House Plans,
Custom Homes,
Cedar Homes, Post and Beam

CUSTOM HOUSE-BUILDING PROCESS

The actual house building process starts with selecting the type of construction method to be used in the custom home you want to build. Next, you need to choose the exterior look and interior layout that meet your lifestyle needs.

• Review Custom Home Design and Custom-Building Material Quote.
• Enter into a Custom Home Purchase Agreement.
• Preparation of Permit Ready Floor Plans.
• Production of Custom House Materials.
• Custom Home Package Shipment to Site.

REVIEW YOUR CUSTOM HOME QUOTE

Your custom house quotation is based on your selected cedar-post and beam house design and building material choices.

Your initial concept custom house design shows floor plans and elevations. You receive a list of the main product features in your cedar home package along with available options for you to consider.

If you have other questions about your chosen cedar home design and house materials at this stage let us know. Changes and adjustments can be easily changed if you wish.

Confirmation of House Planned Budget

At this stage, you may want to ensure that your home site improvement and house building costs meet your planned budget and financing requirements.

Using a Cedar Designs Home design and custom material package allows builders to accurately estimate the remainder of the costs of construction.
A detailed House Construction Cost Worksheet is provided. Cedar Homes by Cedar Designs will assist you in developing a realistic and comprehensive budget for building and finishing your custom dream home.

Your cedar home design details will give custom home builders the information that they need to do so.

If your requirements have changed, you can revise the house design and material specifications at any time during the home concept stage.

PURCHASE AGREEMENT

A house purchase agreement is prepared based on the quotation provided. This will consider any revisions or modifications that you would like to make.

Once you are ready to move ahead, all you need to do is sign the house purchase agreement, with its schedule details and commitments to you.

You require only a 10% deposit of the cedar house package price at this stage.

You will always have full control over the timing of when you want to move to the next step in getting ready to build your cedar home.

Contents of House Design & Material Package

Custom House Design:

• Development of Concept
• 3D Site-Specific Design
• Full Construction Drawings, Foundation Plans, and Detailed Material List

Materials:
All house materials to build the structure of your custom home to lock up are outlined in your quotation and include:

• Performax pre-cut wall/flooring/roof system
• Energy-efficient exterior doors and windows
• Siding, trim, fascia

Technical Support:
Valuable advice and construction support for you and the home builder.

Other Home Package Value

• Fixed price protects against rising prices.
• Guaranteed quantity minimizes costly downtime.
• Premium quality gives better-finished results with less waste.
• Factory-organized and labeled for more efficient home construction.
• Direct-to-site shipment ensures all materials are available when needed.
• Owner Builder Manual guides budget and construction decisions.
• Access to Cedar Homes by Cedar Designs Builder Network to help you select the right builder.

Our Responsibilities

Your initial 10% deposit covers the following activities:

• Registration of your Price Guarantee in our records.
• Preparation of your 3D Site-Specific Design.
• Issuance of Owner Home Builder Manual.
• Help to select the right builder.
• Confirming permit timing in your area.
• Make any needed changes to your home design.
• Finalize material choices in your house package.

Once these activities are complete to your satisfaction, you will be ready to move to the next stage.

3-D Site Specific Design

A member of your Cedar Designs team will be working closely with you to make sure that any changes that you need are incorporated into your 3D site-specific design.

Your home design adjustments can be major changes to the size, look, and layout of your custom home, or simple ones like exterior features.

Changes must be made at this stage of the design process, as doing so later could be costly and may cause delays.

At the end of this process, you will have enough detail in your home drawings to get accurate quotes and obtain a bank appraisal for construction financing, if required.

Fixed Price & Quantity Guarantee

There is often a significant time lag between completion of home design and being able to start construction. This is due to the time taken to get permits, complete site development activities, and allow for weather.

Material prices are rising constantly and are always higher in peak season.

Lumber yards only offer a fixed price for a very short period and will never give quantity guarantees.

Cedar Homes by Cedar Designs’ price and quantity guarantee are unique in the custom home industry. It provides our customers and their financing institutions with a much higher degree of cost certainty and significantly reduces the risk of cost overruns.

Price is important, and we’ll give you numbers regarding your post and beam and cedar homes’ pricing.

The quality of our cedar lumber is outstanding and far superior to what
most contractors can purchase from lumber yards, even if they are willing to pay a premium.

Building with high-quality, straight, and true components means that everything goes together the first time with lower construction costs.

You will not experience settling problems from our kiln-dried material.

Finalize Material Choices

Your Cedar Homes by Cedar Designs Team will work with you to make sure that you are happy with your choice of house materials included in the home package.

Changes can be made to any of the materials specified in your purchase agreement.

The reason for changes might range from color choices to upgrading materials you originally selected or adding options that you may have
been previously considered.

