Watching your custom home being built with the carefully planned benefits and features tailored to your family's needs & wants is a very exciting time for you and your family. With the combination of excitement, exploration, research and compromise that has been experienced, you now have clearer vision of your homes design style, flooring, cabinets, countertops, appliances, bath tubs, sinks, fixtures, and you're probably exhausted. But for most people, the journey of planning the design of the home of their dreams is exactly what makes the experience of seeing it take form so special. Some Families are so excited that they drive by their new home nearly every day to watch their home being constructed, while some families come by their home once every couple of weeks. Whichever grouping you fit into, there are some caveats you should be aware of. While observing from the street in most cases is allowed and encouraged, walking through the jobsite will require an escort due liability concerns. Although setting an appointment may be a slight inconvenience, we highly recommend setting multiple viewing appointments especially during the crucial phases of the build. The best times for these appointments are before major city inspections such as footing inspection, shear inspection, frame inspection and final inspection. These appointments will not only help assure your piece of mind where quality is concerned, but also help with more clearly visualizing your family living in the finished home. This clearer vision can help you decide if you would like to make changes to the original plans and if so what change orders are needed. Although the phases of new home construction can vary depending on the region, general contractor or even the home itself, "R Leclerc Enterprises Inc." has provided a step by step guide which follows the common home building process in hopes that the information will prepare you for what you should expect to witness in each of the main phases of your new home construction as well as assisting you with the foresight and vision to confidently evaluate and choose the design considerations that will turn the home into your home. 1. Obtain the Necessary Permits From the City in Order to Start the New Construction You can familiarize yourself with your city's permit process by visiting your local building department or visiting their website. 2. Rough Grading and Excavation:Rough grading's three main functions are to push dirt using a technique that creates a flat pad for the foundation, create a natural drainage for the lot to keep water from running towards the house, pooling up in one area or running off into your neighbors lot, and lastly It is also done to design the lot/yard to specifications. Once graded the footing trenches for the foundation are excavated as well as trenches for the utility and sewage lines. 3. Temporary Utilities:Due to the need of power at the early stages of the build, temporary power is established for sub contractors. 4. Footings Formed, Rebar Installed, Utilities Fitted, Footings Poured:The wooden forms are constructed to form the footings for the slab, then rebar is then placed in the footings to reinforce the footings for strength. Next plumbing drainage pipes and electrical chases are fitted and then, after the inspection, the footings are poured with concrete and given time to cure. 5. Foundation:The foundation, a.k.a "the slab" that will be poured is usually filled with 4" of gravel and covered with a vapor lock barrier. The foundation is then poured in a manner that allows the water to weep off the slab rather than puddle in areas. 6. The Frame and Weather Proofing:In this phase of the home building process your home begins to take its shape with the construction of the homes skeletal structure. The framers "snap out" the floor plan as a map for where the walls be placed. They then frame the walls, tie them together using the top plate, and attach the walls to the slab using anchor bolts and hold downs. They will then either attach the trusses (which are prefabricated wooden structures that shape the roof) or cut and stack the roof, which is custom cutting each piece of wood to frame the shape of the roof structure. All during this process hardware is attached where necessary. Next the roof is sheeted with radiant barrier OSB. Once the framing and shear inspection is finished the windows are installed and the new home is wrapped with a moisture barrier, such as tyvek. This is when the project starts to look like a home!!!! Although a ground up home builder, R Leclerc Enterprises also offers framing and other services which are often utilized for the full build. You can see these services at our "contractor services page." 7. Moisture barrier on the roof and roofing material is addedThe sub-contractor will add a thick layer of tar based paper as a moisture barrier on the roof and then, with all the chimney flues and plumbing vents ran, the roofers will lay the shingles, tile, composite or whichever roofing product you chose. 8. Rough in Plumbing, Electrical, Low Voltage, Hvac, lath and Tubs:During this phase the subs will begin the rough installation of the electrical wiring, low voltage wiring, heating and cooling ducts and returns, chases, sprinkler systems, plumbing drainage pipe, pex tubing, fireplace and flue's, as well as the lath if needed. The tubs in the house are also installed to be tested for leaks during this step and protected from damage. Once the work is complete and looked over by the builder a frame inspection will be called. 9. The Exterior Siding, Trim:The house is then sided with siding, lap siding, stucco, vaneers or any other type of exterior siding you would like. 10. Insulation, Drywall, Texture and Gas Test:Insulation will now be installed throughout the exterior walls and garage walls to help keep the house cool and warm during each season. Once the insulation is in place the sheetrock will be screwed to the studs and ceiling joists followed by the first sheetrock inspection. After the first sheet rock inspection is finished the second layer of sheetrock will be attached to the ceiling of the garage and another inspection will take place for the second layer of sheetrock, fire caulking and gas line pressure. The sheetrock will then be taped mudded and textured. 11. Prime and Paint:Before the floors, cabinets or any finish fixtures are installed the interior walls and baseboard will be primed and then painted. The exterior paint can also be started now. 12. Floors:Now that the interior is painted we can install the type of floors you have selected (hardwood, Pergo, tile, vinyl etc,) unless its carpet which is installed at a later phase. The floors will be protected with thick resin paper taped to the top of the finished product. 13. Carpentry and Cabinets:During this step the Installation of baseboard, molding, door casing's as well as the finish interior and exterior doors will occur. The installation of Cabinets, countertops and backsplashes also takes place at this time. 14. Appliances:Its now time for the installation of the appliances. Your stove, dishwasher, microwave, refrigerator and any other appliances that have been ordered will be placed in their positions. 15. Finish Electrical, Plumbing, and Appliances:The plumbers will be installing sinks, plumbing fixtures, toilets, and faucets, at this time while the electricians install lighting fixtures, electrical outlet covers, ceiling fans, alarms and doorbells. The hvac subs will be installing the heating and air registers. Each trade will also connect each appliance they are responsible for. 16. Hardware and Mirrors:Lastly the hardware for the closets and pantries will be installed along with the mirrors throughout the house. The shower doors and window screens will also be hung at this time. 17. Final Finish and Carpets: At this point it is normal for the new house to have some dings and need some painting touch ups and other minor issues attended to. Also, all the necessary caulking will be completed throughout the interior and exterior of the new home. The carpets will be installed last during this step to ensure the carpets are not damaged by traffic during the build. 18. Driveway:Now that all heavy equipment and vehicles will not be driving up to the garage, the driveway can be poured. 19. Landscaping:The sprinklers, lawn, bark, shrubs, trees, flower beds, and any other landscaping items chosen will be installed. 20. The Final Clean Up and Final InspectionThe final clean up throughout the interior and exterior of the house will take place followed by the Final Inspection. Once the final inspection is finished your new custom home is ready to be walked through with the contractor to ensure satisfaction. At this point your new Home is finished and ready to be moved into!!! To learn more about R Leclerc Enterprises Inc as well as more aspects of home building, trends, designs, and DIY's please visit us at https://leclercenterprises.com. Disclosure: While some of the pics on this particular blog are from past R Leclerc Enterprises Inc projects, there are also some from free internet sites used to help the reader visualize the topic.
2 Comments
Sam
5/20/2019 00:38:13
Thank you for the building outline. I would be nice if you could write about each step in more detail
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5/6/2021 20:25:26
I appreciated it when you shared that trusses are prefabricated wooden structures that shape the roof of your home. My uncle just mentioned the other day that he is thinking of building a house from scratch on the plot of land that he just bought. I will suggest to him looking for a reliable service that can help to provide wooden trusses for the roof.
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AuthorTodd Leclerc Archives
February 2020
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