Owner's Ace Blog

As I look at the custom homes in Tampa and St. Petersburg that we’ve completed over the last couple of years, I really need to hand it to our design team.  They’ve done a great job with outdoor spaces.  Here are some items that turned a few heads that you might want to incorporate into your custo...

Termites thrive in Florida’s warm, wet climate.  They are a nuisance that causes more damage to homes each year than fires.  There are several preventative steps your builder can do when building a custom home to lessen the chances of termites in your new home. Termites have been around for milli...

With Hurricane Irene battering the east coast, I thought it would be timely to provide our perspective on the best ways to storm proof a new home.  For custom homes in Tampa and St. Petersburg, it really comes down to the exterior walls, roof, windows and exterior doors.  Here are our recommendat...

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple of decades, you’ve probably heard that the sun has this unique ability to provide energy and heating for homes.  To be fair, it's not a recent discovery.  The ancient Greeks and Chinese took advantage of the sun centuries ago by orienting...

Right about the time my kids were getting all excited to go back to school, we received our annual property tax notice.  Talk about your highs and lows.  The first thing I noticed is that it is VERY colorful.  My daughter was the first to comment, “Oooo, how pretty!”  You have to love the innocen...

We have avoided this topic for some time.  Let’s face it, home foundations are as exciting as talking about your car’s tires.  You may recall that old tire advertisement slogan, “Tires ain’t pretty!”  Well, the same is true for a home’s foundation.  Just like your tires, there’s a lot riding on t...

Unlike building in a planned community where there are no old homes, the custom homes we build in Tampa and St. Petersburg are located in mature neighborhoods.  That means we typically have to demolish an existing home before we begin construction. Demolition Day can be quite an event.  The homeo...

It’s been a great summer, but it’s back to school time for many of us.  As we’ve eased our kids back into an earlier bedtime routine, I realized several things about our custom homes that really make this back to school time easier. One of the primary reasons many people choose to build a new hom...

Will you hug your boss today?  I said boss, not bass.  Today’s the day to let your boss know exactly how you feel.  Stop laughing.  Even if you hate him or her, it’s time to suck it up for five seconds and give your boss a big bear hug.  At least that’s what the job recruitment website that start...

For many people, cupcakes are just a nice tasty treat for kid’s birthday parties, but they are so much more to my family. Unfortunately, we completely lack self-control. Our car regularly steers itself into the local bakery or Publix for a 6-pack. No special occasion. Just gotta have one. So when...