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Don’t want your kids or guests traipsing in and out of the house with pool water dripping from them? That’s what a pool house is for! Many people misunderstand the primary purpose of a pool house due to its common use as a guest house on TV and in movies. Let’s take a minute to talk about the function of a pool house and how Heidan Construction can create a pool house design for you.

What Is a Pool House?

The original point of a pool house was to provide a better space for before-and-after pool care than the main house. For example, this is where swimsuits are kept and people can change into them before going swimming. Then, when they’re soaking wet, they can head into the pool house to change into regular clothes and dry off before heading back into the main house.

This may seem excessive if only one person is going swimming. However, when you have a house full of kids or throw a party, it’s a necessity. The pool house can take wet or dirty floors while a litany of guests come in and out for cold drinks and snacks. The main house isn’t made for that kind of mess. Plus, being the location of most of a person’s belongings, it’s less appropriate for hosting guests of a pool party. 

The pool house can house a laundry room, pool storage for toys and cleaning supplies, a kitchenette, wet bar, and so much more. The main area of these buildings is usually a living room space meant for hosting friends before or after going for a swim. Every pool house design is different and made to accommodate the needs of the owner.

Additional Uses

While the primary use of a pool house is accessory to the pool, it can be used for other things. As is frequently seen on TV and in movies, the pool house works well as a guest house. If you have someone visiting from far away, a pool house offers them some privacy while they stay with you. Plus, they can also get the kind of amenities you would get from a hotel.

A pool house can also be used for long-term stays, if need be. If your parents aren’t doing great on their own, setting up a kind of studio apartment in the pool house can be a great way to provide them a space that’s nearby.

Building a Pool House

A pool house, while smaller than a true house, still comes with many of the same expensive needs. It will need a foundation, roof, and everything in between. Therefore, pool house design is no small project to undertake. However, if it’s in the budget, there’s no reason not to splurge on this incredible convenience.

Heidan Construction builds unique, modern houses and offices. Giving you a house of a smaller scale is easy work for us. Plus, you’ll never see a pool house that beats the style and atmosphere we can provide. Guests will be impressed and the backyard view will be improved with some of our work added to it. Give us a call and let’s talk pool house designs that are right for you. We look forward to hearing from you.

Most people know about custom home building, but most people don’t know much about custom home building. Having a home built around all of your needs and specifications sounds amazing. However, is it right for you? The process is kind of a mystery. What makes it different from buying a house on the market? Let’s dive into the process a little bit and see if custom home building is something you want to commit to.

Getting in Touch

First and foremost, you’ll need to get in touch with your local custom home builders. Heidan Construction does design build, which makes us a great choice for custom home builders in Toronto. Design build is a special kind of construction style. While, historically, home design and construction were done by two different groups of professionals, these days, it’s commonly done by one. That’s us! Together, with you, we can sit down and create a design that works for you and your needs. Then, our team – the same one who helped design your home – will bring your custom home to life.

Making a Design

Making a design is the first step of the custom home building process. When we meet with you for a consultation, we’ll take everything you need into the highest consideration. If you have a makeshift floorplan or specific visions in mind, we’ll work with those. While a home design takes a lot more specification than a plain floorplan can usually outline, it’s a great place to start.

Another thing that helps our design process is when clients come ready with colors, styles, and specifications already in mind. Want lots of floor-to-ceiling windows? Let us know! Really like the color red? This is all important information that we can use to make your house exactly what you need.

Getting Things Together

Before building can start, there’s an amount of work that needs to be done in getting everything together. For one, there will need to be a property that is rated for construction and is in your possession. Taking out a home loan is also necessary for most people, unless you’ve been saving for quite a while.

The good news is, taking out a home loan for a custom home is largely the same process as getting one for a home on the market. Either way, you will be paying a mortgage unless you have the money to buy it outright. Many people are under the misconception that custom homes have to always be bought outright – that the buying process is somehow very different from market buying. In fact, the biggest difference between the two processes is that you’ll have to wait for the construction of the home to be completed before moving in.

Building Your Home

When all of the details have been settled, it’s time to start building your home. This can take a bit of time, but the results are always worth it. Moving into a home that you helped design – one that’s made just for you and for your needs – is an unparalleled experience. We hope we can help you achieve that experience. Call us when you’re ready and we’ll help you get started with the process.

Whether you’ve made it big while you’re young or are preparing to retire in style, a luxury custom home design is something everyone can get behind. And, while some features of a luxury custom home are specific to the homeowner-to-be, there are some features that we at Heidan Construction consider necessary. After all, what’s the difference between a luxury custom home and a regular one if it doesn’t contain some of these must-have features?

Walk-In Closet

Put the days of sliding closet doors behind you. Any luxury custom home design worth its salt is outfitted with a walk-in closet. A walk-in closet, attached to the master suite, is big enough to comfortably walk into, display a large collection of clothes, get dressed in, and feel great doing so. 

There are some smaller walk-in closets in your everyday homes. Don’t get the two mixed up. While some master bedroom’s have a few feet of space to step into your closet and look around, the kind of walk-in we consider luxury is one that feels like an actual room of its own. You should feel completely at ease storing your hamper, moving around, and dressing within the closet, with plenty of room to spare. If you want your closet to feel like a personal getaway, we recommend putting down a throw rug or even introducing an armchair for optimum comfort.

Luxurious Kitchen

A big kitchen is a big kitchen, but we want to kick it up a notch. Instead of big, think luxurious. Space isn’t all there is to a successful kitchen. State of the art appliances, spacious, comfortable, bar seating, and all of the counter space you could dream of are just the beginning. We can’t discount the profound effect of things like bay windows, high quality lighting, and even a mounted flatscreen where you can follow along with The Cooking Network.

