Sarah stands in the empty lot where her future home will be built. In her mind’s eye, she already sees it: a two-story colonial with a foundation on that lot, kitchen windows looking east, and a master bedroom with a view out the back of the lot to the majestic tree standing tall. Like many homeowners, she has little understanding of the steps between buying a lot and moving into her new home. It’s time to take a look at the entire process.
The process of custom home building is outlined in terms of specific phases within a particular time frame, including the nature of the decisions that need to be made and the specific challenges that are encountered. Having an understanding of the building process will better prepare owners for what to expect and help to avoid surprises that can put a project over schedule and over budget.
Design and Planning Phase
This may come as a surprise, but we don’t start with a blueprint or a permit in sight. We start with a conversation. We will discuss your habits, your needs, your lifestyle, and how you currently live. We will ask about your morning routine, how you like to entertain, and where you envision yourself 5-10 years from now. We will want to know if you work from home, and how often the extended family comes to visit. With these needs in mind, we will create a design strategy to meet your goals.
We begin conceptualizing the home’s design and present the initial concepts to our clients within a 4-6 week time frame. We then go through the floor plans in detail and review the exterior and interior finishes. Numerous design tweaks are made throughout the process. The designer will also work with the client to translate their lifestyle into an appropriate design. Many homeowners are unaware of how aspects such as the path that sunlight travels through the home and the path of circulation can affect a home’s design. An adequate storage solution will also be incorporated into the home’s design.
The floor plan is often an afterthought, and yet it is one of the biggest sources of problems in the home that no amount of custom molding or beautiful finishes can fix. The floor plan is something that you have to get right the first time, and therefore, you have to spend money to get it right the first time.
Structural Engineering and Systems Planning
Once the general design of a home has been determined, the structural engineers will review the plans to determine the foundation, framing, and other load-bearing elements of the structure. This is often where major changes are made to the plans to deal with unfavorable soils or building codes that were not taken into consideration in the design process.
We have started the design of the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. It is much less expensive to move an electrical panel from one location to another before construction begins rather than after. Similarly, outlet, switch, and fixture locations should be given consideration.
Permits and Pre-construction
Almost before the hammer goes into the hand of the builder, the plans of the home will have to be submitted to the local council for a building permit. The council will check the plans against the local zoning, building codes, and possibly environmental issues while the application is with the council. The processing time will vary depending on the council’s speed of processing and the complexity of the design. The processing time can be anywhere from a few weeks to many months.
While most of the design work is complete when you begin construction, the process can actually grow in scope and require more decisions as you start building. Many details, such as roof shingle selections and cabinet hardware, will need to be determined in addition to pulling permits for final inspections. These items can sneak up on you and require quick decisions.
Deciding on cabinets, flooring, counter tops, fixtures, and all of the other “tchotchkes” can be lots of fun as you surf the web looking for styles and options. But it doesn’t do you any good to make all those decisions if you don’t coordinate them with your actual building schedule. A reliable custom home builder in Holmes County Ohio will help you work through this process and make sure everything is there when you need it. I can think of nothing worse than having a wall go up before cabinets and specialty items like that arrive, only to have them sit outside in the rain or on the curb for thieves to snatch.
Construction Phases
The breaking ground event for a new home is brief, and not much actual construction will have taken place by the time that picture is taken. Before that moment, the excavators and backhoes are likely to have removed the topsoil and done the lot grading. Then the excavation crew will use those machines to dig the foundation footings and to grade and compact the backfill for the foundation walls. Most concrete is mixed and placed within a specific temperature range, which is why the pour might wait until after dark when the sun isn’t beating down, and the air has started to cool.
As a project goes along, foundation problems can reveal themselves from multiple angles and pile up over time. A faulty foundation is where troubled projects begin.
Framing and Structural Work
We give the simple slab floor some shape and start to define walls, a roof line, and rooms. The frame can be completed in a few weeks, but it is the last opportunity to make significant changes to the design, after which the cost of amendments greatly increases.
By the time you get approval of the framing inspection, the floor plan dimensions, window locations, and ceiling height should be apparent to you and visible inside your new home.
Systems Installation and Interior Work
Once the framing is complete, the Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC (HVAC) trades move in and install their systems. All three trades work simultaneously but in a specific order. These trades are expensive, and mistakes are hard to fix because they occur behind the drywall. The trade sequence is critical and must be carefully planned to avoid costly missteps.
After all the systems were inspected and cleared, we started in on the drywall installation. It was a really cool phase of construction, as it made the house start to feel “real”.
For the last few months, we have been in a sprint to complete all of the finishing work in the houses. All of the flooring, cabinets, countertops, and fixtures need to be installed. It is a lot of work, but exciting as all of the hollow shells start to feel and look like real homes. It is during this final push that the shortcomings of prior decisions will become apparent, and those minor defects in the finished work that you have to live with for the rest of your life will surface. There is no room for sloppy quality control.
Final Inspections and Handover
As we get close to the end of the building process, a lot is going on to bring it to an end. After the last of several inspections and system testing, we are waiting for the building officials to complete their review of all the documentation and test results to verify that the project was built in accordance with the approved plans and local building codes. Additionally, the homeowner and builder are going through the entire house, including all interior spaces, room by room, to review any items on the punch list that require adjustment or repair.
A certificate of occupancy represents the official completion milestone.
How Long Does It Take To Build My Dream Home? Building a custom home can take as little as 8 months to up to 12 months from concept to completion and move-in. Of course, many factors can affect the amount of time it takes to complete a home; for example, homes with special features or difficult-to-build-on sites can take longer. Regardless of the variables involved in your home building process, the key to a great experience is open communication with your builder, realistic expectations, and the right team of professionals. What may seem important at the beginning of your home-building process may pale in comparison to the value your builder brings in the weeks and months following the completion and warranty period of your new home. See more