Designing Your Large Renovation

When you are looking for a contractor to take on a large renovation that includes kitchens, bathrooms and large parts of the actual layout of your home or chalet then its not just important to find a contractor that can do the work but they also will need to be able to help you with the overall layout and flow of the home.

What do I mean by the layout and the flow of the home? Well if you were building a new home it's something that your architect would be worried about. It's how the home actually functions for you and your family.

Now style is important when doing any renovation but its not the only thing that you have to consider. One of the biggest mistakes people make is that they get so wrapped up in the style of the home that they forget about how the home is suppose to perform and function.

Whatever style you like has to be able to work within your life, that means that you shouldn't be planning renovations that don't improve the quality of your life just to fit a trend or style.

Here are some things to consider when you are planning a large renovation of your home or chalet;

Placement

The placement of the rooms in your home is very important. If your planning to move things around in the house make sure that you are not putting the bathrooms all the way at one end of the house, farthest away from the rooms that you use all the time. Nobody wants to miss a big part of the movie because it takes to much time to walk to the bathroom and back.

Openness

This is one of the biggest changes in houses in the last 25 years. Homes went from having designated and closed off rooms to being open and flowing from one room to the next. Kitchens should flow into the next room whether that room is the dining room or the living room. People cooking want to be able to interact with their guests and vice versa.

Flow

If you have a living room filled with couches and chairs that is hard to navigate through just to get to a main area like the kitchen then you don't have good flow. You want people to be able to move around your home in designated walk ways so that travel from one room to another is simple and obvious. That doesn't mean that you need hallways everywhere, just the opposite actually.

In new homes this is all organized by the architect as they draw the house they give you ideas of the best possible way to achieve Placement, Openness and Flow. But in an existing home that is about to undergo a serious renovation its up to the homeowner to achieve these 3 things.

But how do you as a homeowner do this? Well the simplest thing is to find a contractor that can do this for you, someone that can not only give you the high end renovation that you desire but also help you in the planning an layout of the home. A good contractor will have plenty of experience doing this for people and will already understand the basics of placement, openness and flow.

Now you can have plans created by a draftsmen or interior designer, these will help but once walls start coming down and floors are stripped there are always changes that have to happen, these changes are best handled by the contractor working with you.

Where do you find a contractor that can help you with all of this?
You just found them....

Great Lakes Custom Homes Inc.

We don't just help people with new custom homes, we also spend a lot of time renovating peoples homes and chalets. Usually we are doing this with little too no plans from the homeowners or other design professionals. Communication is the key, the more informed choice you are able to give the homeowner the better, the more information they have from us will also help the project move along at a faster pace and have a much smoother finish.

If you are planning a large renovation project and think that we could help you with it please feel free to email us at greatlakescustomhomes@gmail.com

Let us help you,

Rob Abbott
Great Lakes Custom Homes Inc.

Now Is The Time To Start That Fall Renovation

As we close in on the end of August and the start of September (the kids finally go back to school) the clock starts to run on contractors ability to start and finish renovations before Christmas.

Why is Christmas the big goal? Because its the first thing everyone thinks of when they start a renovation or new home build, will it be done for Christmas.

If you start a renovation project after October there is a good chance that you will not get it completed before Christmas.

As you approach Christmas not only does your hired contractor become busier but so does all the sub-trades that they rely on. The electricians, the plumbers, the drywallers and the tilers all end up booked for months ahead of time.

Its hard to finish a renovation when you can't get the sub-trades to show up on time or at all.

The later you wait to start your fall renovation the greater the risk you take in not having it finished before Christmas.

With September only a week away you are already starting to run out of time.  Starting in the middle of September only gives you 3.5 months before Christmas comes. That's if you can find someone to start that fast, usually they won't be able to start until October making it less then 3 months.

Stop waiting till the kids are back to school and the house is quiet, start looking for that contractor and planning your renovation now!

Let's get these going before it's to late.

Rob Abbott
Great Lakes Custom Homes Inc.

Renovation Decisions Are Key To A Smooth Project

When you are renovating before you start you (as the homeowner) should take the time to make as many decisions as possible.

