Do You Know the Onsite Stages for an RTM Project?

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There is a lot to take in when planning an RTM project.

If you have been reading our content for some time, you already know that we do our best to educate you on the different aspects of a project, so you can make educated decisions.

That’s why we put together the Onsite Planning for an RTM Project Guide to walk you through the four different stages of onsite work that will come up in a typical RTM project.

Learn about foundation preparation, hookups, basement finishing and landscaping and how to apply it to your own planning. What are you waiting for? Download a copy now.

Onsite Planning for an RTM Project Guide

A Designer’s Input on Furnishing Your New Home.

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It’s no secret that B&B Homes’ on-site designer, Katia, is here to guide you through your entire custom home project. From the designing stage through to selecting interior finishes to fit your style and budget, she knows your home’s space, style and your family’s lifestyle inside and out.

At B&B Homes we are all about making your entire home building experience stress free. Once your custom home project commences, you may start thinking about what furniture or decor you would like in your space, or even how to arrange what you currently have. A big question you might be having is ‘What is going to fit or look good?’

If this question is keeping you up at night, you will be happy to know that Katia is available to help you through this section of your project too. She has scoped out places in Saskatoon that are guaranteed to have furniture and decor to fit your budget and style. With her expert input, she will help you fit and arrange unique pieces for your home.

If you are wishing to use what you already own, but would like some advice on arranging it, B&B Homes also offers the option to schedule Katia to come to your home once it’s moved and give her advice.

Below are some of the homes that Katia has furnished and decorated, tailored for each unique style:

RTM Homes Saskatchewan RTM Homes Saskatchewan

RTM electric fireplace

Typical Requirements for an RTM Mortgage

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One of the steps in the process of getting a brand new RTM home project underway is sourcing a mortgage. Getting financing for an RTM home follows a slightly different process than other types of mortgages. Some local lenders, such as Affinity Credit Unions, are more RTM project friendly than some others.

Below are some typical requirements that will come up in the process so you know what to prepare for!

Typical Mortgage Requirements for an RTM Include:

  • The lender will need to release funds before the home is delivered on-site.
  • You often must own the land you plan to build on or need to coordinate the mortgage around this purchase. Changing land titles can delay a project so start asap if you know this will be required.
  • The home must be anchored to a foundation.
  • You will need a contract or purchase of sale with terms spelled out by the builder including obligations for each party
  • Home owners will need to purchase insurance.
  • RTM homeowners will require a building permit to ensure your project complies with local and national code.
  • A water test is often a requirement.

Check with your local bank, some Credit Unions offer a specific percentage of building funds that are advanced based on approved inspections. B&B Homes finds that mortgage brokers may offer more flexible options with favorable rates, but rarely meet the requirements made by us. However, if they cannot meet the terms required for RTMs, Credit Unions’ may be good alternatives. If you would like an introduction to an institution or bank we have successfully worked with, please contact us with your request for an introduction.

Making the Most of Your Space: Planning for Storage Through Design

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Get the most out of your space through smart design for storage and function. Custom cabinets and shelving units not only help you stay organized, but they will also help you get the most out of your storage capacities that are available within the square footage of your brand new RTM home.

B&B Homes works with a number of suppliers that can help you plan and customize this important consideration for your home that makes smart sense over the long run. All cabinetry is made to order for each B&B Home with custom measurements based on your floorplan.

Storage through design

Mudroom lockers are a trend and a popular feature in most of B&B Home’s projects. Lockers help everyone stay organized each season while having a little personal space to store your stuff. The laundry area is often in the mudroom as well and conceals products for a tidy and clean look.

mudroom RTM storage

Take into account all of the different areas of a home that you can organize with shelving, cabinets, and storage combined with what you already know about your lifestyle and make special accommodations for it when planning with our on-site designer Katia. She will help you navigate this part of your design plan while keeping your budget considerations in mind.

wine fridge RTM

custom cabinets RTM

planning for storage

For more information on planning a custom RTM project or to book a site visit, contact Darwin directly at darwin@bbhomes.ca or via phone at 306-856-0073. Want to view current projects? Book a site visit here.

4 Things to Know Before You Start Design

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Designing a custom home floor plan doesn’t have to be as intimidating as you may think. Working with professionals to help guide you along the way of the process will help you make decisions you can feel confident about.

Here are a few recommendations from our in-house designer that will make the process a bit smoother from the onset. Consider having an idea in mind regarding a few of these points below.

Number of Bedrooms

Do you know how many bedrooms you want? There is a science of square footage and the allowance that make the number possible. For example, you will need at least a minimum of 1450 sq ft if you want to have 3 bedrooms. This may also come at the expense of some of the square footage you want to include in other areas of the home. Most homes B&B builds are usually between 1500-1600 sq ft depending on budgets.  Generally, finishing a basement down the road with extra rooms in the basement is usually cheaper than adding extra square footage upstairs.

