We pride ourselves on building and delivering homes that bring our clients’ vision and imagination into reality. We build dreams. Along with a focus on aesthetics, we construct homes that are designed to maintain their luster and beauty for decades. But this is only possible if a home is nurtured and cared for over time. Once they have settled into their new home, it becomes increasingly the client’s responsibility to maintain it. As a professional builder, we have a period of time in which we respond to warranty service calls and address questions from our new homeowners. Eventually the baton is passed to our owners for regular home maintenance. This helps insure a comfortable, secure and safe living environment and protects an important financial investment over time. And while every house we build is slightly different, specifically with regards to the various exterior and interior finishes, they all need to

For best results, narrow down the options up front Allowances—that is, budgeting general costs for items before the specific items are chosen—are a fact of life on many projects. Some homeowners have trouble making decisions before work begins, most commonly for appliances, cabinets, floor coverings, and plumbing and electrical fixtures. In those cases, the builder can assign a dollar amount to each category and let the homeowners choose specific products later. That doesn’t mean homeowners can postpone thinking about these products altogether. For an allowance to serve the homeowners’ interest, it must be based on accurate numbers. So the homeowners should at least decide what grade of products they want. That decision can require legwork as well as self-awareness. The builder can provide average dollar numbers based on past experience with similar projects, but this is only the first step—the homeowners need to ask follow-up questions. Suppose the builder suggests

You might find it a little odd to consider hiring a new-home builder for your remodeling project, but organizations like ours can oftentimes deliver a better project than a traditional remodeling company that focuses on a range of home improvement projects. For room additions and major renovations that require structural work and a significant amount of new construction, professional home builders are already equipped to deliver a high level of quality and owner satisfaction. Consider…large-scale projects are often very similar to our new-home building work. A room addition, for instance, is really not much different than a new home project, encompassing the full range of construction phases and materials from the foundation and structural frame through all of the exterior and interior finishes. Because of our experience in building new homes, we are accustomed to delivering a high level of finish and are skilled at working closely with our clients

Quality homes and satisfied customers don’t happen by accident. The best builders have systems to ensure those outcomes. If you have a complete set of construction documents, including accurate blueprints and product descriptions, then material and labor costs won’t vary much between equivalent professional builders. Most of the price difference will rest with the builder’s fee—the overhead and profit built into the home’s cost. What does that fee cover? And is a lower fee always better? The first answer is that the fee makes great service possible by funding the builder’s internal management systems. These systems keep every part of the job running smoothly, and the best builders have spent years creating and fine-tuning them. Those builders are in demand among customers who expect great service and, as a result, they command higher fees. We believe it’s money well spent. A casual approach to project management may be adequate for

These amenities will make the home more comfortable for all family members Anyone planning a new home might want to consider age demographics. For instance, recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau projects the over-65 population growing from 47 million in 2015 to 71 million by 2030, and most older people who answered a 2016 survey by Home Advisor said they intended to stay in their homes as long as possible. These trends mean that a growing number of households will include multiple generations. While most older homes weren’t designed for an aging population, it’s not difficult to make a new home accessible. The word “accessibility” makes some people imagine wheelchair ramps and institutional grab bars, but the truth is that a well-designed multi-generational space feels like a home, not a hospital. There are many creative ways to make a home feel welcoming to everyone, and as a bonus, accessible

Post-contract changes need not be a problem, but they absolutely need a clear process Professionals who build fantastic homes for satisfied customers share some important traits. One trait is an obsession with details, and another is clearly communicating those details to the homeowners. Great builders are great communicators, and part of being a great communicator is documenting every part of the job. It takes a lot of work to craft detailed construction documents, but that work pays off by showing the homeowners exactly what they’re getting and by helping the builder understand exactly what the homeowners want. These documents set expectations and ensure a smoother, more enjoyable build process. Critical documents include the contract, the plans and the specs. They also include change orders. The usual definition of a change order is anything that alters the scope, schedule or cost of the work after the homeowner has signed the final

The advantages of a new home go beyond the obvious. The allure of a new home fires the imagination and ignites the spirit. We’ve all dreamed of living in a home with our version of the perfect gourmet kitchen, a beautifully appointed office, and a luxurious master suite. Having everything just the way you envision it is reason enough for most people to consider a new home over an existing property. But the advantages go beyond the obvious: a custom home built by a professional builder offers performance benefits that only a new home can. These hidden benefits are as crucial to the homeowners’ ultimate happiness as the design, if not more so. Many of these benefits are the happy offspring of the drive to save energy. Everyone understands that thick wall and attic insulation, careful air sealing, and better heating and cooling equipment make new homes very energy-efficient. But

The best builders engineer their homes for health and comfort Efficiency, health and comfort—a great new home delivers all of those. But creating that home using today’s construction methods takes more knowledge than most people realize. That knowledge is one of the benefits of working with a professional builder. Lots of homeowners ask questions about energy efficiency—questions about insulation, the heating and cooling system, the lighting, and the home’s likely utility bills. They also want to know whether their indoor air will be healthy. They wonder if the airtight wall construction mandated by today’s building codes could cause health problems. They want to know that the home will not trap dust and odors or have unhealthy humidity levels. Indoor air quality is on a lot of people’s minds. Efficiency and health are just two aspects of what’s now called ‘high-performance’ building. Think of a high-performance home as a Mercedes. Its

Builders hear this question a lot. The answer, as with most such questions, is “It depends.” But on what? People who haven’t built before often have an unrealistic concept of how long it can take to plan, budget, and build a home. Many variables can affect the timetable. Three that stand out are design, permitting, and site work. Design. A stock plan the builder has previously built will take less time than a fully custom home, even if the homeowners make some changes to that stock plan. A custom home can take months to design and a year or more to build. Some people see size as the best indicator of how long the project will take. Not so—cost is a far more accurate gauge. Imagine a pair of 2500-square-foot homes, one for $200,000 and another for $1 million. It’s a good bet that the latter will have a more complex

How professional builders avoid some of the most common and costly construction mistakes. Most people judge a home by the obvious: a floor plan that’s a joy to live in, a streetscape elevation that wows passers-by, great natural lighting, and lots of storage. The list goes on. But some less obvious details have just as great an impact on the homeowners’ satisfaction over time. While homeowners have little control over these details, a professional builder with a sustainable business will make sure they get done right. Some areas that require special attention from a seasoned professional are described below. Moisture control Mistakes here can potentially raise the chance of mold, mildew, and rot. Steve Easley, a California-based building consultant who investigates moisture problems, sees the same errors again and again. Three common ones:  Mechanicals Modern heating and cooling equipment is very efficient, but efficiency doesn’t guarantee comfort. Equipment must be

