Hardwood Floors vs. Carpet

When building a home you get to decide what flooring you want. Often when it comes to the main living areas the question is posed, whether to yourself or verbally, hardwood or carpet? Here we have outlined the pros and cons of each, so we can try to help you with your one of many decisions.

Hardwood Floors

Pros

• Long Lasting


• Hardwood floors has an extremely longer life than carpet and can be refinished many times to freshen the look of the floors. If the wood becomes damaged it can easily be sanded and refinished instead of replaces.
• Lasting Value
• Hardwood Floors add a lasting value to your home.
• Allergies
• Hardwood floors can help alleviate allergies as it doesn't hold allergens like carpet fiber can.
• Its Green
• Wood is a sustainable, renewable, and natural material.
• Messes
• Its easier to spot and clean spills, pet hair, crumbs, and other debris off of hardwood floors and it doesn't stain.
• Timeless
• Hardwood floors have been used for hundreds of years.

Cons

• More expensive 
• Upfront the cost of hardwood floors over carpet is more usually.
• Cleaning
• Hardwood floors need to be swept/vacuumed and moped more often.
• Comfort
• Hardwood floors require additions like rugs to make standing, laying, playing on them comfortable.
• Scratches
• Hardwood floors can sometimes become easily scratched by furniture or accidents.

Hardwood Floors Tips

1. Hardwood floors that have been hand scraped with deeper groves can hide dents and wear that can come from an active family and pets.
2.  Its usually best to sweep it at least every other day.
3. You can change your hardwoods look with different rugs.

Carpet

Pros

• Cost Effective
• Carpet is easier, faster, and less expensive than hardwood. 
•  Eco-Friendly
• You can find carpets that are made out of recycled materials and intern be recycled once they are worn out.
• Cleaning
• Carpet hides dirt, so it doesn't need to be cleaned as often.
• Silence is Golden
• Carpet is much quieter than hardwood floors.
• Safety
• Because carpet is soft, when someone trips or falls on carpet it can act as a type of cushion, making damage from an accident less likey.
• Warmer
• Being a natural insulator carpet is warmer in the winter.
• Comfort
• Carpet is soft and comfortable, especially in bare feet. 
• Allergies
• With todays technology carpet doesn't aggravate asthma or allergies, it traps dust particles in the spaces between the tufts waiting to be vacuumed.
• Choices
• With Carpet there are countless choices from quality, thickness, height, and color.

Cons 

• Stains
• Carpet can become soiled and stained more easily.
• Limited lifespan
• Carpet after many years can begin to be worn out including the pad which can make is less comfortable, requiring replacement.
• Extra cost
• Owning carpet may require an extra cost of getting it professionally cleaned yearly to keep it well maintained.

Carpet Tips

1. A carpets life can be extended with frequent vacuuming and steam cleaning once a year.
2. Patterned carpets can create a design impact
3. It is recommended to vacuum carpet at least once a week.

Through all the pros and cons the choice is yours, you know your family best and what will fit you the best whether its hardwood, carpet, or even a combination. If you want to start talking about the home you want to build give us a call at 801-613-0095.

Thanks for reading.

Usefulness of Pinterest

For all you pinners out there we love pinterest.  It always helps in creating your dream home if you have lots of pictures.  We once had a couple come in with 150 pictures. We were able to easily understand the feel and the look they want and give them a very accurate estimate so we could begin planning. If you are building a home with us or anyone, look at pictures, models homes, take pictures compile visually what you want in your home. One of the great ways to do this is on pinterest, pin the look feel of everything you want on a board(s) and show us what you want.  Know you have another reason to spend more time on pinterest :).

All construction is not the same

When building a new home the process is rather smooth and beautiful as you watch this brand new home grow from the ground up.  New home construction is for the most part very pleasant for everyone.  I am painting new construction in such a good light, because it is especially when you compare it to other construction such as rebuilding.
This blog post is being written because of an email we received from a kind woman and her husband over their concern of the quality of our business based on the site of one our very rare rebuilds. Here is a quote from her email to explain what she saw, then I will explain why she saw these things (O and I have some great pictures up head to help):
 "Nothing at all was even close to being level. Some of the walls and corners were off by at least 2 inches, the old ceiling, nasty insulation and duct work is still there along with the old electrical wires."  
We are a company that believes in quality, integrity, and customer satisfaction.  So we are happy and willing to show and explain what we are doing with the home in Farr West that appears as she said- "horrible".

The home in Farr West that our company is working on is a rebuild- rebuilds are ugly especially when you start with a home like this one was.  I'm sure everyone has heard some variation of the phrase/proverb 'Its darkest before the dawn' or 'Things get worse before they get better' these proverbs hold true for rebuilding a home.  You have to tear away all the wrong and ugly, which inevitably makes it look worse than when you started, before you can start the rebuild and making it look great. This rebuild we are doing is a rare exception and this home definitely needed help, aka a rebuild. We are a company that builds to the highest standard and this holds true to even our rebuilds even as they don't initially appear so.

