If You Can Dream It, They Can Create It
With his background in construction and hers in design, the husband-wife team at Prime Renovations can give you the renovation you’ve been dreaming of.
Troy Wilson and Rachel Johnson can help you explore ideas, stay on budget and end up with the perfect change to your home, no matter where you live. That’s exactly why they were voted the Best of Knoxville by Cityview readers.
“It’s humbling to be voted number one,” Troy says. “Really, sometimes you just put your head down and try to do the work,” says Rachel. “It’s great to be recognized.”
“We can help people who want to do something unique with their home or add onto their home,” Troy says. “We like working with people who like design and putting together something custom for themselves. We do some design ourselves but we also have designers and architects we work closely with.”
Prime Renovations is a full-service home remodeling company offering first class design and management of residential construction projects. Troy and Rachel each contribute essential skills: he got started in renovations as a kid and she studied interior design in college.
“I got into remodeling work through family,” he says. “It’s been in my family for many, many years. I grew up in a little town in Michigan. We lived in a house that was in a historical neighborhood and were always doing projects on that house. My involvement in remodeling projects started at a young age — probably 10 years old. My grandfather, Chuck Steimer, was the one who got me interested in construction to begin with. He was doing remodeling in Knoxville and I moved here in 2003 to join him. I started Prime Renovations in 2010.”
“I handle all the office work,” Rachel says. “As far as the projects themselves, once we sign a contract generally clients are going to have to make selections.
That’s something I take over, making sure it works with the project and that they stay on budget. My role is more on the administrative side rather than the production of the job. We have fantastic team members working in production: Nathan Johnson and Nolan Kennedy, who ensure that everything from scheduling to site clean-up happens perfectly.
“Knoxville has been home to me since I was born,” Rachel adds. “We both love the city so much, the sense of the community and the variety of people who live here. We love the growth and the neighborhoods being restored as opposed to building new. We find especially younger people, but people of all ages, are looking to restore older homes. We do all kinds of work—Tellico Village, Maryville—but I think our favorite kind of work is on older homes.
“A lot of people are doing designs that fit the architecture and time period of their home,” Troy says. “If it was a 1950s home, they want to stay true to the home.”
“We want to let people know that we’re just as invested in Knoxville and the community as they are,” Rachel says. “It’s really exciting to work with people who love where they live also. It’s really great to drive by all parts of town and know we helped make it a little better. We’re not just a remodeling company.”