Outdoor Lounge

It’s too easy to while away the summer inside if you don’t have a comfortable place to lounge within reach of your back door. Even a walk across the street to a local park can be such a pain. Sometimes what we need in a lounge area is privacy and luxury. Sitting on a picnic blanket can be nice, but it can’t take the place of a plush, outdoor, lounge chair on a decorated patio.

Chairs aren’t all there are to an outdoor lounge space. Consider a wall of greenery for privacy, a gas fireplace, for roasting marshmallows with the kids, and even a wet bar, attached to the kitchen nearby.

Sprawling Master Bath

And, last but not least, we can’t forget the sprawling master bath that you’ve been dreaming of since your first apartment. The average person’s idea of a spacious master bath might include a double sink and a separate shower and soaker tub, but we can take it further. Have your soaker sub and a spa quality shower as well. Make taking a shower feel as lavish as taking a bath. Not only should you and your partner have separate sinks, but separate storage space as well. Bay windows can let the morning sunshine in as you bathe, and a frame for your tub will give you space to store candles, incense, and all the fancy soaps your heart desires.

A luxury custom home is about more than what you need. It’s about getting what you want. Give us a call at Heidan Construction if you want to talk luxury custom home design in Toronto.

Buying a custom home is a mysterious process to many, but the benefits are undeniable. If you want to know how custom home buying is in comparison to market buying, start with Part 1. There, we cover the overall process, location flexibility, and satisfaction rates. From here, we’ll discuss some of the more official details.

Price and Payment

If you’ve heard that custom homes are more expensive, you’ve heard wrong. In fact, custom homes can actually be cheaper than their market alternatives. This is especially true when you consider the cost to satisfaction ratio. When you buy a market house, you pay more for a less satisfying experience than you do when buying a custom home. Plus, these inflated market prices often ignore the age of a house and how much maintenance it needs to be on par with something new.

Custom homes come with some additional costs, such as design fees, but overall are very comparable to market housing. No matter which you buy, you will have to expect a price tag on the property it’s built on, the materials of the house, the labor required to build it, and home owner’s insurance after the fact. 

The payment process for getting a custom home isn’t all that different from a market home. While many people are under the false impression that you have to pay for a custom home outright, that’s not actually true. Custom homes are just as qualified for home loans. No matter how you buy your house, if you aren’t paying outright, you’ll end up with a monthly mortgage to pay back your home loan with a bank.

Buying a Custom Home

Finally, let’s talk about how you can buy a custom home. Many people are unfamiliar with the process. 

• The first step is getting an idea of what you want. If it helps, take a look at our portfolio for ideas. We have some of our best work displayed there.
• Next, call us at Heidan Construction. We do design build contracting in Toronto, which means we can design your house and construct it. See why design build is the best choice for you.
• Next, you need to make sure you have a property picked out. It’s best to have this picked out before we begin the design process, as we can then account for any specific zoning laws for that property.
• After you’ve set up a consultation with us, we can get together and discuss your needs. Putting together a house design for you is the first real step in making your new home a reality.
• Finally, when the design has been officialized, we can start work on construction.

For more information and detail on the custom home buying process, call us today. We would love to get you personalized information that suits your specific needs. We look forward to hearing from you.

A question we’re commonly asked, in the home construction business, is: is getting a custom home more difficult than buying outright? Many people are under the impression that buying a custom home is somehow a harder process than simply scouring the market for something you like. Let’s break down the processes here and talk about what’s the same and what’s different.

From Decision to Move-In

The first thing to consider is the difference between both processes from start to finish. That may sound like the whole thing, but it’s far from it. From the beginning of your house-buying journey to the day you move in, buying a custom home and one on the market are very different processes.

When buying a home on the market, you may have to wait a few weeks for the old homeowners to vacate. However, this time period is usually short and will be listed up front. There’s the matter of getting a mortgage and all of the packing and moving you would expect.

On the other hand, when buying a custom home, the process will take longer, usually. Because you have to give your team time to help officialize the home design and then bring it to life, the process can take many months. Construction isn’t something we recommend rushing, so it’s wise to enter the custom home-buying process with some patience.

Location Flexibility

One of the biggest differences when buying a custom home over a house on the market is the flexibility in location. When searching for an existing house, it can be really difficult to find a layout you like in a location you also like. Proximity to work, school district, and quality of neighborhood are all important variables. You may find the perfect house in a really bad location, or the perfect location with only shoddy houses for sale.

However, when buying a custom home, it’s much easier to get both the house and the location you want. It’s much easier to find an empty lot or property to build on in a neighborhood you like than it is to find an existing house in that same area that meets all of your needs and expectations.

Long-Term Satisfaction

Next up, let’s talk long-term satisfaction. This one may seem broad as well, but we’re going to narrow it down to the house design. Cookie-cutter, suburban homes are often a one size fits all situation. However, in reality, houses being one size fits all couldn’t be further from the truth. Everyone has different needs when it comes to their personal living space. When we try to fit ourselves into the box offered by the suburbs, we end up unhappy and longing for something more… us.

Because of that, we find that customers who buy custom homes have a much higher rate of long-term satisfaction. That’s because buying a custom home allows you to personalize the entire design. You’re able to outfit your house with everything you see as vital. If you need more closet space, wider hallways, a more open concept main floor, an office space, or even a personal library, you can have it. When’s the last time you saw a house on the market with everything you needed? What stopped you from putting in an offer?

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Want to know more? We’re not done yet! Check out Part 2 here and we’ll discuss the nitty gritty details of buying a custom home.