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Necessary Features of a Luxury Custom Home Design

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.

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Get the Modern Kitchen You Deserve with a Kitchen Remodel

Have you been dreaming of a modern kitchen for years? Tired of the aged and unattractive 70s-colored wood tones your current kitchen is sporting? Ditch the laminate countertops and the squeaky cabinet doors and get the kitchen remodel you deserve! Here are some of the possible features your kitchen could include when you hire Heidan Construction to do renovations on your kitchen.

Spacious Interior

Is your current kitchen feeling a bit cramped? A kitchen remodel can offer you more space for cooking, eating, and socializing in your kitchen. With multiple ways to introduce additional space to your kitchen, when your remodel is complete, you’ll have all the room you need to relax and bake or host a family breakfast.

Space is possible to take from other rooms by moving interior walls. Or, you can even expand outward, adjusting the location of outer walls to provide more space for the kitchen. Want a breakfast nook and a big bay window? A small outward expansion may be the only thing standing between you and your dreams.

Sleek, Modern Cabinetry

Wood grain has its place in design, but in a modern kitchen, it simply doesn’t belong. Instead, get sleek black or white cabinets that contrast with the color palette you’ve chosen for your kitchen interior. Go for a matte finish to provide comfort in a stylish space, or go all out with high gloss, embracing style over comfort. For many, style is comfort. No matter what style of cabinetry you aim for, you can be sure you’ll get what you’ve been imagining all this time.

Beautiful Countertops

Laminate countertops are everywhere! That’s because they’re cheap, affordable, and easy to install in a new house in the suburbs without any complaint. However, laminate countertops quickly go from unremarkable to irritating when the laminate coating begins to peel up or chip.

Instead of settling for something breakable and underwhelming, Heidan Construction can be the conduit for you to aim higher. We’ll give you those stone countertops you see and adore on home renovation TV shows and magazine covers. Nothing says luxury quite like glossy, stone countertops in your modern kitchen.

Top-of-the-Line Appliances

Beauty is one thing, but function is another. Put them together and you get the top-of-the-line appliances Heidan Construction can outfit your kitchen with. Never run out of space in your fridge. Cook on a stovetop that feels as expensive as you do. When you aim for a high quality kitchen remodel, replacing old appliances is half the battle. No kitchen feels high quality without new, beautiful appliances.

A Social Place

In the end, no matter what bells and whistles you feel attuned to, the kitchen is meant to be a social place, and we want to make it that for you. With enough room to cook with your partner, host friends, feed the kids, and grab a drink in the evening, your kitchen will become the hub of the house with a little help from Heidan Construction.

Give us a call if you want to set up a consultation or have questions about our services. We look forward to hearing from you!

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Buying a Custom Home Vs. Market Buying: Part 2

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.

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Buying a Custom Home Vs. Market Buying: Part 1

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?

Read More

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.

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How Is a Second Floor Addition Added to Your House?

Is your single-story home beginning to feel a bit cramped? With growing families or expanding hobbies, a home that once seemed big enough can easily fill up. However, moving is a laborious process that can mean sacrificing a wonderful neighborhood, a great school district, and proximity to friends and relatives. Instead of giving all of that up for a new house, you may want to consider expanding your current one. Today, Heidan Construction wants to talk about the process of having a second floor addition added to your house. 

Designing the Addition

The first thing we have to do when adding a second floor to your home is design it and how it will connect to the existing structure. This will involve mapping out where supports may need to be added as well as how the new stairway will connect. 

Many people forget that the addition of a stairway will take up space on the first floor. However, this is something that can’t be avoided. The space used can be minimized by choosing a spiral staircase, but this is up to the homeowner and their preferences. For most, using up a bit more space for a more standard stairway is preferred. 

Preparing for Construction

When the building process begins, you may have to move out of your house temporarily. A full second-story addition will guarantee this necessity, as the entire house becomes a construction zone. However, for partial additions that are only added to one side of the house, you may be able to retain access to the other part of the house. This will depend on how big the addition is, how the construction area and non-construction area are connected, and so on.

Removing Obstructions

After we’ve begun construction, the first thing we have to do is remove obstructions. That will mean demolition of the roof, in part or in its entirety, depending on the size of the addition. We will also remove parts of the ceiling, as is needed for the new stairway entrance.

Adding to the Structure

When everything that was once in our way has been taken out of the picture, it’s time to start adding to the structure. The first step is creating new wall and roof frameworks so that we can put up raincover. This will protect the interior as we work. Because the roof can’t go up right away, this is important in ensuring the house doesn’t get water damage.

Once the new framework is in place, we can start on the walls, wiring, plumbing and more. Following that, we’ll insulate, add interior walls and, finally, the roof.

Finishing Touches

Everyone knows a new roof is expensive and extensive. This part will take quite a bit of time on its own. However, when the new roof has been added, we’ll be nearing completion of the project. From there, all that’s left is the finishing touches. This is when we add siding, paint, flooring, baseboards, and fixtures.

All in all, this process is quite extensive, taking quite a bit of time and money. However, for an investment in your future, it’s worth it. Improving and expanding a house you love always leads to more satisfaction than the arduous process of finding somewhere that comes close to comparing.

Give us a call if you want to discuss home additions. We can walk you through the process in more detail and answer any of your questions.

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Business Office Remodeling with Design Build Contractors

There’s nothing quite like stepping into your very first office building. Any new business owner can tell you how rewarding it is. However, after many years of use, that first little office may become a bit aged and cramped. There’s always the option of moving your company to a new office space, somewhere else. However, employees have chosen to work at your current location for a reason. Customers know where to find you. If you move locations, you risk losing employees who can’t make the commute, and customers who no longer know where to find you. That’s where business office remodeling comes in.

Improve What’s There

Business office remodeling doesn’t necessarily mean bulldozing the existing building. There’s no reason to get rid of the perfectly functional, existing structure. We can simply improve what’s there. Remodeling can mean a lot of things. While remodeling is usually more extensive than simple renovations, it can still include renovations.

When improving the existing space, we can:

  • Put in new doors
  • Install new railings along stairs and lofts
  • Replace administrative countertops
  • Upgrade bathroom fixtures
  • Redo faulty plumbing
  • Redo faulty wiring
  • Add a new coat of paint
  • Replace flooring

These things are just the beginning of what we can do to the existing structure. No matter how you decide to remodel, we’ll make sure your existing building is as high quality as anything new that’s added to it.

Expand Your Office

In most cases of business office remodeling, there comes an expansion. After all, having a team out to do so much work on your building is a great time to get that expansion you desperately need. Business office expansions can come in many forms. 

  1. We can expand the back, providing more space without changing the front-end appearance of the office. 
  2. Another possibility is expanding one or both sides, to provide a bigger, wider building. This can be great at grabbing the attention of passers by.
  3. A second-floor addition is also possible to achieve, creating more space without the need for more property.

Improving Your Business

With an expansion and remodel comes a lot of fantastic opportunities. The first is your new ability to expand your staff. With more space, you’ll have more room for employees. Plus, everyone loves working in a newly remodeled building. Morale is at an alltime high when a remodel happens, making it the perfect time to hire.

In addition to new staffing capabilities, you also have a new pitch to draw in customers. Advertise about your new expanded business and draw interest from potential clients. After all, an expansion and remodel is a great sign that a business is flourishing and is, therefore, reliable.

Design Build Contractors

Heidan Construction is the leading choice for business office remodeling for a very important reason. Because we provide design build services, we can both design the remodel and make it a reality. Don’t force yourself to juggle multiple teams. By giving us full control over making your remodel a reality, we can ensure the end results are of the highest quality possible.