Skagit County Home Builders

Building It Right

Getting the best result

The objective for most people who build a new home is to get a valuable return on the investment and a home that fits their lifestyle needs. Value is created when your finished home is worth more to you than the cost of construction.

• Planning Your Project
• Preparing a Construction Budget
• Timing Your Build
• Sourcing and Delivering Materials
• Home Building Tips

Keep in mind that there are no shortcuts to achieving a successful result when building your home. It takes expertise, good planning and proper management to build your home right.

Planning Your Project

Preparing a proper budget before you start your construction project is important. Costs can increase significantly if changes to the design and material specifications are made once the project has been started. Changes can also cause time delays, which can be a problem if they impact on the building season.

Construction resources need to be scheduled on a sequential and timely basis. Proper planning is essential and can only be carried out when you have a clear understanding of what involved in your project. Making changes once work has started can be costly. Structural changes will require outside experts who are harder to find for more complex buildings. Good planning helps you save money and stay in control of your project.

Skagit County Home Builders has timely access to experts and can advise you on the key variables involved in the building process. We help you plan your project and make good decisions before you start construction.

Preparing a Construction Budget

Skagit County Home Builders helps you understand the difference between "home construction costs" and "total project costs". The total cost to complete your home depends on the size, location, complexity and desired timeframe of the project. You need to fully consider the site conditions, the type of design, features and the quality level of finishing you want throughout your home.

Skagit County Home Builders has access to project estimating software developed specifically for the custom home industry. Custom Builder XPM ™ generates accurate estimation information for building a custom home. It produces meaningful budget estimates based on realistic numbers and assumptions in a short period of time. This provides some cost certainty which is a major concern for homeowners, builders and financial institutions alike.

A combination of fixed prices and realistic allowances is the most accurate budgeting method due to the complexity of building a custom home. Skagit County Home Builders can obtain fixed pricing for the design and materials to get to the lock-up stage. The labor cost for framing can usually also be fixed. These items normally represent about one-half of the construction budget. The remainder of the costs are covered by allowances that can be fixed when the homeowner makes a final decision on finishing materials and other items.

Changes to your design and specifications during construction will alter the scope of work and subsequently affect the budget. Skagit County Home Builders can help you plan ahead to minimize costly changes.

Timing Your Project

Because of the high rainfall and gusting winds that are seasonal in the Skagit County area, your home needs to be designed and engineered to withstand adverse weather conditions. It is important to select the right building materials, particularly roofing materials and windows. The components must be designed and warranted to withstand high wind-loads and resist water penetration.

People not familiar with the construction process often underestimate the time it takes to complete the project. Taking a project to completion will depend on the size of home, location of property, complexity of construction and frequency of inspections. Obtaining a building permit may involve demonstrating that there is sufficient drainage for water runoff.

To determine a realistic occupancy date, Skagit County Home Builders uses a comprehensive work schedule detailing key milestones to keep the project on track. Each milestone is carefully planned to bring the project to successful completion and meet your projected occupancy date.

The best time to plan for excavation and foundations is between April and October to minimize construction costs. It is difficult to build efficiently in a water-saturated site. Building at the wrong time will cause construction delays and may increase overall costs.

Skagit County Home Builders has a thorough understanding of local conditions. We can help you plan ahead to get your project started at the right time.

Sourcing and Delivering Materials

Skagit County Home Builders primarily works within a one hour drive from Skagit County. We also serve the surrounding area and have familiarity with the challenges of the more isolated locations in the area.

The area around Skagit County consists of a number of small population centers that are largely rural in nature. The nearest large town is Skagit County but even there it is hard to source many of the high quality products needed to build an exceptional custom home.

For this reason Skagit County Home Builders has established a preferred relationship with a national supplier to make sure that the right building materials are available on a timely basis. The organization has the ability to economically supply a wide range of high quality materials that cannot be sourced on a local basis. We also have good relationships with local suppliers to give you the best possible pricing on building products.

Home Building Tips

Due to the complexity of construction, it is essential to select people who can manage and build your new home. Few homeowners are able to take on the whole project without relying on a team of professionals.

Building a custom home successfully requires attention-to-detail and a good understanding of the construction process. There are many tasks to be completed, which require skilled people to manage them. The objective for most people who build a new home is to get a valuable return on the investment and a home that fits their lifestyle needs. Value is created when your finished home is worth more to you than the cost of construction. Keep in mind that there are no shortcuts to achieving any of these outcomes. It takes expertise, good planning and a proper control mechanism to get the best possible result.

General Contractors

It is important to select a general contractor who is qualified for your type of project and can complete it for the quoted price in an acceptable time frame. You also need someone you can trust to manage and schedule the right builders and trades.

It is equally important to evaluate your general contractor based on the expertise offered and the ability to see the project through. Contractors need to be properly insured so they do not transfer the risk of injury and damage related lawsuits to the homeowner. A contractor's business liability insurance can protect you if your home is damaged by the contractor or his employees or if he causes damage or injury to third parties.

Having a meaningful written construction contract is essential. The key elements are scope of work, procedures for changes, payment terms and provisions for sign off at the time of completion. The construction contract should also address responsibility for work-related injuries, damages to third parties and property damage (builder's risk insurance).

Design and Materials

There are many design possibilities and thousands of building components with different performance characteristics to choose from. The first step is to develop a concept design. Typically people start with a look or an interior layout that they like. This is then taken to a preliminary plan, which can be used to develop to generate blueprints and a rough budget.

The next step is to spend adequate time to choose the right materials. Changes are far more costly when they are made during construction. Material purchasing requires a special skill set. It takes a professional looking at finalized blueprints to accurately determine the right quantity of materials needed.

Permits

Building permits need to be in place before you can start construction. Some land preparation can take place prior to permits, but you need to be aware of the local guidelines that may restrict this work. Some of the issues involved in getting permits are:

• Availability of finalized blueprints
• Local building regulations
• Processing time and seasonal workloads of planning departments

Apply for permits as soon as you have your construction blueprints. The objective is to obtain all approvals so that you can get foundations in place prior to peak season or adverse weather conditions. You can always delay construction, but you can't move it forward without permits

Site Preparation

Preparing the building site includes clearing the land and excavating so that foundations can be formed and concrete poured when the weather conditions are right.

• Clearing
• Excavation / Backfill
• Driveway / Walkway
• Foundation

It is important to get the foundations in place as soon as blueprints are available and permits have been obtained. Cement cannot be poured below freezing temperatures or other adverse weather conditions without special procedures.

Lock-up

At this stage the building inspector has approved the work done to complete the exterior structure of the home to lock-up. Based on this milestone approval, a progress or final payment to the contractor must be made. The home is now weatherproof, secure and ready for to take to the completion and occupancy phase. You are now able to finish the home at your own pace and on your own timetable.

Occupancy

Occupancy means that your home is ready for you to live in. You may choose to work with the general contractor or hire trades directly to complete the exterior and interior of the home to occupancy. Working with an interior designer may be helpful in arranging the purchase and installation of flooring, cabinets and millwork.