Qualiy Custom Home Builders

Quality Custom Builders

The good old days are gone, the housing bubble has burst and you need to find a good high quality custom home builder. Guess what, the quality builders are probably still in business, they did the same thing the rest of America did , they cut their budgets, closed their offices and started working from home again. They had to do this to be able to compete with the production type builders and to adjust to the lower margins customers were demanding. They still want to build your new home, they just can’t go out and buy that new truck or boat like they used to. You can now see the tears streaming down my face.

The trick is to finding a good quality home builder is check,inquire,ask, and then do it all over again. There a lot of good builders out there still, they are even easier to find now, you just need to do the proper research to locate them.

A good local resource is your local building materials supplier, they can supply you with a list of several builders they deal with and most of the time they even know a majority of the sub-contractors these same builders use, so ask them for both. I don’t mean asking Home Depot or Lowe’s, these suppliers provide a quality product and service, just in my opinion not to the custom home market, they are great for DIY projects. The local lumber yards usually just have a better one to one relationship with their builders and sub-contractors and will know the quality and reliability of both. Their sales people are out on the job sites fairly often, going over material take offs or giving dimensional data to the builder and or subs.

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Talk to real estate agents, they also usually know a lot of builders although I can’t testify to the fact that they know much about the quality of their new homes. The sub-contractors are another great resource they actually know whether or not a builder has any idea of what they are doing or just in it for the money. They can tell you about their quality, knowledge, and some will even tell you how they pay their bills. This one is a dead give away, if they don’t pay their bills their sub turn over rate will be high and you can be assured their commitment to your home project will show poor performance and poor quality. The vendors that supply your finish products should also be questioned, toward the finishing of a new home these suppliers are spending more time with the home owner and builder trying to get all your appliances delivered and installed, they can tell you if everything seems to fit and give you little nuances about wiring and plumbing details.

If and when you do get a chance to talk to the sub-contractors, especially the residential framers and they complain that the builder is just picky, you have most likely chosen a winner. I am speaking from personal experience here, one home builder I used to complain about on every home we built, he is too hard to please, too picky, well I have to tell you, he was absolutely the most knowledgeable and competent builder I have ever worked for, he and his partner both had previous experience framing, interior trim and how to actually draw their own plans. In all the years I have known them, I have never heard one home owner complaint, they always finished their new homes on time and on budget.

These pictures represent a small sample of some of the new homes we used to frame, I hope to add even more example later, and by other builders. The new home above averaged 8,000sq.ft. to 15,000sq.ft., we also did the interior trim and some of the custom cabinets and roofing.

I would also ask that before you sign a contract with any home builder please read it carefully and pay close attention to your budget in the way of allowances. A lot of builders will give you a low allowance for cabinets, appliances, flooring, and lighting to get you to think you are getting a better deal when in actuality you will probably end up paying more . This a little trick I personally know that I have seen contractors do on more than one occasion, I think it is deceitful and should not be practiced. You should also make the home builder give you an exact finish date, you have to allow for acts of God ,such as weather, and basically anything not under their direct control, but other wise the date stands, and if they fail to complete your new home on schedule they pay the extra interest charges.

A good quality custom home builder will also use quality products such as premium high grade custom cabinets. The pictures above show the beginnings of custom built face frame cabinets. They are manufactured using A1 grade ¾ “ plywood and solid hardwood face frames, the cabinet doors are made of solid hardwood panels cut and machined to the style and size of the home owner ‘s choosing. There are literally hundreds of options on cabinet doors and drawer fronts, so be prepared to spend hours making your decision. There are only a few variations of drawers, but the highest quality are dove tail, and most high end cabinets will supply only dove tail. Sorry about getting part of our motley crew pictures in here , but I thought they deserved a little recognition .

In closing I hope you have found this informative and I hope your new home building project using a quality custom home builder will be a joyful experience.