Deciding that it’s finally time to build your dream home is a big step, but do you actually know what it entails? Custom building a house is incredibly complicated, time consuming, and stressful for nearly everyone who starts down that path. But it doesn’t have to be that way!

Here’s an overview of the process and an explanation of how we can help make it so much easier now that you’ve settled on custom building a house rather than purchasing an existing home.

Getting Started

The first steps to take when custom building a house is to choose a property, set a budget, and determine your timeframe. These are incredibly important decisions to make since they will impact everything that comes next.

• Budget. Your budget should cover the cost of the land, design and engineering fees, landscaping costs, cost of labour and materials for the construction of your home, interior decorating and furnishings, appliance, plus a contingency budget in case you run into any problems.
• Timeframe. While your first instinct may be to say as soon as possible, deciding on when you want your house started and finished should include a few extra considerations. Things like current or future children on the way, your work schedule, and the sale or end of the lease of your current residence are all important to take into account before setting a timeline.
• Choosing Property. The first decision to make when picking a property for your custom home is to decide whether you want to be in the city or out in the countryside. There are pros and cons to both, so choose carefully and don’t rush the decision. A few things to consider when looking at potential properties include the size of the lot, neighbors, natural surroundings, the presence of trees and other natural beautification features, access to resources (including power, connection to sewer line vs. a septic tank, etc.), and privacy.

Designing Your Home

The next step when custom building a house is to make all of the decision regarding what you want your home to look like and contain. Getting to make all of these decisions is the main motivator behind custom building a house in the first place. Instead of adapting to an existing home and missing out on some of the features you want, you get to match your home to your lifestyle and space requirements.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself when beginning to design your custom home:

• How big do I want my home to be? How many stories?
• How many and what type of rooms do I need?
• What kind of layout do I want?
• What structural features do I want? (vaulted ceilings, skylight, spiral staircase, etc.)
• What design style do I want? (modern, farmhouse, luxury, etc.)
• What special features do I want? (heated floors, fireplace, kitchen island, etc.)
• Do I want a green design?
• What exterior surface do I want? (brick, plastic siding, etc.)
• What are my colour schemes?

Assemble Your Team

Once you’ve chosen your property and have made all of your big design decisions, its time to hire people to build your home. Your team, at the very least, should consist of:

• An architect
• A landscape architect
• An interior designer
• General contractor

 

Monitor the Building Process

Once you’ve assembled a good team and you’re ready to get to work, you have to manage a few things along the way.

• Insurance. Insurance will protect you if anything goes wrong at any point during construction. Your contractor should have general liability insurance as well as workman’s compensation insurance. Make sure you receive copies of both types of insurance before any construction begins.
• Permits. Your builder will most likely take care of obtaining the necessary permits for your home, but some don’t, so make sure this gets done or you’re at risk of running into some significant trouble with your municipality, which can include building delays and costly fees.
• Payments. You’ll have to set a payment schedule for the build and monitor your budget throughout the process. Make sure payments don’t fall behind or get ahead of schedule.
• Inspections. Regular inspections conducted by your municipality are an important step of the construction process. Your contractor might schedule these inspections for you, but make sure you confirm that they will, and then save the dates of these inspections in your calendar so you can keep track and show up when needed.

Once construction is complete, you’ll also have to manage the landscaping, site cleanup, and then move all of your belongings into your new home.

How We Simplify Custom Building a House

All of this is pretty stressful, isn’t it? If you feel overwhelmed simply imagining all of the work that goes into custom building a home, you’re not alone. It is a huge undertaking and can be incredibly stressful trying to manage a new build while living your daily life, raising your children, and working 40 hours a week. The solution? Us!

We can help make the process much simpler and much easier to manage… by managing it for you! When you hire us, we’ll take over all of the architectural, design, and construction tasks. We help you select land, design your home inside and out, manage permits and inspections, hire and oversee every sub-contractor, and build your home from the ground up. Essentially, we take over completely and let you direct from the side lines and be as involved as you want to be. When you trust your home to our capable and experienced hands, you get to focus on the fun parts of the process without having to remember a million different things over a period of months. It’s our job to make your life easier, and we’ll do that by putting our years of experience to use. If you’re interested in custom building a house but are intimidated by planning and managing it all, give us a call today!