Linwood Custom Homes - Custom home packages including house plans

Award winning Custom Home Packages including house plans with site specific design.

All Weather Windows

Canada's largest privately owned window and door manufacturer

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) is Canada's national housing agency. CMHC is Canada's premier provider of mortgage loan insurance, mortgage-backed securities, housing policy and programs, and housing research

Energy Star

Save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products

James Hardie

World leader in fiber cement siding and backerboard

Jeldwen Windows & Doors (Canada)

Reliable wood, vinyl and aluminum windows and patio doors

Western Archrib

A leader in the design, manufacture, and custom fabrication of glued-laminated structural wood systems.

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Building It Right

Getting the best result

in building a custom home requires attention-to-detail and a good understanding of the construction process. There are many tasks to be completed which require skilled people to manage them.

The objective for most people who build a new home is to get a valuable return on the investment and a home that fits their lifestyle needs. Value is created when your finished home is worth more to you than the cost of construction.

  • Planning Your Project
  • Preparing a Construction Budget
  • Timing Your Build
  • Sourcing and Delivering Materials
  • Home Building Tips

Keep in mind that there are no shortcuts to achieving a successful result when building your home. It takes expertise, good planning and proper management to build your home right.


Planning Your Project

Good up-front planning saves time and money and helps you to stay in control of your project. Medicine Hat Home Builders takes your design concept and helps you develop a realistic budget before you start construction.

Because construction is largely a sequential process, resources need to be scheduled on a timely basis. When building components or manpower is not available at the jobsite, it will cause a ripple effect. Trades that are booked for jobs will be delayed and the building completion timeline may be affected. It is often difficult to reschedule trades as they may be busy doing other work.

For this reason, changes to the design once the project has been started can be a major cause of increased costs and time delays. On-site changes that may seem simple can result in structural design issues and the need for additional materials and construction resources.

The key is to planning ahead is to include all the variables in the building process. This enables you to monitor performance against your budget on a timely basis and make decisions that minimize risk. Medicine Hat Home Builders can help you in this process.

Preparing a Construction Budget

There are many variables that will affect the costs of constructing your home. The amount you need to budget for will be dependent on the size, location and complexity of the project. Medicine Hat Home Builders helps customers understand the difference between "home construction costs" and "total project costs". Home construction includes the type of design you choose, the quality of finishing products you select and other considerations relating to construction. Total project costs consider site improvement, site preparation and availability of services.

Medicine Hat Home Builders helps homeowners develop a realistic budget estimate that considers the details of the whole project using the proprietary Custom Builder XPM ™ estimating software. This provides comfort to homeowners that they can rely on a proper budget before construction work begins. This process also helps financial institutions validate the project when evaluating construction loans.

Using quotes based on simplistic per square foot pricing for the whole project in your budget can cause major problems. This approach is usually unrealistic and can result in substantial budget overruns. Homeowners do not want to find themselves in a situation where they cannot complete the project if the cost of materials and work involved has been underestimated.


Timing Your Project

To determine a realistic occupancy date, Medicine Hat Home Builders uses a comprehensive work schedule detailing key milestones to keep the project on track. Each milestone is carefully planned to bring the project to successful completion and meet your projected occupancy date.

Activity From (wks) Up to (wks)
Selecting Design and Materials 8 12
Permits and Approvals 2 20
Construction and Inspections 15 38
Projected time to occupancy 25 70

For most of the year the local climate does not affect home construction to any significant extent. At higher elevations, some areas of the region experience cold spells and moderate snowfall, which leaves a more limited time period to build a custom home. You need to plan for energy efficiency when choosing a design and materials.

In many locations there is a significant risk of fire. This means it is important to select fire retardant materials for the roof and exterior walls with an appropriate ventilation system. Medicine Hat Home Builders has expertise in the requirements of local building codes and can help you select the right design and materials for your project.


Sourcing and Delivering Materials

Medicine Hat Home Builders primarily works within a one hour drive from Medicine Hat. We also serve the surrounding area and have familiarity with the challenges of the more isolated locations in the area.

