Michael DeJong Homes can turn your ideas into a quality custom home that you will enjoy for years to come.
Michael DeJong Homes will work with you to develop the optimal design to suit your lifestyle and budget. We provide some level of design work on every project we do. Depending on the scope of the project, we will perform the design work in-house or partner with outside architects or designers. In either case, Michael DeJong Homes takes responsibility for and control of the process to ensure the final plan meets your approval.
We begin the design process with an assessment of your needs today and in the future. We will work with you to appreciate your personal tastes and style. Our clients often share photos of homes and rooms they like or even bring in sketches of floor plans or elevations. Regardless of where you are in your thinking, we can help you get your vision on paper along with an estimated budget and schedule.
After refining the preliminary design through multiple iterations, we will prepare scaled working drawings, specifications and a contract for your approval. Upon approval, you can begin work with our interior decorator and landscape designer to finalize interior and exterior design elements. Also at that time, we submit the drawings to city authorities for the proper permits in preparation for the build process.
Residential Design
We put our strong design experience and expertise to work for you to create a unique renovation, addition or custom home that suits your personal taste and lifestyle. Our design process begins with a conceptual design that is then revised and refined with your input.
Along with the conceptual design, we supply cost estimates and a schedule. This information enables you to evaluate your priorities and refine the conceptual design to better meet your needs and budget.
When you are satisfied with the conceptual design, we ask you to sign off on the design. At that time, we begin work on the final design, which includes scaled, working drawings that will be used to build your project.
The entire design process can take as little as two or three months or as long as two or three years. The final design is uniquely yours and the first step to achieving a beautiful home that your family will enjoy for many years.
Conceptual Design
Our conceptual design process begins with an introductory meeting. We’ll talk through your general goals, assess your current and future needs and discuss your budget.
Our design team then goes to work on a conceptual design. We’ll research city-zoning requirements and document the specifications of your current home. With that information and the input from the introductory meeting, we will create conceptual design drawings. In the conceptual design phase, our goal is to create a design that is do-able, within your budget and that captures the majority of your needs. During this phase, it’s important to note:
- Conceptual drawings depict a general room layout with relative room sizes, general window sizes and design themes.
- Details are omitted and not all design challenges are addressed.
- Only certain elevations are included to give you a feel for the final product.
We will present our conceptual design to you. At that meeting, we will explain the look and feel of the design as well as its functionality. We will also answer your questions. However, there is a lot of information to digest so we give you the conceptual design to take home and digest for typically three weeks or so.
We expect to go through multiple iterations on a conceptual design as you refine your priorities and budget. We work back and forth with every client until they are completely satisfied with their design.
Further, during the conceptual design phase, we initiate discussions and information discovery sessions around components of construction. I.e. windows –we take the time to educate our clients on the pros and cons of certain manufacturers and research costs so that our clients can make informed decisions on construction components that create value for them. This work is all done to help clients understand the cost/benefits of each decision we make during design and to create a solid list of project specifications that are unique to each client.
Final Design
Once you have signed off on your conceptual design, we go to work on the final design, which includes scaled working drawings for your home. Scaled working drawings are used by the city for permitting, engineers for specific components such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and by suppliers of products such as doors and windows. During the final design phase, we will create:
- Scaled drawings that include all floors, roof plans and exterior elevations with comments and cross-sections as needed. All engineering details are specified including structural elements, floors, trusses, beams and window openings.
- Interior elevations as needed along with details on elements such as millwork and cabinetry. Exterior details are also specified including shingles, shutters, planter boxes and brackets.
We partner with structural engineers for any component of the home that falls outside of the Ontario Building Code. We work with our lumber suppliers and their designers on engineered floor designs and any beams that need their input. We also work with our HVAC suppliers on Heat Loss Calculations and duct designs. Once we have completed the scaled drawings and related work, we submit the complete package to the city for permitting.
The final drawings also include a list of specifications and finish schedules that you can use to plan out the total cost of your home. Our full quote is included along with an invoice for this plan portion of the project.