For me, being on TV was always about educating people on how to do it right when it came to their homes. How to Build it Right, Own it Right, Protect it Right, and Sell it Right. From teaching you what’s behind your walls to picking the right materials, I want to improve people’s homeownership experience from the minute they step foot in it or decide to take on a new build or renovation project.

That’s why I love working with builders like Miller Contracting who are dedicated to the highest quality, open communication, and reliability when it comes to customer service, building you the home of your dreams.

Healthy Homes

Why do I think Healthy Homes are an important topic to discuss? Because there is a lot in your home that can affect your health without us even knowing, from the air in your home to the water you drink. That’s why it’s important to take the right steps to improve your indoor air quality. 

The Dangers of Radon Gas

Did you know that radon is one of the most toxic gases that has been discovered to be the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers? And did you know that radon can make its way into your water if you rely on well water?

The fact is, all homes will contain some amount of radon. The question is: how much, and do you need to perform some mitigation strategies? 

The first step is to get your house tested, and while there’s no bad time to test your home for radon, the winter months offer a prime opportunity as we tend to keep our homes more tightly sealed. Once you have your results back it is then important to invest in the right products to help mitigate the problem, whether it’s smart monitoring devices from Radon Environmental Corp. or an Airwell in the case that you have radon in your well water.

This is a good article about mitigating radon in your home.

If you suspect that you have Radon in your home, then it’s best to call the pros and get your home tested. Here are some of the other jobs best left to the pros.

The Holmes On Homes Podcast

For me, launching a podcast was a natural next step in my career. This is a chance for YOU to listen to in-depth, unfiltered conversations that I have with the subject matter and industry experts.

Why is indoor air quality important? Why should you care about scale in your water?
Are swimming pools a good investment? I get into all that and more on my Holmes On Homes podcast.

You can watch the podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, or listen to them on any major podcast platform. Hope you enjoy it and learn something!

About Holmes Approved Homes and Miller Contracting

Homes are a big investment —so it is only natural that you lay the right foundations to save you time and money down the road. The Holmes Approved Homes program is designed to give homebuyers a home that’s built right the first time.  This program is about integrating the right building products with the right technology and practices to build you a home that goes beyond residential standards, from construction to final inspection.

Miller Contracting is a top custom home builder that has built a reputation based on honesty, open communication, reliability, customer service, and completing every job on time and on budget. Quality, integrity, and attention to craftsmanship go into every Miller custom home; but only one is built with your future in mind.

Being a Holmes Approved Home Builder means that each custom home and renovation completed by Miller Contracting goes through 3rd party, unbiased inspections during various stages of construction. The result? Simply a better-built home.

If you have seen any of my TV shows, you KNOW I don’t recommend that homeowners try to save a few dollars by doing work around the house they aren’t qualified to do. You can make a much bigger mess and compromise the safety, structure or durability of your home. Then I’ll have to come in and fix the mess.

Stay away from these jobs that require a trained professional:

#1 Plumbing Jobs

Are you considering taking on your plumbing jobs or repairs? Wait. Your home’s plumbing is complex and tackling a plumbing job yourself can make a mess of your lines or cause flooding in your home. Licensed plumbers have years of training and on-the-job experience, so leave any plumbing jobs to the professionals.

#2 Electrical Work

Even I don’t touch my own electrical work. I get so nervous when I hear of homeowners taking on their own electrical projects because it’s NOT SAFE. If you don’t know what you’re doing, someone could get seriously hurt – or worse. Think about this – electrical fires make up about 15 per cent of all fires in Canada. Bring in a licensed electrical contractor to do the work, no matter how small you think the job might be.

#3 HVAC

Your heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system is the lungs of your home. It is a complex system that shouldn’t be messed with. For your family’s health and the health of your home don’t do any DIY on your HVAC system. Hire a professional to make it right.

#4 Asbestos Removal

Asbestos was commonly used in building materials up until the late 1970s, so there are many homes that may contain it. Asbestos becomes dangerous when it’s disturbed or when the asbestos-containing material starts to deteriorate. If this is the case, hiring a professional asbestos abatement company is the only way to remove and dispose of the material safely and properly. Trust me – asbestos removal is not a DIY job.

#5 Roof Install or Repairs

It’s important to know the signs that you may have issues with your roof – curling or missing shingles, a leak in your bedroom ceiling. But unless you REALLY know what you’re doing, you should leave your roof repairs to the pros. Firstly, most homeowners do not have the right safety equipment to get up on their roofs. Why risk it?

Fixing it yourself will just be a “band-aid” solution and will lead to bigger issues down the road. And don’t forget – standing on your roof isn’t exactly a safe place to be. Call a professional roofer to identify problem spots and to do repairs properly and safely.

Here are 5 repair projects you CAN do on your own.

About Miller Contracting and Holmes Approved Homes:

Miller Contracting is a Mike Holmes Approved builder. Being part of the Holmes Approved Homes program means each home built by Miller Contracting is inspected by Mike Holmes Inspections. The result? A better built home and PEACE OF MIND.

Anyone with an older (or maybe some not-so-old) home knows what I’m talking about – drafts, breezes, hot rooms, cold rooms, and no consistent temperatures.  When you build a home with energy efficiency as a goal, you should also be thinking of occupant comfort.  That is certainly on our minds when we build, and that is why a system like the BASF XR series wall system delivers not only lower bills but a really comfortable home.  Miller Contracting was first introduced to BASF’s system due to our relationship with Mike Holmes as a Holmes Approved Homes builder.

There is definitely a science behind your comfort level – warm air moves to cold, so if your wall is transferring heat to the outside on a -30 degree day, the heat from your body is going to the wall, so you feel chilled.  The BASF XR wall stops that with a system consisting of:

1. NEOPOR™ graphite-enhanced exterior rigid insulation;
2. WALLTITE™ spray foam that also increases the structural rigidity of the wall, and;
3. MASTERSEAL™ NP1, a superior sealant to keep moisture out of the wall cavities and seal up the wall.

With the XR wall system, the heat stays where you want – inside.  Walls stay warm, and you don’t feel the heat from your body transferring to the wall.  Building this wall system is a bit of a departure from the standard building practices we’ve seen over the past few decades, but it’s worth it.  There is another component to comfort though, and that is your home’s heating system.

As we build better homes, the HVAC system we choose has to keep up to match the house.  One of the pitfalls today is that with an energy-efficient home, HVAC systems can be oversized quite easily.  The same size house that’s 30 years old but has a lot of air leakage and less insulation is going to need a bigger furnace.  You don’t want or need that in a new house because you will quickly become uncomfortable due to too much heating or cooling from the bigger furnace.  So, with the XR wall system, we look for a furnace to match the performance, such as the Dettson Chinook low-velocity furnace.  These furnaces are fully modulating and smart, meaning they adjust both flame and fan speed to match exactly what you need to keep your home at the set point on the thermostat.  No more dropping a degree, the furnace kicks in, raises it a degree, shuts off, and 20 minutes later the process is repeated.  Temperature goes up, temperature goes down, and you aren’t as comfortable as you could be.  With a Dettson modulating furnace, it keeps the temperature exactly where you set it.  And, they use less energy to run so you save on your gas bill.

This all goes back to our philosophy of looking at the whole home as a system – everything has to work together.  And that is related to our overall goal – building you a home that is cheaper to operate, lasts longer, and is more comfortable to live in for you and your family.  As Mike Holmes always says, it’s what’s inside your walls that counts!

Dan Yungwirth
General Manager
Miller Contracting Ltd.

