Tips for Second Homes and Vacation Houses
The Roaring Fork Valley, spanning from Aspen to Carbondale, is a popular place for folks to build vacation homes and secondary residences. This is due to its proximity to world-class skiing, stunning mountain scenery, and popular resort towns. With over twenty years of experience building in this area, we’ve learned a few things about houses that aren’t designed to be the primary residence. Here are some of the lessons we’ve learned about building homes that will be vacant for part of the year.
Why Building a Vacation Home Starts with the “Roughed-In” Trade Work
When designing your dream secondary residence, it’s easy to get lost in the dos and don’ts of building a luxury vacation property. And while amassing inspiration and dreaming up designs is an important first step, it pays to consider the logistics of a home that will be vacant for long stretches.
Unless you plan to hire a housesitter, you’ll need to ensure your house can take care of itself. This includes ensuring it’s insulated well to maintain the interior temperature through cold snaps and high heat, incorporating sensors to detect abnormalities like flooding, and using fire-resistant materials in the structural elements.
These are the building blocks of the house that enable it to be self-sufficient, and a lot of these can’t be retrofitted without major time and invasive efforts. When you consider how to build your vacation home, make sure to consider these things before you break ground.
Focus on Technology and Energy Efficiency
Advanced technology and energy-efficient solutions allow vacation homes to remain safe and energy-efficient even when no one is there. When houses are left vacant over the winter, it’s very possible that freezing temperatures could burst pipes, or that leaky windows and doors can cause heating systems to work overtime.
Prevent those scenarios from happening, and ensure when you arrive at your Aspen ski chalet, it’s comfortable and ready for you by incorporating:
High-performance Insulation
When building vacation homes, we design them to minimize energy loss by using superior insulation. This means the interior temperature stays consistent, no matter the outside temperature. This ensures that even when a home is unoccupied, it stays safe and comfortable without constant heating or cooling.
In addition, you can equip your home with sensors that provide temperature maps of your home, allowing you to see any hot or cold spots, which can clue you or your property manager into an issue early, before a leak causes a massive energy bill or moisture problem!
Advanced Heating and Cooling
In addition to high-performance insulation, we use modern, high-efficiency HVAC systems to ensure that the home maintains a stable temperature without wasting energy. The goal is to keep the inside temperature consistent regardless of the season, which can be achieved with innovative new heating tools, like hyper heat pumps that are designed to work in sub-zero temperatures.
Smart Technology Integration
With homes that are vacant for part or most of the year, smart-home technology becomes even more important for your peace of mind. Some smart-home tools are designed to be helpful while you are in the home, but others are intended for safety and security specifically while your home is unoccupied.
Flood Sensors
A must-have for any home that spends time without occupants is the ability to quickly detect water intrusion. We rely on flood sensors that notify homeowners in case of any water issues, like flooding or leaks. At a high-end property in Aspen Valley that we built, a flood sensor immediately detected a water leak and was able to prevent any significant damage by alerting the owner in time.
Security Features
We also always include high-tech security features like Nest cameras and smart lighting that can be programmed. This enables homeowners to monitor their properties remotely via their phones, adjust temperature settings, and even unlock doors or open garage doors when needed to allow guests or property managers to enter. This level of remote access is crucial for second homeowners who want to manage their property from afar — you never know who might try to access your property.
Low Voltage Subcontractors
To enable the successful installation of these technology features, we work with specialty low-voltage subcontractors who provide specific expertise for alarms, cameras, and smart devices. This team coordinates with other subcontractors like plumbers to integrate devices, such as emergency shutoff valves linked to flood sensors, ensuring comprehensive monitoring and automated responses to major issues..
Fire Safety and Resilience
Mountain communities, though beautiful and popular destinations, are prone to extreme weather — including wildfires. To keep your home safe, we incorporate fire-resistant construction techniques:
Firewise Construction
Firewise construction is a preventative measure that we implement in many of our builds. This includes using fire-rated drywall on the exterior of homes and then covering it with siding. While the exterior may burn in the event of a fire, the drywall slows the spread, protecting the structure and interior.
