by Mazza Building - Custom Home Builder Clarkston MI | Jun 25, 2022 | Custom Home Builder Birmingham MI, Custom Home Builder Bloomfield Hills, Custom Home Builder Clarkston MI, Custom Home Builder Franklin MI, Custom Home Builder Lake Orion, Custom Home Builder Oakland Twp MI, Custom Home Builder Oxford MI, Custom Home Builder Rochester Hills, Custom Home Builder Rochester MI, Custom Home Builder Rochester Michigan
Custom Home Building Clarkston Michigan by Mazza Building and Development Company.
Mazza Building and Development Company specializes in custom home building and renovations, as well as commercial construction and property development. From small home renovations to large-scale construction projects, Mazza Building & Development Company has you covered.
While planning your project, the owner will listen to your specific needs and strive to fully understand your vision. Mazza Building and Development Company will not only fulfill your goals, but will also exceed them, and turn your dreams into a reality with outstanding craftsmanship, and cost-effective, reliable service.
Mazza Building & Development Company is focused on developing beautiful, eco-friendly homes that are built to last, with only the highest quality products and materials. The company is committed to upholding the principles that the owner wholeheartedly believes in, such as honesty, integrity, and pride. And with competitive pricing, you can rest assured knowing you have received the highest quality craftsmanship at the best possible price.
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“Now is the time to create new memories and fulfill your dreams, according to your unique visions. Why settle for anything less than the best? Let’s get started today. I welcome you to call me at 248-625-3305 for a FREE estimate. I look forward to working with you and helping you achieve the vision you have for your dream home or business.”
by Mazza Building - Custom Home Builder Clarkston MI | Aug 31, 2016 | Custom Home Builder Bloomfield Hills
Are you looking for an expert home builder in Bloomfield Hills MI? If so, contact the top rated Bloomfield Hills MI home builder – Mazza Building & Development Company. Call (248) 625-3305 today for more information.
Preparing Your Home For Winter
You’re ready. You’ve got hats, gl
oves, hand warmers, hot chocolate and a thick jacket. You’re prepared for winter, but is your home ready to brace the cold? A long cold season is just up ahead, and it’s a good time to make sure you’ve got your winter checklist covered before the cold rolls in. Here are some items that should be on your winter checklist.
1. Clean Your Gutters
Since clogged gutters aren’t something you look at every day, you may easily overlook this important maintenance task. Cluttered gutters don’t drain properly – this can cause damage to your backyard landscaping and to the drainage system itself.
A gutter filled with undrained water can freeze, and the added weight can cause it to pull away from your home – it may even fall off altogether!
It is a good idea to do the outdoor work before it gets too cold, and before a little task turns into a big problem. It’s a good idea to break out a ladder, put on a pair of gloves, and get down into the crevices of your gutters. With a little luck, you can complete this task in less than an hour.
2. Tune Up the Heater
You’ll thank me later. It’s a good idea to have a technician inspect your furnace or heat pump before winter comes. It is important to be sure the heating system is clean and that it works properly. The inspection should cost around $80-$100, and at the very least, the technician can change the filter in your boiler, which adds a year of life onto your boiler.
3. Repair Roof Damage
Hail and windstorms can loosen shingles and expose your roof to damage during winter weather. Whats worse, if your area had a hailstorm, your roof may have damage that you cannot see. Thus, it is important to have your roof evaluated by a qualified roof inspector, and if necessary, contact your insurance for assistance in repairing a damaged roof.
4. Plant (and Transplant) Your Flowerbed
Many people may not realize that now is a good time to plant. Bulb plants like tulips or irises need to be planted ahead of time and will stay safe underground until spring. Planting and transplanting now will give them a little leg up, so those plants will be ready in the spring.
5. Plan Ahead for Snow
It might seem simple, but if you need to buy a new snow shovel, now is the right time. Don’t wait until the first snowfall to get a new shovel. For those Rochester snow days, buy board games for when you’re stuck inside the house because of an ice storm. source: luxeestateslifestyles.com
by Mazza Building - Custom Home Builder Clarkston MI | Mar 28, 2015 | Custom Home Builder Bloomfield Hills
If you are looking to build a custom home in Bloomfield Hills MI, contact the experienced team at Mazza Building & Development Company at (248) 625-3305 today!
Those in the market to purchase a home have many decisions to make — from location, style, and amenities to the realtor and types of financing. One other important decision to consider is whether to purchase an existing, pre-owned home or to build a new, custom home. There are many benefits to purchasing a new home or building your custom home over purchasing an existing property.
Building a New Home Offers Customization — Build Your Dream Home
Call them quirks, character, or just annoying — in an existing home and you are almost certain to discover issues that you must learn to accept and tolerate. Perhaps there aren’t enough outlets in the room you want to use for a home office. Maybe the kitchen cabinets don’t include enough drawers or you hate the knobs. Renovations can be costly and inconvenient.
With new construction, you have options, from the initial floor plan and personalized choices along the way to the finishing details. How many bathrooms? Where will they be located? What finish do you want on the cabinets? Wood stair rails or iron? You may even be able to choose the lot in the division that you like best. With existing properties, you spend your first several weeks (or months) changing things to suit your preferences. With new construction, you instead spend your time getting settled into your new home.
Building a New Home Saves Time and Money on Maintenance and Repairs
When you move into a custom built home, everything is new — the construction, the HVAC system, the wiring, the appliances — everything. When you purchase an existing property, even the most thorough inspection can’t possibly identify every potential problem. Some serious issues may not present until after you move in. When you remodel the kitchen, you may uncover unidentified mold or plumbing issues that are not only inconvenient, but potentially costly to repair.
New construction uses materials that are engineered to require less maintenance. For instance, composite materials typically used on the exterior of new construction are less likely to rot or require painting than wood trim and siding commonly used even a decade ago. Buyers are further assured by the warranties that come with new construction. The builder will typically cover any needed repairs needed for at least the first year.
Building a New Home Offers the Conveniences of Modern Technology
New homes are designed and built to take advantage of all the modern conveniences. Homes built decades ago were not wired or equipped to accommodate home theater systems and Internet-connected families of today. Wiring wasn’t structured for security systems and sophisticated lighting plans. In older homes, even mounting a flat-screen television may require retrofitting and costly running of cable and wires by professionals. Builders in the 1950’s and 1960’s couldn’t have anticipated all of the electrical devices used in households today — DVR’s, gaming consoles, computers, and more. New homes are designed for today’s technology. Modern features like programmable thermostats — even those that can be controlled with an app on your mobile device — are becoming standard.
Building a New Home Saves Energy (and Money)
New home builders are required to meet the latest efficiency standards. Homes that meet building codes are much more efficient than homes built even a few years ago. More energy efficiency is realized in new HVAC systems and modern appliances and water-conserving plumbing fixtures.
Building a New Home Gains You the Edge in Negotiations
Homeowners who have a personal connection to the property they are selling can be blinded to its true value by emotional attachment. This can lead to overpriced property and less willingness to negotiate over defects discovered in a property inspection. For property builders, the sell of a property is more of a business transaction and less affected by emotional connection to a property.
When buying a pre-owned home, a buyer is sometimes subject to the needs and demands of the seller related to closing dates and possession. With a new home, such negotiations are far less personal and less dependent on other closings and finance approvals. Sometimes a buyer may even choose from finished, readily available homes in the builder’s inventory.
Building a New Home May Get You Special Financing Options and Incentives
Because of the volume of business they bring, new home builders have strong relationships with financing companies — some builders even have their own mortgage companies. Builders can offer perks in forms other than financial incentives, such as upgraded materials or features. Buyers may benefit from special discounts that builders are able to offer, such as military discounts, or discounts offered on the first few lots sold in a new development.
Before You Buy, Carefully Consider the Benefits of Building a New Home
Perhaps the biggest benefit of building a new custom home is that you get what you want. While this feature is pretty obvious to most homebuyers, there are many more benefits beyond customization that can make building a new home a more practical and economical choice than purchasing a pre-owned home. source: davisbuildinggroup.com
Contact the Bloomfield Hills Custom Home Builder you can trust – Mazza Building & Development Company at (248) 625-3305 today!
by Mazza Building - Custom Home Builder Clarkston MI | Dec 22, 2014 | Custom Home Builder Bloomfield Hills, Custom Homes
The Importance of Going Green
Mazza Building & Development Company has experience in building custom homes in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and surrounding areas. If you are thinking about building a custom home, call (248) 625-3305!
We hear it all the time: going green,being eco-friendly, and doing our part to save the environment, but how does being eco-friendly relate to home building? You don’t have to build a house with a bamboo roof to “go green.” There are plenty of ways to go green when building a home, and here are some ways to cut costs, and our part in saving the environment.
Why Build an Eco-Friendly Home?
Green buildings use less energy, water, create less waste, and are generally healthier than standard buildings. Environmentally friendly building designs often reflect the surrounding environment and natural resources, and utilize renewable building materials. Contractors of green buildings incorporate techniques that use resources more efficiently during the entire building cycle—construction, renovation, operation, and maintenance —than builders of conventional structures. In short, green buildings minimize human impact on the environment, while also slashing energy costs for homeowners. Green homes generally:
- Reduce operating costs
- Improve indoor air quality
- Cut down on energy consumption
Sustainable homes start with excellent green design and green architecture. Careful site selection is important to minimize environmental damage. For example, placing a structure in an area that allows it to take advantage of cool breezes and sunlight can reduce energy use and expenses. A good home developer will be able to help point you pick a site and discuss the advantages of an eco-friendly home.
How to Build an Environmentally Friendly Home
For those home buyers that want an eco-friendly home in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Mazza Building and Development can help. Usually, the cost of constructing green buildings is 15-20% more than that of regular structures, but they help save nearly 30% more energy and can save you up to 50% in water consumption annually. Good developers will be aware of ways to help reduce costs. For instance, wet areas in the house, such as kitchen and bathroom, should be close to each other to reduce plumbing and consumption of hot water. Diminishing the cost of your Bloomfield Hills home while also cutting energy costs is a top priority for us. If you are thinking about building a custom home, call (248) 625-3305!
source: http://www.infoplease.com/, http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/
by Mazza Building - Custom Home Builder Clarkston MI | Jun 26, 2014 | Custom Home Builder Bloomfield Hills, Uncategorized
Are you looking to build your dream home in Bloomfield Hills MI? If so, contact the top rated Bloomfield Hills MI custom home builders – Mazza Building & Development Company at (248) 625-3305 today!
Footings and foundations are to homes what feet and legs are to the human body: footings anchor the home to the ground and support the foundation, which in turn carries the weight of the home.
Although foundations have been made from a number of materials — stone, block and even treated wood — reinforced concrete is used in the vast majority of new homes. The contractor erects wooden forms, installs steel reinforcing bars (“rebar”) between the form faces, then fills the forms with poured concrete. After the concrete sets, the forms are removed.
There are three main foundation types: full basement, crawlspace, and slab-on grade. Different types are popular in different parts of the country, with reasons that include ground conditions and local market expectations.
Full Basements
Although full basements can be found in many areas, homeowners in the Northeast tend to expect them. A full basement typically consists of footings placed deep below the region’s frost depth and eight-foot-high walls that enclose a four-inch-thick poured concrete slab. This creates an underground room that can be used as a storage and mechanical space, and/or finished to create a living area.
Basement finishing is a growing trend: Homeowners are turning these spaces into recreational rooms, gyms and entertainment centers. If the lot slopes or allows for a walkout configuration, the basement will have natural light, good ventilation and a more spacious feel. If you think you might want to put a toilet in the basement, consider including a well for a grinder pump.
If you plan on finishing the basement, you may want to consider installing rigid foam insulation beneath the slab. While it may not noticeably lower energy use, it could make the space more comfortable. Even when not finishing the basement, insulating the slab and walls can reduce problems with mold and mildew, since the insulation reduces the chance of condensation by keeping the concrete at a higher temperature.
Basements with insulation under the slab “don’t smell like basements and feel clean and dry,” says Portland, Maine architect Jesse Kaplan. “It’s a tremendous improvement over what people are used to. Honestly, I would never build a house without insulation and a vapor barrier between wet soil and concrete for the quality and comfort issues alone.”
He says that under-slab insulation isn’t just for the far North. “Soil temperatures down South are warmer than in the Northeast, but they’re probably below the dew point even more of the year, so the dampness is even more of an issue.”
Crawlspaces
Crawlspaces are most common in the Southeast and parts of the Midwest. The footings are placed below the frost line, but there’s only enough headroom between the ground and the floor frame for someone to crawl around.
Most crawl spaces include foundation vent openings. They’re supposed to prevent the buildup of excess moisture, but in practice they often backfire by bringing moisture into the space. “Open crawlspaces can become breeding grounds for mold and moisture,” says Brian Coble, who directs the High Performance Homes program at Advanced Energy, a North Carolina building science research firm. “This moisture can soak the home’s framing, leading to rot and structural failure, and can carry mold spores and other pollutants into the home’s living space.”
Building scientists like Coble now recommend sealing and insulating the crawlspace and covering the ground with a polyethylene vapor barrier, or even a concrete slab. These details add cost, but a multiple home field study (27 homes in different parts of the country) by Advanced Energy confirmed that they can also lower space conditioning bills and reduce mold and mildew. As a bonus, you end up with a tempered, dry storage space. If there’s enough headroom, the heating unit can also be placed there, freeing up space in the house.
Slab-on-Grade
The slab-on-grade foundation is just what it sounds like: a concrete slab poured at grade level that serves as the subfloor for the home’s main living area. A shallow footing around the edges of the slab transfers the weight of the home’s walls to the ground. Before the pour, a bed of gravel is spread across the slab area to allow drainage, wire mesh is rolled out to reduce the chance of cracking and any in-slab plumbing pipes or electrical conduit is installed.
Slab foundations are most common in warm regions and where there are high water tables, such as Florida. When used in northern climates, special frost proofing details are required, which, in most cases, consists of a short foundation wall (called a “stemwall”) poured on footings placed below the frost line. Putting a layer of rigid foam under the slab in a slab-on-grade home is also a good idea in the North, and absolutely necessary if the slab will have embedded hydronic heat.
Note that using a foundation type that’s not common in your area may affect the schedule and budget. With a slab, for instance, the mechanical systems have to be completely figured out before the slab is poured, so that the proper elements are put in place. If that’s not standard practice where you live, subcontractors may raise prices to cover unexpected time and cost overruns.
Soil Considerations
Regardless of foundation type, the foundation walls and footing are designed to work as a unit, supporting the weight of the home and transferring that weight to the surrounding ground. How well they do this depends in part on what type of ground the footing rests on.
Foundations for commercial buildings are custom engineered for each site, but in residential construction that’s usually only true in special cases. “Almost all residential foundations are designed according to generic expectations of the area’s soil conditions,” says Atlanta-area structural engineer Chris DeBlois. “If the foundation crew starts digging and finds unusual conditions, then they will make adjustments.”
For instance, dense, dry soil will be stable, forgiving of less-than-perfect construction and less likely to settle after the house has been built. But if the site has soft, wet clay, the foundation will be much more likely to settle, leading to cracked tile, drywall and even masonry. In that case, it’s a good idea to get an engineer involved to design a foundation that will remain stable.
Keeping it Dry
Concrete is not waterproof, so water that sits on the outside of the foundation wall will eventually make its way inside as water vapor. “Surface water that seeps into the ground near the house will quickly become an interior moisture problem,” says Steve Easley, a San Francisco-area trainer who advises builders around the country on good building practices. The result: a damp home environment that encourages mold and mildew growth. This is true regardless of foundation type.
To prevent this, a waterproofing coating is usually brushed on the outside of the foundation. Perforated pipe may be placed around the perimeter of the footing to catch any water in the soil and drain it away. Note that most waterproofing coatings require a footing drain for the warranty to be valid.
Landscaping also plays an important role in keeping foundations dry. Easley recommends siting the house well enough above grade so that water can easily drain away from the foundation. Using firm rather than loose soil close to the house will also help.
Signs of Trouble
Small hairline shrinkage cracks aren’t unusual with a new foundation or of serious concern, but some other types of cracks should raise a red flag. “The size of the crack is less important than its configuration,” says DeBlois. “A narrow, vertical crack is seldom a sign of problems, but if the crack is significantly wider at the top than at the bottom, it could indicate that the foundation is settling unevenly.”
The most worrisome type of crack, according to DeBlois, is a horizontal one, which could indicate a structural failure of the wall. Fortunately, this type of failure is more common with block walls and is extremely rare with poured concrete.
Protect Yourself
It should be clear that while designing and building a stable, dry and trouble-free foundation for your home is a straightforward process, proper detailing is important. The best way to protect yourself and your home is to hire an established builder with a long-standing reputation for quality work.
As an added precaution, you could hire an independent inspector to check the foundation before framing begins. This is only done in a minority of homes, but Jules Falcone, a Media, Penn.-based home inspector, says it is worthwhile. “An independent inspector will check the workmanship to make sure the foundation is built right.”
Falcone estimates cost at a couple hundred dollars, depending on where you live. That’s a small price to pay to ensure the job is done correctly.
source: newhomesource.com
Mazza Building & Development company would love to answer your questions about building a custom home in Bloomfield Hills MI and nearby areas. Call the Bloomfield Hills MI custom home builders at (248) 625-3305.
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