Our Approach Sets Us Apart
Mike Blake Custom Homes is more than just a design firm - we are award-winning home builders. Our unique understanding of design and construction sets us apart to give you the full experience of making your dream home.
We do more than design homes, though. We evaluate the construction of the home to reduce costs and limit design conflicts that lead to delays and construction overruns.
Our award-winning space design staff evaluates the home’s functionality to ensure it meets your vision and needs.
Design is more than just having open rooms, vaults, windows, doors, arches, floors, and cabinets. It’s also about how you will live in the home.
In other words, does the plan meet both your design vision and functionality requirements? To meet those requirements, we use a technology-driven architectural approach to design.
Our Design Process
We take our custom homes seriously, and that’s why we have an introductory Zoom meeting with you to get to know each other. During this meeting, we will answer any questions you have about working with us and hopefully give you a sense of our chemistry together.
We will also discuss the basic information needed to accurately identify the job requirements and project a timeline for completion. This free meeting usually takes an hour or less.
The Pre-Design Phase
We will kick off the pre-design phase in an in-person or Zoom meeting. Our first step when designing your home is listening to your needs and desires and then defining your vision for your custom home.
We’ll brainstorm your project, work together to figure out your priorities and wish list, define what is practical, and determine what features are non-negotiable.
Once we have a clear vision of the project, it’s time to establish expectations. This includes defining the project timeline and what services you need, including:
- Home design
- Home design and estimation or
- Home design, estimation, and construction
Our goal is to educate our clients on the process they choose. Understanding what to expect is an integral part of creating a positive experience.
Floorplan & Design Phase
After we receive the design contact and plan retainer, our expert design team creates an aerial view home sketch based on our notes from Phase 1. This floor plan is reviewed by the award-winning team, Mike and Kim Blake, before sending it to you for feedback.
Our talented team is here to work hand-in-hand with you. That’s why we’ve designed a detailed questionnaire to help craft an AutoCAD design that showcases your vision.
Plan Evaluations
When you approve the aerial view design, we will create the front, back, and side exterior elevations, and roof plans. The exterior elevations are one of the most important aspects of home design since it gives you the first glimpse of your home vision.
Mike Blake Custom Homes prides itself on creating exceptional exterior designs that are both creative and timeless.
Finally, we will create the electrical plans and interior elevations for kitchen/bathroom cabinet placement, doors & drawers, and any specialty build-ins. Our design team will then present you with the completed construction set.
The Construction Model
In the construction stage, the design team will create a detailed construction model. Our advanced 3D modeling identifies construction clashes and enables our construction team to resolve design conflicts.
As an end result, the conflict resolution provides a more accurate set of construction plans, which provides more precise estimates, reduces change orders, and avoids costly delays.
Your final set of plans will provide you with a technologically advanced set of construction drawings.
Our drawings include floor plans, a cross-section of essential spaces, all elevations, a roof plan, a framing plan, an electrical plan, a door table, a window table, a masonry estimate, a foundation plan, and a site plan.
Our goal is to have a detailed set of plans that answer all your questions and are easily estimated. That way, it easily communicates the design intent and construction details needed to accomplish the home goals.
Additional Estimating Services
As an added bonus, we offer an estimating service that professionally estimates the cost of your home.
We will provide you with real-time information about the cost of your home, which includes a bid or real-time estimates, so you can compare bids when you’re deciding on a builder to construct your home.
We also provide you with unmatched, industry-leading specifications. These specifications are an essential piece of information since they relate to the construction of your home. These are arguably more important than your home plans.
The specifications provide a list of all the construction details of your home. If you’ve had a negative building experience before, it was probably due to poor specifications.
When specifications lack details, they are susceptible to cost overs, leaving you feeling like you didn’t get what you paid for or that you had to pay extra for something that should’ve been part of the contract.
You can eliminate these bad experiences by having detailed specifications with Mike Blake Custom Homes.
Let's Talk About Your Dream Home