The Switch to LED Lighting

An area that has dramatically changed in just a few years is lighting and the transfer to LED from incandescent.  LED lighting lasts longer, produces less heat, and costs significantly less to operate.  Who doesn’t like lower electrical bills (besides the power company?)  Furthermore, some LED lighting can be installed with no electrical box required – a low-voltage wire is simply run to the fixture – resulting in quicker installation.  And, if you want a light in a specific location, it’s easy to place exactly where you want it. Plus, wouldn’t it be nice not to have to climb that dangerous ladder every year to change the light bulbs in that fixture dangling above the second-floor stairwell?

Home Automation Systems

A new home construction trend we are also seeing more and more is home automation. Home automation is getting more attention from new home buyers.  The options for running and maintaining your home with automation is endless – from simple temperature control, to unlocking doors, to turning lights on and off and security features galore.  Much of those things can be pre-wired at the time of rough-ins to make hookup later an easy process.  Make sure this becomes part of your planning discussions with your home builder. Home automation systems are great for energy management and cost savings. They also add an extra layer of security.

Protect It Right with Surge Protection

One thing we at Miller Contracting have made a standard item recently is whole-home surge protection at the main electrical panel. We prefer products from Eaton (a Holmes Approved Product) that get installed right at the panel.  Why is surge protection important?  Someone from Eaton asked us “What do you protect in your home with a surge protector?”  Most of us answered “Computer.”  The next question was “How many computers do you have in your home?”  “Duh – one or two like everyone else.”   Aha – gotcha.  Everything has a computer now – your fridge, stove, microwave oven, dishwasher, clothes washer, dryer, and more.  And, the biggest source of electrical surges in your home is …… your garage door opener!  Every time your opener starts, it sends a surge through your system.  Who knew?  It’s those little surges over and over for a long period of time that damages your expensive electronics. In fact, Mike Holmes always tells the story of how he once lost $25,000 in appliances due to a surge. That’s why we partnered with Holmes Approved Homes, because they have relationships with experts who pass on their knowledge to us, so we can build you a better home.

So, when it’s time to consider a new home, look for an experienced home builder who has access to knowledge so they can build you exactly what you are looking for in a new home.  Remember, what’s inside the walls (and attached to your electrical panel) is just as important as the things you see.  Happy New Year, and all the best in 2019!

Dan Yungwirth
General Manager
Miller Contracting

Generally, there are two ways a new home can achieve desired results.  The prescriptive path is sort of like a checklist – if I do this, that, and the next thing from a list of acceptable practices, my home will meet requirements.  It’s a pretty simple way to achieve the desired result.  Think of it like a “Thou shalt do…” type of list.

The second method is a performance path.  That means that you may design the home to achieve a certain certification – Energy Star or R2000, for example.  How that could work is perhaps you don’t meet the minimum prescriptive requirement in one area, but you more than make up for it in another.  The end result is the home uses the same or less gigajoules of energy than if you used the prescriptive path.  It provides more flexibility in design and equipment usage than a prescriptive method.

If you are building a new home, what should you do?  First, align yourself with a reputable designer – one who understands how to design what you want, but also someone who understands how to implement the new code into the design.  Again, the calculations need to be shown on the plan, so your designer should be able to carry that out.  You may want to go with a performance plan, so you will need access to an Energy Advisor (EA.)  An EA will be able to use software to model your home and advise how much energy the home should use, and may be able to register the home to be certified under a program such as Energy Star.

If all of this seems complicated, it’s probably because it sort of is.  There has been an immense amount of changes headed towards new home builders in the past year or so.  Your best move is to contact a reputable builder who can guide you through the process.  Your builder should be able to answer your energy-efficiency questions.  They will also be able to steer you towards good designers and Energy Advisors so you can get the home you want.  And, the builder will understand how to construct the home to be energy efficient.  In the end, your home should cost less to run, be more durable, and structurally sound.  Isn’t that what we all want?

Dan Yungwirth
General Manager

• “How long have you been in business?” This is a question to help you judge the builders’ level of expertise.  More importantly, do they have the experience to be able to deal with different challenges and scenarios during your build?  Keep in mind, a corollary to this is how many different projects the builder has successfully completed.  A shorter number of years in business can be compensated for by quantity and variety.
• “What is your area of expertise?” Like many people, builders gravitate towards things they love.  Some become experts in energy-efficient homes, while some are experts in exquisitely fine finishing details.  If you are looking for something very specific in your new home that is very valuable to you, find a builder who can satisfy that desire, without sacrificing quality in other areas.
• “Do you have insurance and warranty, and what is covered?” Your builder should have liability insurance in case a mistake is made that can become a problem.  Especially for custom builders, do they carry Course of Construction insurance?  COC policies will cover typical perils like fire during construction, so that you don’t have that worry.  One area often overlooked is workers compensation insurance.  Check the legislation where you live – often, if you are the property owner, you are responsible for everyone’s health and safety.  Many contractors will assume that liability from you as part of their contract, providing immense peace of mind.  A lawsuit against you in case someone gets hurt building your home is avoidable.  Good contractors make sure workers are working safely, and are covered by their policy. As far as warranty goes, your builder should offer at least a five-year structural warranty along with everything covered the first year.  Some warranty providers will also cover things like water infiltration, systems coverage, and various lengths of coverage.  Some provinces now have mandatory new home warranty; regardless, ask questions so you are clear as to what is covered and what is not.
• “What professional associations do you belong to?” To me, this is an indication of a builder’s willingness to stay on top of current trends, building codes, and best practices.  My parents told me to surround myself with people who I want to be like.  Professional builders understand the importance of belonging to their local Home Builders Association or Construction Association, the Chamber of Commerce, Holmes Approved Homes program, or similar professional groups.
• “Can I speak to some references?” Professional builders will have developed a good reputation over time and will be able to put you in touch with a few clients.  Ask them what their experience was like, and don’t just look for the good stuff.  Ask how the builder was able to address and rectify challenges that came up during construction.  This will give you a feel for how they will be able to handle challenges with you.  Online reviews can be valuable as well; be aware that they can more easily be manipulated or outright fake.  Don’t use them as a substitute for talking to real, live people!

Of course, ask any other questions of your builder that you think are important.  This list is not meant to be all, but what I believe will capture the important aspects of your builder.  It’s a consequential relationship – don’t go on a blind date!  Be prepared, and look forward with excitement to moving day!

Dan Yungwirth
General Manager

But, who checks the builder?  After all, we are all human and make mistakes despite our best intentions.  Of course, municipalities are the Authority Having Jurisdiction under the National Building Code.  So, houses have to undergo municipal progress inspections at different stages such as foundation, framing, and others up to completion.  These are vital inspections.  But, municipal inspectors check to make sure your house is built to minimum building code only.  What if you want your house to go beyond minimum code?  Holmes Approved Homes Builders implement additional third-party inspections.  These inspectors are independent of the builder and importantly, are experts in their field.  They are building scientists.  So, they not only look for minimum code, they look for “best practices.”  Best practice building means that the builder is looking to improve materials and processes so you get a house that is more sturdy, lasts longer, is more energy-efficient, and requires less maintenance over the long run than a code-built home.

Holmes Approved Homes Inspections can be customized from three inspections to as many as six inspections, covering everything from foundation, energy efficiency, roofing, and healthy home aspects among others.  One of the most valuable that we have found is the thermographic scan.  The Holmes inspector scans the whole home with an infrared camera to find potential insulation deficiencies.  It even helped us find a tiny water leak on a new home that probably would have gone undetected for a long time!  Speaking for ourselves at Miller Contracting, we have certainly utilized the expertise of our inspectors to improve the way we do certain things during a build.  This means that we can be confident that when we turn a home over, we can be confident we are turning over a well-built home that will last.  Most important though, is that the new homeowners can be confident that their new Miller Contracting home is well-built and that nagging feeling stays away with the excitement of a new home remaining for a long time.

Dan Yungwirth
General Manager