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.

NUDURA XR35 Insulated Concrete Form

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.

Start Now For Your Spring Building Projects In The Bruce Peninsula

If your thinking about building a new cottage, adding an addition to your existing cottage or renovating it then now is the time to start talking to contractors.

If you wait until the spring it will be to late, most contractors will already be booked up for the entire spring and you will be forced to wait for the fall to get your project started.

Some contractors that take on bigger projects will take on builds that take 1 year and will be fully committed for the entire building season by the spring, that means that you would have to wait until the following year to get your project even started.

I know when you look outside its full winter and the last thing you are thinking about is having work done in cottage country, but if you don't start the process now you are running the risk of having to wait a lot longer then you want to actually get the work completed.

If you have the plans and the details you need to start sending them to your preferred contractor now, your preferred contractor might already be to busy and you will have to go to the next one on your list. One of the reasons that you have to send your plans now is because this is the time when your contractor will be doing his pricing for the projects upcoming in the spring.

A big project like a new house build or a large addition can take a contractor up to two months to actually price, especially if they are busy pricing other projects.

If you start now, your contractor will price your project, work with you on your budget and sign a contract on the project to come it will probably be March or April. Depending on the winter you could end up starting the project several weeks after the contract is signed.

If your planning on building a new cottage on the Bruce Peninsula send me an email and I will see if I can help you with your build.

Rob Abbott
Great Lakes Custom Homes Inc.

Never Hire A Contractor On Price For Your Cottage Renovation

What's more important when hiring a contractor, their price?or the confidence in them to work in your cottage when you are not around for long periods of time and still give you what you want and do it in an appropriate way?

If you said the price then you really are setting yourself up for disappointment as the job will most likely turn into a renovation nightmare.

What I have found in the renovation end of the construction industry is that there is a reason for some companies to be a lot cheaper then others and its not because one company is making a lot more money then the other, here are some of the main reasons;

1. They Simply Don't Know How To Estimate. Estimating takes time, energy and a lot of thought, those are 3 things that a lot of contractors do not have or want to have. A lot of contractors want to return you a quote quickly because they believe that is the way to win a job. So they put some numbers together and send you a price. This means that they actually don't know what the cost of doing your renovation actually is, they are guessing that they are putting enough money in it to do the job and to make a profit.
2. Omission. This is one of the classic things that low bidders do,they omit things on the estimate. You ask for a bathroom renovation and they price you a new bathroom. What they don't include is any of the bathroom fixtures like the toilet, sink, vanity or tub. When you ask about it later they say that it is up to you to supply them.
3. No detail on the estimate. Your estimate is short, it doesn't have any detail other then a rough outline on what you are getting in your estimate. It doesn't tell you what fixtures your getting or what your tile allowance is. This is how they can give you bill for extra's later or force you to settle for something that you don't want.
4. A verbal estimate with a full cash option. There's a reason that things are written down in an estimate, its so everyone knows what everyone gets, because of this you pay tax, to avoid tax you don't write anything down and all transactions are in cash. Sounds great until your realize that your tax avoidance plan also leaves you with no way to prove what you paid for or if you ever had hired the contractor at all. In fact engaging in an all cash deal to avoid paying tax is illegal.
5. Being A Legal Contractor Costs Money. Being properly insured, paying your taxes, paying your employees, paying your suppliers, paying your WSIB, giving warranties on your work, creating proper estimates cost money. That means that the best companies will be more expensive, it doesn't mean that they are making more money, it means they are doing everything legally and properly.

So when you are calling contractors to come and look at the work you want to be completed at your cottage (while you are not there) don't just look for the best price. Look past the price and find the contractor that you can trust to do the job right, legal and provide you with a warranty for the work that they do.

Pick security and a job done right over the bargain basement price.

Rob Abbott

Great Lakes Custom Homes Inc.

Winter Is The Best Time To Renovate Your Cottage

Winter is not the nicest time to be at the cottage for you, especially if the cottage is older, drafty and lacks a proper heat source. This doesn't make for an ideal time to enjoy yourself, but it is an ideal time for you to have your cottage renovated.

The best time to renovate is when you are not there, not needing to use the place, this allows your contractor to get in and fix, repair or renovate everything they need to without you in the way. It actually cuts down the cost because they don't have to remove all their material and equipment every time you come up to use it on the weekend. The job can start and finish without a lot of delays.

Now sometimes in the winter, work can be slowed or delayed because of the extreme weather but because you won't be using the place until the spring it won't affect you the homeowner.

With modern technology of text messages, pictures, videos, phones calls and emails there's no reason that you can't monitor what is happening at your cottage.

Tile and flooring can be purchased anywhere and shipped to the site along with plumbing fixtures and windows. There's almost nothing that can't be done on the internet or through email to help plan and choose your finishing's for your cottage.

But you are running out of time to secure your contractor for this winter, if you don't do it soon you will miss the winter window and have to settle for a spring renovation when you want to use the place.

Start calling around for those cottage renovation contractors now.

If you are looking to renovate your cottage email me at greatlakescustomhomes@gmail.com

Rob Abbott
Great Lakes Custom Homes Inc,.

Cottage Humidity Problems?

Did you have humidity problems in your cottage this year from all the high heat and humidity this summer?

Well join the club, most people with older cottages found that there cottages were "moist" this year, wet to the point of growing surface mold in a lot of places.

With the weather getting warmer every year this summer will probably be more the norm then the exception, that means that you will need to start getting used to the high humidity.

Since high humidity is going to be common you need to come up with a plan to deal with it.

Here are some idea's to remove the high moisture content in your cottage;

Air Conditioning

Air conditioning removes moisture from the air, so the act of cooling your cottage when it is to hot does the double duty by removing the moisture out of the air. Whether its from an air conditioner that is attached to a furnace or its small window air conditioner they all work to remove humidity out of the air, doing this helps keep the cottage dryer.

 Dehumidifiers

Dehumidifiers remove large amounts of moisture from the air. Whether they are the portable kind our the bigger ones that are a permanent fixture dehumidifiers do what they are designed to do and they work best when placed in a basement and left on as much as possible.

Insulation

Better insulation in the walls and in the basement slow or stop the air exchange in the cottage when the windows are closed. This allows you to regulate the humidity and the temperature more easily inside the cottage.

New Windows

New windows do the same thing as new insulation as they help regulate the air exchange in the cottage and new windows open easier allowing more airflow when there is a cooling breeze.

Whatever you do you need to do something to limit the humidity, if you do nothing you risk having mold grow unchecked in area's that does not get cleaned a lot and this can lead to health risks. If moisture builds up inside the wall cavity rot can start along with the growth of mold.

Rob Abbott
Great Lakes Custom Homes Inc.