The Process

The duration of each phase of the custom building process can vary depending on factors such as design decisions and changes, municipal permit wait times, and building material availability. The typical time frames for each phase of construction are shown below;

Initial consultation & rough estimate

1 Week

The first step for building your new home is to discuss what type of home you want, what size and square footage you would like and any specific design features you would like to include. From here, we develop an initial estimate for your review. This estimate will be a rough guide to the cost of your new house build; we cannot commit to a hard cost for the house until building plans and specifications have been finalized.

The building lot you choose will greatly influence the house design. Municipal bylaws and building setbacks need to be reviewed to see what restrictions may be in place. Physical features of the property will affect what is feasible to build, along with considering bedrock or unstable soil conditions. If you do not have a building lot already purchased, it would be wise to have us perform a site review prior to committing to buying any properties.

Property Selection & Review

2 Weeks

House Design & Specification Selections

1 Month

At Harbour Oak Homes, we design your new home ourselves and work with you to get your vision down on paper. We will bring your wish list to life and guide you through selecting the specific finishes, flooring, fixtures so we can get you an accurate cost for your new home. The more details we are able to finalize, the more accurately we’ll be able to price and plan the construction of your home.

With the property acquired, the design finalized and all the finishes selected, Harbour Oak Homes can now provide you with an accurate cost to build your new home. We’ll decide on a contract type —fixed price or cost plus contracts are the most common for custom house builds. We’ll enroll the new house in the warranty program and submit the building permit application.

Contract Execution & Permit Application

1 Month

Construction Phase

8 Months

Harbour Oak Homes will coordinate the labour, materials and inspections required to build your new home. We’ll hold regular meetings on site with our staff and yourself to review the house as it develops, while ensuring that the progress matches what you envisioned during the design and specification selections.

Once the construction phase has completed, the house passes final inspection, and we’ve been granted an occupancy certificate, we will turn it over for you to move in and enjoy your new home. Harbour Oak Homes will provide you copies of the as-built drawings and a new home maintenance manual. We’ll also perform a walk through of your new home to ensure you are aware of utility connections and shut-off locations. After you have moved in, we will still be available to you if needed—we’re happy to help with any issues or questions that arise as you settle in.

Occupancy Inspections & Turnover

1 Week

What Clients SAY

My husband and I love our new custom home so much! The best part is the experience we had dealing with Matt. All the way through the process he explained our options thoroughly and encouraged us to keep asking any questions that we had. He always made time for us. His patient and calm approach made communication really easy and he was very upfront about costs and when it was worth spending a little more compared to wasting money unnecessarily. We would recommend Harbour Oak Homes to anyone who wants a high-quality home built by a detail-oriented, kind, sensible, and highly skilled contractor!

Marlene Hamer

Home Owner

Matt, owner/builder, just built our brand new home & we 100% recommend him! He has great craftsmanship, design, quality and integrity and he was always ‘hands on’ on site in building our home. Super great guy to communicate with along the way, was always there to answer questions and someone we could trust. We now have a beautiful home that we know is built solid and done right.

Richard & Jacki Pearson

Home Owner

Over the past three years, we have successfully completed multiple houses alongside Harbour Oak Homes. The projects we have worked on with Harbour Oak Homes have always been well organized and completed in a timely manner. We have heard many great comments from homeowners about the completion of their bathrooms, kitchens, gas fireplaces and on demand hot water installations. We look forward to working alongside Harbour Oak Homes in the future.

Devo Martin

Martin Xtreme Plumbing Ltd.

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