Upgrade With a Home Renovation

Unquestionably, the top reason you may consider home renovation is increasing function and safety in your home. The best home remodeling improves the house's level of comfort and functionality. For example, a well done primary bedroom suite remodel will create a refuge for relaxation,functionality and privacy. A kitchen remodel makes your cooking experience a lot more enjoyable and fun. And a dining or family room remodel provides a warm and friendly zone that brings the whole family closer.

After your home renovation, you may be nuts about your house so much that you don't want to move anywhere else ever again. However, you never know what the future might hold and if you decide to move, getting the best return on your investment can make all the difference. This is why one of the best reasons to start a home renovation project is that you can increase the value of your home and boost its selling potential.

In short, renovating your home allows for a unique, one-of-a-kind room that meets your current lifestyle and helps you expand your space. You'll not only have an improved and more enjoyable living space, but also get even more money back when it’s time to sell.

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Au Pair Nanny Suite Attic Remodel in Cary, NC

Molly and Greg's busy lives and their desire to have their children cared for in their home led them to bring in a full-time Nanny to help with child care and day to day home tasks. They wanted to have a comfortable place where she could spend the night and feel at home, and could also function as a private Au Pair Nanny Suite or Teen Suite. Their preferred solution was to add a full bathroom and closet in their finished attic and convert it into an additional bedroom suite.

We got to work designing a bathroom layout that would meet current NC Building Codes and find a way to get the main drain from their 3rd story down to the crawl space. We wanted to bring in as much daylight into the bathroom without compromising the amount of daylight in the bedroom, as well as install a larger window that would allow an escape route from the bedroom per building code, and also provide for plenty of storage space. We also converted an old water heater closet into a clothes closet.

Our solution was to incorporate interior transom windows in the design of the bathroom to bring in copious amounts of daylight without compromising privacy. The modern 1/4 circle shower with sliding glass doors and cabinetry combined with the luxury vinyl floor tile created a wonderfully light, airy, and comfortable bathroom. The larger exterior window in the bedroom brought in additional daylighting and the addition of the clothes closet rounded the Au Pair Nanny Suite out!

SEE MORE PHOTOS AND READ THE FULL STORY HERE

About Paradise Found Construction

At Paradise Found Construction, we're grateful and honored to be trusted with the homes of our clients in Cary, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Holly Springs, Apex and beyond. We are dedicated to providing affordable custom remodels and new custom homes that fit your unique vision, while partnering with you to scale features to align with your budget. We promise to be transparent and reliable to help you along each step of the way.

Choosing custom construction allows you the flexibility to get everything you want — and nothing you don’t.

Our passion is to help you create your personal Paradise in your home. We work closely with you to understand your vision and bring it to life in a 3D visual design, and then turn it into your finished masterpiece.

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How to Solve Kitchen Peninsula Problems

After 20 years of living in their home, a Cary NC couple came to us with the hopes of remodeling their kitchen and making it “theirs” for their next 20 years.

Their old kitchen was like so many kitchens we’ve seen—old in look, feel and design. The small kitchen was designed with those very familiar color and features: brown wood cabinets and vinyl countertops. The kitchen had only one small window and was otherwise lit by large fluorescent tubes. It sat adjacent to a small dinette lit with the also familiar brass chandelier. The cabinetry consisted of one large U-shaped unit, positioned in such a way that one of the long arms of the U served as a separator between the kitchen and dinette. The refrigerator stood closely to the “legs” of the U shape. The combination of a large amount of brown, almost no natural lighting and the cabinet acting as a half wall made the kitchen/dinette areas feel dark and cramped.

Our goal was to give our clients a kitchen that was brighter, less cramped, more usable and more up to date, compatible with their changing lifestyle. In order to do this, we added more natural light by replacing the small window with a much larger one. We removed the one large fluorescent unit and installed high hat lighting and a more modern chandelier in the dinette. Other renovations included new cabinets, which came in a white wood and granite countertops that nicely complemented the new stainless steel appliances. The reconfigured layout of the cabinets to be set along the edges of the kitchen made for more of a streamlined effect, opening up more space, and creating a longer unified space.

