In building and renovation, few rules hold true all the time. However, a number of useful notions lead to predictable outcomes most of the time. Unfortunately, many of these notions are forgotten when we concentrate on making ideal decisions throughout the course of the work. We lose sight of how each decision relates to the bigger project picture.

The following is a list of some commonsense ideas that almost always have a positive impact on a construction endeavor.

Maintain the Right Attitude

• Building anything is an act of joy and optimism. It’s also a learning experience. Anxiety is a normal part of that experience, but anxiety must not control the outcome of the work.
• The only adversarial relationship that is productive on a building project is the one that everyone should have with the artistic, technical, and financial challenges that the work itself presents.
• Excellent people make mistakes. Expect that they will continue to do so.
• Building a house is not an industrial process. It is hand labor, at a site, involving dozens of components that have to work and fit together as well as possible. Expectations for the quality of the work should reflect these characteristics.

Choosing an architect and builder

• When selecting a professional with whom to work, the first criterion should be character; the second, competence; the third, dedication.
• Clients are in the difficult business position of dealing with people who know more about design and construction than they do. In this vulnerable situation, the best strategy is to choose professionals of unquestionable integrity.
• To secure the greatest benefit from the knowledge that consultants and builders posses, allow them to do their work in the manner that their training and experience have shown will be most effective.
• Clients who receive the best service are those from whom trust is ample, enthusiasm is overt, information is complete, and payment is prompt.

About Project Costs

• Accurate cost estimates are based on facts; inaccurate estimates are usually the result of guessing. Financial risk in building is reduced by developing as much specific design information as possible before construction begins.
• The complexity of both design and construction work is often underestimated.
• Many people believe that they know a good deal about architectural design. What they do not realize is how much more they need to know to do design well, with distinction, refinement, and grace.
• Architects have the patience to plan. Builders have the savvy to improvise. Improvisation, however, is not a substitute for planning. The purpose of planning is to achieve predictable results. The purpose of improvising is to maintain work progress.
• For construction to be done efficiently, most design decisions need to be made in advance of building. If made during construction, these decisions can interrupt the work flow and increase its cost. Late design decisions are also more difficult to incorporate into the rest of the design.
• A construction project involves people with wide variations in skill, experience, intelligence, and desire. Effective project management optimizes the conditions that allow people to perform at their best.
• Frequent, candid communication is vital to minimize construction problems.
• Good people care. The end result usually shows why.

Energy efficiency plays a central role in building any new home. Building a “green” home, however, requires energy efficiency and much more. “Green building” means taking a comprehensive approach to energy and resource efficiencies from design through construction and operation of the house. Certain components of a home’s construction contribute greatly to the success of such an approach.

Windows, doors, and skylights, in particular, have a critical impact on a home’s ability to conserve energy, reduce moisture intrusion, and keep utility costs low. Like the vent pipes in a roof, they are penetrations in the home’s structural envelope, only much larger and more widely distributed.

The average new house, in fact, has more than 20 windows and doors, each a potential avenue for outside air and water. In the past, windows and doors were not much better than open holes in the wall. They were designed to bring usable daylight into the home, provide views to the outside, and allow passive (or non-mechanical) ventilation in warm and humid climates. In order to keep their homes reasonably comfortable in cold seasons, our ancestors kept windows and doors to a minimum.

Fortunately, today’s windows and doors are designed to enhance a home’s energy performance. Through still relied upon for passive ventilation and views, windows and glass doors are now insulated in both their frame and glass design. High tech window construction and specially treated glass can reduce glare, unwanted solar heat gain and damaging ultraviolet radiation, which can fade rugs and upholstery. Windows and skylights can also be designed to increase passive (free!) solar heating, reducing the amount of costly energy needed by the furnace.

Energy-conscious home owners can now choose among a variety of options in order to precisely match windows and doors to the seasonal climate conditions of their home’s location. To optimize the seasonal climate conditions of their home’s location. To optimize the overall thermal performance of the house, windows and doors can also be selected according to which side of the house they will be installed. For example, south and west-facing windows can let in more solar energy than north and east-facing windows.

In addition to enhanced glazing options, new wood-based window and door frame materials are engineered to resist warping, thus minimizing the small gaps between the window or door and the wall that may develop over time. In better quality vinyl window and glass door frames, the hollow cavities are increasingly insulated to boost their effectiveness.

