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Your step-by-step guide to building a custom home in Pickerington Ohio
March 10, 2022
It’s an exciting experience building your own home in Pickerington, Ohio. It can also be a challenging one, if you don’t find the right construction company to get the job done right. You need to have great detail in everything that you want in your home. From the floor plan to the location, all must be mapped out.
Aim to at least be able to answer these questions:
- Do you trust this home builder?
- How long will the construction process take?
- What’s a good location for this home in Pickerington, Ohio?
- What are the best materials for the vision of your home?
- How much will it cost to have my home built?
If you can answer these, you’re off to a good start.
Continue reading for an overview on the process of home building in Pickerington, Ohio — and the essential things you need to keep in mind as you begin this exciting process.
Step 1: Research
Before calling a custom home building company, you need to know what you want and need. Do you need a lot of space? Do you need extra rooms for guests or aging relatives? Would you prefer a more open floor plan? Do you need to design the home to accommodate those with a disability?
All of those considerations must go into the research stage. It’ll help you think about what dimensions and layouts would work the best.
Of course, figuring out all of this can be stressful. It will help you tremendously to get inspiration from other home designs.
You can get inspiration from things like home design magazines and websites. HGTV is a good example. Additionally, you can visit Zillow or other real-estate marketplace websites to look for homes that have a design similar to what you’re thinking of.
Pinterest is another great spot for home design ideas. For great custom home design ideas, follow us on Pinterest!
Alternatively, you could go visit construction homes in the area. If they’re in the process of being built, you could get an idea of what materials you might need. If you’re aware of when construction began, you’ll have an educated guess of how long it could take to have your home built.
Doing all of this will help you determine how much land space you need, what your total estimated costs are, how involved you want to be, and what –if any– restrictions could interfere with your vision.
Step 2: Find a Quality Team
To make your dream a reality, you need to trust the home builder and their team. Not having a good professional relationship with them will lead to unnecessary headaches down the road. Start by checking referrals and reviews for legitimacy. If others have high praise for this home builder, you’re off to a good start.
Next, ask questions and listen to how they’re answered. Are your questions answered with thorough detail or are they quick, bland answers? If it’s the latter, then you might want to reconsider. A good home builder will ensure the former. They’ll also be very open about their plans, contracts, and proof of liability insurance.
As you share your ideas, another good sign is that the home builder suggests what materials will be needed or advised against. That could either help you save in your budget or avoid mediocre material being used in your home.
Step 3: Choose a Location
Once you feel confident with the team, now you need to search for a good location. This step is equally as important as the last step for the pre-building stage.
Your location should meet most of your needs. Depending on where in Pickerington, Ohio, or surrounding cities you choose to build, it should have access to necessary resources like electricity, water, and access roads. The land itself also needs to be sustainable enough for a home to be built on.
If you find the land you want, think about these factors:
- Scenic view
- Design of the neighbors’ homes (if applicable)
- Which way the sun will face
- Natural surroundings
- Overall privacy
The home builder should offer their input on the location you’re considering. With their knowledge of your ideas, their evaluation of the land will help you determine whether it’s a smart location or not.
Step 4: Discuss the Design
By now, you should have a budget, location, and the project timeframe in mind. You’re now in the stage where communication with the home builder is crucial. This step is where you start blueprinting and designing the look and feel of your home.
When you’re in this stage, organize the designs and features of your home into lists: sort them by needs, wants, nice to haves, indifference, and don’t want. Having this in order will help the builder prioritize which parts of the home require more focus than others.
Collaborating with the home builder will give you a more exact timeframe for the overall project. If you have specific features you want in your home, it could take several months to over a year to complete.
During this stage, you’ll also be discussing the materials for the design. It should include things like the type and color of roofing, the flooring for different sections of the home, appliances, wood finishings, cabinets, fixtures, and more.
At this stage, the Heitmeyer team assembles a 3-D rendering of what we can expect the completed project to look like, so you can see exactly where we’re going with construction. Our team will also provide a detailed materials and design mockup, so you can easily direct the design and look-and-feel of the home as we plan.
Step 5: Expect Constant Communication from your Builders
By now, everything should be good to start construction. As mentioned earlier, this project will take several months to over a year. Even after all the blueprinting has been discussed, your involvement will still heavily be needed.
During the home construction process, something unexpected could happen. Your input will be needed to decide the next steps from there. Or maybe a certain design you wanted requires temporarily unobtainable material. Would you like to wait or go with a backup plan?
While the foundation is almost complete, contribute to the timely completion of the project by having things like HVAC and plumbing ready for installation.
Ready to Start Building Your Dream Home with Heitmeyer Building & Design?
If you have the vision in your head but not the team, reach out to our experts at Heitmeyer. Our team has decades of experience in home construction. Contact us today to discuss ideas for your dream home in Pickerington, Ohio.
