A friend sparked this thought. He asked what I knew regarding a particular solar shingle.

My reply:

Nothing on that particular product. The only "thing" I know regarding solar power at this point in time, is that the ROI is not there yet for the average consumer. The cost of production is keeping the retail pricing at a level where it doesn’t make sense to install it. If a consumer is requesting the product solely based on "saving the environment" or "green initiative" then any solar product would be great. But to lower monthly energy cost, not so great. For typical solar panels it runs about $5,000-$7,000 installed to run 10% of your home. If your bill is $200 per month, then you will save $20 each month. It will take 20-30 years to break even on that investment.

Any disagreements?

Been working on this project. Great appeal and attention to design detail on a smaller scale. Proof that good design and eye candy can be delivered in small packages. This home is right at 2500 Sq. Ft.

We are currently working on a project for a family in Dry Creek Ranch. Take a look at the front elevation, it is spectacular.

Well it’s been a year or so since I was last on the blog, we completely rebuilt the website since then and are still working on adding content. Take a look at the new site here.

We also decided to re-brand as Picklo Homes. No fear, we are still incorporated as Country Builders, and only have decided to advertise and do business as Picklo Homes. The rationale for this was twofold: First, we felt the "country" in Country Builders may mislead prospective clients to the conclusion the company builds only in the country or only country-style homes. Second, the name no longer continued to reflect the markets we now serve.

My goal is to try and blog at least once a week. So please bookmark us or subscribe to the RSS feed. I will be disscussing market trends, new products, projects we are working on, and some fun stuff. Stay tuned!

In the past several homes, we have been using a fairly new form of insulation; open cell foam insulation. Open cell spray foam is not new to the building industry, but it has not been widely used until recently. We have partnered with a local company, Energy Guard Foam Insulators, to install this type of insulation in our homes. I have been watching the open cell spray foam industry for the past 3-4 years, paying close attention to the construction requirements, field testing, and the energy savings. After careful review we have chosen to use SEALACTION500 by Demilec. We feel this is the best product, and the product that fits our clients needs the most. When insulating with open cell spray foam, you insulate the walls traditionally, but in the attic you insulate the roof deck rather then the joist area. This creates an envelope that allows the attic temperature to be with in a few degrees of the living area. By having a cooler attic, it allows the air conditioning system to operate more efficiently. The open cell foam insulation also allows us to use a smaller tonnage A/C unit, this also helps to keep the utility costs lower. This makes for a wonderful product.

I apologize for missing my two posts this week, so I will try to make up for it by posting twice this weekend. I have been busy preparing my personal home for the new buyers to move in, as well as preparing the place I will call home for the next year or so. This brings me to the topic today. In searching for a new flooring option for my new temporary residence, John Crowder at Color Interiors (our sales rep), introduced me to a product by Karndean International. Karndean manufactures high end vinyl flooring alternatives. I have to admit, at first, I was skeptical about vinyl flooring because of the stigma attached of being used in lower cost production homes. But when I saw the flooring and the many different possibilities, I was impressed. Their product ranges from simulating handscraped wood to slate to limestone, all made out of vinyl. I chose the Hickory Peppercorn wood vinyl from their Art Select line.

Notice the texture in the picture. You can acutally feel this in the floor.

I encourage you to take a look at this product when considering your flooring. It is durable, long lasting, and looks great. A wonderful alternative to wood floors. www.karndeanusa.com.

I am a day late, nearly two days late. For those paying attention, I apologize. This will be a short post, but a post that is very useful. I am taking the advice and an idea from a friend, 5 items to pay attention to when selecting a building site. Lot selection is very important because it can either save you money or cost you money, as well as create more maintenance or cause you to have more maintenance.

1. Lot Slope or Topography-Gone are the days that you can find a flat lot in a neighborhood. You may be able to locate large tracts of property and find a nice flat area, but in a neighborhood, it is very difficult. So when looking for a lot, look for a property with the minimalist amount of slope. And look for a lot that slopes from are rear corner to the opposite front corner. This will allow you to design a home where by dropping the garage (assuming it is located on the opposite front corner) will aid in eliminating the amount of dirt brought in.
2. Is the lot wooded or barren? The more trees, the more it cost to clear for the home. But if you look closely, you can choose a lot where the nicer trees and larger trees are located outside of the building foot print. It is ideal to have some trees on the property to aid in shading the home, this will help to keep direct sunlight off of the home, allowing the air conditioning units to work less. Which leads us to the 3rd item.
3. Lot position or placement. For energy efficiency you want the widest part of the home to face northern or southern directions. Typically the widest exterior walls of the home contain the most windows. Facing East or West will allow for the most sun exposure on these windows causing the home have a high heat gain. This is not good for the HVAC system, hot morning and hot afternoons. The A/C system will be working hard all day. So for your home to face the norther or southern direction the property needs to be oriented in the same way.
4. The lot’s elevation compared to the streets elevation. This one can be tricky. The lot can be flat and look ideal, but may sit below the level of the street. This can be bad. If the neighborhood drainage was not planned properly, in periods of heavy rain you may experience flooding. I have seen this happen before. New developments are now taking notice, and are requiring in the Deed Restrictions or Architectural Guidelines, that the home site "x" amount of feet higher than the street. So for a lot that appeared flat and perfect in every way, but sat 4 feet below the street’s highest point, now you have to raise the homes foundation 4 feet plus "x" amount over that. This can cost some serious money. And a lot of times it is overlooked, because the homeowner does not read the Architectural Guidelines closely.
5. Lot Drainage- You want a lot that is as flat as possible, but you also want it to drain properly. You don’t want a lot with low areas that are going to hold water after rains, causing a perfect area for mosquitoes to breed. The ideal lot would be flat and high in the center with slight slopes around the sides to allow for water shed to make it’s way to the ditch and neighborhood drain system. An easy way to identify low land areas around Houston are what we call Saw Palmettos. These plants like wet soil. If you are looking at property filled with Saw Palmettos, then you might want to look elsewhere.

