Magleby Construction prides itself on building and delivering homes in Utah that bring our clients’ vision and imagination into reality. We construct homes that are designed to maintain their luster and beauty for decades. But this is only possible if a home is nurtured and cared for over time.

Magleby has a period of time in which we respond to warranty service calls and address questions from new homeowners. Eventually the baton is passed to our owners for regular home maintenance. This helps insure a comfortable, secure and safe living environment and protects an important financial investment over time.

While every house we build is slightly different, they all need to be properly cared for to retain our clients’ investment and maximize their quality of life. We see it as our responsibility to educate and help our clients tackle their role as ‘good stewards’ of their home. What follows are suggestions for proper home maintenance:

Wood Floors. All types of wood flooring material, whether solid wood, composite, or laminate, require regular care. For prefinished products, no waxing is required. Clean these surfaces using a regular application of warm, soapy water. To maximize the life of wood flooring, keep it dry and free of debris that can cause scrapes and discolor the finish.

Drainage. An engineered combination of a home’s roof design, gutter system, and placement on the lot, work together to shed water from the house and its foundation. To maintain an optimum level of drainage, have gutters cleaned twice a year, ideally before the rainy seasons. Also, adjust the gutter’s downspouts to empty into splash blocks or extend at least two feet away from the home’s exterior walls. If you add shrubs, flowerbeds, or other landscaping around your house, angle (or grade) the dirt away from the home’s foundation.

Appliances. Refer to your homeowner’s manual or binder to find the user manuals to all of the kitchen and other major appliances in the house. These guides typically include seasonal and periodic maintenance tips. For instance, your refrigerator coil should be cleaned twice a year; check the seal of the door gasket, as well, to make sure you’re not wasting energy. In addition, the clothes dryer vent hose (between the dryer and the wall) and the vent louvers on the outside of the house should be cleaned at least semi-annually. Every three months, replace the furnace filter, clean out the dishwasher strainer, and drain and flush sediment from your water heater. Such maintenance chores allow these appliances to operate at their optimal performance and extend their usable lives.

Air ducts and ventilation. Air ducts and vent registers can become clogged or stifled with debris, reducing their ability to distribute conditioned air and keep your house comfortable. About every two years, hire a professional service company to clean them out. For the same reason, clean the filters and check the general operation of ventilation fans in the kitchen and bathrooms so they work efficiently, as well.

Roofing. Make regular and thorough roof inspections. Pay attention for missing or damaged shingles or voids in the flashing that may allow moisture or air infiltration. Replace or repair as soon as possible to ward off problems that can occur unnoticed or unseen.

Green building is a hot topic, but does building green really mean anything to you as a homebuyer? What’s the tangible benefit of recycled-content drywall or certified wood doors to your daily life … and your pocketbook?

Magleby Construction strives to educate our clients about the various “green building” methods and materials we employ. We approach this from the perspective of the practical benefits to the earth and our clients.

Hidden Gems. The bulk of green building happens behind the finishes. The result: no more drafty feelings by windows and doors; no more temperature differences between floors or rooms; and the ability to walk around in your bare feet.

Easy Recycling. We encourage and facilitate recycling household waste. So we increasingly provide convenient bins within the kitchen and laundry cabinets to make it easier to get recycleables to the curb and out of the landfill. We can also install handy kitchen compost bins to collect vegetable clippings and other organic matter for vegetable or flower gardens.

Breathe Easier. To save energy and boost indoor comfort, we can use non-toxic paints, flooring, and other interior finishes — as well as ventilation systems — to improve the quality of indoor air. This approach addresses allergies, respiratory problems, and other sensitivities that might ail clients.

Future Green. While not 100% mainstream, in-home computer programs that allow homeowners to see and adjust their energy and water use are great visual reminders of green building efforts that also help to optimize them.

Many builders get caught up in the details and technical specs of green building; professional builders understand that to be truly beneficial, those efforts should improve the quality of everyday life.

No doubt about it, there is some cheap housing on the market right now. But is cheap the best way to go?

