Everyone desires to live in a house that gives them full utility as their primary residence. This is what is otherwise referred to as having a functional living space. All a functional home means is that your residence can satisfy all your day-to-day household operations smoothly and efficiently.
This is usually the primary consideration people make when constructing their houses or purchasing completed homes. However, needs evolve. Sooner or later, you may realize you need other features to increase your home’s functionality.
There are many ways of doing that and acquiring a smart home system or building an accessory dwelling unit is one of those ways. The following article offers a comprehensive breakdown of these two ways of optimizing your home’s utility and convenience.
Schedule a Walkthrough1) Making your home smart
Technology has entirely transformed modern-day life and made it much easier and convenient. However, many people’s understanding of this transformation is restricted to telecommunication alone.
Many don’t know that technology can be integrated into domestic household operations to make them much easier and faster to fulfill. This can then greatly boost efficiency, convenience, and saving of time.
Smart home systems
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There are specific technological tools used to automate household operations. Such a combination of tools is what is referred to as a smart home system and chief among our services as a company is installing these smart home systems.
Depending on your personal needs and the specific functional living objectives you want to achieve, various operations can be automated for you. Some of the household operations a smart home system helps you automate include;
a) Air Conditioning
Otherwise known as the climate system, a home integration system allows you to set and control the temperature of your home remotely from one device. As such, you do not have to move and get to a conventional thermostat control to set your desired temperature.
This greatly boosts your convenience as you can adjust your interior’s climate depending on your preference and the prevailing weather conditions outside. Doesn’t that make life much more easy and convenient?
b) Home security
All other components of a functional home cannot matter at all if you can’t be secure enough in your house to enjoy them. See how you often struggle to remember if you properly locked the backdoor leading into the garage immediately you climb into bed and switch off the lights?
Well, a smart home system allows you to move past that challenge through its top-notch security features. With such as system, you can lock all the doors and activate the security alarm system with the touch of a button. For any door that isn’t locked, you get notified immediately.
This helps to boost convenience as well as ensure certainty of security thereby sealing any loopholes that might result in an intrusion. Smart home systems also allow you to monitor security feeds around your home remotely from your device. This enables you to know the security status of your property at any time of the day from anywhere.
c) Lighting
Adequate lighting is another essential component of a functional home. However, it can prove very inconvenient especially when you are exhausted, very occupied, or in poor health. You can picture being home alone sick in bed and wanting to switch on the lights to the porch or even the room you are in.
Climbing out of bed in such a state to drag yourself to the switch is a great inconvenience that may further aggravate your illness. With a smart home system, you can switch lights on or off from the comfort of your spot with the touch of a button. You can also adjust the brightness via the remote control system.
Another great advantage of this smart home system feature is it allows you to control the lights to different rooms or parts of the house individually. This maximizes flexibility and reduces the time you have to spend switching lights on and off especially if your house is large.
d) Energy use
Wastage of power is a major concern in modern homes. Due to the busy schedules most people operate on, it is difficult to check every electronic in the house and ensure it is switched off if not in use.
This gives way to wastage of power thus increasing power bills and raising the cost on the environment. With a smart home system, you can use power in your home much more efficiently. This is because electronics not in use can automatically be turned off. As such, you’ll get to save more money and use your power well.
Installing smart home systems
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Installing smart home systems to technologically integrate operations at home is not a daunting task as it may appear to be. Provided you recruit trained professionals with adequate experience in systems integration, it will be a smooth, unproblematic process.
Besides making life more convenient and secure for you, a systems integration helps you declutter your home by eliminating the need for light switches, alarm keypads, and climate control thermostats.
2) ADUs: Flexibility and convenience
Accessory Dwelling Units are not an entirely new concept in architecture. They have been used for centuries as storage spaces and accommodation for workers or guests. With time their use declined for various reasons.
However, the popularity of ADUs has picked up and grown rapidly in this modern age. This is due to several reasons including economic conditions and the dynamics of modern living. There are different types of ADUs including;
- Attached accessory dwelling units
- Detached accessory dwelling units
- Interior accessory dwelling units
Attached ADUs are built as an extension to the main residence while detached ADUs are constructed separately, often in the backyard. On the other hand, internal ADUs are built within the primary residence and set apart in their placement and use upstairs or in the basement.
The following are reasons why people elect to build ADUs;
- As temporary living spaces for guests, whether close friends or relatives
- As office spaces for work especially with the Covid-19 prevention policy of working-from-home
- As a source of passive income when rented out to tenants
- As entry-level housing for young people who have just graduated school
- As a gym or private resting area
The ADU planning, design, and construction process
Have you realized that you need an accessory dwelling unit whether to give you an extra income stream or to use as accommodation for guests? Many homeowners struggle and wonder where and how to start building an accessory dwelling unit.