As professional builders concerned about the performance of your new home, we take care to select the best windows and doors for your new home. We also take care to find knowledgeable suppliers and trained subcontractors to ensure not only high quality products but also proper installation that will maintain the design performance values of the window and door products used.

Windows, doors, and skylights play an important role in any home’s appearance and overall performance. In a green-built home, they are critical elements in a range of integrated design and construction approaches that help reduce a home’s energy use and operating costs while increasing indoor comfort and air quality.

Should you?

To buy all the parts that make up your automobile, you might have to spend upwards of four times the cost. And then you would still have to put them all together! Custom building a house is not quite as bad as that, but it still costs more than a ready-made builder’s product. So why build a custom home?

If you answer “Yes” to any of the following questions, you are a good candidate for considering a custom home.

• Have you looked for a ready-made home, but have been unable to find one which fulfills your desires and preferences, your family’s needs, and/or your aesthetic sense?
• Do you have very particular and specific desires about what you want in a home? When you look at existing homes, do you seem to want to change everything about them?
• Do you have unusual requirements for a home, such as special-purpose rooms, a particular layout, built in major fixtures or systems, accessibility, an accessory dwelling, or out-buildings?
• Would you like to make use of alternative energy sources, ecologically sound or non-toxic building materials, or any other fixtures, methods, or materials which are not generally found in ready-made homes?
• Have you been unable to find a home which works for you in the right location or neighborhood?
• Do you wish for a home with particular views, water frontage, zoning, or type of trees or vegetation, and have been unable to find an existing home that has them?
• Are you in love with a particular piece of vacant land?
• Are you already the owner of a particular piece of vacant land?
• Do you own, or are thinking of buying, a divisible lot, with an existing home on one part? If so, you might build a custom home on the vacant part, and the sell the existing home.
• Do you own, or are thinking of buying, a lot in a good neighborhood with an existing home in such disrepair that it should be torn down?
• Do you own, or are thinking of buying, a piece of land with a mobile home? If so, you might build a custom home while still living in the mobile, and then sell the mobile.
• Do you want to make sure that your new home is structurally sound and has been built under newer building code requirements, such as those which afford precautions for earthquakes, slides, floods, fire, or hurricanes?

There are many more questions to ask yourself, those are just some of the reasons why you would build a custom home.

Bottom line – If you’re looking at existing homes and you can’t find that perfect dream home – it’s time to think about a custom home.

No two homes are the same, and every client is unique.

Our missing is to build a home for each of our clients that fits each family’s wants and needs. We work with our on-staff architect to carefully consider a client’s specific needs; the number of people in the household, the gender and age of every family member, and even their particular preferences and interests. We try to capture the essence of how you live now and make an educated guess about how you’ll live in your new house for years to come.

This “lifestyle profile” approach helps determine everything about your new house, from the simplest and most obvious, such as the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, to less common features such as personal and public entertainment areas, specialized storage space, and even the home’s physical location and architectural style. We’re dedicated to determining the specifics of your new home.

Before we meet with prospective clients, we encourage them to spend some time thinking about their current lifestyle, paying particular attention to how it might change in the future.

Plan with an eye to the future: In addition to a simple count (Don’t forget the pets!) of those living under your roof, consider how each person in the family uses the house now and is likely to use it in the near future.

• A couple without children, for instance, might consider at least two secondary bedrooms (in addition to the master suite) that can serve as a home office, guest room, or a hobby space – or eventually, children’s bedrooms.
• A young family might look for a home in which the secondary bedrooms are located on the opposite side of the house or on a different level. This plan will not only accommodate aging kids but can also serve different uses, such as a guest or game room, once the children leave the nest.
• If regular visitors are a part of your lifestyle, you might consider a separate suite above the garage that could double as a hobby space or home office.

Mobility and Special Needs: Regardless of your age or current physical condition, remember that a temporary or chronic impairment might limit your ability to get around your house in the future. If bedrooms are on the second floor, even a pulled muscle can keep you from climbing stairs. A main-level “flex” space (especially one with semi-private access to a bathroom offers a comfortable alternative to a couch or cot in times of a temporary disability. This setup easily converts to a permanent bedroom on the lower level when stairs are best left to younger members of the household. Floor coverings, cabinet and counter heights, and appliance locations can be tastefully altered to make them easy to navigate regardless of your physical state. Consider, too, ease of access to and around the house from the outside. You might consider at-grade entrances and solid, hard surfaces such as continuous walkways instead of paving stones.

