Planning and Budgeting for Your Custom Build: The Pre-Construction Process
At Shoreline, we’ve made it our purpose to discover the unique meaning of home for every individual homeowner. Our team of professional project managers, superintendents, and interior designers offers a full range of services dedicated to this mission. From the earliest stages of floor plan design to the construction process itself, we’re committed to protecting our clients’ considerable investments while weaving character into every detail of their custom home.
Discovery
During the Discovery process, we’ll discuss your tastes, preferences, background, and target budget. It goes without saying that customizing a home comes with a lot of decisions—but rest assured that we have structured our process to ensure no single decision ever feels too daunting.
From the first consultation, our objective is to ensure the vision, value, and process of your project are clearly communicated. During the Discovery process, you’ll be equipped with a plan book and pricing information to make preparation and prioritizing easier. The Discovery process also affords us the opportunity to tour other Shoreline homes for a hands-on approach to finding inspiration.
During this phase, Shoreline will conduct a site study to garner understanding of your project and steer your plans in the right direction. We use the site study to assess the capacity and elevation of your homesite. We also take this time to identify the view corridors, prevailing breezes, and seasonal sun angles on the property to ensure your home works beautifully within the context of its landscape.
Design-Build
The next part of our process commences with your Design-Build agreement. This period engages both the architect and the landscape architect, and results in the emergence of the first tangible plans for your home. After the work begins, we’ll transition into the plan design and revision phase to ensure that we have established the optimal floor plan for your needs and are equipped with a solid baseline for your design before moving forward.
On average, the design, approval, and pricing phase will take between five and seven months. Some steps will move fairly quickly while others are more time consuming. The Design-Build Process is organized to provide plenty of foresight for our clients. Our ultimate goal is to keep every client informed and at ease throughout every stage of the pre-construction planning.
From the Tree and Topography Survey to the Community Design Review and Approval, Shoreline employs 36 individual steps during this phase of the project. Each of these steps is geared toward the specific purpose of delivering your vision and expressed budget.
Rather than bore you with all 54 steps, we prefer to break the Design-Build process down into clear milestones. This method is a tried-and-true way to help clients gauge their individual project’s progress and understand what to expect every step of the way.
About halfway through the Design-Build process, we’ll meet for a design consultation. While the heavy lifting for Design takes place later, this meeting (or call) helps your Designer get a glimpse into your taste and preferences. This facet of the process will primarily work to inform Project Management as they set allowances during the pricing phase.
