Glossary: Home Building Terms

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Building a new home is a big exciting project. This will likely be one of the largest purchases of your life, and it can take many many months – if not more than a year – for everything to come together. With that in mind, it’s important to understand everything that is going on around the project, including the various terms you might hear used by contractors, agents, and others. This article will offer a basic glossary of some common industry terms to help you avoid confusion while building a house.

 

To work with one of the best Greensboro home builders on this exciting project, contact Don Mills today to get started. With Don Mills, you’ll get an experienced custom home builder capable of creating a house that will live up to even the highest of expectations.

 

Structural Elements

To help you make sense of this list of terms, we are going to divide this post up into sections. First, let’s look at some terms that are commonly used when talking about the structural components of a house.

 

  • When a significant load needs to be carried, often across a large space, a beam will be used that is bigger than the other surrounding framing elements.
  • Bearing wall. Some walls in a house serve to support the structure, while others are only to divide spaces. Those that hold up part of the home are considered bearing walls.
  • Any bearing wall needs to be properly supported to ensure the stability of the structure. With that in mind, a footing is placed under those sections to increase stability and avoid unwanted shifting or settling.
  • This is a framing component that serves to create a ceiling or floor.
  • When a post is used to run from floor to ceiling, whether for structural or aesthetic purposes, it is typically called a pillar.
  • The rafters in your home are an integral part of the roof structure, and they can either be covered up by a ceiling or left open for a dramatic look.

 

Visual Elements

While the terms below might not relate to elements that are necessary to keep the home standing, they are still important while working to achieve a specific, consistent look.

 

  • This one confuses some homebuyers, but it’s actually quite simple – the elevation of a home is the look of the vertical service, such as a view from street level. This is talked about often during the design phase.
  • If you are building a multi-level home, it might be useful to use a landing within a stairway to break up the climb and change directions.
  • Pocket door. Convenient for saving space, pocket doors work by having the door slide into the wall when open. This eliminates the need to keep space for the door to come out into the room.
  • The upright part of a cabinet is called a “stile”, while the horizontal members are called “rails”.
  • Transom window. This type of window is found above a door, and it can be a great way to let in some additional natural light. Some transom windows can be opened, while others are fixed.

 

Custom Home Innovations for 2022

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The world of home building is constantly evolving. Something that is on the cutting edge one year can be seen as out of date just a couple of years later. When building a custom home of your own in North Carolina, it’s a good idea to stay up to date on the latest and greatest innovations in the industry. This article will introduce you to some of the exciting innovations that are appealing to those building homes in 2022.

 

If you are looking for custom home builders in North Carolina capable of producing high-end, luxury properties, Don Mills is the best place to start. Reach out today to learn more.

 

Balanced Floor Plans

If you pay attention to residential home design and construction, you’ll already know that the last couple of decades have seen a dramatic shift toward the idea of “open concept” design. With this style of house, fewer walls are used to divide up rooms, and more big spaces are created. This trend certainly isn’t going away, but 2022 is likely to see a continued shift toward a more balanced approach. So, along with a large great room, for example, a home may have several other, smaller spaces to be used for various purposes.

 

Bringing the Outside In

Welcoming nature into the house is more important than ever. If you have spent more time than usual at home over the last couple of years, you probably appreciate the windows you do have – and you may wish for more. Strategically using windows to bring in natural light and open up the best view available on your property, is something that never goes out of style.

 

High-Tech Home Office

Another trend that has picked up steam since 2020 and will only continue to grow is the work-from-home movement. Whether you work out of your house part-time or full-time, having a great office space is a big advantage. When building a new custom home, you can keep this feature in mind and add elements that are particularly well-suited to your professional requirements. That could mean building in advanced connectivity, additional audio/visual features, or other pieces that will help your office be a dream space as soon as you move in.

