Designing and Building a Truly Custom Home
Host:
This is the Home Remodeling Show, brought to you by Edge Construction. You can find them online at EdgeConstructionCompany.com. That is all one word, Edge Construction Company dot com.
It is a great website and a great place to start if you want to learn more about Edge Construction. Not only does the website have some great pictures and a really nice portfolio, but there are also links to Pinterest, Facebook, and Houzz. You can see some really cool work Edge Construction has done through their Houzz link.
Again, just head over to EdgeConstructionCompany.com. Their telephone number is 608-636-3343. That number is 636-EDGE.
Joining us this morning is Mike Twohig, owner of Edge Construction. Mike, how are you doing this week?
Mike:
Great, Sean. It is good to see you.
Host:
I have got to ask, since we are talking this week about designing and building a custom home: it is cold, but this is a good time to be thinking about designing. Especially the design part. This is a really good season to start that conversation, isn’t it?
Mike:
It is the perfect time to start the conversation.
On the new construction side of the business, we are pretty tied into that in Dane County. We work on a lot of new houses in Dane County for other builders. We do the interior trim work, so all the woodwork on the inside, and we also stick-build houses for other builders.
We have a horsepower side of our company that does that.
But today we are talking more about a custom situation.
Host:
When we talk about custom, that term is not always as crystal clear as people might think. I understand why, because if you are one of the big builders, everybody wants a “custom home.”
What we are talking about this week is truly custom. You are starting with a blank sheet.
Mike:
Generally, yes.
If you look online at local builders or builders anywhere, they are all going to use some version of that word. They will say they are a custom builder. There is even the term semi-custom, believe it or not.
I would say there are very few builders who are truly custom builders, because if you are building for volume, it does not fit well into the system.
Host:
For the type of work you do at Edge Construction, starting with a truly custom, floor-to-finish design, every part of the house, that is a really good fit, isn’t it?
Mike:
It is.
I tend to think of it in terms of the amount of design you are going to put into something.
When I pick on builders, and we do that a little bit, they still fulfill a need. The need is to get a house into action quickly, with as many upgrades or as much customization as possible, while keeping it within a system. You can only do that with a systems approach.
When you approach a builder and say you want to build a house, especially builders that have their own land, which is how a lot of land develops in Dane County, they will usually have five, ten, fifteen, or twenty plans. Those are standard plans they have built several times.
Then they will have versions of those plans. They might have a craftsman-style version or something a little more modern. Inside, each of those plans may have four different versions of a kitchen you can choose from.
You can pick your tile, flooring, surfaces, countertops, and what the cabinets will look like. But they are going to want to stay inside that system, especially if you want to get going quickly.
The other side of that is remodeling. In remodeling, I do not think that systems approach really works.
There are times when we are getting into houses that are only 15 years old, and the reason they are calling someone like us is because it was poorly designed when it was built new. Maybe it was not poorly designed exactly, but maybe they just did not spend enough time on design.
Sometimes we talk to customers when we are finishing basements a year after they built a new house with somebody else. I will ask, “Are you happy?” They say, “Well, yeah, but there are things we would have done differently.”
I will ask, “How much time did you spend picking out the surfaces and all the things you can see?”
They might say, “We had one selection day.”
That is very hard to do. You really have to have things narrowed down. You cannot be picking from the broad spectrum of everything.
For a whole house, which will usually have at least two and a half baths, a kitchen, a laundry room, and all these different areas, getting through that in one day is hard. Builders are so good at this that sometimes it is only a few hours. I do not know how they can do it.
For us, our homeowners seem to get fatigued by that process. When that happens, I think you start picking things just to pick them. “Good enough” starts to suffice, and you do not really want that.
Host:
For the people who come to Edge Construction for a truly custom home, is there a typical person? I know that is a loaded word, but are there similarities?
I am guessing it is usually somebody who has lived in a few homes and has some experience and ideas of their own.
Mike:
Typically, yes.
There are a couple of key traits that seem to ring true.
One is what you mentioned. They have been through this a few times and probably have not quite gotten what they were looking for. The best homes we have built, or even built for other builders, have often been for homeowners who have built three or four houses. Maybe this is house number four or five.