Identifying the best pro to build your new home starts by clarifying your wants and needs. Should you heed the conventional advice about getting price quotes from different builders? Maybe, but once you understand the complexities and uncertainties that go into a bid, you will see why there may be a more effective approach. The biggest concern with the multiple-price method for deciding on a builder is that custom homes are by definition unique. The hundreds of processes and thousands of parts that go into a project make it tough to ensure that each builder uses the same assumptions. If you already have a set of plans and want apples-to-apples quotes, your plans need to be excruciatingly detailed, including written specifications for each faucet, floor surface and door knob. Specs like that are rare, to say the least. To create an accurate quote, the builder would need to ask a

The best builders know that the initial meeting is about earning your trust A big factor in someone’s choice of a builder is their comfort with the first person they meet from the company, whether it’s the owner or a salesperson. Natural rapport is important, but gut feelings also play a role—feelings some homeowners aren’t sure how to interpret. These feelings usually grow from attitudes and actions on the part of the builder. Professional builders understand this, and they make sure to act in ways that earn their clients’ trust, starting with that first meeting. When interviewing builders, clarity about these attitudes and actions will help you choose someone you can work well with. Before signing anything, ask yourself the following questions. Does the builder… 1. Show up like a pro? Someone in a cluttered pickup wearing old jeans and a dirty tee shirt may be a skilled craftsman, but their appearance

Building a new home is one of the most important investments a family will make. In many cases it represents the single largest financial investment. The home is designed and built to provide years of pleasure, comfort, and security. It is the physical manifestation of “family” and the place where celebration and joy are expressed and experienced. No wonder that when it comes to building a home, no one likes surprises. The document that spells out the detail and helps sets expectations for both builder and client is the contract. The contract is the roadmap that defines the destination, describes the detail of how the project will proceed, and steers everyone clear of obstructions and delays. The contract is crafted so that it protects both builder and client, and clarifies everything about the job. It is organized into a number of sections, including information about the project location (address, lot

Prevent surprises and delays by getting answers from the top. There are lots of things homeowners can do to keep their building project running smoothly. Number one is making timely product choices, but another key step is to direct all change requests and questions, no matter how small, to the builder or the builder’s representative (usually the project superintendent). It’s tempting to ask workers to make small changes, but that can create stress and misunderstanding. For instance, a homeowner may ask an electrician to move the junction box for a wall sconce a few inches to one side. Simple, right? Maybe, but the electrician may have to ask the framing carpenter to add blocking at the new location, or to move a wall stud that’s now in the way. The problem is not the change itself but the fact that the framer has to bill the builder for the additional

It’s easy to take concrete for granted. Most of us think of concrete as something stable, enduring, and strong. We believe that once concrete is set as a foundation slab, patio, driveway, or path, it’s there to stay. While it’s true that concrete is arguably one of the most stable building materials available, it nevertheless requires special care to perform as expected, maintain its structural integrity and retain its aesthetic appeal. This level of care and attention to detail starts with the proper mix of sand, cement, and water. For a given application, such as a foundation slab, ratios are specified by a structural engineer. The mix varies based on soil conditions, climate, building codes, and other factors, and is essential to ensure the concrete will perform as designed and desired. To strengthen the concrete to withstand a variety of forces, it will likely have to be reinforced with steel

The quality of the paint job can make or break the look of a custom home. Many homeowners expect plumbers and electricians to be expensive but are shocked at the prices charged by other subcontractors. One example of this is the professional painting company. Although people tend to see painting as intuitive work, there’s a vast difference in appearance and durability between a do-it-yourself finish and one applied by a pro. A professional paint job may run as high as 5 percent of the total job cost (for example, $40,000 for a $800,000 home), but it will produce lasting and beautiful results. Professionals get these results by paying attention to details that most homeowners and casual painters miss. In fact, really good painters—the ones whose work meets the quality demands of an expensive luxury home—are nothing short of obsessive. They spend a surprising amount of time prepping surfaces, following a

A complete set of plans and specs will eliminate problems and help ensure a smooth project. Never underestimate the importance of good plans and specifications to a successful new home build. These crucial documents need to be fully completed to generate a realistic price, schedule, and contract. Too often, however, they’re left undone. The plans are the visual representation of the finished home, showing what it will look like when complete. They include dimensions and other important details that guide the builder during the project. The plans should also verify any regulations that apply to the project, such as height limits, setbacks, solar access by neighboring properties, survey requirements, and whether the home is in a flood zone. In fact, most building departments want to see a full set of plans before issuing a building permit. Specifications, or specs, detail in writing what types of appliances, fixtures, roofing, siding, and

How homeowners benefit from an established builder’s systems and relationships Over the past decade, many new contractors have emerged as homebuilders. This has given homeowners more options, tempting some to choose a contractor based strictly on price. Bad idea. It’s nearly impossible to compare apples to apples when collecting competitive bids, especially for a complex custom home. That’s why homeowners who have built before prefer to compare builders rather than prices. By some estimates, the US economy boasts more residential contracting companies (general contractors as well as subcontractors like plumbers and electricians) than any other type of business. This reflects a low barrier to entry: you just need a contractor’s license and the right insurance to get started. Of course, licensing and insurance are crucial—no smart homeowner hires a contractor without them—but they are simply the ante to get in the game. They say nothing about the company’s work quality, budgeting skill,

Flex spaces, or flexible-use rooms, are increasingly common in modern housing to address homeowners’ needs to accommodate their changing lifestyle and allow them to “age in place”. Flexible-use rooms provide important options to homebuyers. Whether they be young couples with a growing family or retirees needing creative outlets. A den might one day serve as a nursery; a small parlor might transform into a playroom or an art or music studio. The choice is entirely personal. Professional homebuilders recognize the value of providing flex spaces in the floor plans of almost any type and style of house. Luxury and custom homes, in fact, often include more than one flexible-use space to allow the owners to follow several passions, whether it be a full-time or off-hours home office, a hobby or game room, an in-home theater, a wine room, or a craft area. Smaller homes might provide a flex room for

As a professional builder, our company takes pride in creating high-quality homes. So we’d like our homebuyers to understand the difference between a well-built home and something less. What do we mean by “quality”? It’s not a mystery—construction quality is easy to see when you know what to look for. We’ve found that the best way to help a homebuyer understand the construction process and appreciate the value of our materials and methods is to schedule visits to the job site at key milestones. As we walk a customer through a newly framed house, for instance, we can point out the tight tolerances we require from our framing crew. We can show examples and explain why these standards help to ensure reliable performance and comfort in the finished home. Next, homeowners can observe the ways we install the wiring, plumbing, and mechanical systems to make sure that they will perform

