Hiring a Contractor FAQ's Oh, By the Way . . .

October 2008:

Since we’re builders, we all live in “fixer-upper” houses and we are NEVER finished with our own homes. (The shoemakers family has no shoes) It’s even harder to be finished when we’re constantly seeing and building the latest innovations in home design from eco-friendly technology to great new cabinets, etc. Scott’s always coming home and telling me that we should put this-or-that in our home that we remodeled only 8 years ago…I tell him I want baseboards in our master bathroom before anything new goes in. Needless to say, I’m still waiting. We’ve also heard from many of our past customers that there are things they wish they had done while building or renovating their home. So, if you’re still in the idea or design phase of your building, take a look at the list and learn from our omissions! And if you have anything to add, please call me and we will include it! Happy planning, Stacy Simpson

“Things I wish we had done…”

• Radiant floor heat in bathrooms
• Cast iron plumbing for noise reduction
• Laundry room on 2nd floor
• Full, finished basement
• Basement bathroom
• Laundry chute
• Back up generators for sump pumps
• Cedar trim in lieu of other exterior products
• More insulation
• No garage under bedrooms (those doors are noisey!)
• Screened front porch
• Kids rooms on other side of house from master
• Steam shower
• Sink in garage
• Exterior electrical for holiday displays
• Prep sink in addition to dish sink
• Ice machine
• Charging “station” for cell phones, ipods, etc.

“…and/or things we’re glad we did:”

• More lighting in master bathroom
• Full house fan
• Geothermal heating
• Hot water recirculating line to shower and tub. Water heats up faster.
• Comfort height toilets
• Replace existing windows to match new

 

September 2008:

"It’s Not Easy Being Green”

All of the SSB family have grown up in the Chicago area and we have witnessed how our climate in the Great Lakes region has changed over the last few decades. I remember being able to ice skate on an outdoor pond all winter when I was a kid…sadly, our children have not been able to experience outdoor ice skating on a regular basis because the ice just won’t stay frozen. On a more daily basis our weather seems to be more extreme…sump pumps and battery back-ups are a regular installation to most homes on Chicago’s north shore thanks to regular devastating storms.

We are very concerned about our planet. We hope that we can make a more positive impact in how we build. We are doing what we can: we drive a Prius to reduce our gas usage; we use re-usable water bottles in the office, we recycle the miss-printed documents and dinosaur computer parts…it’s small, but it’s a start.

On the construction from we’re trying to be as conscious as we can about the materials and the systems that we install. We are attending regular green building workshops and we’re constantly surfing and studying to find lower impact alternatives for our customers. We believe that it is our responsibility to the planet to help educate our customers to make the healthiest decisions for their homes.

But, as Kermit the Frog so wisely said, “It’s Not Easy Being Green”. It seems that the people who have the physical space and financial ability to afford to build green are not choosing to do so, and those who don’t often have the space or budget are the real champions of the cause. The change is going to happen, perhaps more slowly that we want…and it will be a grass root effort (no pun intended). The change will happen because individuals start to demand that it happen. And once the demand happens, the prices will come down. We are ready and eager to help you learn more and make it easier to put earth friendly things into your home. There’s a list of ways to get started attached…check it out and call us is we can be of help! We’ve also included some great links to help you learn more.