|
 Building
for the century...
 At
Oke Woodsmith, we do much more than build houses. We take design
ideas from our clients, meld them with our own, and keep our
collective relationship on track during the construction process and
beyond.
Like any good
marriage counsellor, we help our clients over rough patches when
they second-guess themselves and need confirmation they've made the
right decisions. We haven't had a divorce yet; in fact, many of our
clients are building their second or third home with us, so it seems
we're headed in the right direction.
While anyone can
build a house, we believe it's much harder to build a home. Infusing
a building with personality and function comes from listening to our
clients throughout the construction process. Our foremen and
building superintendents meet with clients daily on their property
and ensure they understand what they're getting in their new home.
It's
not just our communication skills that attract clients to our
company, however. We keep ourselves, and our tradespeople, up to
date on advances in building science. Many of our houses are
constructed of Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF), which we believe is
the very best way to build a home.
During the
construction process, we pour cement into insulated styrofoam forms
that have been reinforced with rebar steel. The forms stay in place
and become part of the finished wall, resulting in a concrete mass
that eliminates drafts and deadens sound. ICF homes, in fact, are
100 per cent more energy efficient and 300 per cent quieter than a
conventional wood-frame home. Homeowners never have to worry about
being cold - even when gale-force winds are blowing off the Great
Lakes during the frigid winter months.
In the interests of
comfort, we encourage our clients to heat their homes with radiant
in-floor heating, which provides a consistent temperature from floor
to ceiling and doesn't circulate dust. We often pair radiant heating
with engineered wood flooring since it doesn't shrink as natural
hardwoods do. Ceramic or porcelain tile are also an effective medium
for transferring and retaining heat.
In this edition of
the magazine, we've presented a cross-section of homes that
exemplify our design ethic: we avoid hallways, particularly in
smaller homes, since they represent wasted space. We also use a
variety of ceiling treatments to define open-concept living areas,
which is particularly evident in Don and Marg Bulloch's home in
Grand Bend. We believe in filling a home with light and we use
skylights and windows in strategic places, including in bathrooms,
hallways, closets and even walk-in pantries, to make a home as
inviting as possible.
We encourage our
clients to accompany us to an annual builders' show in the U.S.
where they're able to see the latest American design elements. We
try to incorporate features, such as large islands in kitchens, that
aren't used locally.
Our clients'
options are as broad as their budgets and imaginations will allow.
They must be prepared, however, to invest time in making thoughtful
decisions about finishes and materials, which adds up to making the
difference between building a house - or building a home.
At Oke Woodsmith,
we're building not just for the decade, but also for the century.
Our hope is that the next generation will renovate and update our
buildings a hundred years from now.
Whether it's
a home or an office building, we feel confident that the structure
will be as solid as the day it was built.
   
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Oke Woodsmith Building Systems
Inc., 70964
Bluewater Highway, Grand Bend, Ontario Canada N0M 1T0
Phone (519) 238-8893 Fax (519) 238-8894
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