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Follyn Builders | Chicago and Northshore Custom Home Builders

Chicago and Northshore Custom Homes and Renovations | Luxury made simple.

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March 7, 2017 By Admin

A custom home – what will it cost me?

It happens more than you think. We get an email or a phone call or a text – I am thinking of building a new home.  Can you give me a ballpark price? The short answer? No, we really don’t have a ballpark price. Because sometimes we are talking about 2 very different ballparks, hell sometimes we are playing 2 completely different sports! There is such a huge variety of options and finishes and designs in building a truly custom home you have a few hurdles to clear before you are ready to build your new dream home.

First of all throw away every preconceived notion you have about new construction pricing. $80 a square foot does not happen in the Chicago market (yes, we have gotten inquiries with that number in mind!). I don’t care what Google tells you or what report you read – it does not happen. Yippee for the lady that built a whole house with YouTube tutorials, $25 and some duct tape, in the real world, that’s not happening. For the most part – $100 or $150 per square foot for a custom home does not happen in the Chicago market.

A quick Google search yielded a national average of about $125 per square foot for new construction.  Like all things, location matters and those numbers are not realistic in a hot Chicago real estate market. If you ever want a hope of selling your house you have to provide finishes commiserate with your neighborhood. You cannot build a basic Chevy house and expect to sell it in 5 years for Maserati prices just because your neighbors are getting top dollar for their houses. If they put the money in, they may get the money out. If you put in less expensive finishes, you will not get top dollar. In today’s market where everyone can look at every property available for a 100 mile radius and see 75 pictures of each, a house with less expensive finishes will not stack up. It just doesn’t work that way.

Price per square foot is a favorite in the industry but does not translate well to new construction custom homes. While it may be a great tool to look at overall national trends in construction pricing, it is a poor tool to measure costs in a custom home. For instance, a house that may be 3,000 square foot in Roscoe Village versus a 3,000 square foot home in Portage Park. Both are in Chicago, theoretically, both should have the same cost per square foot to build. The old adage of location, location, location is true in custom homes too. The finishes in that $1M+ Roscoe Village home are going to be more expensive than that $500K home in Portage Park – and that is ok. You just need to know your neighborhood.

The really big problem is all of the averages used to compute “price per square foot” for construction are just that — averages. And with averages come lots of situations that do not apply to our market.

For instance, those averages take into account big old housing tracts that build 1,450 identical homes on acres of land somewhere. They call them Shady Acres or Rolling Glens and you can “customize” by picking out window color or upgrading to blue siding. That is not custom. In those instances when the same house is built over and over with only a change in siding color, the price to build is much lower. That is great for someone looking for a ready-built neighborhood pretty far out of the urban core, it is a completely unrealistic, almost comical comparison to a true custom home in a sought after location.

Tract homes are not all that possible in Chicago. There are still a few areas that open up when old factories close down in a neighborhood and larger parcels of land become available, but in the really “popular” neighborhoods, we see more individual older homes going on the market (or being sold before they ever hit the open market). The majority of these old homes a tear-downs and are sold for their land value alone. With this, the custom home process in Chicago begins.

Finding an available “lot” (a.k.a. tear-down) in a hot neighborhood in Chicago is a competitive business. If it is a great neighborhood, on a great block it is going to sell and sell fast. If it an oversize lot – get ready for a bidding war! A standard lot in Chicago is 25’ wide x 125’ deep, anything wider or deeper in a great neighborhood is going to be in demand and sell for a premium. If that is something you want, have your checkbook ready and your loan pre-approved!

So the moral of the story? Your location matters. Your location will affect your price per square foot in construction AND in resale. Your home is your biggest investment; build something that reflects that investment. Don’t under build for your neighborhood (but don’t bother over-building either). Do your homework, be ready and then the process has a lot fewer surprises.

Next up, financing and architects and designers (oh my).

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: chicago custom homes, Chicago new home builder, Chicago new homes, chicaog custom home builder, custom home building, design build, general contractor, home builder, luxury homes, new construction, new construction chicago, new construction homes, new home builder, new home building, roscoe village new home builder

January 25, 2017 By Admin

The TRUTH about new home building

The truth about building a new home? It is not quick, it is not neat and it is not easy. It cannot be done in 48 hours or even 6 weeks. It s not a reality TV show, it is reality.

Throughout a well run home building or large scale renovation project there may be 5 or 6 different contractors all working at the same time. I was at one of our projects in Bronzeville last week and counted the following contractors at work: the interior doors were being delivered, the tiler setter was laying tile, the painters were stripping old wood work and the carpenters were working on the 3rd floor. And I was there to deliver about 20 ponds of grout in various colors. And the GC, he was walking around consulting with every one of them.

