Home Rebuilders is ecstatic that we have once again been named Atlanta’s number one design/build firm for 2012 by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. We are the largest in the Atlanta metro area for the tenth year, an accomplishment we owe to our clients. Thank you for entrusting one of your most valuable assets, your homes, with us. We began this journey 32 years ago with a desire to produce creative designs, with quality construction in a fun environment, and 30 years later, we still enjoy what we do. Our business, along with our market place, is constantly changing and shifting, and we continue to strive to meet those needs. Having been a pioneer in Design/Build, we added a showroom and we now have our handyman sister firm, DogGoneHandy. Who knows where the next 30 years will take us? Thank you Atlanta for being a great HOME!
Author: Matt Brooke
Thanks Atlanta
The Fuss About Tankless Water Heaters
You’ve probably overheard a neighbor, a relative, or maybe someone in the grocery line talking about how much space they gained by converting to a new tankless water heater. Or maybe one of your hybrid driving friends mentioned how much more efficient and ECO friendly their new tankless unit is. Don’t fret, you’re at the right place to learn exactly what all the hype is about. Home ReBuilders has been replacing those big hot water tanks with the super small tankless units for years now.
Before we discuss all the great details about tankless units, let’s talk about your existing water heater. Did you know that most tank water heaters will need to be replaced after as little as 11 years of regular use? If you’re really diligent about regular water heater maintenance your tank may make it a few more years than that – but when was the last time you performed maintenance on your water heater? Unfortunately, a dying or dead water heater can lead one from rarely, if ever, even considering that the huge tank is even in your home to sitting on the edge of your seat with your fingers crossed hoping that you’re not about to be hit with a huge repair bill. Coming home to find your beautiful hardwood floors and your new carpet completely drenched due to an unexpected tank leak , is something that NO-ONE wants to experience. We suggest setting aside a few minutes as soon as possible to do a little research and find out exactly how old your existing tank is & create a replacement plan so that you’re not caught having to install all new flooring.
Tankless water heaters are exactly what their name implies – appliances that heat water for your home without using a tank, which relieves a significant amount of space. Each time you turn on the hot water in your home the appliance jumps into action by heating the incoming water instantly as it flows into the home. This heating process is achieved using either electric elements or gas burners. When you turn the hot water back off the appliance “goes to sleep” until hot water is needed again. This is one of the aspects that makes it so Eco friendly – it does not waste energy keeping a huge tank of water hot all the time. According to some reports the energy savings realized by installing a tankless unit can be as high as 20% – which really begins to add up when you consider the reoccurring monthly savings. Another great product of the unit not having to hold gallons and gallons of water is that its lifespan is dramatically higher than a tank – usually around 20 years, or about twice what you can expect with your current tank. It IS true that tankless units are more expensive than the old fashion tanks, but you really have to double the price of both the tank, double the cost of the labor required to change it and deduct the energy savings over 20 years in order to get a true apples to apples cost comparison.
There are more neat features to talk about, and some drawbacks as well. If it’s time for YOU to start planning on avoiding a water catastrophe, give the knowledgeable team at Home ReBuilders a call & we will gladly help determine if tankless is the best option for you.
Have it your way – Viking’s New VCSO Oven
Steaming, Convection, Steam/Convect™ combo cooking, or microwave cooking, Viking’s new VSCO210- Combi-Steam/Convect™ oven brings a unique combination of the healthiest and most convenient ways to cook, all in one oven.
Home Chefs can utilize the Steam function of this new oven as an extremely healthy method of cooking that reduces fat and sodium in foods while preserving a higher percentage of nutrients as well as refreshing of cooked-ahead meals for the multiple schedules of today’s busy families. The Steam/Convection function provides excellent browning all while preserving natural moisture and flavor. Need a secondary oven? Try the Convection only function for excellent baking results of everyday foods, while the speed of the microwave function works as a traditional microwave.
The convenience and ease of use of the VCSO210 oven features over 40 automatic settings as well as instant sensor settings for cooking, reheating or even making popcorn a breeze to enjoy, while a child safety lock provides ease of mind for unwanted operation. Flexibility and low cost of installation allows for this unit to be installed as a built-in oven with optional trim kit or even as an auxiliary countertop unit for every day convenience with a 110V electrical supply. This auxiliary product provides you the ability to enjoy meals on the run, refreshing leftovers and pre-prepared foods without sacrificing taste – food tastes like they came out of the oven for the first time!
As you would expect, Viking offers this with their 3 year full signature warranty, an industry best!
Whether your kitchen just needs to be freshened up with a simple facelift or it needs a full renovation, Home ReBuilders is the best option for design, construction, and value in the Atlanta Metro area!
For more information on this and other great Viking products, please visit www.vikingrange.com .
Home Rebuilders offers many full design/build renovation services for your home, including full kitchen renovations as well as existing kitchen facelifts. In addition to assisting with cabinetry, countertop, tile and lighting selections, the Home ReBuilders design team works directly with a wide range of wonderful appliance suppliers to provide our clients with the very best value. This guest-blog comes from one such supplier, HADCO – the Atlanta area distributor for Viking appliances.
Kitchen Gadgets: The Touch-less Faucet
Doesn’t it drive you crazy when you’re prepping chicken, your hands slimy, and in order to wash the ick off you inevitably end up making your kitchen faucet just as nasty as your hands? Almost defeats the purpose because unless you are spraying down the faucet handle with kitchen cleaner before you turn the water off, you end up with nasty hands again. Home ReBuilders has a brilliant solution for you – touch-less on-off water faucets!
One of the greatest trends found in public restrooms has now made it to the residential kitchen. Many faucet manufacturers are now integrating the touch-less feature into their kitchen faucets, which will keep the germs away and your cleaning time down. What’s even better is that these faucets are ADA Compliant.
