Stick to your plan
If you are building a custom home, or even just customizing the interior, changes to your plan can lead to major delays. Depending on the complexity of the changes, the updated plans may need to be approved and new materials may need to be purchased.
So sticking to your plan can help manage the time it takes to build a house.
Have the money ready
You will be paying for the home building project in stages, and your contractor should give you a payment plan. Make sure you have any loans or financing in place before the payments are due. If you don't have the money ready the timeframe for building a house may be subject to delay, as the contractor won't be able to pay for the required materials or workers.
Be flexible and decisive
No matter how well you plan there will always be unexpected circ*mstances when constructing a new house. Maybe the tiles you've chosen for the bathroom are suddenly out of stock. If you can choose and agree on a substitute design in a timely fashion this will prevent any additional delays. But if you can't decide on a new design, or insist on waiting for the original tiles to come back into stock you might cause big delays.
Choose a non-custom house
If you choose a design the builders have built previously they will be quicker and more efficient than if they're dealing with a brand new design.
If you have to have a custom layout make sure you have standard sizes for all the windows and doors to avoid the delays that come with ordering custom units.
Build at the right time of year
This is a tricky balancing act, as you want to ensure you build when the weather is good to avoid delays due to rain, but you also want to make sure there are sufficient subcontractors available for your build. Working with general contractors like Fortress Home can mitigate any worker shortages, as they have their own team ready to go, letting you build in those favorable summer months.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it realistically take to build a house?
If you're wondering 'how long to build a new house?' you can see that there are many factors that go into the house building process. However, on average in the US it takes around 7 months to build a house. Especially if you're not living in a Northeastern state and take our advice above then you should be able to stick to a reasonable schedule and meet the main milestones for your build, on time.
Can you build a house in 3 months?
When asking the question 'how long does it take to build a house?' you might have heard that 3 months is possible. If you already have the building plans and permit in place, you're building a small standard or prefab house, and the weather is in your favor, three months might be possible. But we don't recommend counting on it.
How long does it take to build a house in 2021?
While we don't have any new figures for how long to build a house in 2021 we can tell you that there have been some holdups in building material supplies. These include lumber shortages, as lumber mills had to close down for social-distancing reasons, and with other materials that come from overseas, due to pandemic-related shipping delays. Depending on the materials required to build a house this could increase the average build time, but will not affect every project.
If you work with general contractors who are aware of the situation they will be well placed to mitigate any delays and suggest either alternative materials or plan extra time into your schedule.
