Paradise Century Homes' Mission, Building and Design Philosophy
Our mission is to build homes which are beautiful, sustainble, affordable, comfortable, healthy, and easy to live in.
My goal in every project I design and/or build is to exceed my clients' expectations. I work very closely with clients to determine their particular needs, wants, and dreams for the final product. My expertise ranges from design only for your project to complete construction.
Each project has its own personality and style, and I would like to make yours a reality.
Designed and Built to Last a Hundred Years
I work with clients in the overall design of the home and the site placement for optimal passive solar gain and views from various rooms in the house. I encourage sustainability and green building in design and construction. I believe there are numerous conventional building methods requiring only slight improvement or modification that will yield a home which will perform very well for a century or more.
Part of good design and construction also means planning for maintenance and repair. For example, this means easily accessible water heaters and pumps with quick connects for easy change if the device fails.
Whenever possible, I prefer a suspended floor foundation. However, if the client wants and the property allows, a good quality slab foundation can also be achieved.
I encourage a low pitched roof—as low as 3:12—usually designed for a snow-load of 40-50 psf. This is easier, cheaper, and safer to build. Snowfall in Flagstaff is typically only low to moderate. A low pitch, North facing roof will get sun even on the Winter Solstice, allowing quicker melting and ablation. I prefer a high quality, 30 year composition shingle roof with 30# felt for overall performance, cost, and appearance. I do not feel the huge additional expense of metal roofs is worth it.
Water—A precious resource in Arizona
Seamless gutters with downspouts are an excellent, cost effective finish. The downspouts should feed directly to underground pipes and storage tanks. With water as precious as it is in Arizona, I strongly recommend collecting and storing runoff, especially in areas not served by piped water sources. An average year in Flagstaff will generate appx. 10 gallons of water per square foot of roof per year. Using rainwater and snowmelt requires a good filtration system. I recommend a 25µ carbon pre-filter for the entire house and a 1µ carbon final filter for all the drinking water taps in the house. This is a very cost effective alternative to having water trucked in at ~4 cents per gallon or bottled drinking water at ~ $1 per gallon. The water also tastes much better and leaves virtually no residue on fixtures and dishes.
More on water conservation: I recommend using single lever shower valves with a quarter turn shut-off valve installed between the main (temp control) valve and the shower head. The temperature can be left as desired, and the shutoff can be used to quickly turn water on and off during use, saving considerable amounts of water and energy. Also, a thermostat controlled recirculation pump on the domestic hot water system is highly recommended, as it provides nearly instant hot water to all fixtures and saves lots of water. If a house in Flagstaff will be using on-site well water, a water softener is necessary, which can be bypassed when using rainwater and snowmelt.
Keeping Warm
For home heating in Flagstaff, I strongly recommend radiant hydronic heat, since a forced air system is usually not needed for summer cooling. For a typical home with no slab heating required (only joist bay heating of the living spaces), these systems can be combined with the domestic hot water needs and powered by a tankless, on-demand water heater.
Designing for the Future
I try to “future proof” homes with things like conduits for potential photovoltaic and wind generation systems, outbuildings, pools, spas, gas and electric for barbeque and outdoor fireplaces, water pipes and electric for sprinkler systems and gardens, good storage location for firewood. Other upgrade features can include steam showers, built in home theater, and whole house music systems.