If you’re thinking about a kitchen renovation and want Atlanta’s best design experts looking out for your family’s health, and your wallet, let Home ReBuilders help. Whether it’s a small kitchen facelift or an addition to your home, our design/build team will be there with you every step of the process.
Why is Design Important?
So let’s say that you decide that it’s time to fulfill your lifelong dream of climbing to the top of Mt. Everest. OK, good for you – what’s your first step? If you’re serious about it you are probably going to seek advice from someone that has done it before and survived and develop a good solid plan of attack. In many ways this process is not unlike other big decisions that you may make in life – like deciding to renovate your home. Home ReBuilder’s has a team of design professionals and over 30 years of experience to help you develop a rock solid plan.
I have heard time and time again “but I can’t afford a design team!” To those people I often say “you can’t afford NOT to have a design team!” A GOOD design team, like the group of experts at Home ReBuilders, will not only help create the perfect environment for you and your family to enjoy for years down the road, they will create a solid plan of attack that will minimize last-minute questions & decisions when there’s no time to explore the best option, they will help avoid mistakes that you will either have to pay to fix or just live with, and they will provide opportunities to introduce the best value at every step of the process.
Avoid the frustration of bad design and unnecessary expenses by letting the professionals help you focus on the important details. Not only will they pay for themselves, they will almost always save you time and money in the long run.
Kitchen Remodel Design Team
While working through a modern-day kitchen remodel there are literally thousands of details to consider and decisions to make. Also, the kitchen is almost universally considered the most important room in the house. Add those factors together with the usual challenges of home remodeling and the result is a FANTASTIC opportunity for extreme stress and anxiety. This is where the Home ReBuilders’ design/build team can make all the difference – allowing you to be excited rather than anxious.
A good design team is made up of several important collaborators, the project architect, the project manager and the kitchen designer. The architect’s participation in most kitchen and bath remodels involves the overall space planning of the room in relation to other areas of the home. The project manager maintains and coordinates the schedules, ensures that lines of communication remain open and helps to control the budget. The kitchen designer determines the functional and aesthetic requirements for the space, uses that information to assist with all selections to pull the space together and works with the client to make the best possible decisions based on both aesthetic and performance factors to maximize the investment.
With many kitchen remodel projects these design professionals find themselves working together by chance – often without the benefit of past collaborations. This is one of the primary reasons for costly errors during construction. Over the past 30 years of successful Atlanta home renovations the Home ReBuilders design/build team has proven that design matters. With an in-house design team that can collaborate at any time, project after project, the result is not only a more cohesive design, it drastically reduces the delays and cost-overruns that come with miscommunication. These cost savings allow Home ReBuilders to offer the BEST value for your kitchen, or any other home renovation.
Adding an Attic Stairway and Window
Remember granny’s home? In many older homes from the early 20th Century, a permanent stairway to the attic was a common feature. Unfortunately, this stairway was also generally very narrow, steep and dark, making the whole thing a bit spooky.
As part of a general renovation for this home, Home ReBuilders added this new stairway located in the reverse direction from the old, dark closet-style stairway. This allows the decorative open railing to be a feature in the new Family Room. By including a small dormer at the top of the stairway we were also able to increase headroom and bring natural light into the middle of the home presenting a nice invitation to the attic space and future second story addition. For more on attic conversion, follow the link.
The result is a more open feel to the center of the home, while solving the puzzle of how to access the future second floor expansion. A minimum expenditure – for a reasonable gain on resale. Mission accomplished.
Design Adds Value
It has never been more true then now… that “good design adds value to your home.”
Yes, homes are selling again and appreciating in value, but you want your home to not only stand out, you want it to be comfortable and enjoyable to live in. Good design will always be the best way to achieve this goal. But it does not stop there. Good design will better stand the test of time, and in combination with Home ReBuilders’ 31 years of proven quality construction, will provide less maintenance costs and higher resale value over time.
Home ReBuilders’ stuido of experienced Designers and Architects are a proven team who take enjoyment in providing the best solution for each clients needs.
Comfort Remodeling…
For now the grand renovations of the early millennium are a thing of the past. They have been replaced by simplified improvements that cost less and largely focus on the comfort and enjoyment of the home. Kitchen and master bath updates and remodels remain popular options for today’s homeowners, but projects like new patios and porches, as well as small additions that enhance home life – master suites, garages, in-law suites – have grown in popularity.
Although the old rules of home investment still apply – an updated kitchen or master bath will add the most value to the home – homeowners now realize that they will be in their home longer and are individualizing spaces to accommodate this new perspective. As a result homeowners are deciding to focus on their individual lifestyles, making changes to accommodate their family interests, and are expressing their personal tastes more freely through home renovation.
Home ReBuilders recognizes that “Comfort Remodeling” means not only efficient design, but also respecting ones budget in accomplishing stylish and efficient transformations to the existing space. In order to provide the best value to our clients we have made tremendous strides over the past four years in reducing the cost of renovations. We work directly with many vendors, including four different cabinetry manufacturers and many of the most popular plumbing fixture and hardware companies, so that we can offer the best pricing available. Our goal with each client is to always offer excellent value and superior service, regardless of the size of the project.
Springtime
Springtime can’t be beat in Atlanta. Pergolas, garden sheds, pool houses and screen porches are all value adding additions to your home that capitalize on this most glorious season. With attention to detail and sensitive material choices, one can create an extension of the home that compliments the space. By picking up and repeating design elements from one stucture to the next, a rythm is developed. Sometimes outbuildings or sheds serve a purely utilitarian need- lawn and garden tools, children’s sports equipment. Other times, a well placed structure can draw one out into a previously under utilized yard. Cocktails under the stars, anyone?