 

The Growth of the Game Room

One of the best things about designing your own home from the ground up is being able to include fun, unique features that set your house apart from the rest. Adding a dedicated game room is one such idea that is worthy of careful consideration. No matter what you want to add to the game room – options like a pool table, arcade machines, large TVs, and more are all available – having the space in your house for this luxury starts with creating the right floor plan. You might plan on creating this game room space from day one, or you might just want it as an option later down the line. Either way, the first step is a layout for your house that keeps the possibility open, perhaps by including a big basement or large upstairs loft.

Architectural Styles for Custom Homes

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The great thing about building a custom home is that it’s a blank slate. Other than having to conform to local building codes and the realities of your property, you’ll be able to do just about whatever you want with this new structure. While that’s a blessing, it can also be a challenge – where do you start when there are no limits?

 

Picking an architectural style is a great way to focus your design process and get the ball rolling. Also, working with Don Mills, the builder behind some of the best custom homes Greensboro has to offer, will give you a leg up in this process. Reach out to Don Mills today to learn more.

 

Considering the Popular Styles

To get started, you’ll want to take a look at some of the leading home styles in the country today. While you don’t have to stick with what’s popular, of course, these categories will give you a starting point and you can go from there with your design. The list below touches on some of the main styles that dominate the American residential landscape.

 

  • As the name would suggest, these homes are full of interesting details, hand-crafted touches, and a custom feel. It makes sense when building a custom home to go with an architectural style that will play up the custom nature of the building, so this is a great pick.
  • The trend of open floor plans and clean lines in housing can be directly traced to the modern architectural style. It’s not hard to spot a house that falls into this category, as the outside will be clean and simple, perhaps with the use of metal in addition to wood.
  • Found in suburbs from coast to coast, ranch houses are single-floor designs that take advantage of ample land to create a large interior without the need to build higher. Similar to the trend within the modern style, ranch houses often feature floor plans with plenty of open space.
  • This is perhaps the easiest style of home for the average person to recognize. The intricate details included in a Victorian home – and in Victorian furniture – are easy to spot and will stand out boldly in the typical American neighborhood.

 

No Right Answer

The best architectural style for your new home is the one that you love and will serve your design needs. You don’t have to feel compelled to fit in with the crowd or even with your geography – a custom home should be a dream home, and it’s your dream that is being brought to life. Take the time to explore plenty of pictures of various styles and feel free to blend two or more of them together to create a unique property.

 

When it’s time to get started with this project, contact Don Mills to discuss your design ideas, or to ask for ideas from a professional. When it comes to custom homes in Greensboro, no matter what architectural style is desired, Don Mills is the place to start.

 

Features to Consider When Working from Home

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If you have the flexibility in your job to work from home either on a part-time or full-time basis, you’ll want to make sure your home is appropriately suited to that task. After all, the typical house is not designed like an office, so you might find yourself struggling to find a suitable space to get things done. The design phase of a custom home project is the perfect time to think about your work needs and how they can be served with a dedicated office.

 

As one of the leading custom home builders in Greensboro, NC, Don Mills is ready to take on the challenge of crafting your new residence. Reach out today to ask any questions or to learn more about what Don Mills has to offer.

 

A Dedicated Home Office

Okay, so this one might be pretty obvious, but it’s the best place to start. If you know you’ll be working from home in this new custom residence, be sure that an office is included in the floorplan. Ideally, this won’t be a shared space that serves other functions – it’s best if it is just an office and nothing else. Remember that you’ll need room for not only your desk, but also some storage, décor, chairs and everything you need for a complete office.

 

One other thing to consider when working on the floor plan is whether or not you will be welcoming clients or other guests to your office on occasion. If so, make sure they can access the office without having to walk through the rest of the house to get there. An entrance from the exterior would be ideal if you’ll be having people come into your office regularly.

 

Office Features to Upgrade the Space

Now that it’s been established that you need a home office, you can turn your attention to nice upgrade features to add to that part of the home. You might not be interested in all of the ideas below, but at least one or two of them may make their way onto your wish list.