Common sense dictates there is a premium to be paid for a superior home. By that we mean a home that is built to exacting standards, performs better over time, maintains its value as an investment and is built by a builder who stands by his work.

We at Magleby Construction believe it is worth paying a reasonable premium for such a home, and here’s why.

Better Materials. Professional builders have higher standards for the materials that go into their homes. We cull lumber piles for the straightest studs and send warped and knotted ones back to the lumberyard. We inspect and confirm deliveries, protect materials from weather, seek out the best warranties and track problems to weed out poor-performing materials. Cheap materials  deliver substandard results that often cost more to repair or replace than the premium you pay upfront for a higher-quality option.

Better Construction. Builders who specify and only accept better-quality products do so to achieve a higher level of overall construction quality and long-term durability. We make sure products and materials are installed properly by the most competent subcontractors and adhere to performance standards that are far beyond what the local building code requires. We know our reputation is on the line with every home we deliver. When homeowners see evidence of poor workmanship, it doesn’t take long for them to spread the word about how poorly the builder (and the house) performed. This is too high a price to pay for any company who is in business for the long-term and understands the value of a satisfied client.

A Better Experience. Is it possible to put a price tag on peace of mind? Consider the value of a hassle-free new-home project. Less stress, no hurt feelings, no horror stories, no busted budgets, no lawsuits. What is it worth to have your new home built on schedule, for the agreed cost, with a builder who is there to answer your questions from groundbreaking through move-in and beyond?

You deserve house that meets your expectations, that is solidly built, with superior fit and finish. Something livable, comfortable, and that meets your lifestyle needs. In other words, a home. Your home.

Magleby Construction builds the finest custom homes and remodels in Salt Lake City, Park City and Utah County.

Media coverage of the housing downturn and overall economic recession may have you questioning the value of remodeling your home right now. Will the cost of your dream remodeling project go down in the future? Although you’d expect a professional remodeling company to argue that now is the best time to improve your home, there are indeed some compelling reasons to consider remodeling now.

Lifestyle changes. You may have planned to sell your current home and find one that better suits your household and lifestyle needs … until the recession drove down housing values and caused you to put those plans on hold. It’s likely your lifestyle situation persists and your house still doesn’t satisfy your family’s current needs. A thoughtfully approached remodeling project can address those issues. Yes, no one can predict the bottom of the housing market, but improving your home can go a long way toward boosting its value in a recovering market and making it a more comfortable for your family in the meantime.

Low interest rates/threat of rising costs. Interest rates for financing home improvements are at historic lows. As the country’s recent economic improvement and growth continue, it’s fair to say that rates are likely to rise. In addition, global demand from emerging markets (like China) is likely to continue. This will drive up the cost of raw materials, and as they do so does the cost of any home improvement project.

Modernize to build value. The investment prospect for remodeling now is even greater because improvements can update and upgrade systems, products, and finishes to contemporary standards of efficiency and comfort. When it comes time to sell, those homes will logically be more valuable than older ones that have not been remodeled. While improving your home now buys you some time for an economic recovery, it also affords you the opportunity to get more of what you want in the design and finish of your home.

Remodelers running lean. Professional remodelers who have survived the current recession have honed their construction practices and costs. Their streamlined operations have lowered overhead expenses. This translates into a great value for your remodeling investment.  Additionally, many of our key construction trade partners have cut their costs and margins in an effort to stay afloat during this economic storm. As business picks up, so will their fees.

Making the decision to improve your home now benefits those who can look past the headlines and scare tactics and understand that, in these times, the best time to remodel may be about to slip away.

As a professional builder, Magleby Construction understands how critical it is to establish and maintain a budget — one that works from ground breaking to final walk-through. No one likes cost overruns or unpleasant surprises.

When a project’s budget goes over, it’s unlikely that a builder profits from it. More often than not, it’s a cost that the company shares with the home buyer. Going over budget not only erodes profit, but reputation, too.