RTM Homes Saskatchewan

Your Budget

We realize that without knowing what things cost it is hard to decide on what features to add into your home. Having an idea of what you want to spend or having a mortgage pre-approval will help our designer keep you in line with your floor plan in relation to what you want to spend. It’s easier to have an idea to work around versus having to detract from what you planned later on. Make a realistic plan by knowing what you want, so you can  have a candid conversation around materials and features based on your budget amount, and some allowance to incorporate some (or all!) of your custom wishlist features accordingly.

RTM Homes Saskatchewan

Number of Bathrooms

The number of bathrooms you want will also be a factor in determining the square footage of your home. On the same note, knowing whether  you want a separate bath and shower in your ensuite or if just a shower is sufficient for your lifestyle, will help determine layout, and the overall square foot of your home. Or, perhaps adding a half (or full) bath in the mudroom would be a convenient feature to keep your home tidy after coming in from the yard.

The Churchbridge RTM

Basement or Crawl Space

When you get your floor plan drafted by B&B’s onsite designer, a basement plan could also be included. Knowing if you plan to have a basement or crawl space will help you make decisions for the areas mentioned above. Future plumbing and electrical locations for the time when you are ready to develop your basement will also be taken into consideration.

If you don’t have all your details completely hashed out before talking to our designer, don’t worry. She will guide you through this decision making process and ask key questions that gets you thinking more about how your future home should function for your lifestyle, while possibly bringing up a few more options and ideas to consider!

For more information on the custom design process visit here.

 

Using Social Media to Plan an RTM Project.

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An easy way to get inspiration and education for planning a custom RTM home project can be done by leveraging social media passively.

Here’s how B&B Homes shares content on different social channels, to assist in your own RTM project planning journey.

Instagram

With a mixture of finished and project progress shots, you will see firsthand the different stages that an RTM home project goes through to completion. Everything from onsite foundation work, to really cool custom features highlighted in our current projects, we share what we are working on, as it is happening.

Facebook

Whenever a new blog post is published, it gets shared to Facebook first. B&B Homes regularly cycles through our top educational content to help you make informed major decisions. We also share what’s trending on Houzz. Also, any images you miss on Instagram you can still catch on Facebook. Watch for our customers commenting on their homes being built, as they are usually pretty pumped up!

Pinterest

Though we are new here, our clients are already actively looking on our page for inspiration for their own personal home features. When it comes time to share your inspiration images with our onsite professional designer, you can share your personal collection of idea boards to guide the planning process. See our galleries of finished projects categorized by popular rooms in the home. Follow them to see the updates as new content is added regularly of finished projects.

YouTube

Reviewing the finished product is an important step in qualifying a builder to build your home. Quality is imperative in this once in a lifetime decision. Take a tour of some past projects and see how different methodologies are applied in our fun replays of installations in our past projects.

Now that you know where to find what you need, join any of these channels to get started planning your own project.

Keep Cozy in the Winters: Explore these Popular RTM Fireplace Options

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There is no doubt about it that the prairies have some of the harshest winters out there. But there is a silver lining, and that is keeping cozy by the fire in the bitter cold months in the comfort of your own home.

There is no shortage of different options to customize a fireplace with lots of options available for aesthetic and function. Three popular options for B&B Homes clients are traditional wood burning, gas and electric fireplaces.

RTM fireplace

Wood burning fireplaces are a traditional option that have been heating homes naturally for decades. This tried and true style of fireplace requires a little more upkeep than more modern gas and electric options and is not as efficient at producing heat. But if the scent and ambiance of the burning logs is what you are after, the additional maintenance can be considered a labour of love when maintaining your wood supply and cleaning your chimney seasonally. Want to try something entirely different? Why not consider using Fireglass pebbles.

RTM gas fireplace

Gas fireplaces are a stylish, modern option that provide flexible heat and aesthetic options by efficiently burning natural gas or propane instead of wood. There are a number of options for gas logs that create the ambiance of your flame. Gas fireplaces are also enclosed, providing safety from embers without requiring any chimney maintenance. Gas fireplaces also provide an alternate heat source for the home. If you opt for ethanol, it is imperative that you take ethanol fireplace safety seriously. They are very safe when used correctly.

RTM electric fireplace

Electric fireplaces allow you to have the visual of a fire without having to produce any actual heat allowing for use all year round to create a relaxing ambiance at your leisure. You could even get a tv stand with electric fire place built right into it. This gives an extra level of aesthetic appeal. Most electric models B&B sources do give you the option for both flame and heat or just the flame. An environmentally conscious option, electric fireplaces do not use any gas or produce any emissions.

