The Beechwood Builders Difference
The Beechwood Signature Home
It is impossible, without walking through and experiencing the "Beechwood Difference", to fully understand exactly what that means. There are certain things that you don't see in the walk through of a model that Beechwood does behind the scenes. For the moment we will start by focusing on something that is very easy to see..how Beechwood home owners get in their basement.
Safety
How do you get in your basement? In most cases the answer would be something that looks like a rusty metal bulk head, over grown with shrubs. These metal bulk heads are always an eye sore and are unsafe. Let me explain. Having been on the fire department for a combined nearly 20 years... Lenny and Jesse have seen, unfortunately, many homes catch on fire. In many of these cases, the family out grows the home so they finish the basement into a bedroom for one of the children. With today's busy schedules and the fast pace of life, not often do we take the time to remove snow from the bulkhead. This creates a potential situation where the child could be trapped. The "Full Access Style" basement entrance (on our homes with-out "walk out basement" type home lots) prevents this. It cost Beechwood about $3,500 dollars more per home, but we also add a full view glass door that lets light in and adds safety and ease along with options down the road.
Aesthetics
Side by side, it is very easy to point out the differences in craftsmanship between a Beechwood built home and a home built by our competition. Since we can't easily do that, let us take something you can see easily when visiting the two. All Beechwood Home are designed and built with "built out overhangs" on the all gables. What does that mean? Take a look at a standard ranch... You have four walls, the two on the ends that are tall and create the peak of the roof are the gables. Most production builders will cut cost by not building the overhang out. On a standard house, you may not even notice much of a difference from the front. However, with today's architecture designs and the growing desire for curb appeal, it makes a big difference. Take some of those gables and have them face the street. Standard gables without overhangs look bland, boring and flat. When the same house is constructed with "built out over hangs” not only does the architecture pop out at you, as the designer intended; it also creates protection from water running down the side of the home and over the windows. This helps keep water away from the foundation and the basement. (Cost to Beechwood $1,000 to $5,000 depending on plan).
Granite Steps! What an attractive New England way to add curb appeal to your home. This is standard on our homes, at Beechwood we want you to be excited about your new home and have features you can show off. Pre Cast concrete steps may save you a small amount of money, however, the are visually unappealing so we believe that it is worth it to use granite. ($1,000 - $3,000 more)
Money
Let us take a moment and compare cold hard cash. Often time's over looked are the specifications that accompany the new home you are going to build. Walking through a model home that belongs to one of the production builders, you decide that you are happy with the construction and location, and are ready to bring your family to this neighborhood. You begin making selections for your new home and find out, that in order to get the home you want, it's going to cost substantially more than the advertised starting price. Just like a car dealership, the starting price is only a base price, designed to grab your attention ; by the time that you have added everything necessary to make your family comfortable in your new home, the starting price has suddenly jumped out of your price range. Instead, you could have a custom built Beechwood home with no fine print or hidden charges.
Allowances a generally given for selectable items such as, countertops, flooring, cabinets, etc. Some builders play the game by writing "builders choice" which we all know means entry level materials. Beechwood gives you allowances for quality items that surpass just the basic selectable items. We will tailor these to your budget in the beginning so that there are no surprises in the end. There is a reason that in the building industry some home owners have less than positive feelings toward their builder at the end of the building process, surprises! In the home building industry, surprises always equal $$$.
Materials
It's no secret that many builders will skimp where they can to bring more money to their outcome. It should be no surprise that there are several places in a home (during construction) that are "behind what you can see" where money can be saved. Things such as the material used under the flooring in the house and under the shingles on the roof. On the floor many builders will save some money by putting "OSB" particle board down. The problem with this is that during construction in New England there is a good chance of rain and/or snow. You don't want the material that's on the floor or roof to absorb water and swell during this stage, as it causes a problem during the completion of the home and is a visual eye sore. The moisture content in the sub floor is definitely going to be high, transferring that to the hardwood creating buckling and warping. (In addition, material cost could be $2,000 +). There are several areas in your new home where you are able to save money, these are just some examples.
Beechwood builds each home as if they were going to live there. Special attention gets paid to what types of materials get used, where, and why. Often there are places on home plans where Beechwood will build above and beyond what is called for on the plan to ensure there no surprises down the road. Beechwood builds above and beyond the International Building Code (IBC). The best way to find this out is to ask your building inspector who he would have build his home.
Considering even the few differences that we have given you between a Beechwood Home and one built by another builder, I think you can easily see the value and integrity associated in the name. Beechwood will build above your expectations in a timely professional manner. You will deal with only decision makers and will not be surprised with unforeseen cost. With a dedication to customer satisfaction, Beechwood invites you to walk thru one of our homes and lets us point out the hundreds of differences that make a Beechwood home stand above the competition.
For those keeping track, leaving out replacement cost and only focusing on the few examples (out of the hundreds) Beechwood can point out, a minimum of at least $15,000 was saved. Now add quality and necessary repairs down the road and the number will quickly grow. We look forward to providing a quality home for your family and leaving you feeling more than satisfied that you chose Beechwood Builders!
