Custom-built Home - Stay on Top of It!

Custom-built Home - Stay on Top of It!

Last House with Albi Estates

Cody, our framer, will soon be moving out-of-province so this will be his last house with Albi Estates. He is awesome and he is highly professional at what he does. We were lucky to have him. We wish him well wherever he goes next.

Keeping on Top of Things

We have made many decisions so far. We sign off on tile, carpet, shelving and mirrors. I drop by the house to make an inspection. I see that they have the plumbing installed. When Nancy and I were making plans, we asked and paid thousands of dollars for high-quality fixtures such as a special shower head in the master bathroom. When I saw the installation, I realized that to my dismay only the rain can was installed.

Missing Shower Head – Huh?

Looking at the shower stall, I realize that we are missing the shower head. How does this happen? It could be that we made that decision over a year ago and it was lost in the translation from: Albi-initial-plans-to-builder-to-plumber. Things like that can happen over that lengthy a time-line. Also missing is a water line to the freezer, no drain in the bathroom downstairs and the fridge is in the wrong place.

I Visit the Construction Site Every Day

After a telephone call all the issues are quickly fixed. Things are progressing at a nice pace. Nancy and I continue to talk about decorating ideas. It is fun!

We Have a Wall – Yes!

We Have a Wall – Yes!

Our Albi Home - The House Takes Shape

The kids never get tired of visiting the construction site. We drive up to and go around the house building every day after school. Nick loves the action, especially with all the trucks and machinery and workers and assembling going on. When the foundation wall-structure is in, they deliver a prefab front entrance, porch and steps. Then they start work on the sub-floor. It takes weeks, more or less and then we actually can walk up and in to what will be our house. Next, a wall...

We Have a Wall – Yes!

We stop by the lot and see a wall going up. The kids' eyes are glued to the moving crane and chatty with excitement. Cody, the framer, operates the crane like a pro. As we watch, Nancy and I take pictures. Out of the corner of my eye I see that like me, she is grinning from ear to ear. Soon four walls are up. We leave but miss the house so later ...we drop by with a Subway sandwich for hard-working Cody.

Roof, Upper Floors, Windows then More Stairs

When the upper floor is done, the stairs go in. We get to finally go upstairs and then get a better feel for the house. We designed this house. We are proud and thrilled. The windows are installed. Things are getting really exciting. We get to see what the view will be like. The scene is interesting from up that high. We do see houses of course, but all around we get to see a bit of the escarpment. Nice.

More Framing – Interior Walls

With the interior walls framed in, we get a good sense for how big the rooms will be although we know if will feel different once the drywall is up. Our imaginations run wild with decorating ideas. In the plans our tall walls are over-engineered so could have pure glass and wood with a bulk head so we can hang curtains and install lights. The framer used actual floor joists for the bulkhead so it will reinforce the structure of the wall even more and I can walk on it? We love that decision. We have a lot to talk about. Meah walks into what will be her room. Later she calls, her grandmother, her Baba and says that she loves her room. What eight-year old wouldn't?

For any questions on custom-built dream homes please call 403-680-4479.

We Have a Hole! Hooray Albi

We have a hole!

Albi Custom-built Home - More Choices – Whew!

More meetings, more choices but what about the building? Delayed...still. At this point we don't care anymore. This is the sad thing. Weeks goes by...well months actually...sigh. We have more meetings and then finally...

We Have a Hole!

A year later, after the date of our deposit, we see some action. We now have a hole dug. All of a sudden we believe in the house-thing again. It was a house-thing but now it will be our home, our beautiful dream home. This is a reality! We drive by the hole many times. The kids talk about the hole at school. Grandparents hear all about the hole. Everybody within earshot, texting and social media knows that we have a hole. Soon, the foundation is laid and the windows arrive at the site. It is time for Nancy and me to celebrate. We hug and hold on tight. It will be a home very soon.

We Meet the Framer – He will Frame our House – Awesome!

We drop by the site to meet the man, named Cody. He is a one-man show, honest, who will build the house walls, subfloors, roof, and even install the windows. He has developed a building method where he will build everything himself. Then with the help of a crane he will assemble it. Wow, we think he is great!

Another Christmas and More Delays 

Windows have arrived.

The weather is not cooperating. It is the Holiday Season after all and the framer takes some time off. Things could be worse. It could be colder, really. Weather in the rest of Canada, like Ontario for instance, is -40 degrees Celsius with the wind chill. LOL, it's even warmer in the Antarctic. More LOL, Iquanas in Florida are freezing and falling from trees. Sheesh...okay a warm spell. We wait for a wall....just one wall please...still waiting...

