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 […]
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 kitchen designer concluded that $30,000 would support the quality […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. A new technology aims to cure that weakness, and to make solar a more profitable investment. Solar has become practical in […]
The trick is to choose the technologies you need, while ignoring those you don’t For some people, a new custom home is a chance to get the latest digital bells and whistles. The problem is that home automation can feel like a daunting topic and the wrong choices can lead to frustration. Which technologies will […]