We always strive to provide our customer with a home bringing years of pride and joy by offering a custom tailored process. Understanding that buying a home is most likely a family's single most important investment, we construct every home as if it were our own. We are proud of the management and craftsmanship that we provide, and we stand behind our quality and continue to serve our clients with personal, prompt attention to after-the-sale details.

At Gale Builders, we understand that the more you know about the homebuilding process, the more gratifying your experience is likely to be. At Gale Builders, we hope to provide you as much information as possible about the Gale Building process to allow you a greater understanding of our crews daily involvement. This process will allow you to understand the critical points at which custom selections such as the house plan, kitchen cabinets, plumbing, flooring, and paint colors need to be made. These decisions can be very overwhelming and take a great deal of time. For this reason, the following information may help to allow you a greater insight into the team process.

1. Research: Expectations & Budget
2. Pre-construction
3. Home Sighting
4. Foundation
5. Framing
6. Rough-ins: Plumbing, electrical, heating
7. Interior Finishes
8. Exterior Finishes
9. Landscaping

Research: Expectations & Budget
Our team is dedicated to maintaining a high level of communication and accessibility. We want to make building your new home an exciting and rewarding experience for you. Therefore, it’s our goal to develop friendly, professional relationships with each customer.

At Gale Builders we understand the demands and stresses of building a new home. That is why we help our customers every step of the way. We’re focused on providing detailed communication, working with each individual budget, and meeting your needs and expectations.

To get started, you will be meeting with us to discuss your dream home visions. Sometimes this means that you already have a blueprint or you have some general ideas in your head. The best thing that you can do before our meeting, is prepare yourself with as many pictures and ideas that meet your vision. As part of this early research stage, we recommend that you read a few books on planning your new home and gather as many magazine clippings that show architectural details and interiors that you like. Additionally, talk with people that have went through the building process and ask them for personal stories about their experience. This first meeting will be used to take these visions and wrap them around your budgetary requirements.

To prepare, the following questions will be discussed in our first meeting…

1. Do you have a house plan?
   You may have already found the perfect plan or may have some general sketches. These plans will help us to understand the square footage and general architectural characteristics that you are looking for. If you are still in the design phase, the following questions will be discussed to help in defining the type of home you will need.
   
   1. Do you entertain others frequently?
   2. Will you have enough storage space?
   3. Do you work from home?
   4. How long do you plan to live there?
   5. Do you need any special accommodations?
   6. Will elderly parents be staying with you?
      
      
2. Where do you want to build?
   You may have already selected or purchased a lot in a subdivision or in the country. The location which you would like to build will be critical in allowing Gale Builders to know such things as building codes, covenants, restrictions, etc. These factors will play a role in the overall building cost.
   
   
3. What is your budget?
   To prepare yourself for this subject, you may want to meet beforehand with your bank and get pre-approval for a specific amount. This is very important in allowing us to speak candidly about your visions and whether they fit within your budget. Keeping this in mind, you must also take into factor other expenses that may be more than your current monthly costs such as heating, gas, septic/sewer, etc.
   
   
4. How much house can you afford?
   At Gale Builders, no project is priced out by the square foot. Instead, each home is defined by the specifications of the architectural plan and trim details. It is important to keep in mind that the same architectural plan can range significantly in cost by the details selected in the home such as kitchen cabinets, counters, plumbing fixtures, and lighting. Gale Builders works with each client to understand a client’s expectations for interior details and budget from the beginning of the project. If the details of the home have not been decided upon, you must expect that the cost of the home could vary once they are decided. Because of this, Gale Builders can price a home with allowances for plumbing fixtures, cabinetry, lighting, etc. We recommend that once these allowances are provided to you, that you spend some time at the selected vendors to evaluate whether the prices for selections you like fall in line with the allowances.
   
   
5. Do you have a required timeline?
   The overall time it takes to build a house, from breaking ground to the final walk through, can take between 5 – 8 months. Things such as weather and interior custom woodworking can play major factors in the length of the process. If you do not have a blueprint, and the conceptual phase needs to be taken into factor, you may consider that the entire process could take a year. With this said, once we have established a timeline for the project, it is critical that you, the homeowner, recognize the selection deadlines for such items as kitchen, flooring, stonework, and paint colors. With these selections made at the right time, the Gale Builder team can stay on schedule.
   
   
6. What are your expectations?
   One of the greatest factors that can play a part in a homeowners happiness of the building process lies in both the homeowner and Gale Builders expectations of the project. The first meeting is essentially in putting expectations on the table. For this reason, bring a list of questions that you would like us to answer. Also, offer us some insight into what you are expecting for answers. This will allow us to get to know you and your expectations a bit more.
   
   
7. How involved do you hope to be in the project?
   Some homeowners wish to visit the site once a day. Others prefer to not be as involved. Gale Builders is very flexible in allowing you to be as involved as you wish to be. Throughout the home building process, Gale Builders will have scheduled meetings with you at the site. These meetings will be used to refine the requirements of such things as electrical, plumbing, and kitchen. These are great opportunities to discuss any questions that you have and bring up any specific detail that have not been discussed already. If at any time throughout the project, you have a questions or wish to meet at the site, Gale Builders can be reached at their office and scheduled for a meeting time.
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Pre-construction
Once you have decided that Gale Builders is the builder for you, we will use the pre-construction phase to agree on a contract that contains detailed requirements, a blueprint, and a price. This phase is the most critical point throughout the building process. You may have to live with the decisions you make in this phase for at least the life of your mortgage. For this reason, we will work with you to refine every detail in the contract and walk through each element to guarantee they are as you expect.

