The Path to Completion
It is definitely not a short one. Custom home building is unique to other types of construction in that, well each project is unique. This process takes time. The beauty of a custom built project is that it is most often a one of a kind project. It is a project that was born from an idea that was generated by a particular set of needs and/ or wants. It is a project that is to be constructed on a particular piece of land that is owned by the client, whether that be rural property that has been in the family, that special spot you have been dreaming about, or an addition to a current structure. Due to the very nature of a custom built home, the march toward its completion begins with the very idea of the project and includes the entire design process.
This design process is what separates custom work from other types of home building. Very large national home builders often have many developments or neighborhoods where they offer pre-built homes that are ready to go. These are called speculative or tract-built homes. While they offer the convenience of a very short schedule to ownership and move in, they are built with all of the decisions already made. There is no design phase with these types of homes as everything has already been completed and they can be purchased “off the shelf”. An alternative to this is called “Semi-Custom” homes. These are homes that have not yet been built, but they are part of a master planned community. The developer/ builder already knows what home will be constructed on each particular lot in the community. For these types of projects the design work is all complete, with the exception of the finishing materials. The architectural plans have already been completed and the building permits have been obtained. These projects are offered for sale in a “to-be-built” manner where homebuyers make a selection of the house/ lot combo that they like, then work with the builder to make certain finish selections that are made available to them after completing the purchase contract for the home. The types of finishes that are offered are largely limited to the interior of the home and include things like cabinet selections, flooring selections, tile and paint colors. The availability of the materials and brands that are offered are generally limited to a few options to choose from. While these homes are often presented as semi-custom, the lack of true selection makes them a long way from custom.
True custom home building offers you everything possible that your time and budget will allow. Custom building can include starter or entry- level homes that follow the basic construction design and practices to maximize economy all the way to the other end of the spectrum know as “cost is no object”. Regardless of where a custom project falls within this spectrum, they will all include the conceptual and design phases. Once the idea is generated, then it moves onto the concept phase in order to define some parameters for the build. These parameters generally taking the land attributes into account and budgetary constraints. Next is the design phase. This phase can be short and simple, to long and complicated. Generally large and highly detailed projects such as historical replicas, high end luxury construction, and those that includes outdoor living spaces, swimming pools, additional detached structures, etc. will have a much longer design phase compared to a starter home or a detached garage on rural property. No matter what the style of a custom build is, these two phases significantly add time to the path toward completion. Depending on the state of the economy and the current level of construction activity, the design phase can take two to four months to complete, or even longer if the chosen designer or architect has a back log of work and you must wait for her availability to meet with you and to work on your project. In our experience, it is not uncommon for the design phase to occupy an entire year of a project’s lifespan!
Another phase that custom projects must go through is estimating. The estimating process is different for just about every custom building company. Some estimates are conducted using “book” numbers that are adjusted for the local area. Other builders will draft highly detailed estimates that account for every part of construction for a particular project and include actual quotes and estimates from subcontractors and detailed material lists with supplier quotes. We fall into this latter category. Detailed estimates such as these can take four to six weeks to complete, are highly accurate and provide a great deal of peace of mind for homeowners, and for the contractor for that matter. Depending on how much the elements of a project are changed during the estimating period, such as scaling back to cut costs, making design revisions, pricing multiple values for a particular category (such as several different types of siding, windows, roofing materials) will dictate the additional amount of time required to estimate the project.
Once the estimate is satisfactory and complete and the construction contract is signed, then the required building permits are applied for and obtained by the builder. While most cities and counties have a similar permitting process, each one is a bit different and all are rather complicated to navigate. This in itself is where your contractor is worth his weight in gold! The permitting process is not as simple as submitting the plans for review and completing a set of forms. There are several documents required, forms to complete, affidavits to be submitted and back and forth communication between the builder and plan reviewer. Depending on the efficiency of the local building office, their current intake level of submitted permit requests and the scope of the project, the entire permitting process can take between three to eight weeks for permit approval. In certain localities this time frame is even longer and take as long as four to six months.
The beginning phases of a custom home building project require a great deal of thought and attention and also consume a good deal of time. Understanding how each of the beginning phases work, their complexities and importance, and the time involved with each one, it is easy to see how they can together take an entire year to complete. This is often not the case with smaller, more simple projects; however, six months should be budgeted at a minimum. With our clients and the projects that we often build, it is not uncommon to break ground one to two years after our first client meeting. We like to remind our clients not to rush the beginning stages of their dream home and to enjoy the process. We understand that watching the birth of your new home come out of the ground and rise up toward the sky is an exhilarating experience, but the beginning is beautiful too! Accepting this will aid in the overall enjoyment of the path to completion and save you from unnecessary frustration! They say that the “Devil is in the details”, and they may be right. In any case, the better these details are defined and iron-out at the beginning of the project’s life cycle, the better and more enjoyable the rest of the project will be.