Interests outside the home: In addition to in-home needs and desires, consider outdoor activities as part of your lifestyle profile. If you prefer to take walks, run, or bike ride, ready access to a community bike or walking path might help target your choice of locations within a neighborhood. The opportunity to garden or do yard work may also be a determining factor in your search for a new home, while those who disdain mowing the lawn or repainting the house will be drawn to low maintenance materials and yard areas. Proximity to an amenity-rich community center might be a deal-maker for a young family, but less so to a time-strapped, travel-heavy professional couple.

As a builder dedicated to making housing dreams a reality, we are committed to providing homes that are best suited to the people who buy and live in them. Armed with a solid understanding of our clients’ particular wants and needs, we can pinpoint the right house and features for each one, delivering homes that suit their circumstances now and in the future.

If you are planning to have a home custom built, you may be wondering if you should find a stock plan that you like well enough and have it built as drawn. Of course you would still specify the colors, fixtures, and materials. This can be done, and it would create for you a home that is custom built, but not custom designed. What reasons might you have for also having your home custom designed?

The design of a home begins with the approximate size, location, and layout of the spaces for living, cooking, sleeping, playing, entertaining, conversing, relaxing, studying, working, washing, and so forth. How these spaces are placed will affect how you and your family live every day.

• Planning a short route from your car to your kitchen may save you more time and energy than an easy-clean bathroom counter surface.
• Each square foot of a house adds to its cost, so you should be the one to decide whether to put that square foot into the bedroom or the living room.
• If you are hunting for a stock plan for a narrow lot with a room-sized pantry and a sauna, but with only one bedroom and one bath, you may have a very long and futile hunt.

Next comes the design and placement of windows and doors, according to the way you will use the rooms.

• Windows that have been placed to take advantage of your views might have a great effect on your family’s morale.
• You may need doorways and hallways wide enough for a wheelchair, either now or at some point in the future.
• You may want different kinds of doors. Swinging, bifold, bypass, French, atrium, or pocket doors each have their own spatial and structural requirements. They are not necessarily interchangeable.
• You may want to make sure that upper-story window sills are high enough to protect children from falling.

Also, there are aesthetic considerations. If you grow tired of decorating schemes, wall treatments, fixtures or cabinets – you can change them. But, short of major remodeling, the design and overall shape of your home (both exterior and interior) is permanent. If you love the way your home looks and feels, you’re likely to feel happier when you come home.

Finally, there are the practical aspects of the home site. Many lots have characteristics which make it difficult to use a stock plan.

• If your land has a severe slope right where you’d like the house to be placed for the best views, custom design is essential. The home must be fit carefully to the land.
• Other examples are water frontage, easements, oddly-shaped lots, and areas with slide, flood, erosion, fire, wind, or earthquake risks.
• For some sites, you will need engineering work done to satisfy the building department or to ensure the durability of the house. The plan needs to take the engineering requirements into consideration, without sacrificing livability.

What if you want some changes made to a stock plan? You may want more of your own personal touches. Or you may have special needs which will require you to commission extensive redesign and redrafting. You may want to make the house accessible, enlarge the garage, whirlpool bath, separate shower, or powder room. These kinds of changes require walls to be moved, layouts to be changed, and structural support systems to be redesigned. It might make more sense to start from scratch and end up with the home you really want.

If there’s one thing you can do to help ensure a successful and satisfying homebuilding experience, it is to maintain regular and productive communication with your builder and his staff. Effective communication is key to reducing concerns and stress during the building process. Keep the lines of communication open at all times.

As you engage in the home buying process, gain a sense of how comfortable you are with each builder’s communication style during the sales process. These early communications often reflect how your builder will communicate to you during construction and after closing. In addition to imparting the sales message, builders who are effective communicators will encourage your input and provide satisfactory answers to questions you pose. Effective follow-up efforts that provide real information also help to establish a solid foundation for communication through the process.