Walk into any new home and you’ll immediately notice a big difference from many older homes: an abundance of natural light. Because of poor thermal performance, windows and glass doors in older homes were necessarily scaled down. Today’s builders, however, are able to take advantage of advanced technologies, a wider range of sizes and styles, and a number of new products and creative applications to capture natural light. While glass walls are certainly possible to maximize natural light, traditional housing design remains popular. Professional builders usually work within historic housing forms to increase interior natural light. Window and door manufacturers have helped this effort by providing a wide variety of products to match traditional house styles and to help hide or lessen any discordant or extreme aesthetic impact. For example, a roof window (or series of these units) over the center of the kitchen can bring in a tremendous amount

As the housing industry becomes more sophisticated and conscientious about achieving genuine and lasting homebuyer satisfaction, the level of professionalism among builders continues to reach new heights. As a result, potential clients searching for a builder to create their dream home have a much deeper pool of talent from which to select. Today’s professional builder is not only skilled in construction and client relations, but also highly competent in terms of his or her business expertise. This new and more professional breed of builder deserves to be evaluated by homebuyers in a new way. Namely by dropping the age-old practice of collecting three bids for the work in favor of a more business-like approach to a very important decision. Comparative Bidding is Inaccurate: In theory, the three-bid rule was thought to work because it assumed everything else, other than cost, from the competing builders was equal. This thought process assumed

After the structural framing stage and the installation of the preliminary—or “rough”—plumbing, electrical, and heating and cooling components are complete, there is a no-name phase of construction we’ll call the “prefinishes.” The reason this stage of the process has no common name is because of several different activities—by several different trades—occur during this time. All of them combine to prepare the house for the finish products to come, from flooring to trim to lighting, and are vital in the overall performance of the house. Indeed, the sum of these prefinishes is called the “thermal envelope.” These critical steps include: Wall Water Barrier and House Wrap. this sheet-like material is installed on the exterior walls around the entire house. Sections are fastened and taped together to keep water and air outside the structural frame.  These materials protects the “thermal envelope,” improving the home’s energy efficiency and indoor comfort. Windows. Each window is installed

It’s natural to have questions and changes when building a custom home. Prevent surprises and delays by getting answers from the top. There are lots of things homeowners can do to keep their building project running smoothly. Number one is making timely product choices, but another key action is to direct all change requests and questions, no matter how small, to the builder or the builder’s representative (usually the selections coordinator or salesperson). It can be tempting to ask workers to make small changes, but doing so can create stress and misunderstanding. For instance, a homeowner may ask an electrician to move the junction box for a wall sconce a few inches to one side. Simple, right? Maybe, but the electrician may have to ask the framing carpenter to add blocking at the new location, or to move a wall stud that’s now in the way. The problem is not

As professional builders, we keep our eyes on emerging trends in the housing industry, from new structural materials and energy-saving systems to interior finishes. One of the big trends we’re tracking—and accommodating for an increasing number of our homebuyers—is the use of cabinetry in a greater variety of rooms and areas in the house. No longer are cabinets just for the kitchen, bathrooms, and perhaps the laundry area. We’ve seen and installed them in outdoor and secondary kitchens, closets, wine rooms, dining areas, butler’s pantries, home theaters, game rooms, and other spaces where storage is a practical necessity. Beyond their practical value, attractive cabinets are a worthy aesthetic addition, as well. Cabinet manufacturers and custom fabricators have responded to this broader demand with features and finishes that fulfill specific functional needs and stylistic tastes. For example, cabinet hardware catalogs display a wide variety of components, including wine bottle and glass

There is no feeling that matches that of homeownership. It’s something we see all the time among our clients: a certain satisfaction and well-earned pride in their new home. It’s not something that can be measured, like an interest rate or price appreciation, but pride in ownership is a powerful and worthwhile reason to buy a new home. Of course, pride in ownership exists to a certain extent with regard to anything you’ve worked to afford and purchase. However, in our experience, it is strongest among those who have helped select, design, and customize a new home to their personal tastes and lifestyle needs. As professional builders, we exist to enable that process and foster that sense of pride. We offer home styles and floor plans to accommodate a variety of needs—including features such as bonus spaces, dedicated home offices, garage workshops, and walk-in kitchen pantries, to name a few—and

Lots of homeowners are interested in this popular flooring—here’s what you need to know. Although the word “vinyl” raises some people’s eyebrows, luxury vinyl tile (LVT) is actually a high-quality engineered flooring material. In recent years, LVT has become wildly popular, even among well-heeled homeowners. It’s easy to see why: with looks similar to hardwood and stone, as well as durability and an attractive price, what’s not to like? Of course, the perfect product has yet to be invented, and one naturally wonders: is LVT all that it’s cracked up to be? And where should and shouldn’t you have it installed? Let’s consider some plusses and minuses. Some great features As a miracle of modern materials science, LVT offers truly impressive advantages. It shrugs off most abuse. Unlike hardwood or natural stone, high-quality LVT flooring can bear heavy traffic or the family dog without scratching or showing wear. According to HomeAdvisor.com, with

If you’ve ever driven past a new subdivision, you’ve likely seen a fleet of earth-moving equipment, multiple colored stakes in the ground, and the beginnings of streets, sidewalks, and foundations. These are the tell-tale signs of the building site being prepared for construction. Site preparation includes several steps. Most, if not all, of this information is mandated by the local building authority. Copies of the surveys and tests, usually signed and stamped by a registered professional engineer, must be attached to the proposed construction drawings and submitted for permits or approvals from that authority. Once those steps are taken and the plans are approved by the building department, the next “site prep” step can be taken. The location of the foundation or footprint of the home is staked to provide a guide for excavation. Typically, the stakes and batter boards (which demarcate every corner or turn in the layout) are

The challenge of labor makes selecting the right builder more important than ever. Homeowners are rightly concerned about rising material costs and unpredictable supply chains, but both will likely stabilize. A more intractable long-term challenge is about who will do the work to build our homes. This is the big topic in today’s building industry. It’s harder than ever to find skilled tradespeople, and yet some builders are able to retain good workers. That is the home builder you want to hire. First some background. It takes a team of highly skilled workers to build a luxury custom home, but fewer and fewer young people are pursuing trade careers, leading to a steady decline in those workers. In 2020, that decline turned into a freefall. Although the pandemic-related work stoppage was temporary, a lot of experienced craftspeople decided to retire, affecting everyone from the foundation crew to the electrician to the trim

Government red tape takes time, money and skill to navigate. That’s why you need a pro. Some people don’t realize how highly regulated the construction business has become. According to the National Association of Home Builders, the costs of complying with government regulations now account for nearly a quarter (24.3%) of new home prices—30% more than just five years ago. Some of these regulations are specific to the project and noted in the job cost summary, while others are hidden from the homeowners but raise costs for all projects. Navigating them and staying in compliance requires time, effort and knowledge. Plans and permits. To protect public health and safety, building departments want to make sure that homes are built to comply with all applicable codes—the building code, mechanical code, electrical code and others. That’s why most municipalities won’t issue a building permit until they review and approve the project plans. Plans

Why supply chain issues persist and how builders mitigate them Although professional builders do everything in their power to keep home construction on schedule, they face more challenges than ever. Most have to do with back-ordered products—ongoing fallout from the pandemic. The supply chain affects every builder in the country, but as an illustration, let’s consider a highly respected design/build company in Orlando that needed floor trusses for a custom home. Prior to 2020, the time from sending plans to the supplier to receiving the trusses averaged 6 weeks; when they ordered them in 2022, it was 36 weeks. True story. Other products are also delayed. Windows that used to come in 4 weeks might now require double or triple that. Some builders have installed temporary garage doors, then come back weeks after the house was finished to install the correct ones because it took that long to get them.