I hope you find this post helpful when you are out lot or land hunting for that new custom home.

In today’s market what we need is consumer positivity. I feel if we all think positive, act positive, and display a positive attitude, then others will buy into the same attitude helping to change the consumer confidence. Now is the time to buy or build. Interest rates are the best they have ever been, and they will not get much better. Builders are ready to build, and suppliers are ready to sell. Lets all work together and think positive. Below are a few exerts that should help in creating positive thoughts.

“From 1995 through 2005, builder confidence was a near-perfect predictor of future stock market returns. As we wrote back then, “Not only did the NAHB index presage the start of the post-1994 bull market in stocks, but its decline starting in 1999 foreshadowed the equity market collapse that came the following year. Builder confidence rebounded in November 2001 – a year ahead of the stock market upswing that began in October 2002.”

“That’s what makes the latest home builder confidence numbers so intriguing. The builder confidence index – now known as the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index – rose 56% in April, to 14 from 9. (A little context: The index stood at 72 in June 2005.) This was the biggest one-month increase in 5 years.

“This is a very encouraging sign that we are at or near the bottom of the current housing depression,” says NAHB chief economist David Crowe. “Builders report that more buyers are responding to the pull of much-improved affordability measures, including low home prices, extremely favorable mortgage rates and the introduction of the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit.”-Jon Birger CNN Money

Wow, builders predict the economy. Pretty neat, huh?!

“Home building stocks like KB Home (KBH: 19.1705, -0.3195, -1.64%) and Hovnanian (HOV: 3.24, 0.24, 8%) soared as an industry group said pending home sales unexpectedly jumped in March by 3.2% from the month before and increased from a year ago. The National Association of Realtors also said existing home prices increased in March to $174,900.”

“We want to see home sales pick up. We want to see people come out and start buying. That will be huge,” said Nolte.

“Also, the Commerce Department said U.S. construction spending unexpectedly rose by 0.3% in March — the first such increase since September.”-Matt Egan Fox Business

All good news.

The custom home market has rapidly grown in the past 5-10 years. It seems that everyone who could strap on a hammer and hire a few subs could build a custom home. This type of thinking is and was dangerous to our industry. It is not that easy (a topic for another post). This post is about the misconception that a custom home must be big and grand and filled with every possible option. Because of the rapid growth of custom homes and the mortgage companies willing to lend money to anyone asking, we had a rise in the type of home being built. The builders mentioned above, went out and built large fancy spec homes, aiding to the public perception that custom homes have to be grandiose. We are here to tell you that is simply not true. In fact we have had our best years and some of our best clients when we were building homes in the 2500-3000 square foot range or less. All 100% custom for each client. A custom home is a home built just for the client, the way they want it. It doesn’t have to be large, it doesn’t have to have all the “bells and whistles”, it doesn’t have to be a master piece. What matters is that the client has the home built for them, the way they want it. We as custom builders are here to aid and guide in decision making and to educate the client on best built practices. And of course to oversee the project.

Due to the down turn in the economy and the rising costs of energy, our goal is to produce a series of homes between 2500-3000 square feet, filled with design details and energy efficient products. Don’t get me wrong, it is easy to find homes under 3000 square feet and under 2500 square feet, but they lack the luster and the detail that can make someone say “wow”. We intend to provide that “wow”, of course at no extra charge. We want the public to know that a custom home does not need to be large and does not need to be expensive. So stay tuned for more on our custom affordable series.

Hello readers. I have decided to Blog for Country Builders with the purpose to educate you, our readers, on numerous topics relating to the residential home building industry. So let me formerly introduce myself. I am Nick Picklo, a Realtor, a Certified Graduate Builder, owner of Harmonious Integrations, Vice President of Country Builders, and a husband, a son, a father, and a brother. Topics I will discuss will include common construction practices, energy efficiency, common misconceptions, trends, etc… I would greatly welcome feed back and questions. I am hear to answer questions, and if I don’t know the answer, I will certainly find it. So in the famous words of Big John “Lets get it on…”