When I say as many decisions as possible I don't just mean the general layout of what you want accomplished in the renovation, I mean the colour of the walls, the type of flooring, the style of trim, your electrical and any plumbing fixtures.

Now depending on the size and scope of the renovation that you are hoping to have completed you probably won't be able to make all those decisions, but even if you can narrow your choices down to a couple for every category then you can finalize it when it is required to be ordered.

One of the biggest delays in completing a renovation project for people is waiting for them to make decisions. This actually slows down your renovation far more then you realize.

It doesn't sound like a lot of decisions to have to make, but what you don't realize is that once your renovation starts your contractor (if he's the right contractor) will be asking you questions and giving you options and asking you to make decisions on certain things and this will happen probably every day.

These decisions could be as follows;

•  Upgrading existing insulation.
• Fixing damaged areas of walls.
• Changing windows.
• Fixing found water infiltration.
• Removing rodents and other unwanted pests.
• Upgrading or repairing existing electrical.
• Upgrading or repairing existing plumbing.
• Adding more lighting in existing ceilings.
• Changing plans because of existing structures that make the original plan impossible.
• Adding sound proofing.

Those decisions come as the demo is started and happen up until the drywall has been installed. These decisions are usually not included in the original budget, so its not just the decision to do it or not but it is also a decision on how it will affect the final costs and if and when there should be cost cutting.

If you haven't made any of the main decisions at the start then these decisions which are decisions you have a very small amount of time to decide on will take priority and one day you will realize that your contractor is asking you where your plumbing fixtures are because they need to be installed shortly.

Another factor of making your decisions early is that usually your first thoughts on the project are the best and most closely resembling your original vision. Once you start though everyone will be giving you a piece of advice and sometimes they can muddy the waters so much that when you finally have your renovation project complete it looks nothing like what you wanted it to at the start.

If you want your renovation to run smoothly without a lot of delays then make sure that you make your decisions early and often in the project. You will then have a far better chance of ending up with something that you truly love.

Rob Abbott

Village Builders Inc.

Winter Renovations While Your On Vacation

Do you go south for the winter either on vacation or to Florida for several months?

If you do then that is a great time to have your home (back here) renovated or an addition built on to it.

Now going on a week or two vacation will not be long enough to do a large renovation but what it does allow for your contractor to do a lot of the noisy, dirty demolition when you aren't there. Routinely the water or the heat will need to be turned off for a period of time, or if the bathrooms are being renovated then this can be completed when you aren't there. When you return your heat would be working and so would your water. Usually the start of renovations are the most stressful for people because of the dust, noise and mess that happens.

If you are going to Florida for the winter (several months) then the renovation or the addition can happen without you. Most contractors do not need you onsite, in fact contractors prefer you to be somewhere else. It's easier if contractors don't have to worry about your safety or the noise they are making waking you up in the morning.

With modern technology, pictures or videos can be sent to you the homeowner for approval, questions and updates can happen through text message, email or phone. Communication can happen everyday if the homeowner requires it.

In fact we once built an entire house (the build took 12 months) and the owners were in South Korea the entire time. They only came over twice in that time frame to see how it was going and to pick some tile for the floors. When they returned and moved in everything was the way they wanted it because they had basically seen everything about the house already from pictures and videos.

The point is that if you hire the right contractor, someone that you can trust will bring your vision to life then there is no reason to not let them tear your house apart while your not there and make it look like a brand new home.

One of the biggest things about construction is that the trades and contractors need to be paid, this is made easy with e-transfers and direct deposits. This eliminates the need for you to write and send a cheque in the mail, hoping it gets there in an appropriate time frame.

If this appeals to you then now is the time to start looking for that contractor that can do the work for you this winter, AS WINTER IS COMING!

If you would like to talk about winter renovations email us at infor@villagebuilders.ca

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.

Cold Weather Problems To Watch For In Your New Home

Its Fall and with the real estate market being so hot as it has been in the last year there are a lot of people that are in newly bought homes that have never been through cold weather together.

