GETTING STARTED

 

Building a custom home is a wonderful and educational experience. The process of seeing your dream home from start to finish is amazing.  The first step is to select a builder who compliments your personality and you feel will build you a quality home and respond to your concerns with respect. At Windsor Custom Homes, you will find a dedicated team of professionals who value customer service and quality and will work closely with you to build a home that is right for you.

 

Selecting Plans

 

There are many approaches to choosing the right design for your home.  Whether you choose a complete architectural service or designs from books, catalogs, internet, or etc…, Windsor Custom Homes can help during the design process.  Following is a brief description of what to expect:   

• Architectural Plans:  Developing the house plan from the ground up can be accomplished with either an architect or designer.  With the expertise of the architect, services can vary between $2.00 – $3.00 per sqft (or even higher).  A designer can accomplish this for about half this amount.    It is important to consult with you builder during the planning stages in order to keep costs in line.           

• Book Plans:  You can find the right plan for you and your family through books, catalogs, and/or the internet.  Usually you purchase a one master set (vellums) of the plans.  There are at least ten (10) full sized (24” x 36”) drawings as part of the plan package (1^st and 2^nd story plan, sections and elevations, cabinet details, electrical plan, roof plan, etc…).  The cost is usually between 25 to 50 cents per square foot for these types of plans.  Windsor Custom Homes will sit down with you and discuss how the plans can be modified to suit your needs.  Most changes can be accomplished by redlining (markups) the drawings and there is little need to spend the extra money to redraw the entire drawing set. 

Additionally, Windsor Custom Homes can help you make major design changes, corrections or modifications to your existing plans.  We have an alliance with a team of designers that can use you ideas and amend or change home plans to suit your family. 

Please note that a typical set of house plans do not include the engineered foundation (slab, etc...) drawings.  The foundation will need to be engineered and drawn up separately.  The same goes if you incorporate engineered beams into your home.  Depending on your plan, utilizing engineered wood and/or steel beams can be in some respects more economical than plain 2 x 12 joists.  We will address these type of details later in the homebuilding process. 

 

Schedule

 

The building process takes some planning and preparation prior to actual construction of the home.  Expect about sixty days to complete the home plans, process documents for financing, make major design selections, develop engineering drawings, obtain homeowners association approvals, and/or city/county permits, etc.  Soon thereafter, the foundation is poured and on site construction begins.  Actual building activities usually take from four to six months depending on the complexity of the home, homeowner selections, and weather.