Our Building Process
The construction of a new home is a complex project that requires hundreds of decisions, large and small. The good news is you won’t have to make these decisions on your own! As an experienced house builder, Lithium One has been through this process many times. You can rely on our skilled team members to guide you through the building process and explain what happens next.
Scroll down to see the eight main stages in the house building process. Your home will progress through each of these stages as it transforms from a dream to reality. Typically, this process occurs over the course of six to eight months.
8 Stages Your House Builder Will Complete
Conceptual Design
So, you want to build a custom home? We’ll kickstart the process by sitting down with you for an extensive consultation. This involves plenty of questions. What size and type of home are you looking for? What is your budget? Do you have property already, or do you need help finding the perfect lot? Our design consultant and project manager will listen and learn to ensure we develop a thorough understanding of your dreams and desires.
Next, we’ll take your ideas and develop a conceptual design of your home. We’ll create a drawing that will help you visualize what your home will look like. We will also create a preliminary budget based on the features and finishes you requested. You’ll have time to review your decisions and make changes, if necessary, to bring your dream more in line with your finances.
Technical Design
Once we receive your approval for the conceptual design, our house builder team will begin work on technical building plans. These drawings will eventually be used to apply for a building permit. The process of creating these building plans will require plenty of discussion about interior and exterior finishes, special features, and any extras you may want.
Using the technical plans and your input, we’ll be able to provide you with an updated budget. This is a fixed number you can count on. Unless you request additional changes throughout the house building process, your price for the home is backed by our fixed price guarantee. You can go through the building process worry free, knowing that your final bill is exactly what we discussed.
Permits & Approvals
Once you’ve approved your plans, we’ll complete a site analysis. This helps us understand more about the water table, drainage, and soil on the lot. Based on the information we collect during this step, we can complete our technical drawings and submit them to the City of Prince George.
Next, we’ll complete the paperwork for the many types of building permits required: building permits, electrical permits, plumbing permits, and more. Once all the paperwork is complete and the permits have been approved, we’ll start breaking ground. The construction phase is now in progress!
Foundation
Once the permits have been approved, we’ll begin excavating. The typical process involves digging for the basement, preparing footings to support the foundation walls, and pouring the concrete foundation into forms. Afterwards, we’ll work to ensure your lot has proper drainage to ensure you avoid water problems in the future.
Because this is an incredibly important stage of the house builder process, your foundation will be reviewed by a municipal building inspector certified by the BC Building Officials Association. Once the foundation has passed inspection, we can proceed to the next stage.
Framing
Framing can be an exciting stage of the building process – your home is finally taking shape right before your eyes! We’ll work on getting the exterior walls, interior partitions, and roof up. Once the house is fully framed, we install windows and doors as quickly as possible. This is known as the lock-up stage and is a key point in the building process.
Once the house is at the lock up stage, we’ll start adding services to your house. We’ll begin working on electrical, plumbing, and ducting – all the things that are typically hidden behind drywall. Again, this is a critical stage in the building process. The City of Prince George will dispatch a building official to inspect the progress and sign off on the work completed so far.
Exterior Work
For the next several weeks, we’ll work on a number of tasks involving the exterior of the house. Both the roof and outer walls will be thoroughly insulated according to EnergyStar standards. This ensures your home requires less heating in the winter and cooling in the summer and saves you money in the long run.
More progress will be visible when we begin work on the shingles and siding. This, along with features like eavestroughs, porches, decks, and the driveway, will really start making your house look like a home from the outside. Final grading will be completed soon, too, meaning that landscaping isn’t far behind.
Interior Work
While some of our team members focus on the outside of the house, the rest of the house builder team will be hard at work on the inside. We’ll install the drywall at this stage, followed by the heating and cooling systems. After this, we’ll complete some major steps that will start making your house look like a home: painting walls and ceilings, laying down flooring, installing kitchen cabinets, and more.
Throughout this stage of the building process, our project manager will be in regular contact with you. We want every aspect of your home’s interior finish to reflect your tastes! We’ll let you know when decisions need to be made, help you understand the available options, and ensure all deadlines are met in a timely manner. This stage might be the most exciting – your home is almost complete!
Finishing Touches
Your home is complete. The final inspection is done. At this stage, we’ll be completing the finishing touches and cleaning up. We will arrange a final walk-through so you can review our work and let us know about any last minute changes you’d like completed. At this point, all you need to do is wait for the possession date – at which point you’ll receive your house keys. The house builder journey is over – your dream home is now a reality and it’s all yours.
Start a conversation with us today
A good home builder can advise you throughout the process – that includes early planning stages like finding a lot or arranging financing. Contact us today to start the conversation.
