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You want an amazing, unique home, but you’re apprehensive about building from scratch. Don’t settle. The Hammersmith Structures Fearless Custom Home Building Process details all the essential features of your project up front. The result? You get a better understanding of the full scope from the beginning. You’ll experience fewer surprises along the way and end up with the perfect home designed and built just for you.
We want to build you a home you love, and we also want the process of getting there to be easy and manageable for you with as little fear and stress as possible. That’s why we always begin with the end in mind. We plan the build, and then we build the plan.
Your goals may start out as simply as “we want a custom home” or as detailed as “we want a 5,000 square foot modern farmhouse on three acres of lakefront property with mountain views.” We will help you hone those into a defined project that matches your desired budget.
If you don’t already have a lot or land where you would like to build, we are happy to help you find the right property. We will start in the area where you would like to live, then help you make an apples-to-apples comparison of your options. We look at soils reports, water tap fees, grading requirements, HOA dues, and other factors that can drastically affect the price of a homesite so you understand your true cost before you make a decision. We want to build your home in the best location, but we also want to keep you away from financial pitfalls.
We also feel strongly that you should have a good relationship with your architect or design professional – you will be working closely with that person for a year or more, and a good designer will help you manage expectations as you maintain the balance between goals and budget. We know a lot of local architects and can help you select the right one. Once we get to know your style and personality, we can set up interviews with a few we think you might gel with so you can get to know them. We want to make sure you are comfortable with your final decision.
With your designer on your team, the next step is to take your vision of your new home and create some sketches of different elevations. They will tell us how big the house is going to be, how it’s going to sit on the lot, and what the general structure will look like.
We will talk about your big picture ideas and get your feedback on some of the larger components of the home. We will identify products and manufacturers that, from our years of experience, align with your aesthetic and budget. Then we will share them with you to make sure they are to your liking. This eliminates multiple questions we have about details that you probably won’t have the answers to at this step in the process.
From there, we will create a conceptual pricing structure that includes most of the home’s elements to determine if what you want is aligned with what you’re prepared to spend. If it’s off, we’ll make adjustments until you are comfortable moving forward. If you know everything that is going into your home in the beginning, there is less fear and stress and fewer surprises for you along the way. Our goal is to never have a change order because of a miscommunication or mistake.
The next step is to create a full set of construction plans with all the parts and pieces that will go into your home. We help you make informed choices during this process, sharing our knowledge, expertise, and opinions, but you will be making the final decisions.
Our in-house interior designer will guide you through the selections process, documenting everything in our CoConstruct project management software so everyone on the team knows the details. You will have changes as we move along through the process, but the detailed planning of the build up front should keep costly modifications to a minimum.
As we select subcontractors for the construction team, we will get bids from two or three companies in each area that we have worked with and know do quality work. We don’t just award a job to the lowest bidder; we look for who we think will make the best contribution to the project. A good team dynamic yields a good work environment and high-quality results. Once we get all the bids, if the budget meets your approval, we’re ready to start construction.
Because we put more work into the front end of the process than many builders, we start the build with a good plan to follow and fewer decisions to make during construction. Each month, you will receive an itemized list of all the work completed, the parts and pieces used, and any change orders to date so you know how we’re progressing and where your money is going.
We will have you come to the site for three formal walkthroughs, but you are welcome to stop by any time to see your home coming to life. If you live out of town, you will be able to view photos online so you can track the progress. After about 10 months of construction, you will be the happy owner of a new custom home.
Even with the extensive planning we do up front, something tends to go wrong at some point on a custom home building project. There are so many variables involved, it just happens. If someone on our team makes a mistake, know that we will own up to it and take care of it. We will always stand behind our work.
We also make living in your new home easy. We will give you an owner’s manual divided up into sections for everything in your new home. You’ll get all the appliance manuals, directions on how to operate your HVAC system, numbers for who to call if you need service or repair, color chips for your paint, and so on. We can even set up service agreements for you to make life even easier.
Does this custom-home building process sound like one you can work with? Let’s chat and we can tell you more about building with Hammersmith Structures.