Building With AI: My Experience Using Claude

How did an HVAC technician end up building websites?

I started building websites because I got tired of paying agencies that didn't understand my business. I'm a licensed HVAC technician (EPA 608 #2396328) who has been in the trades for 10years. I had zero coding experience. I didn't know what HTML meant, couldn't tell you the difference between a framework and a library, and had never opened a terminal in my life.

Then I found Claude Code — Anthropic's AI coding tool that works directly in your command line — and everything changed. Within weeks, I had built this website (https://omar-jacobo.com) from scratch using Next.js and deployed it on Vercel. I've since used the same approach to rebuild and maintain frostyshvac.com. The code is public on my GitHub.

What does building with Claude Code actually look like?

The process is a conversation. I describe what I want in plain English, and Claude Code writes the code, creates the files, and explains what it's doing. If something breaks, I paste the error and Claude fixes it. It's not magic — it's more like having a patient, tireless developer sitting next to you who never judges you for not knowing something.

For example, when I wanted to build the HVAC expertise section of this site, I described the articles I wanted, the SEO requirements, the structured data for Google, and the design. Claude Code created all the files, set up the routing, handled the metadata, and built the components. I reviewed every page, edited the content to make sure it sounded like me, and deployed.

The learning curve was real but manageable. In the first week, I had no idea what was happening in the code. By the second week, I could read most of it. By the first month, I was making small edits on my own. Now I understand React components, TypeScript types, CSS frameworks, and git version control well enough to be dangerous. I'm not a developer — but I'm no longer helpless either.

What does Claude do really well?

Claude excels at scaffolding, debugging, and structured content creation. Here's where it genuinely shines:

What can Claude not replace?

Claude is a tool, not a replacement for the person using it. There are things it simply cannot do, and understanding this boundary is critical for anyone thinking about building with AI:

Business judgment. Claude can create a beautiful page for any service I describe, but it doesn't know which services my customers actually need. It doesn't know that homeowners in Farmers Branch ask different questions than homeowners in Flower Mound. Those decisions come from 10 years of field experience.

Customer relationships. My business runs on trust. People let me into their homes because they trust me, not because my website has good schema markup. AI can help me communicate more efficiently, but it cannot build the genuine relationships that bring repeat customers and referrals.

Authenticity.If I let AI write everything without adding my voice, experience, and perspective, it would sound generic. Every article on this site starts with AI assistance but ends with my real experiences, my real opinions, and my real voice. The content is better because of Claude, but it's mine because I directed and shaped every word.

What would I tell someone who wants to start building with AI?

Start with a real project, not a tutorial. I learned fastest when I had a specific goal: build a website for my business. The motivation to see something real kept me going through the frustrating moments. And there will be frustrating moments — code breaks, deployments fail, things don't look right. That's normal.

Don't try to understand everything at once. I still don't understand every line of code in my projects. What I understand is the architecture — how the pieces fit together, where to look when something goes wrong, and what to ask Claude when I need help. That's enough to be productive.

Keep your code public. My projects are on GitHub for anyone to see. It holds me accountable, shows potential clients what I'm capable of, and contributes to the community of non-developers learning to build with AI. If an HVAC technician from Farmers Branch, Texas can build a full website with AI, anyone can.