Home Options Design Blog » General Information

San Jose Addition

HomeOptionsDesign — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:13:01 +0000

Existing rear elevation

Preliminary 3D view of the proposed addition

: Completed addition to rear of home

This is one of my latest projects. I designed this addition for one of my clients, a remodeling contractor, and we presented the homeowner with a quick and inexpensive 3D view of the proposed addition. This visual representation sold the project. The project is now complete and the homeowners love it. The services I provided on this project was preliminary design, permitting services, and even some project management while the contractor went on a two week vacation.

If you are a contractor without a design department, or looking for additional design services / options, I can assist you in providing those services. I work with many contractors and quite a few of them have scaled back which resulted in a loss of their design staff. I can fill that void in a very professional and timely manner. I can make your design process smoother, quicker, and more reliable, so please contact me to discuss how I can help grow your business. I have plenty of contractor references.

If you are a homeowner considering a project, it is not too early to call in a design professional. I can work with you to design just the project you desire, and then help you with putting out to bid. I can oversee the bidding process, help you decipher the bids received, and even provide project management to oversee the construction of the project. Whatever your needs are, I am confident I can be of assistance. There is never a charge for an initial consultation, so you have nothing to lose.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Energy Efficient Website Hosting

HomeOptionsDesign — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:55:14 +0000

Home Options Design is now offering energy efficient website hosting! – WebOptionsDesign.com

If you are taking the time to read this blog, there may be several questions going through your mind right now from that statement. I would like to answer two of them.

The question - ”Why is a residential design firm offering website hosting?” The answer - Home Options Design also provided website design services and offering website hosting developed from the desire to offer this service to my clients as I designed their websites. If you know anything about website hosting you know there are many companies to choose from and the price ranges offered can be just as many. This is why I got into the hosting side of the business so I can offer a great product for a very reasonable rate (not only to my clients, but to everyone). One year of basic website hosting is only $10.00 per month or $120.00 for the full year.
The question – “How can a computer system that runs twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, be energy efficient?” The answer - Wind harvesting technology powers and cools the website servers. Allowing wind to generate power is a “no-brainer” This technology actually produces 30% more energy than the amount required. That’s a total generation capacity of 130%! Wind technology is a very energy efficient method of producing energy.

How to sign up for energy efficient “green” website hosting - Our energy efficient website hosting services can be found at:

grey water recovery systems

HomeOptionsDesign — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:55:34 +0000

What is a grey water recovery system?
A grey water recovery system, also known as a grey water recycling system, is basically a collection tank where tub, shower, and faucet waste water is collected, filtered, and stored for future use as toilet flushing water.

What are a few of the benefits of a grey water recycling system?

Conserve water and reduce sewage (approx. 30%)
Save money on sewage charges
Reduce demand on a well
Reduce load on a septic system
Help conserve one of our most precious resources
Build a better future for our children

Why is grey water recycling so effective?
Most of the water that a household uses can be attributed to showers, baths, and toilet flushing. When you recover your shower, bath, and faucet water for reuse as toilet flushing water, you are reusing one of the most wasted resources in a household. This makes the savings potential very high and thus a grey water recovery system very effective.

Here is a breakdown on the percentages of water used by a typical household.

5% – water used for regular cleaning
10% – water used for kitchen and drinking
20% – water used for laundry
30% – water used for toilet flushing
35% – water used for showers and baths

What if I do not collect enough grey water to flush the toilet?
In the rare event you have not collected enough water to flush the toilet, the grey water system will use potable water from your existing water supply line.

What system do you recommend and where can I get it?
I recommend grey water recycling systems by Brac Systems, Inc.

I am a North Florida Regional Representative for Eco-$mart, Inc. and we sell the Brac Grey Water Recycling systems (f.o.b. Jacksonville, Florida). You can read more about the Brac system on our Brac product page and also place an order from there. Visit the Brac Grey Water Recycling page at Eco-$mart, Inc.

Are grey water recovery systems for Residential or Commercial use?
Brac grey water recycling systems are for both residential and commercial use.
If you need more information about a Brac grey water recycling system, please contact me from my contacts page.

Homeowner permitting – City of Jacksonville, Florida

HomeOptionsDesign — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:27:31 +0000

Are you a Jacksonville, Florida homeowner trying to pull an owner permit at the City of Jacksonville’s Building Inspection Division, for a project you are doing yourself?
If you answered yes to the above question and are reading this blog post, then you are probably feeling frustrated and just about to give up. You were probably asked questions like, “Do you have any plans?”, “Do you have a survey?”, “Do you have an Elevation Certificate?”, “Do you have a Certificate of Appropriateness?”, “Do you have Energy Sheets?”, “Do you have Florida Product Approval sheets?”, “Did you get an Administrative Deviation?”, “Do you know that your property is a non-conforming property?”, or many other questions that can be overwhelming to first time permitees. That is where I can help. Home Options Design offers homeowners in Jacksonville and all of Northeast Florida permitting assistance. We can provide permitting consultations on the items mentioned above as well as any other questions that the building department asks. We can provide plans and drawings, specifications, Florida Product Approval sheets, Energy Sheets, or help you secure any other document that the building department requires. Our fees are reasonable and our turn around times are usually pretty quick too. If you need help permitting a project with the City of Jacksonville’s Building Inspection Division, please contact us. You can do this by visiting our website and filling out the form or clicking on the email icon.

Thank you,
Home Options Design LLC

How expensive is it to provide CAD drawings for my project?

HomeOptionsDesign — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 23:07:07 +0000

“HOW MUCH WILL DESIGNING MY PROJECT COST?”
I often get asked questions similiar to, “How much do you charge for drawings?” or “How much will designing my project cost?” This is a tough question to answer without learning more about a specific project. Some projects are only interior and do not have any structural changes. This type of project can usually be done fairly inexpensively, which I consider around $500. Other projects that are much more complex in nature due to the amount of structural changes taking place can run a couple thousand dollars. Projects that are very large in square footage or scope can run more than that, but these projects are not the most common. Most projects can be completed between the $500.00 to $2,000.00 range.

“HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO COMPLETE THE DRAWING PROCESS?”
The amount of time a project takes to complete can also vary. This is usually dependent on how visual or decisive a client is and is not usually due to Home Options Design taking too long. An average time frame for completing drawings on a mid size project would run approximately 4 weeks. Smaller projects can be completed in as little as a few days, with large or complex projects taking up to 8 weeks. Once again, the average project should be able to be completed in only a few days to a four weeks.

QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR SPECIFIC PROJECT DESIGN?
If you have any questions about a specific project, please contact me. I will be happy to answer any question you have. Thank you for taking the time to visit our website and I look forward to serving you for your project design needs.

Tommy

Home Options Design logo | providing Residential & Light Commercial project design in Northeast Florida

Home Options Design Blog

HomeOptionsDesign — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 19:01:57 +0000

Welcome to Home Options Design Blog!

Home Options Design provides Residential & Light Commercial Project Design and Consulting Services in the North Florida area. We take a special interest in environmentally considerate project design and consulting thus minimizing impacts to the environment. We offer a wide variety of sustainable, healthy, and environmentally responsible products and technologies as well. Please visit the rest of our pages on my website for more information Home Options Design