Sunday, March 17, 2019

Custom Home Builder Bruce Peninsula Spring 2019

Are you planning on building a custom home or cottage in the Bruce Peninsula?

You have bought the property, talked to architects and you are dreaming about what it will be like to live in your new home/cottage throughout those wonderful summers and falls.

One problem, you can't seem to find a builder, most of the builders that you find are either too busy for you this year or you just don't like the way they operate. Well look no further.

Email me at greatlakescustomhomes@gmail.com and lets talk about building you your dream home.

We have been building dream homes for people all along the lake shores of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron for decades.

We are a family owned and operated company that prides itself on personal service and an extreme level of quality. We believe in dialogue with the homeowner throughout the entire build process, phone calls, emails, text messages and sometimes even videos. We believe that the more you the homeowner know about your build the more you will enjoy the build process.

We are endlessly exploring new ways to build homes that make them more efficient, simpler to operate and allow for a more enjoyable experience to the homeowner.

Every custom home comes with its own unique challenges when they are being built, you need a builder that will not only construct what is on the plans but also be able to make suggestions on how it can be built better and also how to make the function of the home greater for you the homeowner.

If you have your land but you haven't been able to find someone to help you with the drawings we can help organize that for you too. We work with a number of architects, architectural technologists and draftsmen that can help you create any kind of home that you can dream up. We even work with interior designers that can help you with the finishing's to really put your personal stamp on it.

So if your searching the internet looking for a builder for your new custom home this spring then you found that right website. Email us and let us help you get that custom home that you deserve.

Rob Abbott
Great Lakes Custom Homes Inc.

Sunday, March 10, 2019

Your New Cottage Should Have An ICF Foundation


Thinking about building a new custom home or new custom cottage up on the Bruce Peninsula this spring/summer?

If you have then you have properly envisioned what the place would look like, the inside the outside, the windows, the siding, the finishing's, the kitchen and the bathroom. But something that people don't put enough thought into is their foundation. Nobody thinks about their foundation, until of course they have problems with their foundations!

Something that you as the homeowner should be asking your contractor about is the options for your foundation. What do I mean about options? Aren't all foundations concrete or block? Yes and NO.

A questions every homeowner should ask their contractor is "WHAT ABOUT ICF?". What is ICF. It stands for Insulated Concrete Forms.

Basically instead of building your foundation out of concrete you build the foundation with large foam blocks. The foam blocks look like large Lego blocks but they have a a hallow space in the middle where you place the rebar and the concrete. An ICF wall is basically a concrete wall with its long underwear still on.

Why do you want your concrete wall to have long underwear? Well once you pour the concrete in the ICF forms your foundation wall is completed! That's tight it's basically done. The wall is already insulated and has built in webs so that you can attach the drywall too or hang a picture or place stone or brick on the outside.

What's the limitations to building out of ICF? Nothing, you can even create round walls with it. There is no set size or shape that it has to be in.

Worried about mice and bugs? Nothing lives in an ICF wall, the foam has no food value so nothing lives in it and if something decided to try and burrow through the foam from the outside they would end up running into the concrete wall that's behind the foam.

ICF foundations made your basement or crawlspace warm and dry, a basement made out of ICF is usually the coziest basement you've ever been in.

If your contractor hasn't talked to you about building your basement out of ICF then maybe you need a new contractor.

If you like the idea of building your foundation so that it is warm and cozy and well insulated then send me an email and let's see if we can get you an ICF foundation.

Email me at greatlakescustomhomes@gmail.com

Rob Abbott
Great Lakes Custom Homes Inc.