There are certain things that you need to pay attention to (now that the cold weather has started to arrive) in your newly acquired home;

• Drafts. Unless you have a brand new home your older home will probably have drafts. They could come from many different locations. You need to document them so that when you renovate the home later you will know where to tell your contractor to focus on.
• Windows/Doors. With the weather change you will now start to see if your windows and doors still open and close properly. This is the time when wood shrinks and things move in older homes, sometimes it's just an adjustment that needs to be made and sometimes its a bigger repair. Also look for fogging of windows that doesn't go away.
• Leaks. From top to bottom you need to pay attention to see if there is water penetration happening. It could come from the roof, it could come from windows or doors and it can happen in the basement. It doesn't have to be a lot of water, any amount is a warning sign of things to come.
• Debris.After large fall and winter storms you should look around the outside of the house, look for debris. Your looking for things that have fallen or blown off the house, things like shingles, eavetrough or facia can come unattached in big winds from the house. Sometimes trees can dislodge this as well, repairing it without fixing the root of the problem will just waste time and money.
• Cold spots. Even if you have central heating, that doesn't mean that every part of your home is heated evenly. Look for rooms or area's that are colder then the rest of the spaces in the home. If you are resorting to space heaters then you should think about a more permanent solution that will save you money on your heating bills in the future.
• Heating system. Does your heating system sound like its running properly? Does it sound like its labouring or does it have a funny noise? Does it react to the house when it is cold? Do you have a hard time finding a proper temperature in the house? A lot of these things can be fixed simply but not if your contractor doesn't know they are happening and where in the house they are happening.

These simple observations will help you direct your contractor when you go to renovate your newly bought home. When contractors are on site renovating other parts of your home it's easier, quicker and cheaper for them to fix it as they are doing your other work then getting them to come back at a later date just to address a certain issue.

Your contractor wants to help, they know that you the homeowner have a limited budget, that means that they want to help you spend that money in a way that helps you the most and doesn't cost you more money down the road when something has to be redone because of a certain issue that was never resolved during the first renovation.

Simple observations on you the homeowners part will go a long way in saving you money later.

Rob Abbott

Village Builders Inc.

Quality Over Price When Comparing Renovation Quotes From Contractors

No matter if you are doing a renovation or having a custom home built picking your contractor solely based on price is going to leave you disappointed in the end and probably poorer for it. 

When comparing quotes or prices you really shouldn't be looking at the cost first, you should be looking at the quality and the trust factor of the contractor. The last thing you should be looking at is the price.

When contractors do good quality work, hire proper professionals, use the right material and do it in a timely fashion then the price of the job is basically the price of the job. You can't compare other contractors if they aren't doing all of those things. You have to compare apples to apples, if your lucky enough to have two contractors that measure up on quality, trust and they are both using the same materials (then your lucky to have found them) then by all means choose the one with the lowest price.

But most people aren't that lucky.

I have seen it time and time again a homeowner is presented with a price or multiple prices for a service like painting and they think that the price is to expensive, so they go out and find someone that can do it for their price. Usually they end up compromising to get the price they want by;

1. The overall scope of the work.
2. The quality of the work.
3. The timing of the work.

Once you have comprised on those 3 things then you basically are not comparing quotes anymore, you are settling and in residential construction settling is usually not a good thing.

The contractor that does the work properly, hires the right sub trades and usually is one of the higher priced companies. They also usually have the most detailed quote laying out what work is to be preformed and the materials to be used. The point of the detailed contract is so that there is no misunderstanding between contractor and homeowner on what they are getting with the price that is quoted. The more detailed the contract the more accurate the price and the more accurate the price the harder it is to compare that quote to other less detailed quotes.

The less detailed the quote the more assumptions that you have to make about what they are supplying. This creates friction later when disagreements arise over what is an extra and what isn't.

So when you are looking for that contractor to do your next project start by looking at who best fits your job by the quality of work they are going to perform, then what they are supplying in their quote and finally what their price is compared to other qualified contractors.

Remember you get what you pay for when it comes to residential construction.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.