If you have any questions about building a dream home please give me a call 403-680-4479

Albi Home - More Delays – Seriously?

Nancy Looks Over Albi Plans

Albi Home - More Delays – Seriously?

More Selection Meetings - Saving Money is Good

We do our research ahead of time before each meeting to find out what is important and what is not...what is worth the money… also where the builder is charging too much! It can happen. There are cases where getting things done, while building, can be practical and in fact can't feasibly be done after possession, like in floor heat, drains in the garage, extra hose bibs or a hot and cold tap on the back deck, extra soffit plugs and network wiring and plumbing in general.

 The Rental Unit – Still a Good Idea but...

I must say that I wonder what would have happened without my diligence and persistence. I probably would end up with a completely different house. I make about a dozen phone calls to the city bylaw office to correct mistakes the builder is telling me regarding the rental suite requirements. My floor-plans are always wrong and the line of communication, me-to-sales person-to-office-to-designer, and then back again often ends up in confusion. They even try to tell me my house will be one foot narrower. I have to tell the builder a few things! In the end I actually schedule a meeting directly with the designer at Albi, I come prepared with paperwork from the city and a few ideas of my own and together we work out some major decisions!

Electrical – So Much to Think About - Who Knew?

Now that the plans are finalized, (almost) it's time to get back to more selections meetings. Structured Media and Electrical Wiring is next. We decide to upgrade to Cat6 network cables, adding extra network hookups outside, for cameras and inside for wireless access points and wall-mounted tv locations. This costs $1,200 but will pay off in the long run. The cameras themselves must be done after possession, are not included in the house price and are about $2,000. Electrical is a bit more complicated. With the rental suite we want totally separate electrical panels installed for us vs. the tenants, so our panel ends up in the garage. After adding extra plugs, and extra wiring for lights we end up with another $3,500 bill.

Building Still Delayed

The wiring for lights is done at the electrician's and selections of the actual lights are done at the lighting supplier. These meetings take place close together time-wise and we go back and forth a couple of times in e-mails later. First electrical, then lighting, then back to electrical, then finalize with lighting then finalize with electrical. These decisions, when done prior to possession, can save an absolute fortune vs. doing them after.

We make time for all these meetings and feel good about our decisions. But the actual building is still delayed.

To find out more and if a custom-built dream home is right for you call me, 403-680-4479

Albi Custom Home - So Many Decisions – We are Prepared

Signing off on Kitchen Cabinets

So Many Decisions – A Lot of Work

The decisions we must make are numerous but I guess that's what a custom-built home is all about. Nancy even has to take a few days off work to accommodate all the meetings with people who have different areas of expertise. The budget for upgrades is $28,500 which is built into the cost of the house but we know that we are going to go over. We sign off on: Appliances, Cabinets ($18,000 extra), Interior Selections, Carpet, Flooring, Moldings, Baseboards...just a hundred things to think about right down to door knobs, mud room and even coat hangers. Instead of hardwood flooring we choose a luxury vinyl plank, cheaper and more durable for the kids.

Not Looking Forward to All the Meetings. Why?

The meetings we have at suppliers and at the 'Galleria' at Albi Estates are numerous. The emails back and forth are in the hundreds. Some of the choices we make seem small, like square sinks for the vanities instead of the usual tiny round ones because we like the look and find them more functional, but they all cost money and add up quickly. At the galleria interior selections appointment #1 with Deborah the interior designer, we choose plumbing fixtures, some of the flooring and many other choices. A portion of our upgrades is about $3,500 for the high-end Delta plumbing fixtures. Deborah is fantastic and we leave the meeting feeling pretty good. For shelving and mirrors we go to three meetings and go over budget by about $3,500. Some meetings are easier than others. I am nervous about the upcoming Lighting meeting.

Going to the Lighting Meeting Prepared but – Still Nervous

We go to Cartwright Lighting nine times in total. Lighting is one thing that you can really let get out of hand and we want to make the right choices.

Josh's Diagram

Josh, a sales rep at Cartwright Lighting makes a diagram during the meeting to help us design a custom dining room fixture. He is great and he answers all of our questions. In fact he has a system that he follows to help home owners step by step with the lighting of the 'whole' home. We figure on three pendants above the kitchen island instead of pot lights. The budget the builder gives us is $3,800 but we went over by $2,800 including one fixture that cost over $1,000 for the stairs. We are quite happy and think we are doing a great job of balancing budget with style.