No one wants to think about house moisture. As professional builders, however, we are aware of the dangers created by moisture infiltration and we are in a position to prevent it. That makes it our responsibility to lead the discussion. Prevention of moisture infiltration—and the mildew or mold that can follow it—is a critical objective of green building. Both construction practices and products used in green buildings are designed to keep moisture in its proper place. Such a high-performance home will achieve optimum effectiveness and durability of everything from the home’s structural frame and insulation to its heating and cooling system, and even most finishes. A key to managing moisture is to begin with a healthy respect for the nature of water and the dynamics of moisture transmission. Understanding the nature of moisture allows us to find and apply appropriate solutions to direct, vent, and otherwise shed moisture from the

Homebuilding has changed significantly over the last hundred years, especially since the 1950s, when the housing industry boomed after World War II. Building a home in a classic, hands-on way is far from standard practice these days, as home construction has evolved from a trade or craft to a systematized process with many moving parts. Today’s builders manage numerous construction materials and methods, coordinate many trade partners and suppliers, and deal with a variety of building codes and regulations. This complexity may distance homeowners from the actual building process and can cause uncertainty about where they fit in. In fact, a homeowner’s role during construction is more important than ever (though different than it was a century ago). The homeowner is still, ultimately, a leader in the project. By gaining a solid understanding of the building process, homeowners can provide an example of professionalism to the rest of the team.

Resilient design is a hallmark of a quality custom home. A growing topic of discussion among builders in recent years has been resilience. Homes designed and built for resilience will weather all but the most extreme environmental conditions and remain livable during power outages. They offer homeowners true shelter and peace of mind. The most apparent natural events are those that make the news— hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, and wildfires. Codes and builders have done a good job addressing these threats. Homes likely to see earthquakes or hurricanes get extra structural reinforcement. Those in Tornado Alley can be outfitted with safe rooms. In wildfire-prone regions, builders can use noncombustible exterior materials. Structures in flood zones can be raised higher off the ground. But what about the power outages that often follow such events, like the February 2021 outage that put 4.6 million homes and businesses in Texas in the dark

The answer will have an impact on the selections you make and the final home cost. Potential clients often ask for our homes’ average cost per square foot. The question is understandable. Price per square foot is a metric the real estate industry uses to gauge the competitiveness of resale homes, and homebuyers have internalized that way of thinking. To their credit, most of our clients know that because custom homes are unique (which is why they want one) we can’t make hard comparisons. So they ask for a ballpark figure, or price range. But to arrive at an accurate range, we need to have a discussion about details. A lot of people don’t  realize just how far apart costs for two seemingly “comparable” custom homes can be. Every custom builder will tell you that the answer to the square-foot question will depend on the architecture, the product selections, and

The work of building a price and schedule for your custom home is a project in itself There’s a reason that quality project estimates don’t happen overnight. Every home is a collection of thousands of individual components that range from large-scale assemblies like walls and roofs to small items like doorknobs and faucets. The builder has to consider every one of these elements when projecting what it will cost in time and materials to complete the home. How long this takes varies by project type. For instance, a production builder that builds the same plan over and over will be able to generate estimates on the spot in its design center. That’s because even though the company offers some options to buyers, it’s really mass-producing a cookie-cutter product. Custom homes are different because each one is unique. An estimate for a simple custom home can easily require 40 hours of

The low-bid, budget company may cost more in the long run. Here’s why. Does your builder have the size and—more importantly—the management systems needed to handle a custom home project? If not, the final cost in dollars and frustration may be more than you bargained for. There are innumerable ‘horror stories’ on the Internet about the downsides of hiring the lone contractor. In the extreme, you may read about solo builders who lack the needed licenses and insurance to protect the owner from accidents or fraud. They may lack written warranties or human resources to keep their promises and complete a job as promised. The failure rates of homebuilding companies are second only to restaurants, and there is no guarantee they will be around when problems surface. On most jobs, this type of fly-by-night operator isn’t our real competitor. Customers looking to build complex custom homes are savvy enough to

Can I Hire My Own Painter? Can I buy my own carpet? Builders get these questions a lot. Here’s why a ‘Yes’ answer is seldom in the homeowners’ best interest. It’s not unusual for new-home clients to ask their builder to use a trade contractor with whom the clients (but not the builder) have an established relationship, or to let them buy their own plumbing fixtures or other items. Most builders won’t agree to this. Sticking to familiar subcontractors is a policy that’s in the best interest of the builder and the homeowners. The reasons have to do with the business relationships between builders, suppliers, and subcontractors. Purchases from approved suppliers Let’s start with purchases. Allowance selections and purchases are made from approved suppliers, and for good reason. The builder who agrees to use unfamiliar suppliers or owner-sourced products in critical applications can’t guarantee the reliability of those products, can’t

How professional builders create a healthy indoor environment. If you have concerns about how healthy your new home will be, you’re not alone. In a 2021 survey of 551 American homeowners commissioned by York (a manufacturer of home heating and cooling systems) 62% of respondents said their home’s indoor air quality needed improvement. And in this group, 81% intended to make those improvements over the next 12 months. These results come as no surprise when you consider recent events. During a presentation at a 2021 industry conference, the developer of a leading healthy home rating system described COVID-19 as a “trigger point.” He believes the pandemic will be to indoor air quality what the energy crisis of the 1970s was to energy efficient housing—an event that caused the building industry to start taking the problem seriously and devising ways to solve it. Fortunately, the best professional builders already take their

On time, on budget, and exceeding customer expectations starts with a thorough preconstruction plan. To finish a complex project on time and on budget, the professional builder must have a thoughtful, thorough and well-developed preconstruction planning process. It can feel like a slow way to start, but the time spent upfront pays off in more ways than some homeowners realize. Despite its importance, planning is one of those success factors that gets too little credit. Most homeowners understand that the builder must complete the house on paper before breaking ground, but not all of them realize the full extent of the advance preparation work involved. This work goes well beyond blueprints. For a custom home project to come off without major problems, the builder must plan every detail and activity for every stage of the project—right to the day in many cases. The builder has to put supplies in place

