Blog #01: Remodel or Build?

COVID-19 and work from home mandates made us realize that our current home was not equipped to house two offices, three human beings, and an aged dog. In late 2020, we decided we needed to buy a bigger house to address those needs. But one thing was clear - we did not want to move from our current neighborhood which we loved, had friends in, and was conveniently located just 2.5 miles away from the city center.

We ended up going to numerous open houses only to realize that in our neighborhood they fall into one of two categories; 1) around 100 years old and requiring a lot of work and retrofitting, or 2) newer homes that are outside of our price range. In both cases we had to work around the existing floor plan.

That led us to consider the idea of buying an old home that was in poor condition, demolishing it, and building up an entirely new home that achieved our design objectives/vision. I have to say that we went back and forth on that decision. We knew it was a huge undertaking. So we came up with a list of pros and cons lists and here are the reasons why we have decided to build:

1. You get what you want : For some, the debate stops here, but we needed more than that because what we wanted was somewhat outlandish - a modern-contemporary home with an open layout, a yard, gym, 2 offices, and a guest unit - all in a neighborhood that was the heart of a city!

Photo by laura adaion Unsplash, Photo by R ARCHITECTURE on Unsplash

2. A floor plan that fits our lifestyle : We could design the home entirely around our needs to maximize and take advantage of every inch of usable space. One of our biggest wants was to build a guest unit so that our parents, who visit us for extended periods of time, can have some privacy (and us to have some space from them). We also wanted a fully functional main floor in case we could not climb stairs and have the capability to install elevators.

3. Opportunity to go passive: We wanted to leverage Passive House building techniques to build a high-performance home and reduce the energy requirements for the home (https://passivehouse.com/). One important aspect of this building technique is the aggressive air tightness standard, which not only improves energy efficiency but also provides increased protection against smoke penetration which is unfortunately becoming increasingly common and necessary in the PNW.

4. Avoid long term renovations & maintenance costs: I know you are thinking that building a house is a more expensive undertaking, but hear me out. We are in a seller’s market. The houses, including the 100 year old ones, are going 10-25% over asking AND required a huge renovation budget to meet our wants. When we did the math, the cost of the house plus renovations went well above our budget and it didn't make sense to dump so much money into something that did not have the same ROI.

5. Latest Technology: Building the home to support the latest technology was a must considering we both work in the tech industry! We wanted a secure and connected house with hardwired connections throughout the house, wireless access points, and power over ethernet (PoC) cameras points. Safely adding guests to your home network was important. We also wanted smart lighting that is integrated with our shade controls, maximizing use of natural light and energy and keeping privacy a button away.

Photo by Moritz Kindler on Unsplash, Photo by Chuttersnap on Unsplash

So what was the compromise? Assuming we stick to our budget, time was the biggest compromise. We knew that the new house was 2-3 years away from moving in. But for us, the benefits outweigh the cons and we started looking for properties to build our custom modern-contemporary home.