January 10, 2014

Designing your new home: An in-depth look

How would you go about designing your new custom home? What do you think should be the focal point of your home? And what is the most important piece of information you must have before you even begin to design your home?

If these are questions you have asked yourself but found that the answers evade you or that you have the answers but you are unsure of them, this is for you.

Wallmark Custom Homes has been helping individuals and families like yourself build their dream homes for several decades, decades through which we have developed an approach that enables you to make the most out of the experience of building your own custom home.

This post, and the 3 posts to come, will delve into our team approach for designing your custom home to give you more of an idea of what it is like to build a custom home with Wallmark in Vancouver. We hope you enjoy this special series, and would love to hear from you should you have any questions about how we can help you.

As we have discussed before, before you begin building a custom home in either Vancouver, Burnaby, North Vancouver or Coquitlam, you need to get your topographical survey completed. This should happen, before you even begin discussing design or architects, or even builder.  Most times it is best to get this done before you have bought a piece of property as the topographical survey will let you know how big of a home you can build on the property, a key aspect for many homeowners.

"I can’t start design work without the topographical survey, especially without knowing the grades...it is extremely important" – Bob Rusbourne, Home Designer

Most people who work with Wallmark, come to us at the very beginning of the planning stage, typically  when you have property that you would like to build on, others have come to us later in the designing stage with their plans already in hand. No matter when you come to us, from the moment our you come to us we work alongside you to see the completion of your home and beyond that through the warranty stages. However, we recommend that you come to us as soon as possible so that we can:

"Ensure that there aren’t any steps missed that could result in higher than needed costs or time frames. The biggest thing to ensure is to make sure the custom home is designed within a comfortable price range. With no guidance, [homeowners] can go outside of budget, or the design can limit you."-Brad Cowden, Sales Manager at Wallmark

Once homeowners have decided to moved forward past the topographical survey and onwards to the designing stage, Wallmark helps you find an architect. We will help you by not only finding an architect but also by going to interviews with the architects and then as you move forward with your chosen architect we will be there as a point of reference throughout your meetings, along the design phase and as you move closer to the final drawing phase.

"The whole thing is about giving guidance and helping to reassure"- Brad talking about how Wallmark helps you to find a home designer of your choice and as you move through the design phase.

Many people wonder if the Wallmark design stage comes at a price, and we love to answer saying no. "It's a complimentary service because we find that it shows the level of expertise that we can deliver which will then translate to the level of quality during and throughout the construction of the home," explains Brad.

If you are interested in learning more about our design phase, or are curious to know more about building a custom home in Greater Vancouver, please do not hesitate to give us a call! We're always happy to help you!