The Custom Home Process
What Should We Expect If We Build A Custom Home?
A luxury custom home is more than just a house. It is the culmination of years of your hard work. It is your dream and your retreat. It is where you enjoy the quality moments of your life. Building your custom home should be among those moments.
Our process for taking your custom home from idea to reality is unlike any other you will find. Charleston has spent years developing a highly organized approach to every aspect of the custom home building process. From consultation to design, through selections and on to construction, no other builder has the expertise, talent, or systems that we provide.
The result is a building experience that is as exciting and rewarding as the final product. It is one of the many reasons Charleston was voted "Best Builder in Naperville" by Naperville Magazine. And, it is the primary reason our customers speak so highly about us and their homes.
Understanding Your Needs
During this phase, we get to know more about you. We want you to tell us your hopes and lifestyle needs. We want to discover your thoughts and ideas about your future home. Bring pictures and clippings, and anything else you may have to help us understand your vision. We will also provide a New Home Survey to help us appreciate what is important to you. Also, at this time, we will discuss our company's history and the economics of building a custom home. We will also show you some of our quality craftsmanship first hand, and introduce you to the team at Charleston.
Site Selection
With the information that we have gathered through the consultation, we can then begin the process of selecting the correct site for your home. Some of our clients have already acquired a home site, while others choose from one of our available lots. We can help you find the perfect home site based upon numerous factors, including location, price point, and topography, due to the expertise of our team and the commitment of Charleston.
Design
The design phase begins with a meeting between the client, the architect, and your team at Charleston. We have relationships with all of the area’s best architects and will arrange for you to interview a select group that matches your project. You then will choose the architect that fits your style, budget, and personality. The architect, together with one of our designers and project managers will be your design team, dedicated to your project. They will meet with you and we review your New Home Survey and any pictures/ideas that we discussed during the consultations. They will work with you to refine your needs and desires and create a plan that is uniquely yours. Preliminary drawings and sketches will be created to help you visualize your new home. We appreciate that your individual lifestyle and priorities are essential in finding the right balance in the design, style, and budget of your custom home.
Selections
The selection process at Charleston is a unique phase that separates us from the competition. We understand that the many selections required in building a custom home can seem quite daunting. This is why we have an on-staff design team to assist you with all aspects of the selection process. They will be there to guide you, to keep everything organized, and to coordinate all of your selections per your design preferences to create your ideal home. The selections phase will be an enjoyable process because of the guidance provided by your dedicated team at Charleston.
Bid / Contract / Permitting
Once we have approved drawings and you have begun making your selections, the Charleston team will begin to formulate final pricing for your custom home. Throughout the design and selection phases, we keep you informed of your decisions and their impact on the overall price of your home. This allows us to deliver a final price that fits within your budget. After we have presented final pricing to you, we prepare our contract, which includes your approved plans, your selections, and the scope of work. When the contract is signed and approved, Charleston will then submit for a permit with the necessary municipality.
Your team at Charleston will be in constant communication throughout the exciting construction process. One of the many things that we pride ourselves upon is our accessibility to our clients. Depending upon the individual client's schedule and interest level, we encourage weekly meetings to review the progress being made. We also utilize an Electrical Walk, Low Voltage Walk, and a Trim Walk with our clients so they can see some of their selections and decisions in the home before they are installed. Lastly, we implement our own inspection process. We ensure that all of our homes pass local city or municipal inspection, but the hardest part is getting your home approved by our own inspection team!
Final Walk-Through And Closing
Two weeks prior to closing, Charleston's inspection team will complete their final inspections of the residence. In addition to this inspection, we will conduct a final walk-through of the home with you to ensure that the level of craftsmanship meets your expectations. Any punch list items created by the inspection team or you will be noted and corrected. Our goal is to have a "zero punch list" closing.
Nothing is more exciting than moving in and starting to enjoy the rewards of your new custom home. We take great pride in all of our homes and want you and your family to be as proud of your new home as we are. As an added peace of mind, Charleston includes both a 90-day and a 1-year warranty. Our warranty manager will conduct a walk with you after 90 days and will address any issues that have come up since closing. This same process is repeated again at 1 year. Our comprehensive warranty package details all of the items that we warrant.