Below is a clear outline of each constituent step of the ADU construction process;
Reviewing your local zoning rules on ADUs
You are probably asking yourself, “Why does this have to be the first step”? Well, while they may have nothing to do with the actual construction of your ADU, local government rules determine whether you are eligible to construct an accessory dwelling unit on your property.
These local zoning restrictions are usually there to curb the spread of illegal rental units. Therefore, you have to review these regulations to know which kinds of designs and square footage you are allowed to construct. With this information, you can then move ahead with your building plans.
Schedule a WalkthroughMeeting with your contractor for a consultation
Once you have a clear understanding of the ADU specifications your local zoning laws allow, you can then find the right contractor to construct your accessory dwelling unit. This step requires extensive research to get a planning and design professional with vast experience and competency in building ADUs.
Once you engage our services as your contractor, we schedule a free consultative meeting with you. During this consultation, we do a keen analysis of your ADUs intended construction site, review construction regulations, discuss the design features you desire and the project’s feasibility before making a rough, budgetary approximation.
We ensure that you articulate everything from the features, functions, materials, and design you require for your accessory dwelling unit. This enables us to have a clear picture of what you want to ensure we deliver nothing less, only more.
Designing your accessory dwelling unit
Once we are done having a candid exchange with you during the consultation, we proceed to the designing phase. We go onsite to obtain accurate measurements of your property and get more detailed information that can be useful in the conception of the ADU’s design.
Once we have all the information we need, we compile it well, analyze it and begin creating 3D models in line with your vision for the final structure. Producing the design in 3D models allows you to observe and approve our interpretation of your idea or to suggest revisions. Only after all revisions have been done and your approval obtained do we proceed to the next step.
Creating drafts and drawings of your ADU
3D design models are very crucial to our planning and design process. This is because they help us get a certain approval from a client as they get an accurate rendition of how the final structure will look like. This way, we can move forward more quickly once the designing phase is over.
The creation of drafts and drawings marks the first step in the execution of your ADU concept. Under the leadership of a highly qualified engineer, detailed, elaborate drafts and drawings are made to clearly illustrate the ADU’s structural qualities. The engineer then analyzes and approves them before they are taken to your locality’s planning office.
Acquiring construction permits
The planning office only issues permits after reviewing a prospective structure’s design, square footage, and other qualities. This is to ensure that everything is documented and in strict obeisance to the local zoning laws and regulations.
As such, the ADU’s drafts and engineer-approved drawings are what the planning office goes through to see if everything is consistent with statutory construction regulations. Therefore, these drawings are among the chief requirements when applying for a permit.
The time taken for the permit to be issued may vary from 10 weeks to 16 weeks. However, once the review is complete and all is well, permits are issued and we can then proceed to the ADU’s construction.
Beginning actual construction
Once all permits have been obtained, we move to the final stage of construction. We create a schedule, obtain the requisite materials and begin working. We lay the foundation, complete any underground tasks like plumbing and wiring, erect the structure, do the roofing and complete the ADU’s interior and exterior profiles all in strict accordance with the design.
Finding the best candidate for the job
Accessory Dwelling Units are exactly what their name denotes; an extra structure built to enhance the utility of the primary residence. However, most people mistakenly construe this to mean that ADUs require less architectural attention and skill to construct.
While they may not be your primary living space, their plan, design, and construction procedure are just like that of a primary home. They involve the usual construction complexities like laying a foundation, plumbing, and connecting power lines. The only difference is that ADUs are built on a smaller scale.
As such, it is critical to work with the best design and construction professionals who have specific experience in building ADUs. This will ensure you get the best outcomes as per your design and utility objectives for your Accessory Dwelling Unit.
Oria Builders, Your Ideal Plan & Design Partner
We are the leading building and remodeling company in California with a staunch commitment to ensuring quality and excellence in all our dealings. Our exemplary team of vastly experienced professionals has had astounding success in all previous projects we’ve been entrusted with.
Therefore, if you are seeking a company that will help you with the installation of smart home systems or the construction of an accessory dwelling unit, you can have supreme confidence in our ability to deliver quality outcomes with all your specifications.
We also provide a host of other services aimed at making your home more functional. They include installing HVACs, roofing, flooring, solar installation, kitchen, and bathroom remodeling, room addition fixing doors and windows, insulation, and designing driveways.
Contact us by calling (877) 778-6742, emailing us, or visiting us at 16501Ventura Blvd Ste 400 Encino, CA 91436, Los Angeles, 3111 Camino Del Rio North, Suite 400, CA 92108, San Diego, or 100 S Murphy Ave Suite 200 Sunnyvale CA 94086 United States. Let us help you create your dream home!
Gilad segev is the CEO and the founder of Oria builders.