Signs you have a great builder
It is always nerve-racking looking for a good builder. When looking around for a good builder to build your new home or do additions and extensions or even your roof, you want to be comfortable that you have considered all of the angles.
I know you have so many questions about where to start — I did too when I was building my house. Google was my first go to and I researched the architects, builders, and engineers as well as the construction company. I even found myself doing undercover work on them on LinkedIn, checking out their relationships and who they were partnering with. Maybe, a little excessive but I wanted to know I could trust a company I was going to spend my money with. What I did find during the process was that there are certain attributes between a good builder and a not so good builder.
Knowing what to look for and identify will save you both time and money to build the home you have always wanted.
Communication:
A good building company will always communicate with their clients during the building and construction of your home, additions, or extensions. They should be responding to your questions either by phone or email quickly and should have the knowledge to answer your general questions based upon their experience. Of course, there will be some specific questions they may not be able to answer and you should give them time to get back to you.
Honesty:
You are going to invest a lot of money into a finished product, possibly the biggest purchase of your life. You will need a good building company that is honest and transparent with you throughout the process from the first brick to the last roofing tile. When you go over plans together keep your expectations reasonable and on point, there is nothing worse than leaving a conversation with open issues or being more confused about something. There may be things you wished for that may be too expensive for your budget or that your architect planned but would require massive amounts of engineering, and a good builder will let you know upfront. Problems and unforeseen issues can occur from time to time, and you will want your builder to be open and transparent about it during the building process.
Flexibility:
A good custom home builder is there to produce a product for you — your new custom-built home. There may be changes you want to make during the building process and a good builder will listen to you and your needs. Unless you have additional funding, you may not always like the answer that it may cost more but they may be able to work out a reasonable solution with you. For example, I wanted more expensive taps in the kitchen, and my husband wanted some solar panels on the roof and a whole house generator. This cost us more in electrical wiring and electrician fees but our builder told us upfront what it would cost and what he would have to do to integrate the additional wiring into the house and the electrical box.
Warranties:
A good building company will offer warranties on their work — not indefinitely but for some period of time. There will always be the chance you missed something on your punch list or something is not right and a good builder will be able to fix that for you quickly.
Reputation:
I read every review of every builder before I made a short list. I qualified those review to see if they were reasonable or not. The ones that made my short list, I asked for references from. Not every client from a builder’s portfolio will want to be contacted, but at least there should be three references you can get that will offer insight into your potential builder. I was looking for 3 out of 3 good references.
Experience:
A good builder will have experience and skills to build your new home. Experience equals a better result and a better-quality home. You can see that experience when talking with them or in reviewing the quotes. One that is short on the list of what will be included compared to another may not have the experience you need to complete your project.
Network:
A good builder is generally a general contractor with a large network of tradespeople. Ask them if they have a large network and how long they have been working with their network. If not, they may not be the good builder you expected.
Brand:
A good builder will have a brand. They will have invested in their website, logos, and more and will have cultivated it for a positive customer experience that is professional looking. They may have shirts and other branded t-shirts, or workwear, although this is not a requirement as construction is dirty work and safety is a requirement on the job site.
Innovation:
A good building company will have the experience to give you and your architect ideas believe it or not. Architects are great do not get me wrong but sometimes their creativity in design can lead to ideas that cannot be implemented or there may be easier ways to accomplish things. A good builder will throw out some ideas for you to think about if they see any issues.
Deposits:
A good builder will not ask you for large up-front deposits or to pay in full. They may want to know if you have the funding or mortgage to build a new custom house and that is fair enough and pretty standard. A good builder will be offering a pay as you go scheme or what they call a draw payment schedule. As the building is process is set in stages, the client will pay out the builder.
We hope ideas can give you some insight into choosing a good builder and separating out the bad ones. At Crossmount Construction, Denis puts his name on every home and is proud of his work. There is open communication throughout the building process and Crossmount is dedicated to being transparent with its clients.
Sally O’Brien is the style editor for Crossmount construction and you can more of her articles at her Blog.
