Residential elevators

In today's housing market with an aging population the demand for bungalows has gone through the roof, the price of bungalows has never been higher and the amount of bungalows that come on the market at it's lowest.

The demand for bungalows is obvious as people who are aging do not want to walk up and down stairs to go to bed or to the bathroom.

Well there is away to go up and down in a two story house either in your existing home or a house that you are looking to purchase, its called a residential elevator.

Residential elevators are exactly what they sound like, they are an elevator that is built into a residential house.

Residential elevators have been around for a long time, but they have typically in a large expensive custom homes, but the demand for elevators has brought on competition in the market to produce less expensive options.

Today you can put in an elevator in your home for the cost of an SUV.

They are safe, reliable and depending on your level of need big enough for anyone.

They can be luxurious or they can be a basic model that is easier on the budget.

With a little engineering an elevator can be put anywhere in home where it can freely travel from floor to floor.

An elevator will also give access to the basement which is usually a problem for the elderly even in bungalows.

How do you install an elevator?

You frame a shaft that travels from the bottom floor to the top floor. The walls can be built out of conventional lumber, the floor joist are removed in the shaft and the weight is carried in the shaft walls. A residential door is placed on each floor to allow access to the elevator.


They basically look like a closet once they are trimmed and finished.

They also will raise the value of the home as an aging population would be interested in it.

Rob Abbott
Great Lakes Custom Homes 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.

You Get What You Pay For-When It Comes To Renovations

Recently we completed a renovation for clients, it was an interior renovation only and mostly cosmetic.

We had to bring in Electrician and Plumbers and our own carpenters to a lot of the work, but when it came to us bringing in a painter the homeowner refused to pay the prices that we found for them. We got multiple quotes and the homeowner still believed that the prices were to high.

Once our work was completed the homeowner brought in their own painter to finish the job, a painter that they found that fit their smaller budget.

Later when I returned to talk to the homeowner and pick up the final payment I asked about how their painting ended up with the painter that they hired.

It didn't go well, to the point the homeowner had asked the painters to leave before the job was completed and they were now finishing the job themselves and actually repainting a lot of the area's that the painters had already completed because of the poor workmenship.

At the time when I had presented the prices to the homeowner they had made comments that "those prices are ridicules, its just paint for crying out load!"

Now I stood there listening to my client trying to justify to herself and (trying to justify to me) about her choice, but the bottom line is that she was now painting the house herself and if you look at the work that was completed by the painting contractor (that doesn't have to be redone by the homeowner) and the cost of the homeowners time and their own materials that they had to buy to finish the job, my painters were actually cheaper in the long run. That doesn't even talk about the wasted time from everyone involved and the job is still not finished.

The old saying "You Get What You Pay For" is true. There's a reason that some trades are cheap and other trades are not, one party is paying for quality professional employee's that take time to do the job right with a high degree of quality, the cheaper trades pay employee's less (because they have less experience) and want to get in and out quickly so the costs don't run up.

No matter if it's your contractor bringing you a price from a sub-trade or you hiring a trade on your own the lowest price is usually not the right choice, especially a sub-trade that is significantly lower then its competitor. There's usually a reason that they are cheaper and those reasons are usually not good for you and your home.

Remember You Get What You Pay For!

Rob Abbott

Start Looking For Your Contractor Now For Spring And Summer Renovations

Renovations going strong in a light winter season.

The skiing and snowmobiling might not be as good as you want it to be this winter with the lack of snow and the warmer overall temperatures but it has been good for construction.

With the lighter winter many people are not waiting for the spring to start their renovations, in fact it has been surprisingly busy this winter compared to other winters that were colder and with a significant amount more snow.

With the early interest and demand for renovations this winter seems to show that there will be a very busy year. Talking to other contractors in the area they seem to be experiencing the same thing. A busy winter makes for a busy spring which makes for an overly good year in construction.

If you are thinking about renovating this spring or summer then you should start looking for your contractor now as a lot of contractors are already booked through the spring into the summer with work.

Not only are the contractors starting to book up but the sub-trades are booking up as fast as well, this makes it even more imperative that you find your contractor as a good contractor will have a loyal number of sub-trades that will make room for them in their schedule no matter how far in advance they have been booked.

If you are serious about renovating this spring or summer then send me an email at robabbott@villagebuilders.ca or call our office at 7054663202 and lets setup an appointment to start the process before its to late.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders