Katz Builders, Inc.

‘Organizing Your Thoughts When Planning Your New Home’ Category

Authored by: Matt Henke, Builder

Except for a few holdouts that just can’t part with their decorations, Christmas is clearly in our rear-view window. We couldn’t help but take one more look at our gingerbread house from a slightly different perspective. It is hard to believe but many homes are still being built like gingerbread houses. The walls don’t offer significant insulation and the envelope of the home offers little protection when it comes to the penetration of air and water.

Building science has come a long way in the last 20 years, and we continue to see significant improvements in products and techniques that make our homes efficient and comfortable. In this part of the country, Austin, Texas, we have a predominantly hot-humid climate. That has profound implications for the way our homes should be built. Our biggest challenge is keeping our homes cool and keeping moisture outside the structure. Not to mention, we want to accomplish all of this while minimizing our utility bills. That’s why it is so important that during the design phase of your remodel or new home we take these factors into consideration. It would be a shame to spend all that time and money to build your dream home, only to find yourself fighting water leaks and high temperatures. That is exactly what many homeowners are faced with today.

It is sad to see this happen when the cost of prevention is so low. It merely requires that we use some best practices in pre-planning, designing the envelope, insulation, and mechanical systems which become front-line defenses in the protection of your home. Your roof, when built correctly with overhangs, acts as an umbrella that sheds water and limits heat gain. But this doesn’t happen accidentally. Your walls, when designed correctly, provide a drainage plan that moves water down and away from the house. This coupled with properly installed windows and doors keeps water out. And your HVAC system handles the task of making you comfortable while removing excessive humidity out of the house. This doesn’t happen accidentally. It requires careful planning with regards to each home’s unique site orientation, size, and occupant lifestyle.

There are a lot of gingerbread houses that look pretty, but you wouldn’t necessarily want to live in them. We feel morally obligated to build homes that reflect both beauty and integrity.

During the holidays we gathered our two youngest grandsons, Jasper, seven and Jett, four and got to work. Of course, in our haste we didn’t create a plan and we certainly didn’t get the house engineered.

The project went well as we progressed and followed the instructions. Not having the “advice” of a structural engineer, the project soon went “awry” when we
began to erect the walls. No matter what we did (we did follow the directions) we couldn’t get the consistency of the icing just right to hold the walls and roof together.

As we started to decorate the erected walls with gum drops, candy canes, chocolate snow drops, etc. the walls slowly began to collapse! As a result, we decided not to add Ginger Bread Home building to our list of services.

Well, we didn’t end up with a pretty Ginger Bread House but we sure had a lot of fun making it and eating the ginger bread and candy. This is a day at Grand-mom’s and Grand-dad’s home that Jasper and Jett won’t soon forget.

We can honestly tell you that, we aren’t changing our business model. We will continue to build, renovate and add on to your homes as well as update kitchens and baths providing you with great services and using sound science, making your home high performing and energy efficient. We can’t build a Ginger Bread House but we can build or remodel a great home for you.

There is no better time then now to plan your remodel project for the new year. Call us at 512-301-6000 so that we can help you make your dream become a reality. All referrals are greatly appreciated.

Wishing you a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2012

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An important question to ask yourself is how will your new home improve your life style? In some cases, if you are in a good location and the investment would be sound, you may want to consider remodeling the home in which you currently live. Read the rest of this entry »

What’s the difference between a custom home, customized home and a production home:

Custom homes are one of a kind, site specific and they afford the buyer the ability to develop and control the floor plan, build on owners home site, incorporate Universal Design and energy efficient materials and systems while controlling their budget. Additionally, a custom builder builds 25 or less homes per year. Read the rest of this entry »