In some areas, homes can be built very quickly. And in others, the process takes much longer. Where you are looking to build and how quickly you can make decisions are really the two biggest factors in determining how quickly your home will come together.
It is for that reason that we always recommend starting with your end date in mind – the date that you want to be living in the home. Many first time builders do not factor in all the stages, like permit timing, construction, and land development.
We’ll attempt to give you a starting point on possible timeframes and what to consider in planning ahead.
Build Timeline At A Glance
There are 7 main stages in creating your custom home. Below we have listed them along with the corresponding timelines. This information is based on average build data and industry averages from our thousands of homes built.
- Consultation and Design Creation – 4-8 weeks
- Finalize Design and Obtain Building Permits – 8-12 weeks
- Prepare the Material Package – 5-6 weeks
- Prepare Foundations – 2-4 weeks
- Framing The Home To Lock Up – 4-6 weeks
- Utilities, Insulation & Drywalling – 4-6 weeks
- Interior Finishing – 8-12 weeks
1. Consultation and Design Creation
It all starts with your vision. The first step to building your custom home is choosing a design from our gallery, modifying a house plan, or designing the home from scratch. In the design stage, you will work with our drafting and a design consultant team to customize your dream home.
Preliminary design creation tends to take 4-8 weeks. This is where you make the critical architectural choices and decisions that are necessary to start your project. This time estimate includes the customer consultation, design walkthrough, and a 3D computer-generated model of the house plan.
2. Finalize Design and Obtain Building Permits
You and your Linwood representative will go over any changes that need to be made to the design. Once you are happy with the design layout, we begin drafting the working drawings for the new home. Permit-ready designs can take up to 8-12 weeks and then timing depends on your local building authority for permits.
The permitting stage falls midway through the Linwood order process. Our team will create permit-ready plans that have to be approved by the city in which you plan to build. After the permits are approved, the building can begin. During permit approvals, you should be clearing, or have already cleared your site so the land is ready for foundations.
The amount of time it takes to get permits and city approvals can vary greatly in different states and provinces. It’s best to apply for permits as soon as possible and be aware that this can take time. Permits are a setback, however, when done in advance with a realistic timeline in mind, you can avoid unexpected setbacks to your project timeline.
3. Prepare the Material Package
Preparing the material package takes around 5-6 weeks. Everything that you need to build your home is included. The parts are manufactured indoors at our head office and the package gets shipped directly to your site. Our panelized and prefabricated building options make for a faster construction period.
4. Prepare Foundations
Once the permits are ready you can start the building process. Preparing the site, excavating and pouring foundations takes approximately 2-4 weeks.
Technically the concrete takes 28 days to fully cure but builders often start framing before that.
5. Framing The Home To Lock Up
It takes about 4-6 weeks to frame the home to the critical lock-up stage. At lock-up, the home is complete on the outside and work can begin on the interior.
6. Utilities, Insulation & Drywalling
Expect 4-6 weeks to complete all of the stages that take your home to interior finishing. They are pretty straightforward but they happen much faster when your home has been designed correctly. A lot of ductwork can be required when the floor plan didn’t take service hookups into account. Better quality framing lumber also means that drywall is straighter (you’d be surprised how often drywall isn’t straight!).
7. Interior Finishing
Interior finishing is the final step to building your home. Typically it will take about 8-12 weeks to finish. This can depend heavily on your own preferences and style. An important thing to consider in interior finishing is making sure to understand supplier lead times when order custom fixtures. These can add up if you aren’t factoring them in from the beginning.
Now that you have a general idea of the length of time at each stage of the process, you can work backwards to calculate the total time spent on a project and use this information to determine when you need to get started.
Linwood’s Streamlined Timeline
Your project will take time, but building with a custom home package will better allow you to target a specific date – we can speed up or slow down as you need.
It’s always best to get your design started early as modifying it, getting it to a permit level, and getting through permits takes some time. This also allows you to get booked into a builder’s schedule early.
Linwood designs come pre-cut or panelized and the packages ship with all of the material you need to start your build project. Rather than hiring separate architects/designers, working with a lumber yard, and organizing your builder, Linwood keeps things simple and central in one place. Our proven process avoids miscommunication, delays and hidden costs. Contact our experienced design team and get started on planning your project and project timeline today.