You can get more for your money by not starting with that question. Whether it’s a $7 million custom home or a $70,000 kitchen remodel, no one wants to pay more than they have to. So it’s no surprise that the first question many people have for their architect, interior designer or builder is about cost. That’s not a good starting point for getting the best house for the money. The final project cost will depend on numerous factors, but that’s an obvious statement and not very helpful. A custom home is a wildly complex undertaking, and you need a builder with a process designed to tame that complexity. The process is one of discovery, in which each step reveals more about the project details and pricing. It’s a team effort where various pros collaborate with one another as well as with the homeowner. The first step in most custom

A smart maintenance schedule will help keep a new home healthy and good-looking for years to come. If low maintenance is a priority, then having a new home built is a great choice. In a study by the National Association of Homebuilders, 73 percent of new homeowners reported average monthly maintenance expenses just one-fourth (25 percent) of those reported by owners of older homes. But while it’s relatively affordable to keep a new home in good working condition, proper maintenance is critical. A new custom home will have a tightly sealed building shell. This reduces heating and cooling bills and helps the furnace and air conditioner maintain more even temperatures all year. With fewer unwanted drafts, it’s also easier for the mechanical systems to maintain ideal relative humidity (RH) levels in the home—30 to 45 percent in winter and 45 to 50 percent in summer. Of course, the mechanicals will

Home shows don’t reflect the reality of building a new home. Who doesn’t love a good drama, especially one they can imagine themselves a part of? With that in mind, it’s no surprise that home and garden shows enjoy loyal viewership, and that HGTV has earned a spot as one of the top ten cable networks. It’s great fun to curl up on the couch and follow the excitement of a home being built or renovated, of obstacles being overcome, and of a happy couple swelling with pride at the project’s completion. The only problem is that some people let their homebuilding expectations be influenced by what is, in reality, a scripted drama driven by product advertisers. And while no one would admit to falling under this spell, the influence can be both subtle and pervasive. Take the example of schedules. In TV land, problems with building permits always get

These important team members help create safe, comfortable spaces that are perfectly tailored to your needs Homeowners sometimes ask what, exactly, interior designers bring to the table. It’s a valid question. You’ve lived in homes all your life and know what you like, so choosing products, colors and layouts shouldn’t be complicated, right? The answer is that highly skilled designers—those who work with professional builders—have tricks up their sleeves to make your home attractive and easy to use in ways that fit your budget. It’s the kind of insight one earns from completing hundreds of projects. The work of an experienced custom designer differs from what you see in the common tract home, where every room is configured for a hypothetical average homeowner, and little deep thought is given to things like intelligent storage, tailored lighting, and high-end finishes. To begin, a custom designer will ask detailed questions about your

Installed costs vary greatly from product to product, but the builder can help manage them Cost control is top-of-mind for anyone building a custom home these days. That includes keeping final product costs as close to the estimate as possible. With this in mind, some homeowners browse at design centers and box stores, then come to the builder with lists of products they have chosen, along with prices. The problem is that those prices lack context. That’s because the price isn’t the whole story—installed costs can vary greatly. To accurately predict those all-in costs, you need to have installed a lot of products. That’s why working closely with the builder’s team on product choices can save time, money, and anxiety. Let’s illustrate the point with a few examples of surprising installation costs. Take the bathroom faucet. Let’s say you have been eyeing a $250 deck-mounted faucet but then see a

New homes are built to save energy, and a primary component of that goal is insulation. The definition of insulation, however, is rapidly expanding as homebuyers and energy codes demand even better energy-use performance from new homes. Today, there are far more options than those rolls of fiberglass you see on the shelves of big-box home improvement stores. While “batt” insulation remains an inexpensive yet effective option, other materials have emerged that help optimize thermal value in new structures or when replacing conventional insulation. For instance, in addition to insulating between the wall studs, we typically install a one-inch thick rigid foam insulation panel behind the finish siding and stucco of a new home. That technique is commonly called a thermal break, and many of the latest energy codes and standards, such as the federal Energy Star program, require it. In addition to taping the joints between the insulation panels,

Change orders have always led to budget increases and schedule delays, and it’s not getting any better.  With inflation showing up in the news and at the grocery store, some homeowners are asking what they can do to keep construction costs from escalating. Part of the answer is to choose the features and products you want before work begins, and then keep changes to an absolute minimum. This has always been sound advice, but supply issues and price trends make it especially important now. There are good reasons that builders don’t like to change orders. For one thing, a product or design that’s altered after work starts will always cost the homeowners more than one that’s chosen and planned for at the design stage. For another, most changes delay projects. In today’s environment, these delays can be significant. Increased costs and delays are not welcome by homeowners either. Changes can

Famous football coach Bill Walsh was known for demanding perfection from his players during practices, even though he knew they would never attain it. His philosophy was if you don’t strive for perfection, you don’t have a chance to achieve it. As professional builders, we follow the same philosophy; plan for perfection to attain excellence. Like Coach Walsh, we don’t stand a chance of delivering an excellent new home that satisfies a client’s wants and needs if we don’t set and expect the highest standards possible. In the pursuit of excellence, we coach our clients about the building process so that their expectations are high but realistic. We want our homebuyers to push and challenge us to always do better, but it is also our job to define excellence … and point out the difference between it and perfection. Our best and most effective method for doing that is listening.

Price chaos for materials has made budgeting more complicated. Here’s what you need to know. Most people are familiar with allowances—a way to let homeowners create firm budgets for items that haven’t been specified at the time of contract signing. For instance, if the homeowners and builder concluded that $30,000 would support the quality of cabinets they wanted, then when it was time for the final choice they just had to stay within that budget. Prices were stable enough that no one worried about coming up short. Until now, that is. As with many other things, the financial chaos of the past two years has forced allowances to adapt. The cabinets you can get for that $30,000 may be different when it’s time to order because material prices have been acting like drunken yo-yos, and because suppliers only guarantee some bids for a week or two. In addition, some builders

You just left an impressive presentation with a professional homebuilder, one among the few you’re considering for your new home project. In addition to a brochure about his business and highlights of his recent work, he provided you with a list of recent homebuyers for you to call or email to ask about his quality, ethics, skill, and professionalism. Now the ball is in your court to reach out to those references and gain some valuable inside knowledge about your builder before you consider negotiating and signing a contract for your project. But what to ask? For many prospective homebuyers, we suggest a few questions to solicit the kind of information that will help them make an informed and confident decision. Of course, you may have your own agenda and priorities. If so, these questions just may help get the conversation going. 1. Was the company easy to work with? Ask

How do you identify a great custom builder—and choose the best one for your needs? There’s an oft-repeated quip that building a custom home is as much about the experience as the result. Yes and no. It’s true that you will invest more emotion into the design and construction process than with an off-the-shelf tract home, but the defining experience is the result. It’s a home in which everything—from the room layout to the furniture and finishes—reflects your personality and priorities. How do you make that defining experience a great one? The answer is that you need to choose the right builder, and that choice will depend in part on chemistry. Ultimately, you want someone with whom you click, someone who gets you and who understands your needs and wants. Finding this person may require that you meet with a few candidates. First, however, you have to narrow the field

Even if the budget is tight, this is not the place to economize. Here’s why. If asked to describe your relationship with your home’s products, only a few would warrant the term “intimate.” One of the few is your kitchen counter. You gaze at it and rub it daily. You trust it not to contaminate your food. A quality counter will bring years of satisfaction while the frustration you feel from a not-so-great one will last just as long. The importance of this relationship helps explain why engineered quartz slabs now outsell granite for kitchen counters, despite their higher cost. The problem is that not all quartz is equally satisfying. Engineered quartz is made from a blend of crushed stone and resin with a bit of mineral fiber and color added. High-quality quartz is durable and attractive, with consistent patterns, many color choices, and nearly invisible seams when properly installed.