My Point? A lot happens all day, every day and that means it sometimes it looks like chaos. But a good general contractor is what keeps it all moving. A good custom home builder makes sure every job is getting done well and getting done completely.

And here is the true secret — timing maters. If you delay your final decision on your tile by a week? You set back the plumber and the trim carpenter and could add up to 3 weeks to the job as a whole. Deadlines matter.

It is a ton of decisions – from doorknobs to tile borders to cabinet doors, it is a lot of decision making. But the end product? Worth every sleepless night about hinges and anxiety attack about paint colors.

Building a new home (or renovating your exiting home) takes more time than you thought and costs more than you thought and you will love it so much more than you imagined.

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: Bronzeville new home, Chicago new homes, custom home building, Hyde Park new home, new home, new home builder, new home building, new homes

March 5, 2016 By Admin

Paint picking (better than other kinds of picking)

So things are moving along pretty quickly and now the fun stuff starts. THE FINISHES!!! You know, trim and tile and light fixtures and door knobs. But first comes… the paint.

The thing everyone loves to hate. Picking out the perfect paint color.

Walk into a paint store and hyperventilate from all the color choices. So, first step? Take a breath.

Next step, narrow it down.

Eliminate all those oranges and yellows and baby blues that are just not going to work for you. If you know you love a neutral gray – head for the grays. Now think about undertones. Blueish gray? Or beigeish gray? Or whiteish gray? That will help you narrow down the possibilities in a big hurry.

Now take your 2 or 3 contenders and bring the samples home.

Do not paint a 2 inch x 2 inch square on the wall and run with it. Wrong!

Paint multiple big patches – like 2 FOOT x 3 FOOT swatches. Now label that patch (you think you will remember, but you won’t). Now do the same thing in 2 other places in that room. How the color looks will change even in the same room depending on proximity to windows and lights and other furnishings.

Now, pick the color you love best in EVERY location and get painting.

See? Easy. Now do that in all the other rooms and we can move on! It is your custom home – make it your custom colorsa (or wallpaper, I am loving wallpaper).

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: 2-flat deconversion, 2-flat to single family, andersonville gray stone, andersonville new home, Andersonville new homes, chicago custom home builder, Chicago new home builder, Chicago new homes, chicaog custom home builder, custom build, custom home builder, custom homes chicago, design build, follyn builders, new home, new home builder, new homes chicago, new homes lincoln square

January 16, 2016 By Admin

Whole Lotta Fixin Going On!

Well folks, things have moved into hyper-drive on this custom home in Andersonville. I visited this “old home to new home” project this past week and could not believe the amount of activity and the number of contractors all working at the same time. If I saw it on TV I would think it was staged! How they don’t all bump into each other I do not know, but they were all there working hard and listening to 80’s rock. I kid you not.

Honestly — so much was going on I think I will have to break it into 2 posts. Hey, if it worked for the Harry Potter movies it can work for me.

By my quick count this is the list of contractors in the house on Friday, some on Saturday and one on SUNDAY last week:

  • the fearless general contractor (aka the hubby)
  • the hardwood floor installers
  • the HVAC contractor
  • the painters
  • the electrician
  • the tilers
  • That my friend is a whole lot of action! So let’s take a look at the hardwood floors.

As previously mentioned this is an old grey stone 2-flat in Andersonville that is in the process of becoming a new single family home. So for a lot of years it was 2 separate units, with 2 kitchens, 2 baths, 2 bedroom upstairs, 2 bedrooms downstairs, etc. And throughout both units were hardwoods floors.

The plan was to keep those old hardwood floors. As with many things in life – it was a great idea but not so good for implementing. Once we got in there and started removing walls and rearranging fixtures, it became apparent; those old floors were not something we could salvage. They were too damaged and too thin. New hardwood floors throughout were ordered. Install is almost complete and they look stunning!

Next up is the HVAC systems. Who knows what that is? Anyone? Anyone? The heating air conditioning and cooling systems. Again when this was 2 separate units, it had 2 separate (and really old) heating and cooling systems. Not only do you need newer, more efficient heating and cooling units, with all new walls and floors – you need all new duct work.

One of the most important piece of any HVAC system is making sure it is properly balanced. Having units that are too big or too small for your home is going to cost you every month in heating and cooling bills. Make sure everything is sized accurately for maximum efficiency. Not glamorous, but every month when you pay that gas bill you will thank me for your spray foam insulation, good quality windows and efficient, properly sized HVAC units. And you are welcome.