They really know what they want. They are eliminating things that did not work out, making a list, and they are willing to spend time in design. They are usually a little less rushed.
Another thing that stands out is where the house is.
If you have a cool country lot, most plans out there are made to fit into a subdivision, with maybe 20 feet to your neighbor and a smaller lot. Everything is very compact and usually goes up, not out.
Those plans are not really designed to fit the lot, the surroundings, the topography, or the geography. So the unusualness of the location can drive the need for a custom home.
It could be a lake house. We have done projects where we tore down a house and built a new house on the same lot. A lake is a tougher place to build. It usually has expanded timelines and requires a lot more design.
You want to design that house from scratch, or at least do a lot of design, because you want to maximize views, sunlight, and all the things that do not fit into a cookie-cutter subdivision home.
Host:
When you talk about people getting to the point where they say, “I want to do this custom home,” I think of my own dream of one day having that opportunity to sit down and design a home.
The analogy that comes to mind is cars. We all remember our first car. It was exciting. But as you go through life and go to the dealership more and more, you become more selective. You are willing to pay a premium for certain things because they are important to you.
I think with first homes and even second homes, sometimes we are just excited to have a beautiful home. But eventually you get to the point where you say, “This is how I want to customize exactly what I want.”
Mike:
I think that is true.
When you are younger, using the car analogy, you may know you could be pickier and want different things, but you are often being corralled and sold into something. It becomes, “This is what you want, and how do I get you into this car today?”
I do not want to say new housing is exactly like that, but it is a little like that. It is the system we have right now.
If everybody buying a new house decided they wanted to start from scratch, spend six or nine months or a year in design, and then build the house, that would make it a year-and-a-half process or longer. That would really slow the world down.
More than half of new homes being built right now are for first-time homebuyers. You have to separate those people from this market because the younger homeowner is not usually thinking about all of these details.
It is like buying a car. Maybe you did not even know heated seats were an option, and then later you think every car has heated seats.
You become a more discerning buyer and learn what you want.
Would I recommend a first-time homebuyer go through a custom homebuilding process and maybe be saddled with too much debt? Probably not. You need to own that first house or two until you really know what you want.
Host:
You mentioned lake houses. With subdivisions, a lot of the permitting and local government work has already been handled on the front end. The land is flattened out, and houses go in one after another.
With something like a lake house, there are special and unique rules for building near a lake, whether it is runoff or other things. For people building a custom home, the design and build are the fun parts, but there are also a lot of bureaucratic things involved.
Mike:
I do not know anything about that.
Host:
Sure.
Mike:
If you are trying to do a systems approach or get into action quickly, a lake or country lot is probably not where you are going to build. You need to be more patient.
As a builder, I certainly do not want to make enemies downtown, so we fit into their system. They are the ones with the power to say yes or no.
The permitting process has gotten much tougher than it used to be. I remember going in and getting permits with almost no information 25 or 30 years ago. That situation has totally changed.
If we did not have CAD capabilities, even for remodels, getting permits would be much tougher.
It has to go through a few stages. They will call things out.
I will embarrass myself a little bit. We are contracted to do a project downtown, between the lakes, off West Street near Mifflin. It is a big old house that had been a two-flat, probably a college rental. A family bought it and wants to combine it and make it nice.
We had to take out one little bearing wall. Looking at it, I do not remember whether one of our guys asked me how to size the beam or not. Anyway, we had an engineered beam made up and called out on the plan to start the building permit process.
It got kicked back. They said, “We do not think that beam is big enough.”
When I did the math, it was too small. That is a good thing. That is how the system is supposed to work.
But all these things add time. Sometimes they come back and say, “We need this. Can you redraw this?” We can do that, but as a homeowner, you may not realize you are losing a week or two every time that happens. Your project is not the only thing on their desk.
They have to work through that process too.
Host:
We are talking this morning with Mike Twohig, owner of Edge Construction.
We will talk about the design process when it comes to a new home, what goes into that conversation, the fun of designing a new home, and the timeline as well.
We will also talk about a beautiful custom home Mike and the team at Edge Construction have been working on.
