custom construction tips

Choosing your Design

Build within your budget! Make a list of your must haves and create your dream home around them. We will work with you to either create a new design based on your budget or use your existing design to create a budget for you, whichever bets fits your project.

Choosing your Builder

Find someone you TRUST. When comparing proposals for homes it is essential that you compare apples to apples. It is easy to lower the price by using lesser quality material or people, not including amenities, ceiling height differences, leaving soil problems open, and much more. You should carefully compare, item by item, what is being proposed. If there is a large variance between two builder's prices for a similar home the difference will almost always be the quality! At Reichardt Construction we pride ourselves in offering the most cost detailed contract available, and are open to discuss every detail. It's your money not ours.

The Construction Process

Average Construction Time from Day Foundation is poured to completion:

Custom Homes 8 months
Barndominium 6-7 months
Metal Buildings 1-2 months

Prior to construction, we suggest to allow at least 6 weeks when we will focus on an accurate budget for all selections and allowances, but not stress about overwhelming you with individual selections. Then you can expect we will revisit and confirm each upcoming selection at these typical benchmarks during construction:

Slab complete
Exterior Frame Complete (We will confirm Preliminary Mechanical Design)
Plumbing, Electrical, Heating Complete
Drywall Complete (We will confirm Preliminary Cabinet and Trim Design)
Trim Complete (We will confirm Paint Colors & Finishes)
Final Inspection

We offer the most commonly used products at our in house showroom as well as a network of inside sales support at various vendors available to meet with you and discuss any specific products. Each project and selection process is tailored to the needs of our customer and set by their own schedule and availability.

Cost Per Square Foot

Cost per square foot is a commonly asked question. It is impossible to give an accurate answer to this question until the plan is chosen, finishes agreed too, and the homesite evaluated. Each home is quite different and the items included or not included make a major difference in the cost per square foot. There are probably 10,000 variables that can impact square footage cost due to home design, specifications, site conditions, and much more. Typically, as the square footage rises, the cost per square foot will decrease. This is because the same home, regardless of size will have fixed costs associated like: tap fees, appliances, septic, well, driveways, and much more which do not change with size. There are many areas in a home where footage can be added quite inexpensively. If the budget allows, this should be done since there will be a major spread between the cost of the footage and the appraised value of the footage. We will be happy to point those areas out to you.

Our preferred manner of operation is to first evaluate your plans and specifications and then develop a contract based on actual costs. Many builders offer a low price per square foot with minimal specifications for the home assuming that the Buyers's will upgrade their expected quality level once the home has been started. Personally, I do not like to be on either side of this type of surprise and doubt that you would either. If there is a major difference in another builder's cost per square foot you can be sure that there is a difference in the quality, features, and finishes included, or some other tangible item.