The ODC Home Construction Process

By allowing ODC Homes to be your team of professionals from the beginning, we can help you avoid some of the common pitfalls in which people often find themselves when they decide to build a custom home.  Before choosing a lot, a particular plan or log or timber frame producer, our clients involve us as the general contractor/builder so we can manage the entire process from start to finish. 

Builder

Your selection of the right builder should be based on a host of qualifications.  Naturally, you will want to review his resume, portfolio, and if possible visit some of his recent builds. His reputation for honesty and integrity in the building community is important.  These qualities go hand in hand with his skills as a builder to produce top quality work with the desired results and at minimum expense and waste.  When interviewing builders ask about their contract.  Your builder should be able to help you understand his contract options.  When you build your dream home, it’s important that it’s an exciting, pleasurable and rewarding experience.  The builder that you choose should be someone you not only trust, but someone with whom you are compatible.  His willingness and desire to attend to details, to communicate honestly with you and carefully explain each step of the process will go a long way to avert problems down the road.  He should have the ability to chronologically schedule all of the major tasks of your project.  Ask him to see some of his past construction schedules.  Ask about his normal delivery times and his on-time performance.  Take time to interview past clients.  Find out about their level of satisfaction with regards to quality, communication skills, and the follow-up process.  When the home was finished did he respond in a timely and professional manner that was courteous to you after you moved in?

Log and Timber Frame Products

Choosing the log/timber frame producer can be an arduous task.  While most of the log home producers are producing a high quality product, they all are different.  Finding the one that fits your dream home criteria is the trick.  It’s a good idea to go to the producer’s model home.  Often times the producers have dealers in your area that have a model or can arrange to get you in one of their houses.  Look at more than one log producers model. All log home producers can produce drawings of their design or yours. Review the fee structure for their design work.  Some producers limit the number of preliminary drawings that they will produce.   Work with your builder to have the plans sited to your lot.  Have your builder review the log package to insure that all the materials are included that you are expecting.  Know what is in the package.

Architect

The right architect will have many of the same qualities as the right builder.  Just as with the builder you choose, you should approve his resume and portfolio and feel comfortable with his integrity and reputation.  Evaluate how he bills his time on this job. Does he charge by the square foot?  Does he charge by the hour, or is it a flat fee?  And what does his service include?  Are the mechanical drawings, the model or site survey included?  Or must they be contracted with someone else?
It’s important to have a clear picture of the steps involved and to know who is responsible for each part of the process.  One of the most important qualities of a good architect is that of being a good listener.  He is the one who will put your dreams to paper, and you will want to be confident that your desires are heard and realized in his design.

Lot Selection

Your builder and architect can be of invaluable assistance in selecting the right lot for your dream home.  You can literally save hundreds of thousands of dollars by having your builder estimate the site development cost before you purchase.  Have your builder or architect review any homeowner’s restrictions or land conveyances on the land you are interested in.  Is there a building envelope that determines your home footprint size?  Are there any existing private drinking water or waste water fields that require setback restrictions?   Meet with your builder and or architect on the proposed site to determine possible issues that you may not detect.

Pricing

Your builder should be able to manage this portion of the process for you.  It is a good idea to get a preliminary estimate from your builder during the preliminary drawings stage.  This will allow you to adjust your cost prior to final plans.  It is best to have as few allowances in the price as possible.  Allowances are often a source of cost overruns.  Without proper pre-planning it’s not unusual to learn that the dream home that you envisioned costs more than what you had planned for in your budget.  Be sure to get a written scope of work in your contract.  Make sure to understand the scope of the quoted price - what it covers and what it does not.  Some builders will quote prices that do not reflect the total picture of all the costs involved.  At ODC Homes we offer state of the art cost analysis which includes all aspects of the construction.  This cost analysis includes line item pricing, digitizing each individual room finish and an itemized bid sheet.  It’s far better to deal with the cost of the project at the front end than when the job is finished and you’re presented with unexpected bills.        

Construction

This is the beginning of the dream becoming a reality!  Your contractor should be the driving force at this stage, dealing with the tradesmen, inspection and the overall construction process.  By the time this phase has begun, most of your difficult work is over.  You’ve made the tough decisions: now it’s time to enjoy watching your home take shape and become a reality.  If you have chosen your team carefully this process can truly be a dream come true.  At ODC Homes our Project Managers will provide you and the construction team a carefully constructed construction schedule.  You can see the progress made on a weekly or even a daily basis. We will provide unmatched on-site and off-site supervision to insure that the tradesmen involved meet our exacting standards. 

Occupancy and Follow Up

After many months of work and years of anticipation, your dream home is a reality.  This should be the most enjoyable part of the building experience!  Now that you are living in your dream home, you can learn how to take full advantage of all the state-of-the-art features from the geo-thermal HVAC system to the computerized lighting.