The Process Of Building A Home

Have you ever wondered what the process of building a home is like? If you’ve played around with the idea of building a house, you understand that there are a lot of moving parts involved. Picking out the lot, selecting a floor plan and solidifying material selections can be an exciting yet daunting task. Although building a home means you get to pick every aspect to your liking, the fear of making a wrong decision can often cause stress! After all, you want your vision to come to life by the time the final walk-through rolls around. 

Aside from evaluating different price points, we highly suggest you ask potential builders about their process. It’s crucial you are confident and comfortable with your builder. After all, you’ll likely be working closely with their team for the next several months! 

At Hearthside Homes, we understand that a house is more than just a shelter. It’s the safe space you raise your family, share holidays and create memories with those you love most! If you’re on the hunt for a Kansas City home builder, it can be difficult to differentiate your options. How do you ensure you’re getting the best value and experience? A home is a substantial investment after all! It will likely be one of the largest purchases you will ever make.

Aside from evaluating different price points, we highly suggest you ask potential builders about their process. It’s crucial you are confident and comfortable with your builder. After all, you’ll likely be working closely with their team for the next several months! 

Our team has been in the home building business since 1987. Since then, we’ve helped over 1,500 families create their dream home. After more than 30 years in the business, it’s safe to say that we know a thing or two about building houses! Not only do we want to deliver a beautiful and long lasting product, we also want to make the experience as smooth as possible. With this in mind, here are the 10 steps you’ll experience when building a house with Hearthside Homes! 

Step One: Pre-Construction 

Congratulations! Welcome to the first step in the home building process. Now that you’ve decided on choosing Hearthside Homes as your builder, you’re ready to sign off on the lot and layout of your new home! At the pre-construction meeting, you’ll meet with our team to make sure we are in agreement about the scope of the work. We’ll provide you with a timeline as well as explain to you what to expect moving forward. We’ll also introduce you to our team so that you know who to reach out to along the way. 

Step Two: Design Selections

This is often one of the most exciting steps for homeowners as you’ll be able to pick out the bulk of your material selections! Although we exclusively build homes from our list of floorplans, there are plenty of ways you can customize your home to be uniquely you! 

In this step, you’ll meet with an interior designer at SRS Designs. We’re awesome at building homes (humble brag) but we’re no means experts at making design choices. By pairing you up with a professional interior designer, you’ll feel confident that your selections will look cohesive once everything is installed. We highly recommend you arrive to this meeting with inspirational photos. Pinterest is a great source for ideas! 

You can expect this meeting to last about 4-hours. By the end of it you will have chosen most of the finishes for your home! Whether you know exactly what you’re looking for or you have absolutely no idea, the team at SRS Designs is here to help you along the way. Like all the vendors we work in collaboration with, SRS Designs will communicate your selections to our team. 

Step Three: Appliances

Now that you’ve picked out the flooring, tile and countertop options it’s time to choose your appliances! This step is important because it can really enhance the functionality of your home. Whether you’re a gourmet cook, or you’re more of a microwave magician, we can help you find the right appliances that fit your needs. 

During this phase in the process, our clients will meet at Factory Direct Appliance. From there, one of their experts will work with you to choose everything from the stove, hood, microwave, dishwasher, lighting and more! The team at Factory Direct Appliance will show you options that fit within your budget, though you’re welcome to upgrade! It’s important to select your appliances early on so that cabinetry and other element of the home can be configured to fit.

Step Four: Cabinetry 

Now that material selections and appliances have been chosen, it’s time to pick cabinet styles! Our clients will have a one-on-one meeting with an expert at Miller’s Custom Cabinets. Here, clients will choose the cut and color of their cabinets as well as the hardware finishes. 

Like the rest of the vendors that we work with, Miller Custom Cabinets will relay all the information back to our team so you won’t have to worry about any miscommunication. When you arrive at this meeting, their team will already know your floor plan details. You will also review a 3D layout of your kitchen according to the appliances you’ve previously selected. Pretty cool, huh? 

Once you’ve agreed on the cuts and colors of the cabinetry, you can choose how to customize the interior with functional upgrades. This can be anything from racks and trays for the kitchen, to jewelry organization in the master closet and more! 

Step Five: Pre-Drywall Orientation

Now that all your selections have been made, it’s time to finally see the framing of your new home! At this point, the house is still far from finished, but you’ll be able to see the progress that has been made. At this meeting, you’ll meet with one of our construction managers to get a tour of the space. We understand how exciting the home building process can be and we enjoy sharing it with you! 

Step Six: Build Check

The construction continues and all the pieces are starting to come together! At this meeting, you’ll finally get a glimpse at all the material selections you’ve made inside your new home. Everything really starts to come to life at this point! This isn’t a formal meeting, but it’s a great chance for you to sneak a peek at the progress that has been made. 

Appliances will be getting installed, light fixtures will start to get hung and walls will begin to be painted. At Hearthside Homes, we try to do a good job of staying in communication with you throughout the process. We have an online tool that allows us to update you with photos, but we understand that seeing the house in person is a whole different experience! 

Step Seven: Punch Period

The home is just about finished at this time, but there are some minor details that need to be addressed. Essentially this is a checklist our build team uses to manage quality control. Our team will look at everything from the trim to the floors and even the plants outside! We do our best to make sure everything is up to the highest standards when you move in. 

Step Eight: Home Orientation 

Meet your new home! You’re almost ready to move in, we promise!

At the new home orientation meeting, you’ll get to know the features of your house. You will also be provided with contact information, should any warranty-related issues occur once you’ve settled in. You will also be provided with a manual that contains important documents for your appliances. This is the time where we will ask you to walk through the home to make sure everything is to your standard. Often a new set of eyes will notice a scuff on the floor or an area on the wall that needs a paint touch-up. No worries! Let us know at this meeting and we will take care of the to-do list before closing day. 

Step Nine: Closing Day 

Yay! You are finally ready to sign off on your beautiful new home! During this meeting, you’ll make sure any tasks from the home orientation meeting have been addressed. Once you’ve verified that any issues have been resolved, it’s off to the title company! You’ll sign some papers, get your keys and move in! Yippie!

Step Ten: Warranty Check Up 

Wait, there’s more?! 

At Hearthside Homes, we genuinely care about the well-being of our homeowners. We want our homes to be beautiful, functional and to be a lasting space for your family! Once you’ve owned the home for a year, we’ll reach out to you to see if there are any warranty related issues that need to be resolved. 

Ready To Build Your Own Home?

At Hearthside Homes, a large aspect of our mission is to bring happiness to homeowners by not only creating exceptional homes and communities, but also by providing an extraordinary home buying experience! We expect our homes to be durable, beautiful spaces that will allow you to create memories with your loved ones for years to come!

If you enjoyed reading about out process and want to learn more about it, click here to watch a series of videos.

If you’re on the hunt for a Kansas City home builder, we’d love to meet with you to show you why Hearthside Homes is different from our competitors! Feel free to fill out a contact form or call us at (816) 781-0234. If you’re in the early phases of exploring the possibility of building a home, you can download our design book here! Additionally, feel free to get some inspiration from our Facebook & Instagram accounts. 

We look forward to earning your business and creating a space you are proud to call home!