To add to the usability of the kitchen, a granite-topped island was put in place. It was adjoined to a dining table set on the dinette’s floor, again adding to the streamlined look and feel. The redesigned kitchen and dinette was finished with the replacement of the linoleum floors with hardwood flooring adding to a smooth, modern feel. The new features give this kitchen more personality, more functionality, and more space for the homeowners and for entertaining.

SEE MORE PHOTOS AND READ THE FULL STORY HERE

About Paradise Found Construction

At Paradise Found Construction, we're grateful and honored to be trusted with the homes of our clients in Cary, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Holly Springs, Apex and beyond. We are dedicated to providing affordable custom remodels and new custom homes that fit your unique vision, while partnering with you to scale features to align with your budget. We promise to be transparent and reliable to help you along each step of the way.

Choosing custom construction allows you the flexibility to get everything you want — and nothing you don’t.

Our passion is to help you create your personal Paradise in your home. We work closely with you to understand your vision and bring it to life in a 3D visual design, and then turn it into your finished masterpiece.

WE SPECIALIZE IN:

A professional remodeling job typically costs more than homeowners imagined.

In this era of cable TV shows, where jaw-dropping results are achieved for a pittance in less than 60 minutes, it's not hard to see how one's expectations are typically out of line with the reality of costs.

Add to that the variability of labor and material costs between different regions and metros in the country and you start to get a sense of how dramatically prices and value for the same work can vary across the United States.

These annual reports provide the numbers you need on how much it really costs for a pro to do a typical remodeling project, as well as how much that project can be expected to bring in resale value.

The numbers come from RemodelMAX, an unbiased third-party research firm that keeps track of labor and product costs in markets nationwide. They report on how much it really costs for a professional to do a typical remodeling project, as well as how much a real estate pro believes that project will increase a home’s value if it’s sold within a year of when the work was completed. By dividing the project’s value into its cost, you get a sense of how much bang for the buck you’re generating as a result.

Unlike reporting services that claim to report average or typical costs for remodel jobs that were performed, Cost vs. Value bases its numbers on what it would cost to do any of 29 theoretical projects in each of 99 markets nationwide. They put the same amenities into the same-sized space, varying their price by market. Likewise, while they assume it takes the same amount of labor to do the work, they vary labor costs according to the local rate.

After that, they add the same corporate expenses: taxes, worker’s comp insurance, and general overhead items like the cost of having an office, a website, a phone number, utilities, company vehicles, and equipment. Finally, they add a reasonable profit.

We’re not talking about repainting some rooms or planting flowers.

Most Cost vs. Value projects range from difficult to impossible, not to mention dangerous, for a DIYer to do. And if you don’t plan to sell within several years of the project, ignore payback numbers. They are closely tied to the latest rises and falls in home prices, and we all know how quickly those can change within a few years.

In general, the hotter the market, the bigger the payback.

As you review the reports, note that in some cases there are two versions of a common job, such as renovating or adding a kitchen or bath. The baseline or standard version is called a midrange project and the higher-priced version is called an upscale project. The difference between them usually has to do with the scope of work and the complexity of the project. It also takes into account different quality standards for finishes: for instance, the midrange major kitchen remodel calls for a plastic laminate island countertop while the upscale version has a stone top.

A job that’s done by a pro rarely will pay back at resale a higher amount than was invested in it in the Short Term.

In general, work to replace items that are broken or need simple changes, like replacing a steel entry door or a vinyl window, score higher paybacks than more discretionary projects, such as constructing a two-store addition or updating a kitchen.

Below are two downloadable reports for the Raleigh NC metro and the Chapel Hill NC metro.

About Paradise Found Construction

Since 2008, our mission and passion has been to help our clients throughout the Triangle NC create their personal Paradise in their homes. We work closely with them to understand Their Vision, and leverage our vast experience in residential design to bring it to life in a 3D Color Visual Design before helping them Rediscover the Paradise in Their Home.