Lots of decisions have been made – A Major Education

The thing about the meetings is that it's great to have all these choices to make it a dream home, but then later you wonder if you made the right choices. We are only human after all. I can certainly say that it has been an education, learning about all the different aspects that go into the design of a house. It can be very overwhelming! Doing a lot of research before and keeping a budget in mind when going into each meeting can really make things easier.

...still more meetings to come and the building is delayed yet again...

Thinking about a dream home? Please give me a call 403-680-4479

Trials and Tribulations of Albi Custom-built Home

Still Waiting...Longing for Our New Albi Home

Trials and Tribulations of Albi Custom-built Home

The Delays Begin. Are We Disappointed? Very!

We are supposed to be at the drywall stage by three months. This doesn't happen, not by a long shot. We leave the Albi scheduled meetings very frustrated and feel the area manager is not cooperative. Friends and family tire of hearing about our complaints. Things, like fireplace, and kitchen cabinets keep changing from what we were promised and as what was in the Show Home. First some things are standard then they are not. We have pictures and proof with the emails. The area manager begs to differ. Things rotate one way then another. We are confused. We drive by the site...just because...longing...

New Area Manager Assigned to Us

After many complaints, phone-calls and emails back and forth, and months delay we put our foot down. We have a meeting with an Albi supervisor. He gives us a sympathetic ear and with all the emails with plans and specifics on record he takes the time to analyse our frustration. A few days later, he calls and says that he completely understands our dissatisfaction with the company's service to date. He tries hard to make things right and offers us some satisfaction towards what we have been expecting in regards to upgrades.

Also we now have a 'new' area manager. His name is Brian and his assistant is Julia.

Better Treatment

The Albi Estate 'team' are awesome. We are immediately treated better. We put down another 10 % deposit. To be fair to the previous area manger, the suppliers of some standard offerings changed, for example cabinet handles and countertop options. Previous orders are delayed from the original factory suppliers so new ones are found. We make compromises and more upgrades.

Months Fly by When Having Fun

We now have meetings about fun stuff like lighting and flooring. We keep our budget in check but are excited about our new options. We tell family and friends about the pleasurable experience of a custom build home...really! The rental unit design is shaping up. I'm glad I stuck to my idea. It will be an attached but separate entrance custom-built rental unit. I figure in ten years time, the extra cost will pay for itself. But...there are still more delays. You have got to be kidding me.

Are you thinking of a custom-built home? Call 403-680-4479

Our Big Decision? Albi – Riverstone!

A Big Decision

Custom Built Home – Our Big Decision? Albi – Riverstone!

We are Ready

We have outgrown our home. With a nice, normal-size-but-kids-growing family we need more space. Our kitchen is very small with just the four of us using it. We like to entertain, dinner parties etc...so...with a crowd we bump elbows. But do we need a custom home? Why not? We both have good jobs with a future. My partner, Nancy is a teacher and I am a Real Estate agent. This is my third home. So why not treat ourselves to a dream home?

We Want the Best We Can Afford

We want the best. We are into comfort, modern appliances, luxury-size rooms and custom details. Albi Home Builders provide us with this dream opportunity. We are excited. We tour the Albi Show Home many times over the Christmas Holiday Season. We bring friends and family members to weigh in. The kids have fun running around the big environment, content with the space and feel perfectly at home.

 The 'Future' Back Yard

Only a Realtor Knows the Right Questions to Ask

As realtor with over ten years experience to draw upon, I know the questions to ask. Many homeowners buy and sell many times over the course of their life-time. Some upgrades are worth the money but some are only an extravagance. What are the best features to add to a custom-built home? One of the main upgrades that I want, knowing the Calgary rental market and its income potential, is a guest place or rental potential.

Promise of a Quick Build- Not!

With their high standards in building (many building and design awards) and promises of a quick build, we lay down the 10% deposit. We decide on a corner lot. Real Estate experience has taught me that this is one of the better future selling-point features. We are assigned an area manager. So far...so good. We expect to have many meetings regarding progress, any questions we may have and ideas about upgrades etc... I ask about the rental unit addition. Hmmm...they don't, as of yet, offer this. I look into the bylaws and persevere with the area agent. This takes time to sort out. Good idea? Maybe. Stayed tuned...

Thinking about investing in a custom built home? Please give me a call, Chris 403-680-4479