Do you want to warm up by your own brand new fireplace next winter? Are you ready to start planning your own custom RTM dream home with B&B’s Dream It, Build It, Move It process? Contact Darwin directly at darwin@bbhomes.ca to get started.

How to Manage an RTM Project Remotely.

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This year B&B Homes is celebrating a major milestone as we have almost finished building our 100th home! We have been working on the walk-out basement in the Eston area this past week for this home. We wouldn’t have been able to get here without the people, processes, and best practices that we have acquired in project management over the years.

Seven years ago we discovered a tool that would help our clients manage their RTM project remotely while helping us keep all of our communications and decisions in one place for the ultimate transparency from both sides.

Introducing COCONSTRUCT

Whether you are at home, at work, on the road, or on vacation, B&B Homes puts all project information at your fingertips about your selections, financial decisions, questions, documents, photos, and more. So if you are on your family farm or in Mexico, you can be working on your custom home project!

You will monitor the details and stages throughout the project inside COCONSTRUCT remotely until the final walk-through prior to the home leaving our yard.

For more information how it works, click here for a printout.

“We also really loved working with CoConstruct to manage the project. Every decision was at your fingertips and we weren’t stuck with anything that we didn’t want. The tool helped manage the project remotely and for us busy people, it was very handy as we are often running around in lots of directions. Questions were answered almost immediately and there wasn’t any phone tag.”

-Cindy and Trevor Tyson, Harris

COCONSTRUCT

Similar Floorplans, But Different Styles Part II.

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In part II of this features comparison series, we continue to highlight the differences that style and selections can make in a home that may otherwise appear the same when analyzing a floorplan drawing. Below highlights a few recent Chesapeake home projects.

The Chesapeake Floor Plan Features Include:

  • 1640 Square Feet
  • 3 Bedrooms
  • 2 Baths
  • Vaulted ceiling in the living room and front entry
  • Main floor laundry
  • Swinging closet doors
  • Walk-through kitchen pantry
  • Island eating ledge
  • Walk-in closet in master bedroom
  • Double sided fireplace

See how one Chesapeake in a modern style with light color tones throughout compares to one in a rustic style with warm earthy tones in these similarly customized floor plans below.

The Chesapeake RTM The Chesapeake RTM

Stone clad wood burning fireplace with a hearth vs a stone and drywalled gas fireplace.

The Cheasapeake RTM

Solid rustic hickory cabinet door style with rough stone backsplash, and a custom wood range hood in the rustic style vs dark, streamlined cabinet door style with a sleek glossy white backsplash, and decorative range hood in a modern style.

The Cheaspeake RTM The Cheaspeake RTM

Oil rubbed bronze fixtures for a rustic, farmhouse ambiance vs smooth chrome fixtures for a sleek, modern feel.

The Chesapeake RTM

Pine ceiling and gel stained wood grain fiberglass front entry door vs painted ceilings and a white, smooth fiberglass front entry door.

The Chesapeake RTM

For more information on the process or to get started planning your own custom floor plan, reach out to B&B at any time. Book a visit for a one-on-one consultation and to tour our current projects.

 

Same Design, Two Totally Different Homes.

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The Redburn is one of B&B Homes most popular designs that we have built many variations of over the years. When reviewing floor plans, the colours and features that make a home are not yet quite clear.

In this short series, we want to showcase the differences that style and features can make in a home that may otherwise appear the same when reviewing the floorplan.

The Redburn Floor Plan Features Include:

  • 1668 Square Feet
  • 3 Bedrooms
  • 2 ½ Baths
  • Vaulted ceiling in kitchen, dining, & living room
  • Main floor laundry
  • Swinging closet doors
  • Walk-in kitchen corner pantry
  • Island seating
  • Walk-in closet in master bedroom
  • Front deck overhang

See how one Redburn in a transitional style with light color tones throughout compares to one in a rustic style with warm earthy tones in these similarly customized floor plans below.

Here is an overall view of the open concept living, dining and kitchen areas in each style. Optional features that can be incorporated into any home include fireplaces, window coverings and appliances.

Simple shaker cabinet doors vs rustic hickory cabinetry that were made uniquely for each home.

Simple and elegant materials such as minimal patterned tile with chrome finishes can be found in a transitional style vs dark natural materials such as wood and stone used in a rustic style.

Modifications can be made to any floor plan in a custom RTM project based on each families preferences for storage and natural light.

For more information on the process or to get started planning your own custom floor plan, reach out to B&B at any time. Schedule a site visit for a one-on-one consultation and to tour our current projects.