If you are in the early stages of pursuing your dream home and haven’t hired an architect, you might want to consider working with a company that offers both design and construction under one roof. Views and Vines Homes is partnered with local architects and engineers to offer an integrated solution allowing us to manage the entire process from architectural plan to the construction and completion of your home.
If you’ve already hired an architect, we’re happy to work in collaboration with them in a team approach to achieve the design aesthetics and architectural details you’re looking for in your home. In this scenario, the architect you’ve hired will lead the design process, getting us involved as early as possible so we can ensure the plans being developed optimize the design efforts with the construction efforts while keeping your budget goals in check. During this process, we will weigh in as needed regarding costs, constructability, design, and construction details.
Design-Build is an approach that provides owners with a single point of integration between the architecture and construction of your home. This team-based approach ensures the best overall design, functionality, and cost of your home. Our design-build service offers clients a single workflow from the initial design concept through completion and streamlines project delivery through a single contract. If you choose Views and Vines Homes’ design-build services we take the guess work out of who you need to contact for architectural plan & design, septic plan, site plan, and state or local building requirements.
Initial Consultation and Site Visit
In these first steps we’ll invite you to our office to discuss your project so we can get a better understanding of your vision and what you’re hoping to accomplish. Typically, each client brings inspirational photos of floor plans and exterior designs as a starting point so we can determine the style, size and scope of the project. We use this information to determine which architect we feel will be a good fit for your specific project.
We will also make a trip to your site so we can evaluate the location and geography to determine if there are any challenges to be considered with the overall design or factors that could influence our construction approach.
Design Process
If you decide that Views and Vines Homes is the right partner for your design-build project, we’ll walk you through our design agreement and the costs involved in the design process. While each project is unique, and the process may differ slightly, we generally follow three main design phases. The design process can take 3 – 6 months depending on the overall architecture of the home, design complexity and client availability.
Schematic Design
During the first design phase, the goal is to develop the overall shape, size, and layout of your home . Once the architect has direction from you, they will begin working on the schematic design which is a set of conceptual architectural drawings that has dimensional floor plans and exterior elevations that we use to create a preliminary budget. The schematic phase has a great deal of sketching, and a lot of meetings with you and the architect to come up with a general design, but not getting into deep details.
Design Development
Once the Schematic Design is approved by you, we start the Design Development Phase. In this phase our architect and designer work with you to select materials including interior finishes and products such as windows, doors, fixtures, kitchen layout, flooring type, tile, custom built-ins, appliances, etc. This phase wraps up by finalizing the interior and exterior design, and we also update the preliminary budget.
Construction Documents
In the Construction Document phase, the VVH team, architect and engineer finalize the technical design and engineering including structural engineering, electrical, plumbing, HVAC concept, and energy calculations. The final Construction Documents produce the permit set of drawings that get stamped and submitted to the town for final permitting.
Site Plan & Site Plan Review
Depending on the conditions of your building site, a site plan can be a basic sketch with setbacks and house location, or it may require a plan created by a licensed Professional Engineer. There are many conditions that require a site plan created by a P.E. We engage with town and county officials to review the site to determine the level of site plan needed. If a formal plan is required, we partner with local engineers to develop the plan and review it with town boards for approval.
Septic Design
If public sewer is not available for your build site, we partner with local engineers to design a septic system that complied with local requirements and works for your site conditions. The final septic plan is submitted with the building permit.
Final Budget
Once your Construction Documents are complete, we’ll need about 4 – 5 weeks to create a final detailed budget for the project. Each item in the budget is identified as either a budget item or allowance item. Budget items are fixed costs, typically materials like framing lumber, foundation, windows, etc. Allowance items provide clients with an option to select what they want during construction, such as faucets, kitchen cabinets, lighting, flooring, doors, etc.
If you require a construction loan for your project, we are an approved builder with two local banks and one national lender and we can help guide you through the process.
Construction Contract
After the budget is approved, we create your Construction Contract that details all the specifications and allowances for the project. The Construction Contract also identifies a start and completion date for construction, and the payment/draw schedule by phase. We aim to have the contract finalized and signed by all parties within 45 – 60 days before the project starts.
Permits
Views and Vines Homes submits the construction drawings and other required plans as needed to the town for the building permit. The review process takes 1 – 2 weeks, depending on the town, before the permit is issued. We submit the permit paperwork 30 days before the scheduled construction start date. This gives the town time to review and clarify any questions.
Construction Day 1 has arrived, and the second part of our exciting journey begins! We assign a Construction Project Manager to every project. Your PM is the focal point for all communication, project updates, site visits, finish material selections, and overall responsible for the completion of your home.
Construction Management
We use a Construction Management software called BuildBook to manage all our projects. Clients, architects, designers, and our team all have access through the online portal or app. This keeps everyone on the same page during the build process. BuildBook has a chat feature for communication, the construction schedule, the budget, and a great feature for documenting finish selections.
Construction Phases:
Our construction process generally follows these phases:
Excavation & Foundation
Time to move some dirt. The first phase of the build process involves the site work, digging out the foundation, installing drainage, and forming and pouring the foundation walls.
Framing
Visually, framing is the most dramatic phase in the building process. Going from a hole in the ground to walls, decks, porches, and a roof is quite a sight. This phase provides a good sense of the size and space of your home.
Dry-In
Installation of windows, exterior doors, roofing, and siding. This is when your build really starts to look like a home.
Rough-In/Mechanicals
In this phase the installation of the homes mechanical systems take place, such as electrical, rough plumbing, heating/cooling and water treatment. Insulation and drywall also take place during this phase.
Trim-Out
Everyone’s favorite part of the build process. Months of planning, designing, and picking out finish materials finally comes to life. This is when flooring, tile, kitchen cabinets, vanities, custom built-ins and all the details that make your home unique are installed.
Completion
The final touches, both inside and outside.
Depending on site conditions, the size, and the design complexity of your home, it typically takes 10 – 15 months to build a custom home.
