Imagine, you’ve been at work all day, you finally lay down in your bed, in your new bedroom, and try to drift off to sleep as you forget, slowly, your day’s activities. But this does not happen easily. The reason is simple. You are excited. You lay there and can’t stop looking around your new and unfamiliar room – a room you created in your own mind and watched as it grew into reality. It is a room you dreamed of for so long- but here it is for real. The coffered ceilings, the perfect built-in video area; the smells; as exciting as the “new car” smells that you’ve experienced. The home is perfection. The master bathroom, just like the one in Rome where you spent your honeymoon, the parlor like the one in your childhood home. The kitchen, designed based upon your own experience and that of your favorite cook of all time (your mom). i Every nook, every cranny, every detail is perfect. No compromises, not this time. You’ve finally achieved the perfect home.
I’ve been fortunate enough to experience this for myself four times in my life. These were among the most fulfilling moments of my life; right up there with the birth of my kids (not a direct comparison, of course, but comparable none the less ). These have been pinnacles of my life – and like most, hard-won – but most satisfying. The truth is, it is not an uncommon experience. Folks from many walks of life experience this daily. Maybe you have – and if so, you will know what how it feels.
Some may wonder how hard it is to make arrangements to have such an experience. Is it possible? Please believe me when I say that it is. It is well within many, many folks’ reach to have something as important as their own home, their own habitat, their own space – completely created for them and them alone.
Today may be one of the best times to do this.
So What is a Custom Building?
Custom building is the action of designing and building a home uniquely for the owner’s own taste and desires.
Let’s face it, most industries rely upon duplicity of effort, sometimes called economy of scale, to achieve affordable products. This is mostly achieved in the form of mass production. Very few could afford a custom built car or radio or, really any item that we purchase today. Mass manufacturing is actually a good thing, and is a key to the material success in our country. But the downside is that it must be guided by mass appeal. Custom Home Building is one of the last industries where the creation of such uniquely individualized products is economically feasible.
A custom designed home, however, is a unique kind of product. even though it is designed and built entirely to the specs of an individual it can be actually achieved, quite realistically, for a cost quite similar to that of the existing, mass-appeal units. Why? It is simply because most homes are built in the same way; regardless if they are designed for mass appeal or alone for an individual. And, since homes tend not to depreciate too much, newer homes can commonly be built for cost very similar to purchasing those already built. Isn’t that interesting? It turns out that building can commonly be of similar cost. Yet it would likely have much greater value – at least to the first owner. Since the owner is attempting to recover his costs to build, when he sells an upscale, custom home, he will usually choose costs similar to the cost if you actually had it built it yourself. And that is not to mention the savings if you did your own contracting.
Predesigned homes or modified model homes are really not custom homes – though they are often, mistakenly, called that. These homes can be modified in limited ways – or even moving a wall a little bit. The truth is that these are really “customized” homes – not custom homes. This would be similar to choosing the color of your car or if its seats are to be leather or cloth. This would not truly be custom as defined here. Homes where you have a few limited choices of modifications are “customized” homes.
Custom homes, as defined here, are homes uniquely designed and built – for the client. This would not include homes that are modified, or somehow adapted to the owner’s taste. These would not be homes from stock plan companies. These would be homes that are designed uniquely and only for you.
While the experience of custom designing and building a home is quite within reach of many, there is much that one needs to know to avoid the pitfalls. Please make sure that you acquire a good understanding of the process so you can avoid some of the traps that can exist.
It is something you may well think you deserve. If so, you should go for it. Happy Building!
Ken Risley, dream house; is a Professional Engineer, Award Winning Designer and Contractor since 1982. Contact this Central Florida Structural Engineer today!