In the meantime, if you have not been to the website, head over to EdgeConstructionCompany.com. That is all one word, Edge Construction Company dot com.
Their telephone number is 608-636-3343. That number is easy to remember: 636-EDGE.
More of the Home Remodeling Show is next right here on 1310 WIBA.
Host:
This is the Home Remodeling Show, brought to you by Edge Construction. You can find them online at EdgeConstructionCompany.com.
Their telephone number is 608-636-3343. That number is 636-EDGE.
We are talking about truly custom homes.
Mike, in the first segment, we talked about the definitions of a custom home and what Edge Construction does, which is truly complete custom.
When folks come in, do they usually have Pinterest or Houzz ideas showing their style? Or do some people simply say, “Here is the lot we have. Let’s start from scratch”?
How does that initial conversation get things moving?
Mike:
For us, it is best if you have done some homework.
If you come in and say, “We want to build a new house, and this is our lot, but we have no idea what we like or what we want,” one of the first things I will say is that you need to figure some things out.
The reason we want you to do some of that on your own is that it is not that hard. There are so many resources right now.
The house we are finishing right now started as a rough plan online. We probably did about 150 hours of CAD work on it, changed it, and got a lot of input from the homeowners to get it to where it is now. We really thought about every single space.
How many different ways can you build a three-bedroom ranch? We are probably not going to come up with 100 new ideas.
If you go on Houzz, which you can get to from our website, you can see a lot of the stuff we have done. There is also Pinterest. I am not an Instagrammer, but I have friends who are, and they are always showing me things on Instagram and asking, “Can you build this? Do you like this?”
I am glad I am not a doctor, because then people would probably be showing me pimples or something.
There are a lot of resources.
Before we even get to finishes, that is another whole thing. What colors do you like? What style do you like?
In a custom house, the inside finishes should work well with the outside finishes. That takes thought and planning.
CAD is so good right now. We are living in a golden age where it is getting better all the time. The software we use creates such realistic views. I think it is really helpful for homeowners to say, “Can I see this in a different color, a different look, or a different style?” And we can do that pretty easily.
Host:
While you were talking, I brought up Pinterest. Since doing the show with you, I love seeing home design.
Somehow, one of the feeds I get on Pinterest is very bizarre floor plan layouts. They are wacky. They look cool, but I do not know how practical they are.
Do people ever bring something like that in and say, “I want to live in a castle”?
Mike:
Sometimes, yes. Living in a castle would be fantastic.
The fun thing about the house we are finishing now is that the custom part did not end with the design. In every part of the house, you can see it.
Our people got to stretch their capabilities. It is very fun when somebody wants to build something unusual because we get to test our skill sets a little more.
Some things are not practical because we live in Wisconsin. I do not have to tell anybody how cold it got this week.
The most efficient, comfortable house you can build is a square box. It is not very exciting, and most people do not want to build that. But every angle, turn, and corner in a house creates inefficiencies that you have to overcome during construction.
We ran into that in the house we are finishing now. It had a lot of custom things in it.
I remember one ceiling where there was a big, tall fireplace and an open ceiling. One of my people said, “How do we insulate this corner? It is going to be really tough to get in there. It could become a cold spot, create problems, and maybe cause ice damming.”
Everything needs to be evaluated because this is not a house that will be built 100 times. It is being built once.
If you brought us a wacky plan, the first thing we would probably do is run it through our trades and our people. We call it redlining. We troubleshoot the plan.
Believe it or not, I have friends in the industry who I will send plans to when we do a really custom new home. I will say, “This house has been in design for six months. Would you mind looking over my plan?”
Sometimes I can get tunnel vision. If that happens, I want it to be caught before we build the house and later say, “Oh, we should have changed this.”
It is a lot easier to fix on paper.
Host:
We talk about the design process with remodeling, and I know Heather and her team design it and then you build it.
With new construction and custom homes, I have to guess the building side is very involved in the design process too. Since you are building the entire structure, you are very much involved in that.
Mike:
Yes.
I believe design should come first. But when you are building a new custom house that has not been built 100 times and has not been redlined over and over, the construction side has to be given time to go through the plans.
