How To Create Your Dream Home

Every person has his or her own idea of what a dream home really is, so designing and building a custom home is a very personal decision. Paul Beaudoin is a general contractor in Raleigh, and the owner of Lifestyle Building & Remodeling Co. Inc.. According to him, whatever a homeowner's dream may be, it is the contractor's job to turn it into reality.

For one family, a dream home might be a two-story mansion with columns and marble, while another family in the same town might dream of living in a one-story ranch-style home with breathtaking views. Because building a custom home from scratch can be a time-consuming and costly project, anyone hoping to undertake a project of this magnitude needs to be sure he knows what he is getting himself into before plunging in headfirst.

General Idea of Your Custom Home

For anyone who wants to build a custom home, the first step is to get organized. This means making appointments with architects, surveyors, and general contractors in the Raleigh area, and making sure everyone is on the same page in terms of the home's design and the area of land where it is going to be built. Before you can move forward with building a home, you have to get the land where it's going to be built surveyed by a professional.

At the same time, I recommend putting together some ideas of the size, style, and layout you are thinking about for the home. At the very least, you are going to want to have a general idea of the layout you like and the approximate square footage you need before going in to meet with an architect.

Because Lifestyle Building & Remodeling Co. Inc. is a design and build company, we can work off of the plans drawn up by a local architect or purchased through an online service. We have the experience to be able to take a print or generic building plan that was bought online and pull it apart a bit as we go through it with the client. Basically, we can break down that generic plan and figure out exactly what the client wants to have done.

Schedule of Your Project

Scheduling is important in any construction project, but even more so when dealing with major projects that involve total home construction. When working with a general contractor in Raleigh, it is important to find out how much time he has in his schedule and how long he thinks it's going to take to build the home you want. In my experience, most homes being built in North Carolina take anywhere from 90 days to 240 days from start to finish, depending largely on the square footage and size of the home. Most homes can be turned around within three to five months, but you should definitely check with your contractors to see what their own timelines are, depending on the size of the house, the area, and the season.

Low Country Homes

Among the new homes being built near Raleigh, the latest trend has been to design what are known as "low country homes." These homes are known to be particularly popular in the South, and often feature an elevated porch that spans the length of the house to allow homeowners to enjoy as much time as possible outside. When it comes to the interiors of these new homes, kitchen designs have become the biggest focus for many of my clients. We generally try to modify the kitchen designs to better suit the individual or family who is building the home.

Home's Energy Value

One of the hottest topics being brought up by clients in the past year is the home's energy value, specifically in areas like the kitchen and washroom. When we are putting together a new house, we will often try to increase the energy values by installing energy-efficient windows and appliances in the kitchen.

Energy-efficient appliances can sometimes be cost prohibitive, so we have developed a way to save money by cutting back on some non-essential items?such as high-end moldings, for example?and put the saved money toward energy-saving appliances like new HVAC systems. By putting in cheaper moldings, we can also use the saved money on upgraded windows or siding.