House Design

winter construction Ontario

Home Addition Planning in Winter: What You Can Start Now (and What to Wait For)

January hits and most homeowners assume construction season is months away, so they put additional plans on hold until spring. That’s a mistake. Winter construction Ontario homeowners avoid on the ground doesn’t mean winter planning has to stop, and treating the cold months as dead time usually means starting your actual build later than you

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open concept renovation structural beam

Open Concept Additions Done Right: Structural Beams, HVAC, and Sound

Everyone wants the open concept kitchen and family room they see in renovation shows. Almost nobody asks what’s holding the ceiling up once the wall between them disappears. That’s the gap between a good open concept renovation and a disappointing one, and it usually comes down to three things: the open concept renovation structural beam

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rear addition vs renovation

Rear Additions vs. Full Renovation: How to Decide What’s Worth It

Every homeowner who’s outgrown their space eventually asks the same question: do I add on, or do I renovate what I already have? It’s not a small decision. Get it wrong, and you either spend money on a renovation that never solves your real problem, or you build an addition your neighbourhood comps can’t support.

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second storey addition Oakville

Second-Storey Additions in Oakville: Pros, Cons, and Planning Risks

If you love your lot but you’ve outgrown your floor plan, a second storey addition Oakville homeowners choose is often the answer, especially on smaller or narrower lots where a rear addition simply isn’t an option. But going up isn’t automatically easier or cheaper than going out, and it comes with its own set of

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finish selections checklist

Selecting Finishes Like a Pro: A Selections Checklist for Custom Homes

Ask any GTA builder what causes the most delays on a custom build, and finish selections will be near the top of the list. Not framing issues. Not permit backlogs. Just homeowners staring at a wall of tile samples, unsure what to pick, while the schedule quietly slips. A finish selection checklist fixes that. It

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construction contract allowances

Construction Contracts 101: Allowances, Change Orders, and Payment Schedules

Most homeowners sign a construction contract without reading past the total price at the bottom. That’s how disputes start. The real risk in any build isn’t the number on page one, it’s the construction contract allowances buried in the fine print, the change order process nobody explained, and a progress payment schedule that doesn’t match

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scope creep construction

Design Freeze Rules: How to Prevent Budget Creep in Custom Builds

If you’ve talked to anyone who’s built a custom home in the GTA, you’ve probably heard some version of the same story: the budget was fine until the client changed the kitchen layout for the third time. That’s not a contractor problem. It’s a process problem, and it has a name: scope creep construction teams

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committee of adjustment Ontario

Committee of Adjustment 101: When Your Addition Needs Minor Variances

Planning a home addition in Oakville, Burlington, or anywhere in the GTA? There’s a good chance your design won’t fit neatly inside your municipality’s zoning bylaw. That’s not a red flag. It’s just how additions work in older, established neighbourhoods. When your plans push past a setback, height limit, or lot coverage rule, you’ll need

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value engineering construction

Value Engineering Without Cheapening Your Home: A Luxury Builder’s Guide

Most homeowners hear “cut costs” and immediately picture lower ceilings, thinner walls, and finishes that look worn within two years. That’s not value engineering, that’s just cutting corners. Real value engineering in construction is something different. It’s the disciplined process of identifying where your budget is working hard and where it isn’t. Done right, you

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Custom Home Budgeting in 2026

Custom Home Budgeting in 2026: Where Your Money Actually Goes

You’ve set a budget for your custom home. Maybe it’s $1.2 million. Maybe it’s $2 million. Either way, you’re probably wondering the same thing every homeowner wonders: where does all that money actually go? It’s a fair question, and the answer matters more than most people realize. Understanding a custom home budget at the category

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Roofing Company In toronto

Innovative Roofing Options for A More Sustainable Home

Sustainability is the trend in home design these days – and it’s not difficult to see why. Aesthetic value aside, green homes are energy-efficient; they use less energy and are much cheaper to run. Also, for a world that’s racing against the possible adverse effects of global warming, reducing a home’s environmental footprint is a

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Custom Home Builders in Oakville

How to Build Your Dream Home With Oakville Home Builders

Constructing, or remodeling, a house is the best thing you’ll ever do. It’s also the most complicated, expensive, and time-consuming task that you’ll ever undertake. However, if you work with a professional and experienced construction company like BRIKS Design-Build Group, you can have your dream home become a reality in no time! If you are

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custom home

5 Ways to Make Your Custom Design Home in Mississauga Stand Out

At BRIKS Design-Build Group, we’re one of the leading Mississauga home builders and one of the best design firms out there. We offer premiere general contracting services for all types of residential and commercial projects. There’s a few elements to ensure your custom home will truly stand out. Invest in Landscaping Landscaping Design Ideas for

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custom home building

Why Sustainable Design Should Matter More than Ever to Toronto Custom Home Builders

Ready to be transported to your future custom home in Toronto? Pristine marble tile in your front entranceway glints as you walk in the front door. It has a minimalistic design that feels calming in nature and serene almost immediately upon entering. Not only is your custom-built home in Toronto beautiful, it can actually improve

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kitchen budget plan

5 New Trends for the Hottest Kitchen Designs

Each year, the hottest kitchen design trends make headlines, and this summer is no different. In architecture, interior home design and custom-home building, today’s hottest kitchen designs are soulful and quiet with earthly materials, fusing indoor and outdoor worlds, two-toned cabinetry and mingling metals with matte black everywhere and a general weathered sea-salt-of-the-earth feel. Matte

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luxury home

What Luxury Homes will look like for Millennials

What will luxury homes look like for Millennials? For the future generation of homeowners, sustainable luxury, innovation, and energetic design will be the new signal of affluence. That doesn’t mean that there won’t still be incredible class, timelessness, and luxury involved in the design process. From luxurious penthouse apartments to 10,000-square-foot “humble abodes,” Millennials still

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pixasquare

These are the NEW Home Construction Trends Home Buyers Want

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text c_id=”.vc_1604908338947″] New home construction trends are constantly evolving. Believe it or not, you might be surprised to discover that the new home construction trends relevant to the modern millennial generation are quickly evolving faster than we’ve ever anticipated to know. With more and more homebuyers of the future demanding functional design, it makes a

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Most popular flooring for kitchens and bathrooms

Most popular flooring for kitchens and bathrooms

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text c_id=”.vc_1623050491986″]What’s the most popular flooring for kitchens and bathrooms? There’s no denying that the quality of your interior finishes for your custom home or home renovation has a significant impact on the look and atmosphere of its style. As a custom home builder, we’re dedicated to helping you make choices that are timeless, durable

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How Millennials are influencing custom home building

How Millennials are influencing custom home building

In the custom home building industry, it’s important to be at the leading edge of innovation and design trends. Quite simply, to meet the demands of constantly evolving lifestyles. The newest home buyers on the horizon are Millennials. Since they don’t have the same lifestyle of their Baby Boomer parents, they have different home design tastes

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Millennials Should Build Their Homes Instead of Buy

Here’s Why Millennials Should Build Their Homes Instead of Buy

Millennial homeownership. It’s not news to anyone that Millennials aren’t buying homes in the same way that the previous generation did. You might be thinking… Fact or fiction? Turns out there might be some truth to this. But it doesn’t mean they don’t still have dreams of “millennial homeownership”. In fact, in Canada, Millennial homeownership

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Build Your Dream Home with BRIKS

Build Your Dream Home with BRIKS Design-Build Group

Finding your dream home in today’s real estate market isn’t easy. Instead, many home buyers are using design-build firms to start from the ground up. A design-build firm offers the option to customize every detail to suit their clients needs. With the ability to land desirable addresses in high-demand neighbourhoods, building your dream home has

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