Our process
Are you ready to spend a year together?
It seems like a long time, because it is. The actual build runs generally six to eight months, and the pre-construction phase adds months before that. Here is exactly what happens, step by step, so there are no surprises about the shape of it.
Before we start
It's hard to take the first step.
Building a custom home is a big step in your journey. One of the biggest reasons people stall is the house plan itself. What do I want? Where do I start? Can I change my mind? What can I really afford?
Those are the right questions, and none of them need an answer before you call. Step one is a conversation — no plan, no deposit, no pressure. Everything below only happens when you decide it should.
Step by step
Eight steps from first conversation to front door key.
- 01
Let's get to know each other
- Talk through your vision, your time frame and your budget range
- Walk you through how we build, start to finish
- Evaluate your building site and discuss how the house should sit on it
- Check our references — speak to our past and current clients directly
- Meet a construction lender to talk through finance options
- 02
See our work, and a high-low estimate
- Visit finished homes and homes currently under construction
- Discuss the features and finishes you want
- We prepare a high-low cost estimate
- You complete the House Plan Design Questionnaire, if applicable
- 03
Preliminary plan agreement
- Sign the Preliminary Plan Creation and Consultation Services Agreement
- A $12,000 deposit covers preliminary house plans (floor plan, front elevation, electrical plan, site plan), the specifications book, building site review, budget estimate, allowance schedule, and a tree and topographical survey
- We begin working alongside the architectural designer on your behalf
- 04
Preliminary home plans
- Architectural designer intake meeting
- Interior design preview meeting with the interior designer
- Preliminary floor plans completed — floor plan, front elevation, electrical plan and site plan
- Initial budget estimate complete
- 05
Budget presentation and contract
- Construction document package: preliminary house plan, specifications book, allowance schedule and contract with budget estimate
- 10% builder deposit paid
- Green light to finalize the house plan
- Begin interior and exterior selections with the interior designer
- 06
House plans complete
- Final house plans complete
- Interior and exterior selections finalized
- Construction specifications and allowances updated
- Final estimates complete
- 07
Updated price and addendum
- Review the final house plans, construction specifications and allowances
- Final contract price addendum signed
- Plans, specifications and contract submitted to your lender
- Plans submitted to the HOA or architectural control committee, if applicable
- Close on the interim construction loan
- 08
Groundbreaking, and the build
- Pre-construction meeting to review plans, specifications and construction details
- Construction begins — slab poured
- Quality assurance walkthroughs and weekly update calls throughout
- Third-party and internal quality control inspections
- New home orientation meeting — and you move in
Framing week
The week the drawings stop being drawings.
Up to here, your house has been paper and screens. Then the framing goes up, and one evening you walk in and the rooms are rooms. You stand where the window will be and see what you will be looking at for the next thirty years.
Nearly every client tells us about that visit. It is the one that makes the work and the wait worth it.
The part nobody puts on their website
In construction, stuff happens.
That tile you loved is suddenly backordered, or deleted. The light fixture that looked perfect online looks hideous in your new home. A window is shattered on the jobsite.
Now what? Relax. We're with you every step of the way.
It's a process, not an overnight success story. We plan carefully to head problems off before they happen, and we own up to them when they land. More importantly, we take care of them. No home is perfect, nor could it ever be — but we'll never stop trying to get there.
While we build
You never need to wonder what is going on.
- Weekly update calls for the whole build, not a portal you have to remember to check.
- Quality assurance walkthroughs at each stage, with you on site.
- Third-party inspections as well as our own internal quality control.
- A 10-year insured warranty on the finished home.
Step one is a conversation
No plan, no deposit, no pressure.
Tell us about your lot and what you have in mind. We'll tell you honestly whether we're the right builder for it.