Ornamental Structural Steel
Both decorative and structural, we have been using ornamental structural steel more and more frequently. We can add modern accents to vacation homes, like railings, gates, and pillars, adding both fire and structural resilience.
Central Monitoring Systems
These systems are connected to a central fire monitoring service, which can dispatch local responders if needed. Homeowners’ insurance now often requires this level of monitoring and firewise construction, making it a vital part of the design not only for your peace of mind, but for compliance with your homeowner’s insurance policy.
Plumbing & Water Management
Water damage can be one of the most expensive types of damage to fix, and is unfortunately a significant concern for vacation homes that are left empty for long periods. In cold and snowy or warm and rainy weather, water can enter your home in many different ways, and we take measures to prevent and protect your home!
Emergency Shutoff Systems
For vacation homeowners, it’s vital that your plumbing is equipped with sensors that detect leaks. If a water line cracks or floods, the system sends an alert and automatically shuts off the water to prevent further damage. We’ve seen the proof that this proactive system works: when water started leaking while homeowners were out of the country, the flood sensor detected it early and saved thousands of dollars in damage.
Plan for Plumbing
Plumbing and water systems are “roughed-in” during the construction process to ensure that emergency systems can be installed seamlessly later. This requires careful planning and coordination, ensuring systems like flood sensors and automatic shutoff valves are incorporated from the beginning.
Specialized Systems for Out-of-State Owners
Colorado is a popular vacation destination, but it can be challenging for some out-of-staters to adapt to the dry air and high elevation. Minor concerns like dry skin can be irritating, but the weather can also cause nosebleeds, and the altitude can cause symptoms like nausea, headaches, and shortness of breath. We have systems we can implement to make your home more comfortable when you are traveling from sea level:
Oxygen Systems
We can include a specialized HVAC system that pumps extra oxygen into the air, which can be particularly beneficial for out-of-state owners who may not be accustomed to higher elevations. This system is especially useful for bedrooms, providing a more comfortable sleep environment and allowing you more energy for skiing, hiking, or hitting the town.
Humidity Control
For homeowners from coastal or humid regions, maintaining appropriate humidity levels is crucial to prevent issues like dry air, which can lead to nosebleeds. Our builds often include forced air humidification systems to keep the air at comfortable moisture levels, ensuring a healthier living environment.
Air Filtration & Circulation
Given that vacation homes can sit vacant for long periods, dust and allergens can accumulate. To keep your home clean and fresh year-round, we install advanced air filtration systems and circulation features.. These systems also prevent stagnant air and help to maintain a comfortable indoor environment.
How to Keep Your Vacation Home Safe When You Aren’t Local
The owners of a vacation home in Old Town Basalt were on a three-week trip in Africa. Shortly after they left, the faucet cracked and leaked water for twenty days. This continuous flow of water caused quite a problem, resulting in $500,000 worth of damage.
At Maley Building Corporation, we strive to prevent situations like these by taking a proactive approach. Advanced sensors and emergency water shutoffs could have prevented this catastrophe — early detection systems are absolutely a must-have for your second home in the Roaring Fork Valley.
Our recommendations for plumbing, security, and advanced technology aren’t just to make your home functional and comfortable — although that is an exceptional benefit. These tools have proven time and time again that they can prevent problems when you aren’t staying in your property.
Trust the Experts at Maley Building Corporation for Your Second Homes
We’ve been building in the Roaring Fork Valley for over 20 years, and we’ve built many stunning luxury vacation homes.
As your homebuilder, it’s our job to ensure quality results. For us, that extends beyond the structure itself. We want your house to be safe, secure, and easy to maintain year-round, whether you are in it or not. As part of the close-knit community here, we treat every home we build as if we’ll be living in it. That means managing the details that will keep your home protected — and trust us, there are thousands of details.
You can rest assured we will guide you through the design process and help you choose not only the materials and finishes to build a gorgeous home, but the tools and technology to protect your investment. To learn more about our approach to building vacation homes, get in touch.