Here are some methods Magleby uses to make sure we stay on budget:

• Value engineering. We’re very good at optimizing construction costs while maintaining or improving housing performance and durability. To do this, we need to be on the project team from the outset, working with you and your design professional to identify and use the right materials and refine construction costs of your new home before breaking ground.
• Negotiated subcontracts. We attract the most talented and highest quality trade partners at the best possible price. These are people we work with on a regular basis. Rather than focus on lowest price and risk dropping quality standards, we take the plans and specifications to our best subs and negotiate a set cost for their work. After negotiations, those numbers are added to the budget and the contractors are held to their original estimates.
• Price guarantees. Similar to negotiating with trade partners, Magleby may seek to get guaranteed pricing from materials suppliers as early and for as long as possible. Placing a pre-determined ceiling on prices is critical when material costs such as lumber or copper are volatile and likely to rise even before construction begins.
• Attention to detail. Costs are more easily kept in check when every penny is tied to either a specific stage of the process (such as rough framing or roofing) or materials or products (such as a dishwasher or garage door). In this way, we are able to track specific costs to a detailed scope of work and materials list.
• Tracking costs. We don’t wait until the end of the job to find out if we are on budget. We set key milestones during construction to make sure costs match the amount of work that’s been completed. Tracking costs during the project allows discrepancies to be caught early and frequently before they impact the overall budget.
• Tracking changes. Although change orders are a part of virtually every home we build, they are the cause of most cost overruns and time delays during a new-home project. This is not an area to leave to chance. We have formal policies and procedures in place to manage change requests. These procedures make any changes to the scope of work as efficient as possible, minimizing cost overruns and time delays.

These strategies go a long way toward ensuring cost control on a new-home or remodeling project, protecting everyone from an unpleasant experience and helping ensure a high level of quality and customer satisfaction.

If there’s one thing you can do to ensure a satisfying building experience, it’s to maintain regular and productive communication with your builder. At Magleby Construction we’ve developed and continually improve our communication processes to ensure a pleasant experience for our clients.

Trying to select the right builder for your new home? This is an ideal time to explore your builder’s communication style. Early communications reflect how your builder will communicate with you during construction and after closing. Effective communicators will encourage input and provide satisfactory and prompt answers to questions.

Here are some communication tips based on years of communicating with clients:

• Discuss progress. Make sure you understand how you and your builder will discuss the project and its progress. Many builders encourage periodic walk-throughs of the house at critical stages of construction. These ‘guided tours’ can take place during structural framing, electrical and plumbing rough-in or after drywall.
• Plan formal times to talk. At Magleby Construction we select an acceptable day each week for a scheduled work site meeting. There we discuss and document questions and answers that develop during the construction process. This meeting facilitates a more timely constructon process.
• Allow for less formal communications. Find out about opportunities to conduct informal meetings or use other communication channels (such as phone calls or e-mails). Ask how quickly you can expect a response from your builder when you have a concern.
• Use a detailed construction timeline. This can guide you as you formulate questions about the construction of your home and gain a better understanding of the building process. The construction schedule will also establish deadlines for key selection decisions you must make, such as paint colors, lighting and plumbing fixtures and flooring materials.
• Understand how changes work. The Additional Work Authorization is the procedure established builders for making changes after construction begins. Few projects are completed without some changes along the way. Familiarize yourself with this process before construction begins. In addition, learn the details of your builder’s warranty and service program.

Savvy and successful builders have a plan in place for communicating effectively with their homebuyers before, during and after construction. Be  sure to take appropriate opportunities to express your needs and address your situation, preferences and comfort level. Once you’ve settled on a communication plan with your builder, stick with it! It’s the key to a safe and sane building process.

Energy efficiency plays a central role in building any new home and is an especially important design element in Magleby projects.

Windows, doors and skylights impact a home’s ability to conserve energy, reduce moisture intrusion and keep utility costs low. Like the vent pipes in a roof, they are penetrations in the home’s structural envelope.