 

  • Great WiFi. You’ll want to have excellent service in this part of the house for making calls, streaming videos, etc. You could design the house to have your WiFi originate in the office, or you could use a booster to make sure you have all the speed you need.
  • Block out the sound. Use extra insulation or soundproofing materials to cut out noise from the rest of the house. One of the challenges that come with working from home can be ignoring everything you are hearing – that is made easier if you can’t hear those noises in the first place.
  • Big windows. Most people spend a lot of time in their office each week. To make that time more enjoyable, add plenty of windows for natural light. And, if your property has a view, feature that view to upgrade your office even further.

 

As you prepare to get started on an exciting custom home project, finding the right builder is of utmost importance – and that’s where Don Mills comes into the picture. Get in touch with Don Mills today to take the first step toward your dream home!

Custom Home Upgrades to Wow Your Friends

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One of the many advantages to building a custom home is the opportunity you will have to add upgrades that dramatically improve the experience of living in that new house. As you get ready to finalize your design plan, consider the custom home upgrade ideas outlined below.

 

As a leading builder of the best custom homes Greensboro has to offer, Don Mills is someone who has built hundreds of “Dream Homes” for clients and can help you bring yours to live. 

 

Add a Pool

There isn’t anything else that serves as a showstopper quite like a pool on the property of a custom home. Not only does the pool add the functional benefit of being a place to have fun with family and friends, the shimmering blue water and surrounding pool deck can serve as a notable visual component. Pool ownership isn’t for everyone, but it is something to at least consider in the planning stages of your new home design.

 

Create a Lounge or Bar

To make your custom home stand out from the pack, you might want to add rooms that aren’t typically seen in other homes – like a bar or lounge room. This room could include an area to serve drinks, some comfortable chairs, and maybe a recreational component like a pool table or dartboard. Since you are designing a custom home, you’ll have the flexibility to include this space in your design in an area that makes sense for the overall flow of the property.

 

Home Theater Experience

Home theaters have become more common in recent years, but you can make yours stand out by creating a large space with a huge screen, great sound, and terraced seating. Thanks to the great technology that is available to homeowners today, you’ll be able to build an experience that rivals even the best commercial theater locations. Your homebuilder will likely bring in a contractor that specializes in audio/visual equipment to help put together this room perfectly.

 

An Athletic Court

Most homeowners are forced to head outside when they want to play basketball, tennis, or some other sport – but you might be able to design such a space into the layout of your house. An indoor sports center would be an incredible addition to your property, and it may not cost as much as you might think to add. This kind of space could be created as an attachment to your home, or it could be a separate building on the property.

 

Wine Cellar

This is another idea that will appeal to a particular segment of the homebuying market. If you are a wine collector and enjoy getting deep into the details of various varieties and labels, a dedicated wine cellar room may be worth including in the design. Not only can your wine cellar serve as a great place to store bottles, but it can also be a key design element that adds interest and style to the lowest floor of your custom home.

Are Lumber Costs Too High to Build a Custom Home?

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If you pay attention to the markets, you will already know that lumber costs have soared recently, which got a lot of publicity, but then they also came way down closer to the normal price range.  The rise in lumber generated a lot of news coverage but the return to the historic norms did not.  Of course, it takes a lot of lumber to build a home, so you may be wondering if you should wait on building your home until those prices drop even more. The short answer is no – now is still a great time to build a new custom home. For the longer version of that answer, read on.

 

As a leading builder of custom homes in Greensboro, Don Mills Builders should be one of your first calls as you plan a custom home project in the area. When quality is at the top of your priority list, Don Mills is the right choice.

 

Seeing the Big Picture

There is no way around the reality that higher lumber prices mean it will cost more to build a home. But just because something costs more than it used to doesn’t mean now is not a good time to build your custom dream home. For one thing, no one can predict markets with any certainty, so prices may go back up and elevated lumber prices may simply become the norm going forward. It isn’t known if or when those prices will bottom out or what they will be next month or even next year.  So, you could be putting off building your house for years only to find that the prices never did return to their old low levels.