Right now, as the email quote explained it looks bad, it's as its "darkest hour", which is saying something because it was dark to begin with.  The owner explained it as never once met a building code in the entirety of its structure.  Here are pictures of its beauty before we started:

Notice the old electrical panel on the wall.  circa 1960

The electrical wires were run loosely behind the paneling.

Boarded up windows to keep vagrants from breaking in.

Cinder block exterior construction

Lets just use a board to hold the light switch up.

The walls had a 1x2 for strip and the paneling was nailed to it with no insulation or electrical outlets on the exterior walls.

As more work is done and we begin to rebuild and fix I hope you check back in to see what are finished product is. Personally I think the before and after pictures will really be something. Stay Tuned for updates on how this rebuild turns out.  If you have any questions about this or anything else call 801-613-0095 or email us at build@soldinutah.com.

Docking Drawers

The Docking Drawer

Is your nightstand dresser top clutters with all the electronic devices we carry around now a days? Well we discovered a new solution that allows you to charge your devices in your drawer. Its called a docking drawer.  Here is a video about it:

Do you want a docking drawer in your new home?

Give us a call or email to learn more.

Stunning Unique Sinks!

Today we are featuring Solera Sinks this company does sinks like no one else! They have just about any sink you can think of.  Below I have include some of my favorites and some truly statement sinks. You can check out more of their sinks at http://www.solerasinks.com/

Spiral Shell I wonder how cool that looks washing your hands

How about a leaf sink?

Ever see a sink made out of bamboo?

You can't get detail like this on a Stainless Steal sink

Thanks for reading!

The Andersons

This new home is almost finished just getting all those finishing touches done!

Butcher Block Islands

A new trend hitting the market right now are butcher block islands, would you like a butch block island in your new home?

Sometimes they place it on top to keep the island cabinetry but have a butcher block island, as you can see below.

Why we dig so deep

Selby- What to do with the shed?

We are happy to announce another home we are currently building and plan to keep you updated on the progress and the fun up and downs of building a home. This lot was a ton of 'fun' to start building on it. The driveway to the lot was blocked by the neighbors shed. We probably could have easily gone around it and started working while the neighbor figured out how to move his shed, but of course the access to the utilities for the lot were under their shed, preventing us from starting.

  When we figured this all out we began talking to the neighbor. After speaking to the neighbor they began debating on buying the lot from our homebuilder's, which delayed us a day or so as we waited to see if they would make an offer. They chose not to make an offer on the house, so the shed still had to relocate.  The neighbor wanted us to move the shed for him since he couldn't(?), eventually he found a way to move the shed so we could begin work on the lot. We now have the foundation in and are getting ready to move to the next step. It's important to know that part of the building process is encountering hiccups, with such a big project their almost bound to happen, but you have to keep going and work through them and enjoy the stories you gain from them.
Til the next update,
Lindsey

P.S. The  link to see the Selby Floor Plan is below: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzR_FQtiHWaec1ZfbXJnd2xyVUE/edit?usp=sharing

Blenheim -When neighbors get in the way.

We have just recently broken ground on a new home in Layton.  With the backhoe in place we 'planned' to break the ground the next day and get going, but the neighbor parked his RV trailer on the lot. Having to work around the trailer the construction cause a 24 hr delay on its first day.  The trailer is now removed and we are already rolling into this part of the the building process. We've heard the neighbors kids are taking advantage of giant dirt landscape and if we stopped now you would have a nice hole for a swimming pool. We're hoping we won't encounter any more hiccups and will get this beautiful home built in no time.

Stainable Primer

At the National Association of Home Builders we discover a really neat way to paint your drywall, cabinets, trim, mantels and so on, it's called Stainable Primer. So what is it? This new primer allows you to transform any hard surface into a stainable wood surface.  Once you apply their primer you can treat the surface just like you would wood, so then you get any stain you can turn your surface into a beautiful peice. We found this to be so interesting. This is their website if you want to check them out yourselves: http://stainableprimer.com/ Below we have images explaining how it works visually.

The white section is the original wall, the next yellow hued section is where they applied their primer and then the next section (the one that looks like wood) is the primer they stained. 

This one follows the same process as the picture above.

Building Tip #9 -Where are your windows facing?

When your building a home the framing stage is an important stage to see where your windows are positioned. You can see if your window is right in front of the a tree trunk or somewhere with an unattractive view. In the framing stage you can see where you windows are and can still change them. You can work with your builder to move the window a few feet.
Check out the our video explain this in person.

To see our website and check out our floor plans click here.

