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How we build
A custom home takes nine to fourteen months of building and two to four months of planning before that. Here is exactly what happens in each stage — what you experience, and what we handle.
The journey
Nothing in this list is a mystery box. If you ever wonder what stage you are in and what happens next, this page is the answer.
Week 1
You sit down with Duane — at our office, at your kitchen table, or standing on your land. You talk about how you actually live, what you want the house to do, and what you can genuinely spend. Nobody asks you to sign anything.
We listen, ask hard budget questions early, and tell you honestly whether what you want and what you want to spend can meet. If they can’t, we say so before you pay a designer.
Months 1–3
You work with an architect or designer on a plan that fits your site, your family and your budget. You see how ICF wall thickness, window placement and roof geometry affect both the look and the cost as decisions are made.
We sit in the design meetings, price options as they come up, and engineer the ICF wall system, spans and openings so nothing has to be redrawn later.
Before contract
You receive a real budget built from actual supplier and subcontractor numbers for your actual plan — not a price per square foot. You see the builder fee as its own line item, agreed before construction starts.
We bid the trades, document every assumption, and set the allowances at numbers you can actually build with instead of ones designed to look cheap now and hurt later.
Weeks 1–6 of build
You watch your land become a jobsite: staked, cleared, graded, with utilities located and the pad built. You get photos even when you can’t drive out.
We pull city or county permits, coordinate surveying, engineering, well and septic on rural sites, and handle inspections start to finish.
Weeks 6–14
You see the shape of your house go up in foam and steel, then watch the pour day that turns it into solid reinforced concrete. Most people say this is the moment it becomes real.
We stack and brace the forms, set rebar to the engineer’s schedule, place and consolidate the concrete, and verify plumb and alignment before the bracing ever comes down.
Months 4–10
You walk the house at rough-in and stand in your rooms before the walls close. You make finish selections on a schedule we give you in advance, so you’re never choosing tile under pressure.
We manage roof framing, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, insulation, drywall, cabinetry, tile, trim and paint — with trade partners Duane has worked with for years, on a schedule you can see.
Final 3 weeks
You walk the finished home with us, mark anything that isn’t right, and watch it get fixed before closing. You get a binder: warranties, manuals, paint colors, subcontractor contacts, as-built details.
We complete the punch list, run every system with you, document the build, and hand over a home that is genuinely finished — not one you’ll chase us about for six months.
Year one and beyond
You call Duane directly. Not a service portal. We check in at the 60-day and 11-month marks, and we stay reachable long after the last check clears.
We honor the one-year workmanship warranty, coordinate manufacturer warranties, and stay reachable because we live and build in the same towns you do.
Communication
We take on a small number of homes at a time specifically so that Duane can be a reachable person rather than a scheduling department. You get his cell number. You get photos from the jobsite when you cannot drive out. You get a call the same week a number changes.
And when the build is over, we do not disappear. We check in at 60 days and again at eleven months, we honor a one-year workmanship warranty, and we answer the phone years later — because we live in these towns too. We respond within one business day.
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Step one
No plans, no commitment, no sales pitch. Just an honest conversation about what you want to build and what it takes to build it here.
We respond within one business day.
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