Every time a systematized builder builds a house, the trades give feedback. They might say, “You could have made my life easier if you had done this,” or, “I think this could be a problem.” A homeowner might say, “We cannot get this room warm. Why is that?” Then they change it on the next one.
That does not happen with a truly custom one-off house. So the construction side has to understand what the homeowners want and what they are after.
Our designers do a great job. If you look online at where we start and where we end, there are times I think, “How did you get there?”
But we have key points that are like an if-then statement. If Heather’s team is in design and they run into a certain thing, they make a note and talk to me or someone on the construction side. They ask, “Is this buildable? What are we going to run into? Is this going to create another problem somewhere else?”
Host:
In the next segment, I want to ask you about the house you are working on now. You showed me photos of the fireplace, the custom masonry, and a beautiful piece of timber.
I want to ask how often homeowners say, “I really want this look,” and it is not something from a big-box store. Where do you find and source those things?
We will talk with Mike about that and so much more.
If you have not been to the website yet, go to EdgeConstructionCompany.com. That is all one word, Edge Construction Company dot com.
There are great projects listed there, and they are always being updated. There are also links to Pinterest, Houzz, and Facebook. Houzz especially is a very valuable tool.
Their telephone number is 608-636-3343. That number is 636-EDGE.
Edge Construction brings you the Home Remodeling Show right here on 1310 WIBA.
Host:
This is the Home Remodeling Show, brought to you by Edge Construction. You can find them online at EdgeConstructionCompany.com. That is all one word, Edge Construction Company dot com.
Their telephone number is 608-636-3343. That number is 636-EDGE.
We are talking this week with Mike about custom new home construction — starting from scratch and building it out.
Mike, before the show, you shared some photos of a house you are building in the area. Many things struck me. It is beautiful from the outside, and then you showed me interior photos, specifically of the fireplace.
I asked, “Who did that? Who did that fireplace for you?”
And you guys are doing it.
Mike:
Yes.
Host:
It is a totally custom fireplace with beautiful stone, and the mantle is this piece of wood.
Tell me how that fireplace came to be.
Mike:
The mantle is an interesting story.
My son Nick works for us. One of the things he does is keep all our equipment running and manage that part. He also makes sure a lot of pieces and parts show up.
On the wood side, Nick has a little passion for that. We try to keep an inventory of reclaimed things.
This is a beam that is probably 150 years old. What is unique about it is that it is oak. Most of those beams were fir or Douglas fir, which are still strong beams. But oak feels like it is twice as heavy.
Nick actually helped me set that mantle. We framed heavier structure behind the stone. We drilled in three-quarter-inch threaded rods, got the beam up there, and set it on. Then we attached it with screws that are hidden by the stone.
It was quite a job.
I think Nick found that particular chunk of wood maybe three years ago. We did not really have a purpose for it. It was sitting in my wood shop at our location by Stoughton. There were times I was annoyed with that chunk of wood because it was just this huge, heavy piece.
But boy, it looks great in that spot.
Host:
Do homeowners ever bring things like that to you? Maybe something from a family farm, a piece of personal history, or something they found on vacation and want converted into a feature?
Mike:
Sure. I like that kind of stuff.
Then you problem-solve how to fit it in. If it fits the design, great. If it does not, do not be too tied to it because you may need a reality check.
Our design team can give input and help homeowners through that process.
Host:
How revolutionary is CAD? You mentioned it a couple of times earlier, and I have to guess that with new custom homes, CAD has been a huge game changer.
Mike:
It has.
Aside from getting the footprint right, this house actually got designed twice. The first go-around, the homeowners picked out a more modern plan based on the floor plan: where the bedrooms were, where the laundry was, where the kitchen was.
The homeowner loved it, and it went through several months of design.
We put the footprint into CAD, and the software can basically draw the roof. It is amazing. You can modify it, and a lot of times we have to massage it, but we can almost instantly see the roof.
We can place the house on the lot. We can start to add things that make it look like it will look in the future.
Down the road, we can import pictures of the actual tile being used in a backsplash. We can import the actual countertop, Sherwin-Williams colors for siding or rooms, and the actual windows. Then we place it on the lot and pick the time of day so we can see how much sunlight is coming in.
