Bright Built Homes Construction Guide

Let David Bright and the staff at Bright Built Homes, Inc. make your journey into custom home building a pleasurable experience to be enjoyed by friends and family. Since 1986 Bright Built Homes, Inc. has helped to make new home construction dreams come true. The following information will assist you in preparing for site selection, plan development and overall amenity selections, that can keep you in budget and bring about the best results.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PRE-PLANNING
The more time you invest in learning the process of new home construction, the more relaxed the experience will be and the best results will be achieved. Before spending weekends driving around the area looking for construction sites, it is best to do two things: [1] Talk to the staff at Bright Built Homes and learn the different factors related to building in subdivisions or on tracts of ground and learn the related costs and benefits of each; [2] Take time, as a family, to determine the 8 to 10 most critical factors that you want in your new home. Some of these items may center around one or more of the following amenities:

• Square footage of the home
• Will your home be a ranch plan, story and ½ or two story home
• Whether you want a walkout basement or full basement
• Number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and garage size
• Is the basement to be finished – rooms required, bedroom, family room, bar area, bathrooms
• Importance and use of the kitchen
• Central area of family involvement
• Those items you would most like to improve from your present home

Focus your search with the guidance of a good builder to avoid construction pitfalls that can result in tremendous cost over runs and avoid plan surfing (looking at so many plans that they all seem to run together) to keep your selections in view.

LOT SELECTION
Talk to Bright Built Homes, to determine the possible selections for your new home’s placement. Whether in a subdivision or on a tract of ground, we have built in many areas of Jefferson, Shelby, Oldham, and Bullitt Counties and are very experienced in all areas. Speak with your builder before securing a lot to be certain all aspects are reviewed, including site septic evaluations, easements, subdivision rules and regulations and overall grade aspects for retaining walls, and driveway location. Many times your builder can purchase the lot to avoid any additional closing charges and undertake all liability costs.

PLAN DEVELOPMENT
Having found your lot and with your 10 new home wishes in hand, sit down with your builder and review those plans which best fit your criteria. Most plans can be easily modified to capture one or two extra home requirements. However, if the square footage is off, the number of bedrooms do not match your needs or the flow of the house seems choppy, you have other options. Remember, enlarging a plan can be easy, but reducing the square footage in a plan often will result in diminished room sizes or the omission of rooms. Here at Bright Built Homes we work directly with draftsmen who will conveniently meet with you and your project manager to create your home plans. Always a preliminary plan is drafted and revisions made, to assure all home construction requirements are met prior to the finalization of any home plans. By keeping the builder, draftsman and yourself involved in the plan development, all sides are aware of your needs and desires thus removing unnecessary repetition or the loss of critical items. You are now ready to finalize all drawings and establish a cost for your new home.

PRICING STAGE
With a full set of plans, your Bright Built Homes project manager will now bid out all aspects of the construction process from the lumber package to the cabinetry and hardware. While finishing your drawings and at the start of the pricing phase, you will be asked critical questions such as:

• What style of window do you like? Casements, double hung or single hung?
• Would you like stone or drivit accents on the exterior of your home?
• What floor coverings would you like in each room?
• Is there a certain plumbing fixture you would like in the master shower, spa set, hand held, dual showerheads?
• Interior trim work specifications such as crown moldings, door styles, casing, wainscoting will be determined
• Cabinetry styles, appliances preferred and countertop finishes will be discussed for proper bidding purposes

Not only will a properly bid out construction project lock in a price on your home, but it will also establish sound judgment allowances for those times you will be selecting things such as ceramic tile, cabinetry, faucets, hardware, shelving, stained glass, brick, windows and appliances.

SPECIFICATIONS
As important as the selection of your building lot and house plans, is the creation of your home’s building specifications. The CONSTRUCTION SPECIFICATIONS are a detailed chronology of every aspect of your new custom home’s construction. They “specify” the exact material to be used in your home from framing lumber, shingles, brick, flooring, and trim applications to waterproofing, drywall and paint. All mechanicals (plumbing, heating and air conditioning and electrical) in your new home are listed with amounts, manufacturers, and capacities. Review these specifications closely with your project manager, and take the time to make notes of changes required or deletions requested. These specifications created the cost for your home and they must be correct. Any items discussed, but not included in the specifications, will not be in your new home.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SUB-CONTRACTORS
The strength of a leader is the quality of the people that surrounds them. So it is with the quality of a builder. The builder with long term working relationships with the mechanical companies (Kilner Electric, Marvin Maeser Plumbing, Project Heating and Cooling, etc.) is a well-established builder that can best deliver quality results. When selecting a builder, discuss their suppliers and sub-contractors with them, for they will be the companies servicing your home for years to come. For this reason specifically, most builders will require the use of their sub-contractors and suppliers for the following very important reasons:
[1] Communications is important, and year of service allow for quick resolutions for changes made during construction. [2] Since the suppliers and sub-contractors work directly for your builder they will be much quicker to respond and more open to scheduling, allowing for your construction to move forward steadily.
[3] Their working relationship with the builder makes a better working relationship for you, in that they can better guide you in areas such as, the electrical layout of you home, plumbing specifications, paint selections, etc. All factors that will make life in your new home the ultimate in comfort and enjoyment.