KINGSTON — Having a company that can complete building material estimates and residential home design under the same roof helps clients get what they want sooner, as well as save money.

That’s the way the employees of the Kingston-based Marsh Menne Estimating and Design see it. Proprietor Marsh Menne estimates how much building materials cost for a project while his daughter Lacey Menne and her boyfriend Eric Soelter crank out home designs and floor plan systems (i.e. where the floor beams and joists go within the floor of a house).

Focusing on residential design, their clients include lumberyards and contractors as well as residents who want to build their own homes but don’t want to hire a contractor.

Marsh has been working in the construction industry since the 1970s, more recently doing estimates for Kingston Lumber, until he started his own business, Marsh Menne Estimating and Design, in 1999.

He then added floor systems designing to his workload and his daughter joined him in November 2004. Soelter joined this past July.

“For me, Lacey brought me into the 21st century,” Marsh said with a chuckle.

He’d been trying to interest her in the business since she was in high school, not only because the work was increasing, but “I could see someone with a little more savvy with electronic intelligence could benefit the business,” he said.

After “Lacey” graduated from college in June 2004 with a degree in English, she planned to go into publishing. But after spending four days with her father learning the basics of the trade, she was hooked.

“It takes a lot of time and I’ve always been into the details,” Lacey said. “And to know I mean something to the company, I know I’m a third of the company and that’s really important.”

“New blood is really a nice thing, it lets you see things you can do,” Marsh added. “Hiring Lacey was a turning point.”

Since her addition, the company has become busier with floor system planning, creating more work for the business, and allowing the company to upgrade its computer system and use computer-assisted drawing (CAD) software.

“Where I get stuck, they kind of plow through,” Marsh said about hiring Lacey and Soelter. While Marsh used to design houses by hand, now it’s done on computer by Soelter and Lacey.

“He’s really, really good,” Marsh said of Soelter. “I’m proud of him just as I’m proud of Lace for their abilities.”

By providing more services to clients, the business is “more complete,” Marsh said.

The company’s strongest assets, the father-daughter duo said, include improving the communication between all parties involved in a project, keeping an eye on how they design to help save on engineering costs and providing customer service, such as helping clients with permitting processes.

For Lacey, the small business atmosphere allows them to work with people in a bind as well as provide personal service to clients.

“It’s really a comfortable sort of business,” she said.