There are all kinds of things you can do with CAD now.
Host:
You mentioned that this house was designed twice. Let’s talk about the first go-around.
Mike:
We had this house designed. It was a little more contemporary. Then the homeowner asked, “Where is the front porch?”
That was important to half of the couple.
Most modern plans are not drawn with consideration for a nice front porch, especially ranch plans. On a two-story house, you have a big expanse of wall. You can put a shed roof on it and draw a nice big porch.
On a ranch house, the roof has to tie together. We tried to make it work with this plan, and it just did not.
So it sent us back to the drawing board. Luckily, because I think what we ended up with was much better, much nicer, and much more custom.
Host:
Looking at the picture you showed me of that entryway and front porch, it has that half-barrel shape up there.
Mike:
The porch ceiling?
Host:
Yes, thank you.
Where did that concept come from?
Mike:
We have done barrel ceilings a few times. This was something the homeowner liked and had probably seen pictures of. They kept it in their back pocket.
We were looking for a way to add personality to the front porch.
The front porch almost has a craftsman-style look from 100 years ago or a little longer. There are big cedar posts on the corners, shakes on the face instead of siding, and the roof comes out.
It looked a little plain at first. When we drew that barrel ceiling on the front porch, it added a ton of personality.
Host:
There was some interesting and intricate woodwork that went into that as well. You were telling me it does not look quite as large in pictures. It is like seeing a highway sign or speed limit sign up close and realizing it is much bigger than you thought.
What are those pieces called?
Mike:
We made some gable-end brackets.
If you have a gable roof, it comes to a point in the front. This house has a combination of hip roof and gables. The front part of the house has the gables, and it looks a little dressy, especially with the gable-end brackets.
This is a traditional thing. You do not see it much now, but coming out of the Victorian age, if you built a fancy house, it would have detail under the roof.
On this house, we made the gable-end brackets. They have a little radius to them, and it gives personality to the face of that roof.
Host:
I feel like you should have the guys from This Old House there as we talk about this.
You mentioned the initial design and working through it a couple of times. One thing people may not always appreciate is that the first draft is not what you end up with. It is the starting point.
You said the first design felt a little plain, so you added things. It is much easier to explore bringing the front porch out or adding design features in CAD than after it is built.
Mike:
Right.
We had this house totally designed and thought we were about 90 percent of the way there.
One issue affected the broad design. I mentioned earlier that I have a few friends I send plans to, and they send plans to me. We troubleshoot and redline each other’s stuff. We are looking for the needle in the haystack.
This house had a nice big kitchen and a walk-in pantry with barn doors on the side of the kitchen. It was almost like having two kitchens.
One of my friends looked at the plan and said, “I think that walk-in pantry is a little narrow. Are they going to do work in there, or is it just for storage?”
I said, “They want to do work in there.”
When I looked at it, we ended up adding a couple of feet to the inside of that pantry. Those feet had to come from somewhere, so we made the house two feet wider.
With CAD, we added the two feet, and the software helped fix and modify the roof. It was not like we had to start from scratch again.
By adding those two feet, we got more room around the staircase, more room in the powder room and laundry, and the master closet got a little bigger too.
There were side effects to making the house bigger, and homeowners want to see all of them.
If we make it two feet bigger, it adds cost, but those two feet come at a bargain. People are already out there building the house. Yes, it is more material, but the labor is kind of the same.
For a homeowner to envision that without CAD renderings would be tough.
Host:
What about the longevity of these homes?
As we work through the design and planning before building, the goal is not just for it to look great. I know something that is really important to you is longevity.
When you build custom homes, this is not something you want people to regret in 10, 20, or 30 years. You want to do the work up front to build something that will last a long time.
Mike:
Right.
Good design makes a house last longer. If you do a better job with design, it will appeal to more people, and the next homeowner is less likely to want to change it.
But the real longevity in a house is in the things you cannot see. It is the structure, what is behind the siding, and what is behind the drywall. It has a lot to do with framing materials and insulation.
We should talk at some point about the science behind how we build houses, because we build houses quite a bit differently than I think anyone else in the area.
Not only are our houses tight, but I am a believer in super-insulating. Code may say we need R-19 or R-21. Our wall cavities tend to be around R-30, so we are about 50 percent above code for insulation.