As you reach a purchasing decision, make sure you are comfortable with how you and your builder will discuss the project and its progress. Many builders encourage periodic walk-throughs of the house at critical stages, such as during structural framing, electrical and plumbing rough-in, and once the interior walls have been drywalled. Find out about opportunities to conduct informal meetings or use other communication efforts (such as phone calls or e-mails), and ask how quickly you can expect a response from your builder when you have a concern.

You should also expect and talk through a detailed scope of work with your builder, which outlines the construction process along a time line or schedule. Use the scope of work as a guide that elicits questions about the construction of your new home to gain a better understanding of the process. The scope and schedule will also establish deadlines for key decisions you must make on time, such as selecting lighting, plumbing fixtures, and flooring materials.

An essential part of the owner-builder communication process is the “change order”, which is the procedure established by a builder for making changes after construction begins. Few projects are completed without some changes. You should be familiar with this process before the first dirt is moved. You should learn, too, the details of your builder’s warranty and service program.

Savvy and successful builders have a plan in place for communicating effectively with their home buyers throughout the sales, construction, and warranty service process. Respect that process, while taking appropriate opportunities to express your needs and suggest slight changes within it to better suit your situation, preferences, and comfort level. Once you’ve settled on a communication plan, stick with it! It is a key to a ‘safe and sane’ building process and providing you the home of your dreams.

When people look at homes to build or buy, the two biggest issues are usually cost per square foot and features or upgrades. Usually, these concepts don’t work well in the true custom building environment. When building a custom home, the client is more in control of the costs. Instead of just taking a preset price for a standardized model, everything is tailored specifically to the client. If the phrases “standard features” and “custom home” seem contradictory, it’s because they are. The “standard features” are set by the customer!

A true custom home is customized from the ground up. The floor plan should be designed specifically to take advantage of your lot’s unique views, orientation, and topography. But most importantly, the builder/designer team needs to understand how the client is going to live, and tailor the design for that lifestyle. A variety of elements, including fixtures, finishes, appliances, and type of heating and cooking are all choices that affect price, design, and style.

Many home builders use standardized floor plans with some variations. They offer options and upgrades, but this is not a true custom home. Many times, by the time a customer adds all the features they want, the cost ends up being more than going to a custom home builder in the first place.

Sometimes, people will first have their plans drawn by a home designer, and then seek out bids. Care must be taken that all builders are bidding the same amenities and construction methods. Even if the plans have a great amount of detail, there can be significant variations in what is included. Too many bids can be very confusing.

The best recommendation is to use a design/build firm where the architect that draws the plans works hand in hand with the builder. That way everyone is on the same page, and no surprises pop-up during construction that can increase your costs significantly simply because something wasn’t clear enough on the plans to begin with.

One of the biggest benefits of a true custom homebuilder is the level of attention clients will receive. No matter how much money someone is spending, it should always be clear who the customers contact is with the homebuilding company, and who is responsible to make sure all the concerns are addressed. Most unsatisfied customers can be traced back to a problem in this area. By choosing the right builder, a custom home can be one of the most rewarding purchases of a lifetime.

There are many scam artists eager to prey on unsuspecting borrowers. Don’t be one of them.

You can avoid the devastating effects of fraudulent lending practices by following the basic guidelines offered by the Federal Trade Commission:

DO NOT

• Enter into a home equity loan if you have insufficient income to support it.
• Sign any papers you haven’t read or any documents that have vacant spaces that are to be filled in after you sign them.
• Allow anyone to pressure you into endorsing any document you don’t understand.
• Agree to a loan that contains unwarranted credit insurance or other charges you don’t want.
• Allow the promise of extra cash or lower payments cloud your good judgment about whether or not a loan is really worthwhile.
• Deed your property to anyone. Consult an attorney or someone else you trust before considering this risky action.

DO

• Request specific information if credit insurance is a mandatory condition of your loan. If credit insurance is not required and you don’t want it, and if there has been a fee added to the loan, ask that the charge be removed from the loan text. If you do want some sort credit insurance, take the time to shop around for the best rates and terms.
• Maintain careful records of what you’ve paid, incorporating billing statements and canceled checks. Question any charge you suspect is inaccurate.
• Check contractor’s references before you start work on your home.
• Read and review all items carefully. In the case that you need any terms or conditions explained, talk to someone you can trust first. Weigh and consider all the costs of financing before you agree to a loan.