Stop Repairing Your Cottage And Renovate Already

This winter is turning out to be a wide one with temperatures rising and falling from warm enough to allow it to rain to so cold that you don't want to go outside into the freezer. We have weeks of blowing and snowing and then rain and sunny skies. This kind of weather can be really hard on older chalets and cottages as they will have foundation problems, pipes freezing, heating system issues, roof leaks and a whole host of other issues that will go wrong with the building.

This could be considered a disaster, with you having to spend money on fixing or repairing all these issues that keep happening to your place when you are simply trying to enjoy your weekend.

There is another way to look at it, its a wake up call, its your cottage/chalet telling you that its time to renovate and repair the place so that this doesn't happen in the future. The winter is actually a pretty good time to start having your cottage fixed. A good contractor can renovate and repair your cottage while still allowing you to be able to use it when you come up on the weekends.

As they are renovating they then can fix all the other issues that prop up like freezing pipes or heating system issues. Instead of you finding the problem when you arrive on friday night, your contractor would find it in the middle of the week and have it repaired before you arrive on the weekend.

Your cottage will require renovations in the near future, why not forgo the cost of emergency repairs, hire a contractor to renovate the cottage and have him take care of everything without the cost and stress of the emergency repairs.

This winter isn't a one off, extreme weather is becoming the norm in Southern Ontario, so you might as well start preparing your cottage/chalet for it now, have it renovated and fixed right and not worry about it into the future.

Call a contractor to start repairing and renovating today,

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.

What You May Find When Renovating Century Homes

When renovating century homes don't be surprised by what you find behind the walls.

Its amazing what you can find when you start pulling apart older homes walls, once that lath and plaster comes down and all the other layers that are applied on top of it you start to find some interesting and some times strange things.

Century homes have usually been renovated several times before we get at them and usually the renovations are repairs, patches and quick fixes like covering old lath and plaster with ceiling tiles or other layers of drywall. Because of this we end up finding things that have been placed there or left or there or brought there by others, here's a little list of things that we have found inside century walls and ceilings;

• Newspapers. We find a lot of pieces of old newspapers. Whether they were placed there on purpose to mark the date of the renovation, or left there by accident or used as a cheap form of insulation its always interesting to read the date and articles of older pieces of paper.
• Tools. We've found hammers, screw drivers, electrical supplies, crow bars, nails and several other things.
• Clothes. Shirts, gloves, shoes and once we even found a corset in a ceiling.
• Umbrella. Once we found a umbrella in the walls.
• Cane. Why someone left a cane in the walls is about as weird as an umbrella.
• Sawdust. A lot of older homes used sawdust to insulate the walls.
• Children's toys.

Some of the not nice things that we have found have been;

• A family of mice. Many many mice alive and dead.
• Raccoons.
• Cats.
• Squirrels, alive and dead ones.
• Wasps nests.
• Bee hives.
• We once found a ceiling that was completely filled with Bat poop!

All of the things listed above don't really cost you extra money but some of the other things we find do, once you start removing ceilings in old homes you find;

• Fire Damage. A lot of old homes have fire damage once you start looking behind ceilings and walls.
• Structural damage from cutting beams and joists from previous renovations. This is sometimes that reason that an old homes floors go up and down.
• Old wiring. Knob and tube and sometimes aluminum wiring is still found in these old homes.
• Old or damaged plumbing that requires repairs.
• The lack of insulation.
• Blocked or missing duct work.

Remember that when you commit to opening up century home ceilings you have to commit to repairing or replacing anything that needs to be repaired. You don't want to cover up problems that you find,so in your renovation budget you need to set a side a repair fund to fix whatever you find.

Remember just because an old home looks good and solid doesn't mean that everything will be perfect once you start looking behind the walls and ceilings.

Removing lath and plaster is a dirty and dusty job that nobody likes to do,that's why people try everything to no take them down. But the only real way to properly renovate a century home is to take the rooms back to their original studs, this is the best way to bring the home up to code and also to fix anything else that you find.

Rob Abbott

Village Builders Inc.  

Insulate And Wire Those Extras Before You Drywall

When you are renovating your home every time you open up a ceiling or a wall to do some work no matter what it is you should consider what else should go in there?

