

Why a recent visit from Matt Risinger and The Build Show mattered — and what it highlighted about how we build.

When you spend your days obsessing over the details most people will never see, you don’t expect anyone outside your team (or even your homeowners) to notice. So when The Build Show — led by industry expert Matt Risinger — visited one of our custom home projects here in Wilson, it was a moment we won’t forget anytime soon.

Matt didn’t just come to see us; he’d already spend the day visiting multiple job sites across Raleigh, a major homebuilding market with far more builders and far more volume than our small but growing community here in Wilson.

So the fact that he chose to feature our project and spent more time here than anywhere else in the episode made the experience especially meaningful.

We’ve followed Matt’s work for years because his philosophy aligns with ours: Know better. Build better.

That mindset is at the heart of every home we build, and having him walk a GoldenLeaf jobsite was an honor in itself. It was even better that he recognized the details we sweat over every day.

What Matt Saw Behind the Walls

A robust water-management strategy

From our fully ZIP-sheathed exterior to the SIGA Fentrim through-wall flashing, matt pointed out the same principle we build by: if you manage water well, you prevent 90% of major problems in the future.

We’ve used ZIP system for years, and he noticed:

taped and rolled seams
liquid-flashing at overdriven fasteners
a textbook window installation with stretch tape at the sill
thoughtful detailing around brick veneer and transitions

Conditioned Crawlspace + Clean Mechanical Strategy

Eastern North Carolina’s humidity is no joke. Matt immediately recognized our crawlspace approach:

Rigid foam at the foundation walls
Stego Crawl vapor barrier (installed later for a clean finish)
temporary airflow strategies during rough-in

He also noticed:

Organized HVAC supply layouts
Jumper ducts for pressure balancing
Future proofing with conduit running from crawlspace to attic

These are small things individually, but they create a huge difference collectively.

Flat, level surfaces where finishes actually live

One detail Matt rarely sees: engineered studs (LVL/LSL) used behind tile and cabinetry.

It’s not common practice, even among high-end builders, because it takes more planning and more cost up front. Despite this, the result is:

Perfectly flat tile surfaces
Smooth cabinet installs
Long-term stability without seasonal movement issues

Matt summed it up simply:

“If I put a 6 foot level on this wall, it’d be dead flat.”

That’s exactly why we do it.

Why the Visit Mattered (Especially Here in Wilson)

We’re proud of where we build. Wilson isn’t Raleigh. It’s smaller, slower paced, and we don’t have hundreds of builders like a large metro area. For us, that’s a significant part of what makes this moment meaningful.

When someone who tours some of the best-built homes in the country sees a project in Wilson — a community with far fewer builders and far fewer homes going up each year — and recognizes the craftsmanship and intention behind it, it validates the standard we hold ourselves to.

We’re not trying to be the biggest builder in the region. We’re trying to be the builder who pays attention to the things that last.

What Matt said about GoldenLeaf

During the walkthrough, Matt shared a message we’ll remember:

“If you guys watching are thinking about building in Wilson or surrounding areas, you’ve got to go GoldenLeaf. Super impressed with these young guys — they’re building great homes and building a great business.”

We don’t take that lightly coming from one of our favorite industry pros who sees hundreds of projects a year.

Why We Build the Way We Do

We’re a small team — just two longtime friends who care deeply about this community and the homes we put our name on. We don’t build hundreds of homes, and we see the people we do build for around town on a regular basis. We build fewer homes, but we build them better.

Our goal is simple: