Eaddy residence pool area

Really enjoyed coming back to look at this one and taking a few pics. A local contractor, Bob Lamotte, called me to help him out with this job. The parameters were to upgrade the pool sitting area with a covered area, add an outdoor cooking area, and some landscape upgrades. Wow it turned out nice. Refaced the pool deck, a new hot tub, a trellis, new walks, this one got the works. My part was figuring out how to tie all the structures together and figure out how to get rid of that old awning. And while I'm super proud of my contributions to the effort, my hat is off to Bob for executing excellent craftsmanship for this client. Simply spectacular. A future award winner for sure...

Certify Green at the lowest cost!

My clients often wonder how much more it costs to build their next home green. My builders are always trying to get the best green product at the lowest end cost. That's the way it has been and that's the beauty of green. Competition helps drive prices down! As a member of the Homebuilders Green council (Columbia SC) we are always working to make going green as inexpensive as possible. To that end we have re-developed our own local Green building and remodeling program. Our program is now based on the NAHB Green building Standard ICC 700-2008. With this system you can get as green a home as any of the other nationally administed programs, but a reduced program cost. That's how we roll in South Carolina, making green as affordable as possible! You can now get your home certified through this program for as low as $50 in administration fees! And if you've looked around at programs, that's incredibly cheap! Now you still have to build a green home and go through testing and verification to qualify, just like the other programs, but we feel like lowest cost is a good motivator. If you agree and are interested in this program contact Bin at www.columbiagreenbuilders.com to get your green project started! You can contact me at www.squareoneplans.com also!

 

Lake remodel comes together.

What was once a great home on lake Murray, becomes a great home again!  My clients loved their location, they just needed a new look, a new owners suite and bath, and a better garage with a room over and nicer laundry. You know, the regular stuff.  House is coming along nicely for sure, thanks to Barry Davis Constuction in Lexington, SC. And yes that's the same house folks!

Energy Saver Home cuts your power bills.

For those of you that follow my posts, I love helping people save money on their power bills. The new homes have been pretty easy, we design build them energy efficient from the start. The older ones haven't gotten the same attention. Some one needed to figure out how to apply all that "green" knowledge to the existing housing stock. Lots of guys before me have tried. The government has tried. They have developed program after program, focusing on how to measure and regulate the results. Lots of my customers really don't want to be certified under a program. They just want the lower power bills for their existing home. They just want to be comfortable in their home while enjoying lower power bills. They just want the home fixed. Now through a joint venture through me and my buddy Craig, over at Cutter's Insulation, we've figured out how to do it efficiently and cheaply. We use the concepts outlined under my 10 tips to lower power bills, and do the installation for you in the Columbia, SC area.The company is called Energy Saver Home.  If your bills are too high, let us implement a series of fixes for your home. We have all of the test equipment to identify and rectify your problems. And you won't have to go in the attic or under the house yourself! Check out the new website at www.ensavr.com and call me for an appointment. You'll be glad you did.

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Upgrade to a Lake Murray home

These clients had it all, nice home, great view, except enough space in the right place. We went into the attic, and added a family room, theater, a kitchenette, and mini office space, without covering up the lake view. They already had the stairway and the bonus room, we added a new dormer there so the room would be more useable. Other considerations included beefing up the old ceiling joists to carry more load, and re-locating the old hvac from the attic to under the home. Turned out great thanks to contractor Theresa Lejohn's attention to detail!

Dramatically lower your power bill

A couple of years ago I built one of those new "green homes". Learned a lot about how much lower a power bill can be. Though my home was bigger by 500 sf, my bills dropped by over half. At that time most of us thought you had to build a new "green" home to save on energy bills. Fact is, since we've learned to build "green", we've learned how to use the same technology to cut power usage in older homes. Through testing, we can identify where older homes leak air and then the holes can be plugged. Existing homes can be made nearly as efficient as the new ones. Most of the solutions are things that you can actually do yourself. I have another blog called "Green building with Square One Design". Where I detail the 10 first steps to make your home up to 50% more energy efficient. If your power bills are too high these solutions actually work. Also a new website , just up on the web called Energy Savers.  If you would like to know more, contact me anytime and I can help with advice and solutions to your problems.

Seeing what's not there

Some of my Columbia area remodeling clients call me with a firm grasp of what they would like to do in regards to their remodel. Most do not. They know what they may need to add, or what problems they'd like to fix, but have no idea how to attach it to the existing home. That's what I'm good at, seeing the possibilities and creating the perfect space. People know what they would like to have, just not how to visualize it. They have a hard time seeing past the spaces as they are. An example of this is a client that wants to convert a garage to a playroom and build another garage next to it. When I enquire about leaving the garage alone and building the playroom behind it with a good view of the lake they say "gee, I didn't think of that." They are trying to visualize inside the spaces that they have instead of thinking outside the box. So that's my first task, to analyze the situation and find the best place for the solution. Sometimes it's on the rear, some times the front, sometimes above. You try to solve the spacial problem, keeping an eye out for enhancing the visual form of the home as you go. If the home is less attractive on the front, you can upgrade there. If it's on the rear, that might be a good start. After you've done fifty or sixty, it kind of becomes second nature I guess. Every job is a new challenge, but every project is a new opportunity. I guess that's what makes it so fun.