Sounds like a natural thing that you would install everything that needs to go in before you cover it back over but you should think about other things that you might require in the future.

For example in ceilings where there would be livable space above, here are some of the things that you could installed;

• Sound insulation to stop noise from traveling between floors.
• Lighting. Potlights or other lighting is easier to install when the ceilings are open.
• Conduits for future electrical or cable/internet upgrades in the future.
• Ductwork, Now is the time to upgrade ductwork or add more heat runs.
• Speakers and speaker wire.

If you are working on walls then all of the things above apply other then the potlights, but you could add in wall sconces instead. 

A couple of things to think about when you have walls open are leaving room for future chases like the wiring that is required for solar panels. As solar panels become cheaper in the upcoming years more and more people will be opting into installing solar panels on the roof, leaving an easy access to run the wiring to the electrical panel will save you money and needless repairs to the walls that you just had re-drywalled,

Some other things that could go in walls:

• Central vacuums piping and outlets.
• Flooring lights, these are lights that are installed near the floor to light up hallways.
• Blocking to hold tv's or heavy paintings on the walls.
• Safes,

So when you are planning that renovation think about spending a little money on the future of what you might require and save yourself more money in the long term.

Rob Abbott

Create A Renovation List For Your Wants And Needs

At least once a month I meet with a perspective client at their home to talk about what they would like in terms of renovations. Once I am there and we start talking about what rooms they want to renovate the list becomes longer and longer.

The longer I actually stay with the homeowner the more the renovation list grows as we talk about what they would like and how they would like the house to function when the renovations are completed. 

One of the problems with this scenario is that the renovation list grows as we talk about it from an initial single renovation like a kitchen to a multi room renovation or a whole house renovation. This on the surface is good for us the contractor as the job grows in size but in reality when the job becomes to large then the homeowner gets scared away from doing any renovation by the large price tag of the entire home remodel.

As the contractor I try to refocus homeowners to make a list of their renovation requirements, it should be broken down into wants and needs. Here are some examples of what a want is and what a need is;

Wants;

• New light fixtures.
• New Paint.
• New Floors.
• Open concept rooms by removing walls.

Needs;

• Fix leaky roof
• New Kitchen.
• Replace old windows.
• Repair rotten areas.

A want is something that you want to help the home function better for you or an update that will bring the home up to newer style. A need is something that needs to be completed before any of the wants list can be completed as it will cause problems or damage to any renovations that are completed. Anything that leaks water should be repaired or replaced before you ever get to the stage of renovating for an update.

If you start with a list like this then you will start to understand the cost of your needs list first and that will then tell you how much you will have leftover for your wants list.

Remember that a contractor can only make recommendations on what you should do to your home, ultimately its up to you the homeowner to decide what you want done. Make your wants and needs list, it should help focus you down on not only what you want to achieve in the renovation but what you can afford.

Rob Abbott

Village Builders Inc. 

Stay In Your Current Home And Renovate It

With the real estate market in the Georgian Triangle rising to new heights because of the demand for homes and the lack of homes that are actually for sale more and more people are opting to stay where they are and renovate their current home instead of trying to find a different home.

With all the costs associated with selling a home and then moving people are deciding to take that money and invest it into their current home.

In previous years the renovations we completed for a lot of people had an eye to resale so that they were limited to updating kitchens and bathrooms. But with people deciding to stay in their home for the long term there is a willingness to spend larger amounts of money to do whole home renovations that help the current home work better for the people that are living there.

Additions, outdoor space and garages are also being added while people try to maximize their current location as long as they can.

Money spend properly on your current home and done right should mean that your current home will be up to date and functional for you and your family for the next decade at least.

The larger renovation projects mean larger renovation budgets, these larger renovation budgets must be looked as a long term investment in your current home and not a short term bump in the home price. The added bonus of having low interest rates helps make that larger whole home renovation more affordable.

If your leery about entering the resale home market then maybe you should really think about staying where you are and investing in your current home.

If you are thinking about a renovation for your current home, send us an email at infor@villagebuilders.ca and we can see how we can help you.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.