WE SPECIALIZE IN:

Preserving the Environmental Heritage of Heritage Hills in Chapel Hill

Performance (Green) building has come a long way. While a decade ago many may have perceived green building to be a fad, today it’s about more than just reducing a carbon footprint. Financially, it makes good sense with eco-friendly designs that deliver appealing functionality and healthy indoor air quality. For the second year in a row, Jeff Wiblitzhouser with Paradise Found Construction has received the National Association of Home Builder’s (NAHB) 2014 NAHB Green Certified Remodel of the Year Award, this time for a home in Orange County.

Located in southern Chapel Hill, the 40+ year old, two-story Gambrel Roof home remodel demonstrates how easy it is to preserve the charm and security of an older neighborhood and the many benefits it offers, making the home healthier for its occupants while reducing its ongoing cost of ownership. This amazing whole hose remodel demonstrates how to preserve the heritage and charm in older neighborhoods with modest investments that create a healthier living environment and yearly savings that compound over time.

“While any home can be built or remodeled with green features, a home that meets the National Green Building Standard’s certification criteria offers financial gains when the cost of ownership is reduced and a home’s value is increased,” says Jeff Wiblitzhouser President of Paradise Found Construction. “Plus, growing market evidence shows new and remodeled homes that are green certified are increasing in value and holding it better than those traditionally built or remodeled.”

The Heritage Hills home was structurally sound but needed improvements in energy usage, water efficiency, and indoor environmental quality. By replacing the original single-pane windows with more energy efficient double-pane ones, right-sizing the HVAC system, adding a dual zone controller, replacing and sealing all duct-work and a variety of other energy-efficient upgrades, the HERS (Home Energy Rating System) rating was reduced from 98 to 59. In total, energy was reduced by 40% and projected savings are projected to be $900 yearly.

Water efficiency was also addressed by incorporating EPA Water Sense-rated toilets and plumbing fixtures as well as upgrading appliances like the washing machine, which reduced the overall water usage by over 40%. Furthermore, natural hardwoods with no volatile organic compound (VOC) finishes, formaldehyde-free materials and no-VOC paints were used to improve the indoor air quality. The original wood burning fireplace was replaced with a direct-vent natural gas one and exhaust fans were installed in bathrooms to help create a healthier indoor environment.

In addition, Wiblizthouser helped the owners incorporate the latest design trends that would harmonize with the rest of the home. He increased the usefulness and aesthetics of their screened porch by creating an appealing room that could be enjoyed year round. He also brightened living areas with lighter colors to increase sunlight reflectivity.

The homes in Heritage Hills represent the explosive growth of home ownership that occurred during the economic expansion that followed the end of WWII, and they were designed to foster a sense of community, where families could come together. They were also built with denser wood that offers superior structural support compared to the same homes built using lumber from today’s faster-growing trees. Rather than demolish structurally sound homes to make way for larger ones with larger carbon footprints, a green certified remodel is increasingly attractive.

“We can preserve older neighborhoods with established traffic patterns and charm by changing the inefficiencies,” said Wiblitzhouser. “With a relatively modest investment, a green certified remodeling provides a short investment payback and continued yearly savings over time as energy and water costs outstrip the cost of inflation. Plus, when it comes to resale value, green certified homes sell at the upper end of the range and more quickly.”

Just last year, Wiblitzhouser completed a green certified remodel that enabled a Raleigh home owner to sell the home within three days of completion. Compared to equivalent traditional construction, green certifications offer a significant value and advantage in the marketplace. Paradise Found Construction also won the National Home Builders Association (NAHB) 2013 Project of the Year for Green Certified Remodeling.

About Paradise Found Construction

Since 2009, our mission and passion has been to help our clients throughout the Triangle NC create their personal Paradise in their homes. We work closely with them to understand Their Vision, and leverage our vast experience in residential design to bring it to life in a 3D Color Visual Design before helping them Rediscover the Paradise in Their Home.

WE SPECIALIZE IN: