by Nisha MacNeil, Design Manager When our client came to us with a leaking, outdated and dark basement in her West Side home, we knew we could knock it out of the park. I thought, “This renovation is going to have some very dramatic before and after photos!” And it sure did. This home, built-in…
Kerr Design Build completed a major home renovation for a client in central Vancouver. The homeowner wanted to bring family from Alberta to live with her and desired a total renovation to accommodate everyone. Increase living space and sunlight A major facet of the renovation was lifting the house so that higher basement walls could…
You have decided to build a new custom home or renovate your existing one. Now you are trying to work out what the best type of construction process and contract is to choose. Custom home build contract choices The two main choices are cost-plus and fixed fee. Cost-plus means that all the labour, materials, and…
Perfection is in the eye of the beholder, especially the client. When you give them exactly what they want, that is perfection to us. Especially when they keep asking you to come back and do more for them. In early 2020, we started a project for a couple on W 39 St. The lady of…
Doug Kerr, the founder of Kerr Design Build, is proud of the lengths our company goes to improve a client’s project, even in small ways. Our staff is committed to the quality of their work and constantly thinks of improvements that can benefit the client. Recently, we created a series of videos in which Doug…
This past year, Kerr Design Build started a major home renovation in Delta, just north of Point Roberts on Boundary Bay. The renovation involves raising the roof by two feet to create 10-foot interior ceilings throughout the house, as well as a nearly total gutting of the interior. This allows for the creation of three completely…
Feeling cramped in your single-story house, with seemingly nowhere to go? Even if your lot is relatively small, don’t despair. Starting out in a bungalow or other one-story structure gives you great opportunities when space gets tight. A wise and practical solution to gaining more usable room is to go up literally. Whether you have…
by Nisha MacNeil, Design Manager People have different purposes for their homes and those purposes can change over time. One of our clients is a retired couple and their nest has been empty for a while. As the kids had gone and the grandchildren were now coming to visit and they loved to entertain, they wanted to…
by Elton Donald, Senior Project Consultant When you’re trying to figure out who you want to work with, don’t put so much focus on what the price is. Of course, it’s going to come down to price. Of course, you have to get value for what you’re getting. You have to have an understanding of…
For this client with a young family, we were engaged initially to update the exterior of their W 12 Av. heritage home. But the extensive nature of the modifications first envisaged would have been a challenge to get approved by the city’s Heritage Commission so only a minor update to the home’s siding was done. But…
Just because the real estate market in Vancouver is not as hot as it once was, does not mean that the housing supply for the rental market in this city has changed. It is still very tight. Cost and availability of rental housing tight The cost of renting a one-bedroom apartment is roughly $2,100 a month and…
Elton Donald has been with Kerr Design Build for almost his whole working life. He started here in high school. His Grade 10 summer was spent painting basements and carrying out garbage on construction sites. Today, he is a partner and senior project consultant. Quality of workmanship is a point of pride When you ask…
If you live in an older or heritage home, lifting it as part of a home renovation has tremendous advantages. There are eight great reasons for doing so. A house lift is done by digging out the current basement to a new depth and then extending the foundation walls downwards to support the home on…
If you are embarking on a kitchen renovation you need to consider these ‘top 10 kitchen renovation must-haves’ when planning your kitchen to be not only good but great! 1. Timeless Design Consider your house as a whole. What year was it built? What is the overall style? Ideally, your home should flow from room…
Vancouver has lost many of its character buildings that have history and heritage to replacement by condominiums and other multi-dwelling properties. It has been a sad trend. The City of Vancouver is concerned about heritage conservation and has an active heritage management plan. You can download the latest staff report to see what is going…
It may not be a trend, but several homeowners have recently asked our designers at Kerr Design Build to develop traditional designs for their homes. This is something novel for Vancouver, which generally has been on the cutting edge of modern design. I can’t say it is a trend, but it is definitely different from…
In 2020 and early 2021, people in the Lower Mainland spent a lot more time at home. Today, many are still working from home and some children continue to be homeschooled as an option. “Home” still more important today Today, the home is still the heart of everyone’s activity and, if you are reading this,…
by Elton Donald, Senior Project Consultant If you go on your site and some guy meets you one time, measures two things, and goes away and then issues you a quotation for construction, I find that to be hard to want to emulate and follow that process. For me, it would not even hit the…
Kerr Design Build last year completed an alteration and an addition to an existing single-family dwelling on a beautiful property in North Vancouver. The home, although trendy when first built in the 1950s, had fallen behind the times, and the owners decided it needed some tender loving care to improve their quality of life and…
Our years of experience at Kerr Design Build have taught us that there is a natural law at work in home renovation costs. We call it the “1-10-100 rule.” This little rule makes or breaks a client’s budget. Violations of it can destroy a client’s peace of mind. How the law works The rule goes…
by Elton Donald, Senior Project Consultant Almost every day I go to meet someone and they ask me, “Can I do this addition?” or “Can I add this square footage?” or “Can I put on this window on this section of my house?” All these types of questions I get asked all the time. Another…
On July 18, the staff of Kerr Design Build enjoyed a day out on the polo grounds at the Vancouver Polo Club in Ladner. Along with the staff of sister company, Absolute Roof Solutions, they got on their polo ponies and made a valiant attempt to learn the “sport of Kings.” They met with varying…
This past weekend Doug Kerr, founder of Kerr Design Build, participated in the 2021 West Coast Classic Polo Tournament at the Vancouver Polo Club as a member of the winning Domino Ryan team. Doug, who has been getting proficient at polo the last few years, donated his $500 share of the $2,000 winnings along with…
BUILD Magazine, a prestigious monthly publication based in the UK that covers the global construction and property industries, has recognized Kerr Design Build as one of the top design-build firms worldwide. For the last seven years, BUILD has acknowledged premier construction, design and architectural firms around the world with their annual awards. This year’s awards…
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