A successfully managed budget is a partnership between the builder and his homebuyers Custom builders work hard to make sure their clients get the home they want at a price they can afford. Cost-control strategies include value-engineering the structure, writing clear product specifications, and managing the construction in the most efficient manner possible. Controlling costs is a responsibility that professional builders take very seriously. But the builder is just half the equation: a new home is a partnership between the builder and homebuyer, and there are things a homebuyer needs to do to keep the project from going over budget. Most of these have to do with decision-making. Most homebuyers understand the importance of making timely decisions and minimizing changes once the project starts, but many lack a framework for making those decisions. The following five concepts will help a new home to come in on time and on budget.

There are codes and there are standards. A great home requires both. There was a TV commercial for kosher hot dogs that first aired in the 1970s. With a surprised and disappointed Uncle Sam as background, the narrator described how government authorities allowed the company to use ingredients like artificial colorings and non-meat fillers. The tagline was a classic: “We don’t. We’re kosher and have to answer to an even higher authority.” It was a brilliant piece of advertising. But it wasn’t brilliant just because of the tagline. It was also true. Government standards define what a company can get away with; they don’t ensure the best possible result. This truth also applies to building codes. Don’t get us wrong: codes are essential. Structural codes ensure that your stairs don’t create a tripping hazard and that your home will stand up to whatever gravity and nature throw at it. Fire

Consulting with a builder before drawing the plans will save expense and headaches. Most custom builders have had clients show up at their office with a set of finished plans that, in reality, will cost 25% to 30% more than the clients’ target budget. Fortunately, this problem is easily avoided. Working with the builder on a pre-budget can eliminate unpleasant surprises and help the clients get the home they want at a price they can manage. Pre-budgeting is essential because a lot of people base their cost expectations on average square foot prices that they got from acquaintances, the Internet, or the advertised prices of homes in new developments. But this approach is misleading when planning a custom home. That’s because those new development homes tend to be speculative, or “spec” houses. Spec houses are built from value-engineered stock plans that eliminate features that don’t increase the home’s appraised value.

The best accessible features are really just good design By some estimates, the decade from 2011 to 2021 saw a quadrupling of households with parents and grown children. Last year’s increase was especially sharp—the National Association of Realtors reported 15% growth in demand for multigenerational homes between April and June of 2020. As home prices continue climbing, the best financial decision for a lot of families is to gather under one roof. This poses a design challenge: How do you create spaces that are friendly to older people with physical limitations without looking like a nursing home? It may be easier than you think—if planned well, an accessible home should feel great to everyone. And when the time comes to sell, the home will have an edge in the market. Here are some features to think about when planning your new home. Getting in and out. Everyone loves easy entries. The

Some big obstacles stand in the way of the three-bid advice Folk wisdom, online articles, and basic instincts advise homeowners to solicit bids from several qualified contractors. But three major obstacles get in the way of making those bids realistic and useful: the need for detailed plans and job specifications, the need for comparable bidders, and the need to structure the bids for easy comparisons. Getting all three right is rare. The biggest hurdle concerns the plans and job specifications. For a bid to have meaning, it should spell out everything about the project, from the fixtures and appliances to the finishes. Detailed specifications take time and effort to write, and thus the details in a bid are often left vague. This can lead each bidder to make assumptions that yield widely divergent bids. And if the winning bidder’s assumptions differ from the homeowners’ assumptions (predictably), it plants the seeds

Builders need a lot of information to arrive at an accurate number Every now and then a homeowner will call to ask how much our new homes cost per square foot. The answer, of course, depends on a range of variables. Some of these are obvious, and others less so. The differences everyone grasps have to do with the house itself. In a custom home, the architectural design and the quality of finishes (exterior siding, cabinetry, countertops, fixtures, etc.) are driven by homeowner choices and will be unique to each project. But those aren’t the only variables. There are things beyond the homeowner’s control that also have a big impact on price. One factor is where the home will be built. There can be a huge spread between the costs of two identical homes if lot conditions and local regulations are different enough. Not all of these will apply to you, but

Continuing education is no longer optional. What do today’s best builders have in common? Although the answer includes many items, there’s a common thread running through each of them: commitment to ongoing learning. The know-how needed to build high-performance, durable homes is evolving faster than ever. That’s why top builders commit to continuing education in a variety of disciplines, including architecture, engineering, law, materials science, and management. Here are three examples. Processes. A custom building company assembles a massive product with thousands of interrelated parts: the finished home. That home is far more complex than most things people buy, except perhaps their car, and today’s customers rightly demand that it be completed for the contracted price, on the agreed-to schedule, with few or no defects. Builders actually face steeper hurdles in meeting customer expectations than do car makers. Not only must they coordinate and motivate teams of independent contractors to

In the future, you can tell friends and family what things were like during the Great Supply Crunch If you’re contemplating a new custom home, you’re no doubt aware of rising costs for lumber and other building materials. That problem has gotten plenty of media coverage. But price isn’t the only challenge. There’s another issue that, while it gets more attention from the business media than from the popular press, is giving headaches to builders and homeowners alike. We’re talking about the supply chain. Over the past year, we’ve seen shortages of just about everything that goes into a home, and those shortages have rolled unpredictably from product to product. No one knows when a particular item will suddenly be back-ordered or for how long. And because building product suppliers, like those in nearly all industries, have adopted a just-in-time delivery model, they lack warehouse space to keep items in

Building a home can be stressful. Savvy homeowners choose a builder who will make it less so. But beyond making certain the company is licensed and insured and has provided detailed pricing and a professional contract, how do owners determine whether a company will deliver on its promises and not tax their sanity? The answers lie in good systems. Companies with clearly defined management systems tend to be better organized, communicate more effectively and minimize unwanted surprises. Three systems that are key to a comfortable building process have to do with communications, schedules, and responsibilities. Communications. A recent Consumer Reports survey of more than 900 homeowners confirmed that, when it comes to building projects, miscommunication is the root of most ills. That’s why professional builders have solid processes for keeping homeowners informed at all times. Signs of a company that communicates well include detailed project descriptions (leaving no question about what

This cutting-edge technology is growing fast. Is it right for you? With solar panels sprouting on roofs from sea to shining sea, their big weakness is hitting more homeowners where it hurts—in the wallet. New technology aims to cure that weakness and to make solar a more profitable investment. Solar has become practical in nearly all climates. Panels cost half what they did 10 years ago and generate more power per square foot of surface area. They can be a good choice for high-performance homes with low energy demands. These homes use thick insulation, great air sealing, and super-efficient heating, cooling, and lighting to reduce power needs to 40% or 50% of the maximum set by energy codes. But no matter how efficient the house, the elephant in the room for solar has always been that it generates power only in the daytime when most of us need it least.

