Continuing to Evolve

Steady demand for homes along our state’s beaches prompts more sustainable and efficient practices from Delaware’s Coastal Building and Construction Industry

BY MARNIE OURSLER

CONSTRUCTION, much like any other industry, has certainly changed over the past few years. With everything the COVID-19 pandemic affected, builders throughout our area faced major roadblocks in our standard everyday practices and procedures. As builders who specialize in custom homes along the Delaware beaches, my team and I faced an incredible increase in demand for secondary homes as people wanted to get away from larger cities, but still spend time in their own homes along the coastline.

As national demand for new construction and home improvements surged, our own area’s inventory became sparse, driving home prices even higher. Recent high interest rates have slightly damped this demand; however, we are still very busy building at the beach. Overall building and construction material and labor prices have increased drastically since 2019, and although prices have stabilized, they have not come down to pre-pandemic levels. All of this has also disrupted our industry’s supply chains, which are just now becoming more balanced. We are still seeing delays with certain home products, but for the most part, logistically, it’s close to pre-pandemic timelines.

Strong Foundations

Building oceanfront and beachfront homes requires strict protocols to properly reinforce a build to withstand nature’s elements. It all starts with the foundation, so we typically build strong concrete foundations and go up from there with a steel framed structure. One of our main priorities is incorporating steel into every build to withstand high winds and heavy driving rain. And when building close to the water, we abide by rigorous regulations to comply with strict flooding and flood zones.

We respect the ocean and the forces of nature, so sustainability has always been a part of our process. We use nationally- and locally-sourced, environmentally-friendly products that thankfully have become much more available over the years. For efficiency purposes, we recommend high-efficiency and high SEER heat pumps, geothermal tankless water heaters, solar panels, and windows and doors with good R-values. With an abundance of insulation options, it’s become standard practice to ensure our homes are as energy efficient as possible.

Innovations

Most of our process is now completely paperless. While we still have a set of blueprints at each of our builds and in our office, most everything we do is on our computers, iPads, and phones. We communicate with clients, vendors, and each other through various industry software platforms, which is a more efficient process overall and eliminates the need for paper copies.

A few building and innovation trends we continue to incorporate— and receive requests for—include Luxury Vinyl Tile or LVP, especially at the beach. Manufacturers have made big strides with this type of product; LVT or LVP now comes in longer lengths and is looking more and more like real wood. It's very durable and less expensive than hardwood, which makes it attractive for beach homes with heavy traffic areas, sand, and younger guests.

Porcelain countertops and large-format porcelain tile are additional trends we continue to see and believe are here to stay. The benefit of porcelain is how authentic it looks; it resembles marble remarkably well. For countertops, porcelain is available in large sheets and mitered edges—and all of the seams are now almost completely unnoticeable. It’s also very easy to clean and will not stain. Large-format porcelain tiles are beautiful and less expensive than marble, offer patterns and are much easier to source. Porcelain can also be used outside, which is ideal for life at the beach.

Special Requests

Overall, the most popular spaces we design are outdoor living areas. We built a lot of outdoor living rooms and outdoor kitchens prior to the pandemic; however, these requests really took off over the past few years.

It makes sense, especially at the beach, to have spaces for gathering and entertaining outside: an outdoor kitchen, custom firepit or fireplace, and areas to gather and admire beach and oceanfront views.

One trend we know has a notable history: wallpaper, which we are actually incorporating into many of our designs. So for now, wallpaper is definitely “in.”

Overall, I do believe the state of building in Delaware will only continue to grow. Our state has so much to offer, which translates into many compelling reasons to build a home here. I love being creative with our builds, whether they are ocean, bay, or canal front homes. I’m very grateful to do this for a living and have an amazing team behind me. I, and the entire team at Marnie Custom Homes, look forward to building along the beaches in Delaware for a very long time.

Marnie Oursler is president of Marnie Custom Homes and was named 2022 Home Builder of the Year by the Association of Home Builders.