Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category

SMART TIPS FOR DESIGNING YOUR HOME OUTDOORS

Sunday, June 27th, 2010

Creating an outdoor living space and kitchen area is a very exciting experience. However, you need to consider several things before preparing the blueprint for the same. For instance, it is essential to understand the main function of the outdoor kitchen and your personal preferences for its design.

For most people, the outdoors serves as a great place for entertaining and socializing with family and friends. You can plan a kitchen that includes a bar for drinks and some space for barbeque. Wine lovers can add a wine cooler to the design. If you entertain large groups of people, think about a layout with a large island in the middle. This allows you to setup the kitchen and seating in the center while everyone gathers around it.

Your time spent in the outdoors plays an important role in planning the entire design and experience. If you prefer being outside when the weather is nice, elements like screens and ventilation techniques have to be incorporated. This helps in keeping away the bugs and retaining the cool air when the screens are closed.

The process of designing a customized outdoor kitchen or living space does not have to undertaken on your own. Feel free to take help from your family and friends who understand your lifestyle. While working on the official blueprint, start with a basic drawing of the area to be used and then make several designs to choose the best alternative. We at Dustin Dewald Custom Homes provides professional help in creating unique outdoor set ups.

Once you know what you want and your budget restrictions, our expert can evaluate the viability of your plan and add unique aspects to enhance it. On the whole, we can help you in designing the outdoor living space in a way that ensures maximum benefit and personalization.

When you plan the project according to your needs as well as desires, it becomes much easier to find the right elements and accessories for your outdoor kitchen and living space.

Dustin Dewald Custom Homes are renowned Custom Home Builders in Central Texas, contact us for your building requirements.

COST SAVING WITH CUSTOM HOMES

Sunday, June 20th, 2010

These days, Custom Homes are available in diverse styles and sizes. When it comes to building your own home, it is essential to determine the cost involved as compared to your spending power. Basically, the cost of making a Custom Home is categorized under the following heads:

Cost of Acquisition
This includes the cost of acquiring the land on which you plan to build your home. Different rules apply to different states so you need to consult a real estate expert before making a deal. Make sure that the land is safe and suits your requirements.

Building Cost
Building a Custom Home means use of high quality materials for construction. Sometimes, it gets tough to balance quality and cost. While building a Custom Home may require greater spending, it ensures long term savings from energy efficient design and amenities.

Labor Costs and Builder Charges
A Custom Home is an elaborate construction project that involves the services of labor and professional builders. While hiring these people, make sure that you get maximum value without exceeding your budget.

Ancillary Costs
These consist of costs of survey, architect fees, permits, etc. Check the ancillary costs that may occur in building a Custom Home before starting the construction.

Generally, people assume that Custom Homes are very expensive. This may be true for the construction phase. However, they fail to recognize the long run savings that can be enjoyed along with efficiency in a Custom Home. Modern Custom Homes are built with energy-efficient techniques that reduce heating, cooling and electricity bills by 20-30%. Also the value of Custom Home in real estate market is much high then other residential property.

Green appliances and eco-friendly fittings can also help in huge savings of resources. With better planning and careful construction, your Custom Home can last longer, demand lesser maintenance and generate greater resale value than a pre-built home.

Dustin Dewald Custom Homes specializes in building low cost, eco-friendly and energy saving custom homes.

Killeen Home Builders - Central Texas Custom Home Builders

REAL ESTATE VALUE OF CUSTOM HOMES VERSUS PRE-BUILT HOMES

Monday, June 14th, 2010

A home designed according to your desires and specific preferences is known as a custom home. Your taste and choice shape up each and every corner of the structure. From the windows and doors to the water pipes and paint, every decision is made by you. Pre-built homes, on the other hand, are made according to standard structure and design.

Nowadays, home owners want to know the comparative real estate value of custom homes and pre-built homes. Here are a few parameters to be considered while comparing the Custom Homes with Pre-Built Homes in terms of the Real Estate value:

Home Layout
Pre built homes are built up with a pre defined layout plan, which remains the same for various homes being built by builder in the area. Custom Home gives an option to home owner to be a part of layout planning process. A home owner can decide and give a final approval on the design layout to builder before the construction begins.

Quality of Building Materials
In case of pre-built homes, you have no control over the quality of material used in building the house. Custom homes include doors, windows, cabinets and the entire structure that may be manufactured, fabricated or assembled in front of your eyes.  You choose everything with the assistance of a professional builder. The real estate value gets higher when the building materials surpass superior quality.

Existence of Amenities 
Compare the amenities available in a pre-built house with the extent of provisions you can keep in a custom home. The pre-built homes have fixed dimensions with spaces assigned for pre-decided usage. For Custom Homes, the owner can enjoy a wide range of luxurious amenities that raise the value of your property.

To summarize, it is much better to invest in a custom home rather than a pre-built home in order to enhance the real estate value of your home in the long term.

For Building Custom Homes in Texas contact Dustin Dewald Custom Homes Builders.

Killeen Home Builders - Central Texas Custom Home Builders

NATURAL LIGHTING FOR CENTRAL TEXAS CUSTOM HOMES

Monday, May 17th, 2010

Planning and building a Custom home is really exciting especially when you have desired to own one all your life. There are innumerable decisions to be made while planning out the home. These include the builder selection, the architecture and the materials to be used. One important consideration is the extent of natural light that enters the house. Though the builder will present you different layouts and design plans for your dream home, the ultimate choice for selection would be with you.

Why Natural Lighting?
With an increasing awareness on saving energy, more and more home owners are becoming eco-friendly. What happens to a bunch of flowers kept in a dark room with no water or air? It gradually loses its energy and dies. Same is true for humans. We cannot survive without fresh air and ample sunlight. This means that our custom home must have a sufficient level of exposure to natural light.

Direct sunlight plays two important roles in a custom house. First, it adds energy into the home. You feel fresh, energetic and full of life when you see rays of the Sun enter your bedroom in the morning. You’ll always draw apart the curtains on a bright winter afternoon to let the lively natural light enter your dream home.

The second most glaring benefit of natural light is that it saves power and electricity. Why do you keep huge glass windows in the bedroom and the living? During the day, natural light acts as the substitute of the artificial power.  Natural sunlight is considered to be good for health and at the same time it helps preserves electricity.

Most home owners remove things blocking sunlight from the windows. In addition to keeping the windows clean, they also use light weight curtains, sheer or even blinds. These days, the double glazed patio doors and doors having glass are an upcoming trend.

In all, the role of natural light for your custom home can in no way be underestimated and all steps should be taken to make sufficient room for sunlight.

We at Dustin Dewald Custom Homes design and build Custom Homes in Killeen, Harker Heights, Copperas Cove & Fort Hood areas in Cental Texas.

Killeen Home Builders - Central Texas Custom Home Builders