These changes can easily be handled by way of amendment. You have full control of the change process as any amendment must be approved by
you in writing.

Homeowner Involvement

Every new custom home project is different, and the level of homeowner involvement varies considerably. However, as the owner
of the land and one paying the bills, you always have some level of responsibility.

This includes selecting the right combination of resources that you can trust to help you build your cedar home successfully. Builders and contractors must also provide you with accurate building cost quotes, so you can properly prepare your working budget.

You also need to take an active involvement upfront to make sure that you are given good information so that you can make the right decisions.

Owner Home Builder Manual

A detailed Owner Home Builder Manual is issued to every Cedar Homes by Cedar Designs customer. This is a step-by-step reference guide to help you select your custom home builder, control your house project, and save money.

Owner Builder Manual

It also includes a comprehensive Project Budget worksheet outlining all the other various project costs estimate that need to be considered in your initial preliminary budget.

Turning this into a working budget should be completed with input from your custom home builder and other house contractors involved as soon as you have finalized your 3D Site-Specific design and cedar home product choices.

Home design and material changes can be made before the preparation of Your house construction drawings. This process gives you the flexibility required to make any changes needed to stay within your target budget.

Selecting the Right Custom Home Builder

Cedar Homes by Cedar Designs will provide you with a ‘Working with Builders’ document and help you select the right builder.

Experienced custom home builders are a key element of the success of any house construction project. Your builder must have the financial and physical resources required to construct your custom home and be able to meet contractual obligations.

As part of the house builder selection process, you will also need to confirm that your house builder is available to build at the time required to meet your custom home construction timetable.

Cedar Homes by Cedar Designs will need to talk to your custom home builder to make sure that they understand the benefits of working with Cedar Design’s design and cedar homes or post and beam material package and price your custom home job accordingly.

Once your cedar home concept design is complete, you will be able to get accurate quotes from your selected house builder to be included in your working budget. These may also be required by your financial institution.

PREPARATION OF PERMIT-READY HOUSE PLANS

Once you have finalized your 3D Site-Specific Cedar Home Concept Design and are ready to move ahead with your custom home project, you can take the next step in getting ready to build your dream home.

This requires an additional 10% deposit. Cedar Homes by Cedar Designs will then start the preparation of permit-ready house plans.

House plans also include foundation plans, schedules, and cross-sections. Floor joists and rafter or truss layouts are also included if they are required for permit applications.

Your cedar home, post and beam builder will find that the level of detail provided will make your custom house construction process easier and faster. The house drawings will be pre-engineered and ready for local engineering, if required, as part of the customhouse permit approval process.

Engineering & Permitting

Your local planning department will require Permit Ready House Plans before they issue the necessary approvals.

All Cedar Homes by Cedar Designs plans are pre-engineered to meet national standards for loading and structural integrity.

However, many jurisdictions require a local engineer to certify that your house plans meet local building codes.

Cedar Homes by Cedar Designs staff engineer will work with your local engineer to make any changes necessary to obtain house plan approvals.

This level of technical support speeds up the process and reduces local engineering costs.

Permit Ready Plan Detail

Cedar Designs’ permit-ready house plans are widely regarded as the best in the industry. These house plans contain a large amount of detail, which helps your home builder use the custom home materials supplied in the right way to get the best house construction result.

The cedar home materials needed at each stage of the custom home construction processes are identified and indexed to your house plans.

This makes for faster house construction and minimizes the chance of mistakes by the builder.

Cedar Designs provide a Construction Guide to your custom home builder.

This gives useful information about how to properly use your custom cedar home materials in the construction process. It also facilitates efficient communication with Cedar Homes by Cedar Design’s technical support personnel.

PRODUCTION OF CUSTOM MATERIALS

Once you have the necessary house plan approvals based on your construction drawings and foundation plans, you are ready to move to the next step in getting ready to build your custom cedar, post and beam home.

Premium Building Materials

Your Cedar Designs package contains custom materials and components that are custom manufactured and unique to your cedar home.

Accordingly, we require an additional 20% to move your cedar home package into production.

House Custom Materials

Cedar Homes by Cedar Designs will then proceed to order and manufacture all the house materials required to build the structure of your cedar home.

These include specialty items with longer lead times, such as windows and beams.

Your custom house construction materials can be shipped more efficiently and are available when needed.

HOME PACKAGE SHIPMENT TO SITE

Arranging for your custom home material production and delivery direct to your home site, from the factory normally takes about the same length of time as land clearance and completion of foundations.

We are talking about 4 weeks to produce and ship the first load to your site.

This process may take longer at different times of the year, so, we need to know if your construction timeline changes.

Cedar Homes by Cedar Designs team will coordinate with you and your builder to make sure that materials are available when your foundations are completed.

The final payment is to be made one week before
the scheduled delivery date.