Building Tip #8 -Electrical outlets

. 

 Often times new construction buildings place electrical outlets per the electrical code, and not necessarily where you will need them. If you want a TV in your bedroom, make sure there is a cable or internet connection in the right place. If you want lamps on either side of your bed, make sure you don’t have to run an extension cord to place them there. When you build you get to decide where you want and a need your outlets. You can place them in you mudroom cubbies, or on the side of your kitchen island, or put two in your bathroom, the possibilities are endless and can be exactly what you want. Be sure to talk to your builder on what they are willing to do.

Here at Echelon Homes we provide outlets every 8 feet in every room for your convenience so you are never far from a place to plug in as well as working with you to satisfy every need you may have. We also put in raised oulets for a flat screen TV. So you will never have to worry about any electrical cords showing from your flat screen TV, and we provide reinforced framing for a flat screen TV. So you will never have to worry about your wall holding flat screen TV, this is all for you free of upgrade charges. Learn more about we do as a standard HERE. 

We love to here where you would want outlets or where you wish you had outlets, leave us a comment or message us anytime. 

Building Tip #7- Location, Location, Location

Just like when buying location matter when building. When building find out what lots are available to you, through your builder and ones that are one the market and check with your builder to make sure they will build on any lot you buy in the area.
When looking a lot there are a couple things to consider:

• Is there an HOA? If so what are the costs and the benefits?
• What is the community like? -Talk to the neighbors, and people in the area
• What is the traffic like? Rush Hour? -The drive may not take long when you see it on a Saturday, but could double or triple doing the week.
•  How far is it from your place of work? Grocery store? Pharmacy/Hospital? 
• Research the city and county -they may have different ordinances and laws that may affect you.
• And anything else you find important in your life

If you would like help finding the right location and a lot in the area you can give us a call anytime at 801-882-2622 or visit our website at buildingahomeinutah.com

Building Tip #6- Plan the Floor Plan

As with buying a home when you build a home you are paying for every square foot, the difference is you get to control and make decisions on every square foot. The saying goes 'If you fail to plan you plan to fail.' This holds true when building a house deciding on a floor plan in a crucial step in the building process and it can be a tricky one.

When you look at a floor plan consider what you need and want in terms of square footage, bedrooms, bathrooms, entrances, garage space, and layout. A lot of builders don't allow you to change the floor plan or even use an outside plan, being aware of this needs to be a high priority when choosing your builder because the floor plan becomes your house and you deserve to be 100% happy with it.

At Echelon Homes we fully believe you deserve to have the perfect floor plan that is why we work with you to redesign any floor plan of your choosing to make it exactly what you want. We move walls, rooms, and anything else you want changed at no extra cost to you. If you want to find out more click HERE.

Just Remember when you are in the building process make sure you understand and are happy with every square foot of you future home. Then ask your builder to really help you visualize what the floor plan will be like when its built so everyone is one the same page. Right now at Echelon Homes we are working on creating 3D floor plans (example pictures shown) for all our plans so that all our clients can better visualize the home we can build them to find out more about us call us at 801-882-2622 or at http://buildingahomeinutah.com/

Building Tips #5 -Ask Questions

It's important when building a home to ask your builder any and all questions you can think of. They are building your home and you deserve to know everything you want about them and how they are building your home. To help you out we have posted a bunch of questions that you can ask yourself and your builder.

• What is a good design for our needs?


• What is a building code? Does it effect us? How does it work? What doesn't it do?


• Who is responsible, overall, for my building project?


• What are good sizes and proportions for rooms? What style do I want?


• What am I really getting from the builder?


• What problems do I have in my current house that I don't want to repeat?


• Where can I find answers and help? How do I make my desires known?


• What does that line on the drawing mean?


• What is a dispute; a lien?


• What are specifications? Does the builder write and provide them?


• What if my builder does something in a way I don't like? Is the house going to be complete; will something be left out?


• When will the house be finished?


• What is a contract? How do I play a part in it? What does it say?


• What is "an extra"?


• Is that a good material, I've never heard of it?


• Can I change things?


• Who picks the color of the paint, wall coverings, etc.?


• Is landscaping included? Sod? Seed? mud and rocks? Slopes? Are landscape features guaranteed?


• What if I disagree with the builder? Can I stop the work?


• Am I allowed on the job site? Can I inspect the work as it goes up? Can I bring someone with me?


• I really want this ________________in the house -- how do I get exactly that?


• I can buy the light fixtures from my brother-- but who will hang them? What do I do?


• Should I close on the mortgage and pay the builder in full? I have several items that I don't like - must I still close?


• Why do we have to make all these trips to pick things out?

We can and will answer all of these questions for you and any you can think of, you can give us a call at 801-882-2622 or check out our website at http://buildingahomeinutah.com