Consultation

Building Your Own House? – we can help you simplify the process, thoroughly plan your project, and assure successful project completion. We offer complete owner builder consulting services with packages designed to meet your needs. Regardless of the style or construction method you choose we can help in any area that you need assistance as an owner builder – from conception to completion. Choose our complete consulting package for assistance from start to finish or choose an area ala carte from our list of aspects of the building process. Our complete package includes the following:

Education – In order to help you establish a personal foundation for building your own house we start with a home building course that covers everything you need know to be your own contractor. The course covers every aspect of the planning stage, complete construction management details, an overview of the construction process, and energy efficient building principles. The course includes the following components and you can find more information here:

• 15-chapter, 200-page Successful Home Building Manual.
• 7 hours of instruction, professionally recorded on 4 CD’s.
• All of the forms, procedures, schedules, and contracts needed to successfully build your own house.

Project Planning – We divide the building process into two primary phases and offer a consulting package for each. During the planning phase of your project we will help you evaluate your needs and focus your creativity to design your house  and establish a thorough plan that covers all the bases. During this phase we will consider the following areas:

• choosing an ideal location and construction lot for building your house
  
• developing creative house plans and building specifications
  
• choosing among alternative building methods
  
• choosing building materials for a cost effective project
  
• establishing home building costs and budgets
• finding subcontractors and establishing a building team
  
• obtaining most appropriate construction financing
• creating a construction project management system.

Construction Management – Our consultation package for the second phase of do-it-yourself building concentrates on the hands on construction process. Our focus here is on providing the support you need for every aspect of the project in order to complete a quality built home on schedule and within budget. During this phase we will focus on these areas:

• obtaining necessary permits and working with building officials
• working with your building material suppliers and and coordinating deliveries
• working with your subcontractors and maintaining quality control
  
• managing the construction schedule for efficient coordination
  
• maintaining financial management and securing construction draws

Green Building – We offer assistance with incorporating green home building principles and materials in your project as part of our standard consulting package. Among these services are the following:

• Designing for optimum energy efficiency
• Choosing materials for a healthy environment
• Using practices for maximum resource conservation
• Choosing renewable energy options
  
• Obtaining desired certification

Product Sourcing – We have established many relationships for specialty building supplies and often can pass on considerable savings to you. We are direct dealers for a variety of green building products and have sources for other hard to find supplies.The following list represents our primary focus but our sourcing of products is vast and unlimited.

• Green built cabinet system
• Concrete and sustainably grown paper countertops
• Sustainable and non toxic floor coverings
• Insulated window shades
• Solar and other renewable energy equipment
• Appliances for small spaces

Field Assistance – As part of our consulting package. we can provide field assistance for project management and quality control. We can assist with a long term project locally or provide short term assistance anywhere. Field assistance is standard component for working with modular and other prefabricated home building kits

Real Estate Investment – Building your own house offers the advantage of instant home equity and a jump start in real estate investment. We can provide assistance to optimize your potential equity and investment strategy.

Group Coaching – In addition to one-on-one consultation, we can provide group coaching as a cost effective option. This option also provides the support of other owner builders and includes the bonus of an open forum for group encouragement.

Please contact us for more information.