Ep. 45 - 2025!

Each year comes with new excitement. This coming year bring all new excitement for Spruce Homes. Tune into this episode to see what we have going on as we spill the tea!

This one is going to get you thinking!  If you think custom home building is complicated, wait until you listen to this one :).  We are joined with Amelie Caron to talk about energy efficiency, high performance homes, and different ways to think about affordability and the investments you make into your home.  If you are interested in smart building and data driven building decision, this episode is for you!  We are entering into a new era of home construction, and this episode will help bring a little bit of insight into what that looks like.

Have you ever considered completing your own build or renovation?  Is it coming from a point of pride or a way to save some money?  On today's episode, we are joined by Dustin Sikler and Heather Fritz to talk about their personal experiences.  Both have completed renovations and builds of their own - some by themselves and others with professional builders.  We sit down with them to have a frank conversation about their experience and see things from their side of the table plus bring up some things to think about ourselves.  If you are considering building or renovating, this is a MUST listen!  

Affordability, quality, and sustainability are at the forefront of the home building conversation right now.  Those three concepts are very difficult to combine in our worlds current climate and it’s critical that we have people on our side advocating for us (as builders and consumers).  In today’s episode we talk with the Saskatoon & Region Home Builder’s Association to understand the importance of the work they do for us as home buyers (locally, provincially and federally) and also to understand the importance of building or renovating with reputable companies that are part of a local association!

On today's episode we are VERY excited to welcome a special guest, Kerri Tucker!  Kerri is a real estate agent here in Saskatoon and has a very personal story about the risks of radon. On this episode Brad and Kerri talk about what radon is and why you NEED to be aware of it.  We live in a province that contains high radon exposure, so being educated and aware is important.  Enjoy this episode and share it with everyone you know to get this important message out there!  

Living in Saskatchewan, we often get questions about building through the winter.  Should you? Shouldn't you?  How does the process change and how can that affect both quality and pricing?  In todays episode, Brad dives into some of those questions and gives you some answers, busts some myths about off season building and gives some general takeaways to consider!  

In today's episode, Brad and Kaitlyn talk about the top ten things they would consider including in a custom home.  The joys of custom building is that you get to design a home that is beautiful, functional and comfortable.  We consider all three of these in our top 10.  We'd love tp hear what you would include - find us on Instagram and comment with your top inclusions!

We are in a very different place than last year's market update.  With interest rates being a major topic of conversation and the media pushing the severity of a looming recession, fear in the market has definitely become a reality.  But is now the time to push the construction of your custom home another calendar year?  Maybe.  Or maybe not.  We can't tell you that for sure, but in today's episode we do discuss what we are seeing in the residential construction industry and how that may impact your decision moving forward.  Although we don't have a crystal ball, we do hope you can take a couple nuggets from today's episode to help your decision making! 

In our last episode in "Our Process" series, we are talking about construction.  What does the experience look like from your side of the table during construction?  Brad walks through what our process looks like and gives some insight into what you can expect.  From communication to problem solving, the construction experience is a critical piece of the puzzle to ensure that you have the best custom home building experience possible!

Are you building an infill now or in the future?  If so, this episode is for you!  We curated a list of things that you should be aware of prior to building.  Some of these things may add cost to your project and others may add time.  Either way, you will want to be aware of these so that when the time comes, you are prepared.  From site conditions to permit times, we go in depth about each item so that you can be informed!