Today’s windows and doors enhance a home’s energy performance. Windows and glass doors are now insulated in both their frame and glass design. High-tech window construction and specially treated glass can reduce glare, minimize unwanted solar heat and prevent damaging ultraviolet radiation. Windows and skylights can also increase passive solar heating, reducing the amount of energy needed by the furnace.

Energy-conscious home owners can choose from among a variety of options to match windows and doors to their climate conditions. In addition, we can help an owner select windows and doors that work best depending on which side of the house they will be installed. This optimizes the home’s overall thermal performance. For example, south and west-facing windows can let in more solar energy than north and east-facing windows.

In addition to selecting the best products to meet our clients’ needs and budget, we partner with knowledgeable suppliers and trained trade contractors. They ensure a high quality installation that meet our strict building standards.

Windows, doors and skylights play an important role in appearance and overall performance. They are critical elements that help reduce a home’s energy use while increasing indoor comfort and air quality.

You might find it odd to consider hiring a new-home builder for your remodeling project. But organizations like Magleby Construction can often deliver a better finished project than a traditional remodeling company.

Sound crazy?

Large-scale remodeling projects are very similar to new-home building. A room addition, for instance, is not much different than a new home project. It encompasses the full range of construction phases and materials from the foundation and structural frame through all of the exterior and interior finishes. Plus, consider the following:

• More Experience. We’re accustomed to delivering a high level of finish and are skilled at working closely with our clients to develop, refine and execute a quality job. We’re also used to working under tight deadlines and budgets, giving us a perspective–and skill set–that few remodeling contractors can match.
• Lower Labor and Materials Costs. Our new-home work often affords us greater leverage than a remodeling contractor to negotiate prices for materials and labor with our suppliers and trade partners. We enjoy long-term relationships with our team of trade partners and they know we’ll have more work for them down the road, whether it’s a new house or a large-scale remodeling project.
• Ability to Value Engineer. We’re well versed in identifying and reducing unnecessary or redundant costs for materials and labor. Unlike a typical remodeling operation, we employ staff who recognize and rework your project early in the process. We also order materials as we need them, rather than all at once, which can cut down on theft, damage and eliminate the need to reorder.
• Better business practices. Because of our new-home work, we usually have a greater pool of financial resources that keep headaches and cost overruns in check.

Those combined savings help ensure that we meet your budget. In some cases, the money we save through negotiation, value engineering and a streamlined operation may allow us to expand your project or upgrade the level of finish.

No doubt, there are some great remodeling contractors out there. But for large-scale room additions and major home renovations, consider the skills a professional builder brings to the table.

There is a ton of information about how to find a builder for your new home. Unfortunately, most of what you read reduces the decision to the cost estimates provided in a competitive bidding process.

To Magleby Construction, basing such an important decision on mere numbers is at least incomplete and at worst a potential nightmare. Frankly, we’d rather not be your builder if your evaluation of our capabilities rests entirely on how much we think it will cost to build your new home.

Instead, we encourage and have found success (read: satisfied clients) by suggesting a different tact. It’s a comprehensive approach that admittedly takes a little more time than just collecting bids, but one that can result in  finding the right builder for your particular situation.

• Identify what’s right for you. This requires a solid vision for your project and some personal introspection.
• Create and narrow your list. Investigate each builder’s website.  Then call references, the Better Business Bureau, and your local building association chapter.
• Consider the types of personalities you respond to best. You’ll  spend more time with your builder over the next several months than almost anyone else. We strongly encourage you to meet face-to-face.
• Develop a short list of builders and have them make presentations. This is as much to glean their methods as to gauge compatibility. Request that each candidate bring photos of projects similar to yours.
• Ask the builder about their financial stability. And how do they monitor the financial stability of trade contractors and suppliers? The last thing you want to deal with is an unpaid material bills from a trade contractor on your project.

Once you find a builder that’s earned your confidence, it’s time to refine and sign a contract and get them involved in the project as soon as possible. Having a builder on the team early helps ensure that everyone is moving toward the same goal of realizing the home you envision.