But it is also about the right kind of insulation in the right spot. We do a lot to stop air infiltration.
There is a lot of innovation happening right now with products and theory, and it is worth looking at when you are building a new house. You do not hear people complaining that their energy bills are too low.
Host:
Or that their house is too comfortable.
Mike:
Exactly.
The better job you do with that, it is not just about energy bills. If you build for true comfort, you will probably have really low energy bills.
The focus has changed a little. We are not just talking about energy now like we probably were a few years ago. We are talking about standing anywhere in the house and not feeling coolness or coldness coming through the wall or window.
How do you get there?
If you do that, you will use less energy. And if you build this way, your house is going to last a lot longer, if not indefinitely.
Host:
When you compare a custom home with a subdivision home where one house goes up after another, the homeowner is obviously much more involved in a truly one-off custom home.
When you talk about insulation and other details, the homeowner gets a firsthand look at those conversations and design decisions. It is not just picking something from a book of blueprints.
Mike:
If you were related to me, if one of my kids were in a different city and they were going to build a house, I would want them to find out the builder’s philosophy on insulation.
That sounds exciting, right? Put that on a T-shirt.
But if you look at how long a house is going to last, it probably has more to do with insulation than it does with the structure. It is how you insulate and where you put that insulation.
I could lecture you forever. It is one of my favorite subjects. But if you are going to do this, make sure you dig into it.
Host:
Does some of that longevity come from preserving the structure itself? Doing things right so humidity and other issues do not infiltrate?
If a two-by-four is exposed to Wisconsin weather, it is eventually going to break down. It is a natural material. The more you can do to control and protect that, the longer it will last.
Mike:
Kind of, yes.
You still need to use good materials and think about the structure. But you can put the best materials in and still do a terrible job of insulation. If you have air infiltration, vapor comes in with it. Vapor is just air with moisture in it.
All air has moisture. If that moisture gets trapped in your wall, it will rot even the best materials.
It comes down to builder philosophy. Even if you are inexperienced, ask a builder these questions: What are you doing differently with insulation? How long is this house going to last?
They should be able to give you the lecture I could give you. Then you know you are on the right track.
Host:
If you want that lecture, Mike would love to talk. Pick up the phone and call Edge Construction at 608-636-3343. That number is 636-EDGE.
That is one of the great things about working with Mike and the team at Edge Construction: the communication. Especially if you are doing a complete home build, you are going to get to know each other quite well.
You can learn more online at EdgeConstructionCompany.com.
We will take it down the home stretch next with the Home Remodeling Show, brought to you by Edge Construction, right here on 1310 WIBA.
Host:
This is the Home Remodeling Show, brought to you by Edge Construction. The website is EdgeConstructionCompany.com. That is all one word, Edge Construction Company dot com.
Their telephone number is 608-636-3343. That number is 636-EDGE.
Mike, we have been talking this week about complete custom home builds. How does that process usually start? Do people just give you a call?
Mike:
It always starts with a phone call.
I go out on every first appointment, and I am often involved after that too. There is a lot to go through and talk about.
If you are going to call and start this process, it is great to have ideas, like we talked about earlier. If you do not have them yet, at least you know where to get started.
But carve out a couple of hours, because if you are going to do this, for most people a truly custom house is intended to be the house. People often say, “I am going to leave this house feet first.”
So you want to put as much time into it as you can.
Host:
You can roll them down the hill afterward.
With remodels, you do plenty of site visits. With new homes, do you go out early and look at the area? Not necessarily with a bunch of equipment, but to see where power will come from and those types of things?
Mike:
Definitely.
We need to figure out all those mechanicals. Zoning usually gets involved with a new house too, so that has to be dealt with.
We want to make sure we provide you with all the information you will need to get through the process and help you do that.
Host:
It is a great day to pick up the phone and call if you are thinking about doing a new home or some remodeling.
Mike and the team at Edge Construction are there for you. Their telephone number is 608-636-3343. That number is 636-EDGE.
The website is EdgeConstructionCompany.com.
This is the Home Remodeling Show here on 1310 WIBA.