Strict allowance policies benefit homeowners as much as builders. Why do builders prefer that the homeowners choose every single item that will go into the house before they break ground? It’s not just for the builder’s convenience. A choice postponed may end up being made at a time when the homeowners are feeling a lot of construction stress. Decisions made under stress raise the chance of buyer remorse. But the reality is that some people have a difficult time choosing finishes like flooring, light fixtures, tile, and carpet before the house has at least been framed and they can walk through the spaces. Allowances can be a concession to that reality. They let the homeowners choose a limited number of products after the project is underway, while still keeping the job on schedule and on budget. It’s useful to think of an allowance like a Visa gift card. Say, for

The Professional Builder walks a fine line. It is our job to balance a new home’s cost and construction efficiencies while customizing our home design and specifications. We work closely with our clients to develop the ultimate look and feel of their new home so that it meets their needs and reflects their unique taste. To that end, we encourage and enable new-home buyers to select from an increasingly diverse list of products and finishes before we begin construction. Most often, these selections are from the catalogs or websites of our trusted suppliers and feature familiar brand names with rock-solid warranties. This helps us to build efficiently and keep the budget in check. Whenever necessary, we accommodate a special request from a homebuyer, assuming the product or system is available and within an agreed budget … or the budget is revised to include it. This “customization” process is a two-way

The essential skill of value engineering Lumber continues to be THE big issue in homebuilding. As we write this in May 2021, costs for framing lumber and plywood are three times what they were a year ago. That’s right—they’ve tripled. It’s insane. They might go even higher. An April 14 Business Insider article predicted a further 12% rise this year. Timber companies got way behind during the COVID shutdowns and, thanks to record low interest rates and demand for homes, have yet to catch up. In this environment, estimating the cost of a job can feel like predicting next week’s grocery bill in Venezuelan dollars. Lumber companies that have always guaranteed pricing for 30 days or more have now cut guarantees to 7 days. If you’re planning a custom home, all this can feel discouraging. But while the news media seems on a mission to amplify that discouragement, the fact is that

We’ve compared a home’s framing to its skeleton, wiring to its nerves and insulation to its muscle. Now it’s time to talk about exterior finishes—a home’s “skin”. We’re very fortunate to be designing and building homes in a time that offers a vast array of exterior finishes, including siding (or cladding), roofing, trim, and hardscapes. The choices available in each category enable us and our homebuyers to create unique combinations that both distinguish a home and add to its value. With a wider selection of materials also comes a higher level of performance. Today’s exterior finishes and systems are tougher and more weather-resistant. These products combine good looks with durability. Because their improved quality is better able to retain paints and stains and to resist warping, cracking, and delamination, there is a reduction in both maintenance and repair costs. Greater selection and durability has fostered a trend toward a varied

The short answer is no, and here’s why that’s a good thing. Some builders are what one might call ‘order takers.’ They do anything the homeowners want within the constraints of budget, timetable, and zoning or code regulations. That’s understandable: everyone wants happy customers and positive reviews. But the best builders understand that an anything-you-want approach really doesn’t serve customers. We would go further and caution people to beware of the builder who never pushes back. Don’t misunderstand—all custom builders try hard to accommodate requests. After all, they are building custom homes. At the same time, they also know that protecting customers may mean vetoing certain requests. A good way to illustrate this is with the example of an air conditioning system installed costs range from $14,000 to $24,000 in most areas of the US. (That’s on average: the range will be higher in extreme climates and for big homes.)

Traditionally, people have been conditioned to follow a certain, linear path to building a new home. That is, hire an architect or designer to create the plans, select a builder and then maybe bring in a stylist or interior designer to apply the finishing touches. But the reality is that this step-by-step approach to getting a new house is not only outdated, but can be risky in terms of cost and quality. A better approach is to form your project team from the outset. Doing so fosters a cooperative rather than combative or competitive working environment that produces more satisfying results. It’s also a dynamic that’s more likely to ensure you’ll get what you want in a new home at the price you can afford. By bringing your design and building professionals together as soon as possible, they can dedicate their efforts to meeting your needs and looking out for

Creating a durable and efficient home is no job for amateurs. There’s a common but flawed perception that older homes are more durable than contemporary housing, with fewer mold and moisture problems. While it’s true that some newer homes have had well-publicized mold issues, they are by no means the rule. These moldy homes do share a common denominator, however—they were built by people who didn’t understand how to get the most out of contemporary materials and construction practices. That takes an educated professional builder. In ancient times—30 or so years ago—someone with basic construction knowledge could build a serviceable home. No more. Today, the combination of contemporary building materials and code-mandated construction practices have made homes more complex with less margin for error. First, consider the evolution of materials. Suppliers used to sell framing lumber cut from mature trees that could absorb a lot of moisture without problems, a

Most “green building” conversations emphasize energy efficiency. By contrast, the issue of water — its scarcity, purity, and significance to sustainability — is often overlooked or discounted. That’s because, in North America, we take water for granted; not only is it cheap, it is relatively abundant and clean. But while an average bathtub may hold 40 gallons of water, many people in developing countries survive on 8 gallons of water or less per day. In fact, an estimated 800 million people worldwide lack access to safe water supplies and 3.5 million people die each year from a water-related disease. Domestically, recent seasonal and longer-term droughts in several areas have triggered restrictions and household quotas on water use. In fact, average residential water rates nationwide continue to rise at a steady rate. As a professional builder who looks out for the welfare of our homebuyers and our community, we accommodate requests

Continuing education is no longer optional. What do today’s best builders have in common? Although the answer includes many items, there’s a common thread running through each of them: a commitment to ongoing learning. The know-how needed to build high-performance, durable homes is evolving faster than ever. That’s why top builders commit to continuing education in a variety of disciplines, including architecture, engineering, law, materials science, and management. Here are three examples. Processes. A custom building company assembles a massive product with thousands of interrelated parts: the finished home. That home is far more complex than most things people buy, except perhaps their car, and today’s customers rightly demand that it be completed for the contracted price, on the agreed-to schedule, with few or no defects. Builders actually face steeper hurdles in meeting customer expectations than do car manufacturers. Not only must they coordinate and motivate teams of independent contractors to

