FAQ

When you’re choosing a contractor for your new home construction, addition or remodel project, think through what your own priorities are—price, schedule, quality, or expertise. What you value most will highly impact your choice of a contractor.

Be sure your potential contractor listens well and demonstrates personal care for your project and its requirements. Your choice should be one that builds confidence, and someone that you are relaxed to work with. Ask for reviews from a prospective builder’s former clients, and find out if they would hire the builder again.

Before any on-site work begins, there are months of preliminary work to prepare for your new project. Think ahead by analyzing your needs and expectations, your location, size, possible room layouts and your long-term vision for your building or addition.

Design your new space, either using the services of your own architect, or through our in-house designers. The design process will help you sort and answer many of the questions about your new home as you move through it.

Our team will be there for you throughout the legal processes. We provide subdivision and approval assistance to finalize your location, and when planning is complete, most clients also take advantage of our permit assistance to ensure there are no issues with building code compliance.

If your project requires financing, make sure your pre-approvals are in place. This avoids unnecessary delays in the construction process.

Choices throughout the construction process can be overwhelming. With years of experience, we do our best to help homeowner’s cut through the clutter. Our goal is to always assist and inform your decisions while leaving the final decisions to you.

How can I maximize my building budget?

Each client will use their building budget differently, and with good reason. Choose priorities that are important to you and your lifestyle, and communicate those priorities to your contractor so they can keep it in mind throughout the process.

Don’t compromise on fundamentals that are permanent and not easily changed. Structural components are more important—and much harder to change—than flooring, for instance, which can be upgraded at a later date. Do invest in quality components in high traffic, high-use areas like your kitchen, bathrooms and main living spaces.

Of course, no two projects are alike, and the length of a project can vary greatly due to its size, scope and complexity. The design process, legal and permit issues, and even weather can add unintended delays. However, a 2,000 to 3,000 square foot new home can usually be comfortably completed within 6-8 months.

Communication is integral to the design process. Because of that, we begin the design process with initial meetings to explore your feel for style and to learn what you are looking for in your new home. At this stage, you can expect us to ask lots of questions!

Based on your initial input, we begin the actual design process, developing a working set of drawings that can be refined as we review and discuss them with you. Additional meetings focus on more specific details of layout, exterior appearance, budget expectations and so on.

During this process, your new design will undergo multiple revisions. Throughout, this approach is dependent on your input and ongoing discussion. When details are finalized, all parties are satisfied and any building requirements are met, we’ll output a final set of drawings for the project.

Our building process is never a closed process. We stay in close touch with you throughout to ensure that the project—as it develops—meets your needs and expectations, and will make any required changes. Obviously, there may be some additional costs due to in-process changes.

If we installed it, we service it. This includes each new home, as well as HVAC systems, generators, solar installs, septic fields or automation systems. We view each project as the start of a long-term relationship, so you can enjoy peace of mind knowing that we’ll be on-call for years to come.

While there is no guaranteed method to protect your home from lightning, we can take steps to help manage resultant energy surges. We recommend whole-house surge protection systems, along with additional uninterrupted power supply (UPS) and surge protection for critical electronics, routers and computers.

Be careful what goes into your system. Flushable wet wipes and feminine hygiene products, for instance, should never be flushed into the septic. Indiscriminate use of garbage disposals can also prove detrimental to the septic system or clog up drain plumbing in the home.

All private septic systems also require periodic maintenance. Most Pennsylvania municipalities require pumping and inspection every 3 years. We offer complete installation and maintenance services for your home’s septic system.