Building your own home or cottage is exciting — and overwhelming. But, when you have the support from a team like Co-op, the process from start to finish is much easier. You get the job done right, exactly the way you want it.
When we heard that Jeremy Hessdorfer, the Home and Building Solutions Division Manager from the Saskatoon Co-op, is using Co-op’s Roxboro Plan to build his home, we jumped at the chance to speak to him ‘on the record’.
This interview is unique. We get to experience first-hand the process of building a house from a Co-op employee who is also a Co-op customer. Don’t worry, Jeremy made it very clear that Co-op wasn’t playing favourites just because he’s an employee.
Jeremy, we understand that you’re building a home just outside of Saskatoon with the Roxboro Plan from the Co-op Home and Cottage Plans Collection?
Jeremy Hessdorfer: “That’s right, yes. It’s the first home that my wife and I have built.”
Can you walk us through the process a little bit?
JH: “We were playing with the idea of building a house and we decided to look at potential floor plans. We looked at a number of different companies for plans and saw a variety of different generic floor plans you can find online. And then we looked at the Co-op floor plans.
There are a variety of different floor plans to choose from, and we just came across the Roxboro Plan. There were a number of elements in that floor plan that really spoke to us -- elements we didn't see in any of the other plans.”
I know Co-op plans are customizable for different family needs, did you and your wife make any adjustments to the Roxboro Plans?
JH: “Yes, so this was the next step after determining the floor plan. We were put in touch with a company called CADVantage, who does all the drafting services for the Co-op.
We set up a meeting and gave CADVantage a wish list of things we wanted to tweak on the plan. Although, if you look at what the plan is today, the bones of the original plan are all still there. We made a few small changes like removing a window here and adding a window there. We added a couple of cantilevers to make things a little bit bigger on the main floor.
We also added an additional bay in the garage. So, instead of a two-car garage it’s now a three car garage. This was important because we are on an acreage and I figure we’re going to have some farm machinery or at least something to cut the grass.
It’s also important during the winter when we get a dumping of snow. My fear is that our machinery to push the snow would be trapped behind the car and I wouldn’t be able to get the car out to plow the snow. So, we added a third bay.”
Jeremy, how have you found building your house with Co-op and also working with Co-op?
JH: “I have said to my team, ‘Don't treat me any different than you treat another customer.’ I'm using this as a chance to see what my customers go through and be able to evaluate my team. We have a system set up where my contractor just emails the sales representative at the Co-op and the products are sent out within 24 hours. It’s a simple process.”
You heard it from this home-builder first: building a home has never been easier than with Co-op. In conjunction with CADvantage Design, Co-op offers customizable floor plans, providing layouts ranging from traditional to modern and contemporary.
Head into your local Co-op Home Centre to modify an existing plan, finalize drawings and create a material package that’s right for you.