Building a new home is a dynamic and exciting process. As professional homebuilders, our goal is to make the process smooth and transparent for our clients. Once the job is underway, things happen quickly, so we work with clients to make decisions well ahead of time to help ensure they get their new home on schedule and on budget, as promised. All of the big design decisions are made before the first scoop of dirt is moved, but that is rarely the end of the decision-making process. Once construction is underway, owners often think of a few things they’d like to change. Adjustments may range from a change in kitchen cabinets, choosing different flooring in the bathroom, or just adding an extra light switch or two. We document such requests, called “change orders,” to make sure that all parties have a clear understanding of the scope and cost of the

It’s as much about the experience as the result. Some homeowners have asked: How does a builder know when a project has been a success? Well, there’s good news—the answer to this question is one of the things that define a great builder. To a pro, every successful project crosses the finish line with three outcomes. First, the homeowners are thrilled with their new home; second, they walk away with good memories of the builder and the project; and third, they are eager to recommend the builder to friends, family, and colleagues. While homeowners tend to focus on quality and budget, professional builders work to ensure that the clients’ experience is a good one. Builders work hard to minimize stress and eliminate surprises. Their business processes and communication protocols are engineered to do just that. This effort starts during the sales process, where the builder helps clarify the homeowners’ vision and creates

Want to make sure your new home doesn’t feel dated in a few years? Then you need a good interior designer. One great thing about a new custom home is that you get to create a space perfectly tailored to your needs. Once that’s done, however, your satisfaction with the space will depend largely on what you’ve put into it. Ensuring this satisfaction is the value provided by your interior designer. Think of the interior designer as an artist and your home as the canvas. This professional will collaborate closely with you to create the perfect composition based on your style, taste, and vision. An experienced designer will also help you make good decisions, thanks to wisdom born of a perspective that extends over time. Having seen the ebb and flow of trends and fads, the designer will help guide you toward choices you will still like a decade from

Homebuilding is a highly specialized and complex process. And like builders themselves, no two clients are exactly the same. Some homeowners are very interested in the home building process, while others are more content to follow the lead of the builder and be available only when needed. Most clients fall somewhere in between. Regardless of their approach or comfort level with new home construction, clients play a vital role in its success. The ideal homeowner is a partner, making appropriate and timely decisions to help ensure the home is completed on schedule. In addition, pro-active homeowners become educated about the home building process so that they understand and respect its nuances. A critical part of that education is knowing what is and is not in a builder’s control and having realistic expectations for how issues will be managed, questions answered, and problems solved. Weather One of the most obvious issues

A few key devices and some basic wiring will make your home ready for just about anything Homebuilders are sometimes accused of resistance to digital home technologies. That’s not quite the case, but we have seen many high-tech devices hit the market with great hype, only to quietly disappear two years later. The best service we can offer is to only recommend technologies our customers will be happy in the long term. Industry data is a good place to look for what has proven its value. For example, in 2018 Zillow analyzed 4.5 million home sales to determine what features reduced the time-on-market. The top of the 20-item list was dominated by luxury appliances, plumbing conveniences (think steam showers and pot fillers), and outdoor kitchens. The only digital devices listed were smart lighting and smart thermostats, and they were near the bottom. It isn’t surprising they made the list, though,

How a new custom home helps you breathe easy This article is more technical than most, but it addresses an important issue for today’s homebuyers: how healthy their new home will be. That concern is no surprise, given that we’re getting outside less often than ever. A 2018 YouGov survey of 16,000 people in North America and Europe found that most now spend about 90 percent of their time indoors. If you want to know what all that indoor time is doing to your family’s health, you’re not alone. Every industry survey of homeowners shows a solid majority worried about indoor air quality. A YouTube video called “The Indoor Generation” garnered 8.4 million views between May 2018 and December 2019 and, among other things, asserts that kids’ rooms are among the most polluted spaces in the average home. Air purification has become one of the world’s fastes-growing industries, with billions

Builders are always talking about “quality,” but few can explain what that means to their new-home clients. This should not be a mystery; construction quality is easy to see when you know what to look for. As a professional builder, we not only take pride in creating high-quality homes, but also in making sure that our homebuyers experience quality and understand the difference it makes. The building process is relatively foreign to those outside of the industry. The best way to help a homebuyer understand the construction process and appreciate the value of the high-quality materials and methods we employ is to schedule visits to the job site at key milestones. Walking through a newly framed home, for instance, allows us to poiint out the quality workmanship required from our framing crews. On-site, we can show examples and explain why these standards help to ensure reliable performance and comfort in

Stricter code requirements and modern materials have raised the stakes for today’s builders Today’s homes are engineered for comfort and health. Their walls are sealed to eliminate drafts, and they include thick thermal insulation as well as high-performance heating, cooling and fresh-air ventilation systems. They’re a far cry from older homes. They’re about to become even more so. Pending requirements set by the 2021 version of the International Energy Conservation Code will push the average new home close to Net Zero Ready, which means it will use so little power that a smaller than normal solar array will satisfy its annual needs. Subsequent code updates promise to be even stricter. Not surprisingly, many homeowners worry about the unintended consequences of this trend, especially the code’s air sealing requirements. Common questions we hear include “Don’t walls need to breathe?” and “Won’t a tight wall trap stale air in the home and

The word “foundation” evokes thoughts of strength, permanence, and solidity—the basis for everything that follows. A home’s foundation is simply the most important part of its construction and overall performance, if not top of mind among homebuyers and owners. The reason there are different types of residential foundations has to do with the soil and other conditions of the lot, regional building materials, the skills of the local labor force, and, where possible, needs and personal preference. Almost all single-family home foundations in the U.S. are built with concrete or masonry blocks or some close variation, such as precast concrete panels or insulated concrete forms; a few are built with steel or treated wood, but those are rare occurrences and for special conditions. Regardless, a new home has one of the following three types of foundations: Slab. A slab foundation is what is most commonly used in California and is a

Even small changes made after work begins can have surprising effects on the budget. Here’s why. Minimizing change orders is one of the most effective things homeowners can do to control costs. The reason is that seemingly small changes can have cost impacts beyond the builder’s control—costs that ultimately are borne by the customer. We’re not talking about unscrupulous contractors who write vague specifications to create low bids and then nickel-and-dime clients with change orders to increase profits. We mean honest builders who write detailed specs and manage their jobs in a professional manner. It’s not unusual for customers of these builders to decide, after the project kickoff, that they want something different in part of the house. The kickoff usually happens at the preconstruction meeting, where the builder and clients review the final product and design choices, and the clients sign off on those choices. After this meeting, purchase