To guarantee that the contract exudes the vision that you have for your dream home, it is crucial that you spend time with your house plan and interior selections. You may find that you simply do not have the expertise to take your visions for a house plan directly to a draftsman. If this is the case, Gale Builders can recommend specific home designers and/or architects that could help you bring your personal characteristics into a home plan. Keep in mind that blueprints and architectural services are not a part of the building budget. An architect can cost between about 10% of the overall cost of the home. A draftsman may cost between $800 - $2000.

After you decide on your final home design, you will need to identify all of the materials and finishes. There are thousands of selections that go into the construction of a new home, and each selection must be clearly specified and understood by both parties. In our experience, any element that is not clearly defined will almost certainly be something other than what you expected. Though every single selection does not have to be defined to the letter under the contract, often you will be introduced to a budgetary cap. It is important that you will have spent enough time with various selections to guarantee that these caps are appropriate for your expectations.

For Gale Builders to establish the final requirements and price for the project, the following items will be defined:

1. Is the property served by public utilities or will it require well and septic?
2. Is there an architectural review committee needing to approve the plans?
3. What are the zoning restrictions?
4. What are the building set-backs?
5. Will access to the site be a problem during construction or bad weather?
6. What land considerations need to be made for good water drainage?
7. What does the final blueprint look like – ranch, two story?
8. What are the expectations for floor and kitchen selections – wood floors vs. vinyl floors – Cherry cabinets vs. laminate cabinets.
9. Has the homeowner been approved for the construction loan?
   Lastly, to sign on the contract, you, the homeowner, will need to be approved for a construction loan. We will require a pre-approval letter, final approval for the construction loan, and your signature on the contract to begin.
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Home Sighting
Moving beyond the paper and pencil, you and Gale Builders will visit the site and walk the land. This time is used to place the house, establish the set back, and analyze the elevations requirements. We will work with you to define which trees should remain and which trees should be brought down. We will also analyze the slope of the land and any wishes that you have for general landscaping – such as a fence.

Once the team has agreed on the sighting, Gale Builders will be cutting trees, moving dirt, and establishing grades in preparation for the foundation.
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Foundation
Pouring the foundation can be an exciting time. This phase gives you a greater understanding of the footprint of the home. Gale Builders uses this phase to guarantee proper sized reinforcements for the load which it will carry and implement a waterproofing system to guarantee a dry below grade area.
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Framing
If you found the foundation phase to be exciting, the framing will be awesome. Once Gale Builder’s framing crew has completed the first floor deck, you will be able to walk around the first floor of the home. The framing phase can take from 2 weeks to 2 months depending on the complexity of the home. Each day will bring significant change and you will be able to observe the walls, roof and windows installation during this time. This phase can also bring the first on-site changes. This is the first time that you will be able to observe actual proportions and architectural details. Often this phase can accommodate minor changes such an interior wall or closet.
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Rough-ins: plumbing, electrical, heating
During the next month or so, dozens of Gale Builder contractors will be installing the inner workings of your house. This phase will require multiple walk throughs which will result in defining the placement of many utilities and home features such as plumbing, lighting, and telephone. These walk throughs should not be taken lightly, the decisions made during this phase are critical and very difficult to change once the interior finishing are complete.
This phase will introduce the following rough-ins…

• Plumbing
• heating
• air-conditioning
• lighting, security systems
• central vacuum lines
• television cable
• sound systems
• computer networks
• exhaust fans
• phone lines
• fireplaces
  

After the walk throughs and rough-ins are complete, it is highly recommended that you and family members or friends walk through the home to assess the details. You will remove a great deal of aggravation and extra cost in catching any changes at this point rather than after the interior finishes are complete.
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Interior Finishes
Interior finishing includes the drywall, plastering, trim, door installation, cabinet installation, hardwood floors and ceramic tile. This phase includes the majority of your personal selections such as cabinets, flooring, fixtures and appliances. All the time spent in selecting each element of your home comes together in this phase.

Once the major features are installed, the paint will be applied to walls and trim. The painting process can take 1 – 4 weeks depending on the amount of painted trim in the home. When the painting is complete, light fixtures, counter tops, appliances, plumbing fixtures, mirrors, shower doors, security systems, door knobs, towel bars, and toilet paper holders are installed.
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Exterior Finishes
As the interior is being completed, the exterior will also be built. The exterior finishes may include brick or stone and vinyl or wood. These exterior selections should be decided based on two factors: the character of home you wish to exude and the weather factors that may make one exterior selection better than another.
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Landscaping
Once the exterior is complete, landscaping can begin. In our experience, this phase is not considered enough by the homeowner during the planning phase. It is good to keep in mind that the various aspects of landscaping can easily cost a homeowner between 10 – 15 thousand dollars. With this in mind, we recommend that you spend time evaluating your landscape needs during the house planning phase and you should consider bringing the cost of this phase into your contract.
Gale Builders can make recommendations for landscape designers and installers.

Such things that should be considered in your landscaping are the following…

1. Extra top soil that should be brought in after the final grading.
2. Walkways, patios, pools that may require significant grading
3. Fencing
4. Irrigation systems
5. Grass installation: hydro-seed or saud
6. Trees and plantings that would help in summer and winter conditions.
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