 

Instead of betting on lumber prices, and delaying this exciting project, just consider the cost of building your custom home as it is today. Does the project fit into your budget currently? Will you be able to build the house of your dreams for a price that makes sense for your family? Those are the important questions to ask, rather than worrying about lumber prices that can vary from year to year and month to month.

 

Affordable Lending

Another important factor in this equation is the low mortgage rates that are currently available for many borrowers. What you will have to spend in additional lumber costs may be more than offset by the savings you’ll enjoy through locking in a mortgage at the current low rates. You may find that these rates go back up once lumber prices come down, meaning you wouldn’t end up saving anything even if you waited. In fact, you’ll probably be happy to pay a bit more for wood if it means you can lock in a low mortgage rate that you will be enjoying for the next 30 years.

 

Create Your Legacy

There are few projects you can take on that will be quite as exciting as building a custom home. That’s particularly true when you work with a respected builder like Don Mills, as the finished product will be something you can’t wait to show off to family and friends for years to come. Lumber prices are just one of many factors that come together in determining the overall cost of a home, so don’t focus too much of your attention on this one piece of the puzzle. Work with a great builder, pick out the perfect lot, and look forward to the day that you can move in.

Wolf Ridge – Lot#11 – 5700 Grey Wind Ct.

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Beautiful new construction by Don Mills Home Builders on the corner lot of the cul-de-sac in one of Oak Ridge’s most popular new developments. Located minutes from shopping and restaurants and in sought after Northwest school system. Primary on main adjacent to large living space and ezview screened, three season covered porch. Impressive home theatre above with additional two bedrooms and bonus. Room for all your toys in the 4 car garage! Schedule a tour today!

Year Built 2021
Beds 4
Baths 4.5
Sq. Ft. 4,274
Lot Size 40,075 Sq. Ft., 0.92 acres
Listing Id 1027008

Is a Mother-in-Law Suite a Good Investment?

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One of the many appealing things about building a custom home is how much input you have in the design process. This new home can take on any shape and size you like, as long as it meets with local building codes. Adding a mother-in-law suite to your new house is something you may be considering, as this feature is increasingly popular in new construction. This article will take a closer look at the pros and cons of mother-in-law suites.

 

Don Mills Builders is one of the top home builders in Greensboro and an excellent pick for any custom home project. The furthest thing from a cookie-cutter house, a home built by Don Mills will be unique and live up to the highest quality standards.

 

Many Benefits to Consider

There is a lot to like about creating a custom home design that includes a mother-in-law suite. For starters, this house design will give you added flexibility in terms of how you use the home as the years go by.

 

Despite the name, this feature can do far more than simply serve as a home for an aging parent. It will be suited for that use, of course, but there are many other applications. For instance, a child who needs to move back home after college would have a private area to live in until they move out permanently. Or this separate area of the home could be used as an office to meet with clients and customers. When you think about how many ways this part of the home could be used, it starts to look like a wise decision to include it in your plans.

 

One Notable Drawback

Perhaps the only notable drawback to this design is giving away square footage to a part of the home that isn’t conveniently connected to the rest. If you are set on a certain number of square feet for the house – based on your budget – you’ll have to use up some of that space on the mother-in-law suite. That could come at the expense of another feature you may have wanted to add, like a game room or home gym. Like anything else in the home building process, you’ll have to weigh the benefits of each potential feature before deciding what your final floor plan will look like.

 

Lifestyle Over Investment

If you are going through the process of creating a custom home with one of the top builders in Greensboro, you are doing it because you want to live in that home for many years to come. With that in mind, don’t focus on the investment aspect as much as the practical side of how this new home will serve your family. If a mother-in-law suite is something that will provide great value and improve the well-being of everyone in the family, then it’s certainly worth including. And, as a bonus, plenty of potential buyers will be drawn to this feature when the time comes to one day sell the house.

What Questions Should You Ask a Custom Home Builder Before Hiring Them?