I think that is enough custom home information for this post (I know most of you are saying TMI), next up we have electricians and painters and tilers…oh my!

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: 2-flat conversion, 2-flat deconversion, andersonville new home builder, chicago custom home, chicago custom home builder, Chicago new home builder, Chicago new homes, custom build, custom home builder, custom homes chicago, design build, follyn builders, general contractor, new home, new home builderchicago

December 8, 2015 By Admin

Insulation! Ok, not so exciting unless its winter in CHICAGO!

Just in time — insulation has arrived at this custom home in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood. So it is suddenly MUCH quieter and MUCH warmer inside – with no heat on!

Spray foam insulation is newer to the scene that the classic pink fiberglass insulation we all know (Pink Panther has the answer, right?). While the pink stuff has worked great for a lot of years, there is really no comparison to the tight seal and instant warmth with spray foam insulation.

The crew arrives and tapes off all the windows and floors and covers them in plastic. Then they fire up the truck that mixes the actual material, they suit up and start spraying. They fill in between all the exterior framing and up into the roof rafters.

There are 2 kinds of spray foam insulation – open cell and closed cell. Each has different attributes and each is suited to different applications. Here we are using both open and closed cell – closed in the walls, open in some walls and the inaccessible ceilings. Make sure you know what is going where, and why. Some folks only want one kind or the other, but it really should be location driven – the location of the insulation, not the location of your house!

At this point all the rough mechanicals are in – electrical, heating & cooling and plumbing. All the “rough” work – also known as that stuff inside the walls you don’t see but is crazy important to do right – is done. So the spray foam insulation is applied around or on all those rough applications.

When creating a new custom home from an existing 2-flat, it is important that all that stuff inside the walls is done correctly – everything old was ripped out, everything new needs to be up to today’s standards and codes. Once all that nitty gritty stuff is installed and updated and correct – on the funner stuff — finishes you can see!

Next week – DRYWALL!!

all mechanicals are in, insualtion is applied in this custom home by Follyn Builders

getting warm in Follyn Builders custom home


custom built home means

overfill is trimmed off the new insulation in Chicago custom home

every space if filled with insulation in this custom Chicago home

insulation all the way up to the ceiling in this Andersonvilel Chicago custom home

??????????????

 

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: 2-flat conversion, Andersonville new homes, chicago custom home builder, Chicago new homes, custom home builder, general contractor, new home builder

November 6, 2015 By Admin

Creating a NEW home : let the sun shine in (but no bugs)

So you gut everything out of a Chicago grey stone 2-flat and get it down to the bare bones. Lots of mess, lots of fun with sledge hammers if you like that sort of thing. Then comes the putting it all back together part – way more fun if you like this sort of thing. You know, the custom home in Andersonville kind of thing. I do, I like this sort of thing.

So we had demolition, then we re-built the interior walls. Next up — windows! I bet you forgot about that part? When you smash everything apart, you live big ole gaping holes all over the building. Some opening got smaller, some got removed all together, a few got added. All got new windows with black exterior to go with the updated new look. So, new windows it is. Energy fficient, air tight and no more bugs.

Also going in this week – rough plumbing, electrical wiring and HVAC duct work (that my friends is for the heat to keep you warm in winter and AC to keep you cool in summer). Lots of little bits and moving peices but we are well on our way.

Also check out the NAKED brick picture. That is the same wall from the last post – except it was coated in layer upon layer of white paint in the last picture. Sandblasting all that off revelaed this classic Chicago brick. So cool the homeowner decided to forego drywall in this room and leave the brick exposed.

I will share pictures of the other mechanicals inside the walls next. I know, I know not sexy but when you are building a quality single family home, the sexy comes later, the quality comes now.

Custom Home Renovations
The re-building process begins on this greystone de-conversion in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood.
No door available? Add your own.
This existing 2-flat in Andersonville undergoes some extensive renovations to create a new custom home.
Exposed brick in CHicago custom home
When removing walls to incorporate and existing covered porch, the beautiful original brick is exposed.
All brick 2 flat renovation in CHicago
New windows in older homes mean lots of new parts – like new casings and window sills.

Maybe that should be our new slogan: Follyn Builders – sexy quality?

Maybe not. But the qulaity is there, the sexy is coming.

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: 2-flat conversion, Andersonville new homes, chicago custom home builder, Chicago new homes, custom home builder, general contractor, new home builder

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