The area around Medicine Hat consists of a number of small population centers that are largely rural in nature. The nearest large town is Medicine Hat but even there it is hard to source many of the high quality products needed to build an exceptional custom home.

For this reason Medicine Hat Home Builders has established a preferred relationship with a national supplier to make sure that the right building materials are available on a timely basis. The organization has the ability to economically supply a wide range of high quality materials that cannot be sourced on a local basis. We also have good relationships with local suppliers to give you the best possible pricing on building products.


Home Building Tips

Building a custom home successfully requires attention-to-detail and a working knowledge of the construction process. There are many tasks to be performed and this requires a combination of good management and skilled people.

Homes have become more complex over the years and building code requirements more stringent. As a result, more construction expertise is required. This is why most homeowners agree that it is safer to hire building professionals to complete their projects. In some cases, banks will require a proven general contractor.

Any construction project is a major undertaking in terms of both time and money. The objective is to get a valuable return on your investment and a home that fits your lifestyle needs. Value is created when your finished home is worth more to you than the cost of building it. This is best achieved by good up-front planning and then making the right purchasing and hiring decisions.

Getting ready to build

The building process starts with selecting the right design and combination of materials. Once these key decisions are made, you can start to plan your project in detail. It takes time to get ready for actual construction, as a number of issues need to be addressed before work can start.

There are many design possibilities and thousands of building components with different performance characteristics to choose from. To get the best result, it is important to choose someone early on in the process who is a design and building material specialist. This enables you to develop a site specific design that can actually be built on your property.

Hiring the Right People

Someone needs to act as the general contractor and be in charge of the entire building process. Some homeowners act as their own general contractor and hire builders and trades directly. Others hire a general contractor to look after the project.

You should select a builder who is qualified for your type of project and is available to meet your time frame. Getting someone who can find, manage and schedule the right people is also important. You can only prepare an accurate budget by obtaining construction quotes that are based on rates that apply at the time of construction. Evaluation should also be based on the expertise offered and the ability to finish the project. Selecting a builder based only on the lowest hourly rate is never the best choice.

Contractors who are not properly insured automatically transfer the risk of injury and damage-related lawsuits to the homeowner. A contractor's business liability insurance can protect you if your home is damaged by the contractor or his employees, or if he causes damage or injury to third parties.

Having a meaningful written contract with your builder is essential. The key elements are scope of work, procedures for changes, payment terms and provisions for sign-off at the time of completion. The construction contract should also address responsibility for work-related injuries, damages to third parties and property damage (builder's risk insurance).

Getting building permits

Home building is a highly regulated process. Building permits are required before construction can begin. The time it takes to get permits is dependent on:

  • Availability of finalized blueprints
  • Compliance with local building regulations
  • Processing time by the planning department
  • Seasonal planning department work loads

Apply for permits as soon as you have your construction blueprints because you can only start foundation work when building permission has been received. You can always delay construction, but you can't move forward without permits.

Preparing the building site

Once the land is cleared, the actual construction of your home can commence. This starts with excavating so that foundations can be formed and concrete poured when the weather conditions are right. It is important to get the foundations in place as soon as blueprints are available and permits have been obtained. Cement cannot be poured below freezing temperatures or other adverse weather conditions without special procedures.

Construction to Lock-up

When the building is at the lock-up stage it means that the home is now weatherproof and secure. The roof is complete with windows and doors installed. An inspection will take place at lock-up. This key milestone inspection will determine the structural soundness of the home and its compliance with building codes.

Finishing to Occupancy

When all of the exterior and interior finishing work is complete you can apply for a final inspection. Any deficiencies identified need to be remedied by you or your general contractor prior to granting an occupancy permit. You may be able to move in prior to receiving an occupancy certificate but you will need one prior to obtaining a mortgage, home warranty protection or selling your house.


Medicine Hat Home Builders - Member of Alberta Builder Network - 1.866.582.8453