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Choosing the right home builder may be the single most important piece of your whole project. There are plenty of qualified candidates to pick from around Greensboro, but some will be a better fit for your needs than others. Getting the right home building partner for this job comes down to asking the right questions and listening closely to the answers.

 

As a Greensboro custom home builder, Don Mills Builders is the right choice for those who desire the highest level of quality and custom design. These aren’t homes that you will find up and down every block in the city – they are custom creations that cater to the needs and expectations of each individual client.

 

How Many Houses Have You Built?

This is an obvious place to start. Asking a custom home builder to detail their experience will help you understand how much work they have done, what kind of homes they have built, and more. They’ll likely have a portfolio for you to review from some of their previous jobs, so you can see if anything in their past projects align with what you are hoping to create.

 

It should be noted that you don’t necessarily need to give the job to the most experienced builder, but you don’t want to trust your home to a builder that doesn’t have  substantial experience building the type or size of home that you want to build.

 

What Kind of Warranty Do You Offer?

While you should rightfully expect everything to work perfectly when you move into your new custom home, it’s a reality of home construction that some issues can come up down the line. So, before you even get started with this project, be sure to ask about warranty coverage and how much protection you will have as part of this purchase.  Also you will want to have a discussion about change orders and what constitues a change that requires additional payment.

 

How Does the Process Work?

An experienced custom home builder will be able to walk you through the general process they use to complete a project from start to finish. It’s a good idea to ask about their process so you can understand the general timeline of how things will play out, what important steps need to be checked off along the way, and anything else that might be different from a typical home builder. You don’t want any surprises to come up later on in a project this big, so get as much information as possible at this early stage.

 

Do You Have References Available?

One of the best ways to learn about a home builder is to speak with past clients about their experience. If the builder is able to put you in touch with one or two of their previous customers, you can find out what went well, what could have gone better, and ask any specific questions you may have that only a customer could answer. Between the chat you have with the past client, and the talk you have directly with the builder, you should have a good idea if this particular builder is right for you.

What are the Disadvantages to Building a Custom Home?

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The thought of building a custom dream home is immediately appealing. Who wouldn’t want to design everything about their house from the ground up? Even before you work with an architect or builder, you will have countless ideas in mind for features you’d like to include. But are there any disadvantages to consider in this process? It’s good to think about the big picture before you get started.

 

As one of the leading custom home builders in North Carolina, Don Mills Builders is the best place to start when a high-quality custom home is on the agenda. Contact Don Mills today to get started. 

 

A Lot to Like

The reason that so many people are drawn to building their own custom home is that there are so many benefits to taking this approach. Instead of purchasing a predesigned home in a standard development, taking the custom route leaves everything in your hands. Not only can you help create the design to perfectly suit your tastes, but you can also pick out all the finishes and materials. As long as you work with a quality builder like Don Mills, the result of this project should be something that can be in your family for generations.

 

Looking for A Downside

It’s hard to find anything about the custom home building process that could be classified as a disadvantage. This process will give you great access to your builder and the other professionals involved in the job, so you can have input all along the way. Perhaps the only potential drawback to consider would be if you hire a substandard custom home builder who isn’t up to the task of bringing your vision to life. In that case, this process could turn into an unwanted headache. Of course, since you have already landed at Don Mills, you won’t need to worry about that outcome.

 

Seeing the Big Picture

When potential homebuyers hit the market to consider their options, they are sometimes drawn by the idea of buying an existing house, simply because it is all done, and they can move in right away. That instant gratification is appealing in some cases, but it’s better to think about the big picture here. This may be the biggest purchase you make in your entire life, so there is no need to rush it. If you plan on living in this home for decades, it’s far more important that you get every feature that you want, rather than needing to go back later and make changes.

 

To get back to the title question for this article, there are no notable drawbacks to building a custom home. As long as you work with an experienced, knowledgeable custom builder, you should come out of this process with your dream home. Take your time picking out the right custom home builders for your project, and that starts by reaching out to Don Mills to learn more.