How long has it taken to get to this point? Also how big is the house? Is it a tract house where they are all the same? How detailed are the finishes? The finer the finishes, the longer it will take.

Is your home custom or a spec house? When did they break ground?

It's a custom home, 4200 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms on 2 levels. Broke ground end of November 2015. It is in a nice part of town. I think the finishes will be a bit more detailed, as you put it. The style is French country so the cabinets are a traditional style and all the windows and doors will be framed, etc.

So you know, the builder said it would be complete in the Summer of 2016 when we agreed to build it in the Spring of 2015. I don't want to get into it, but they started building much later than we expected (November 2015).

Can take up to 18 months to two years finish a large custom home with nice finishings. Unless you change things and then it can take longer.

Holy cow.

We broke ground in April 2015 on our custom build. MIGHT get in next month. MIGHT.

Ours is just under 2,400 sq ft not counting garage. 2 bedroom, 2 bath.

We broke ground on a 2800+ sq foot 4 bed/3 bath home in Alaska about a week before Halloween in 2015. It just was completed earlier this week. I believe they were drywalling ours in March (can't remember if it was early or late March. I think late March), so it took a couple months from that point. However, you have a bigger house, and your contractor is ALREADY being slower than you want (ours wouldn't really give us a timeline either because he didn't want to be on the hook for saying something and then have us mad if it didn't happen). So let's see - I'd already double it because your house is bigger, and then they're already being slow, so I'll double that again. So I'll say 8 months. :) But that's just me guessing.

With a builder that is vigilant about keeping the work going continuously, and on top of the subs, I would say at least a year for a house like yours. Probably more like 14-16 mo.

At least that has been my experience with our two houses.

I have to add that there is a lot of building going on around here and subs are super busy and short handed. We had our tile guy up there working on floors until 1:30 am as he had to work around other subs. And electrical guy has been working at least part of the last 4 weekends....even this last holiday one.

Thanks for the responses. Sounds like consensus is 14 months from start to finish.

Sueellen - thanks. Yeah, the subs being tied up thing just adds extra risk to the timing. It's just not known. One issue that held us up was that our standard sized windows were stolen because they left them lying in the house over a weekend.

Laurel - I believe my builder feels the same way about not wanting to be on the hook for a certain timeline. Thanks for giving me the estimate between drywall and finish.

Ilovered - I would not consider my builder "on top of subs". I really don't understand why he is not in a hurry. Doesn't he want to get paid?

It has always taken me six-eight months from demo to move in. Though there may be touchups and odds 'n' ends afterwards. But almost all were on my own land, so time wasted was (my) money wasted!

Size is much less important than the level of detailing.

Without seeing what's going on, your builder sounds right on track to me.

"How much longer?" is many times a perception thing. I am currently in the middle of my own construction project and I know not even to ponder the question. If you know the saying, consider your project a pot of water ready to boil.

I think asking "how much longer" it is especially a sensitive question for us because we were told we'd be able to move in Summer of 2016. Right now, June 2016, has been 14 months since we agreed to build. Builder claimed permitting held him up but I called the city and it only took 2 months from applying to receiving the permit.

I had a builder tell a client that they would be moved in by the end of July. Sure enough, they move in on July 57th.

Two choices. You can have it quick. You can have it done well, according to plans and specs. Pick one!

You have a long ways to go yet.

agree with Virgil!

mine took 13 and 1/2 months. 4700 heated sf, 2416 unfinished basement, 6 full baths, 5 bedrooms, 3 car garage, fully crown moldings.

We are not in a hurry at all. Our builder is a good friend of dh's. As a matter of fact he was best man at our wedding.

he does commercial work but is building our house for us. So he does a lot of big jobs. He told DH today that right now concrete subs are crazy busy. And a lot of the jobs are held up if you can't get concrete.

domino effect? I can't even imagine trying to GC my own home.

Signed contract with builder February 2015. Broke ground May 2015, indication that house would be able to be occupied by the holidays. You know, the ones back in December. The word is now, July. 2000 square feet, with walkout basement.

Things come up in the world of building.

I had a builder tell a client that they would be moved in by the end of July. Sure enough, they move in on July 57th.

I'm stealing that!

Unfortunately, I feel like the time after dry walling is the part that drags. Stuff has to dry, the subs have to be staggered, and finish work done well feels like forever. If they started later than anticipated, how can you expect to be in there in the same time frame?

I know the wait stinks...we are a month away, and I can't wait. My patience is fraying. But soon. Good things come to those who wait.

This all should have been covered in the contract.

Drywall to move in took 5 months for us (4/3 2050 sqft custom). We found that never asking about a move-in date worked in our favor. Less stress and patience didn't wear out. It's that last 90% ARG mentioned that will kill your patience. Channel Elsa and let it go! You'll move in when you move in. ;)

architectrunner - 90/90 rule is hilarious

Ichabod - the contract timing is useless, builders have so many 'outs'. in any case, ours says 365 after start which would be November. but from the sounds of the group, 12 months is light.

ascorsonelli / artemis / houses - thanks for timing. drywall to move in time is esp helpful

Best guess--4-5 months

@Ilovered - My wife and I are in awe that we thought at one point we could GC it ourselves. It's not so much dealing with so many different people, but the need to have some of them come and go at various points during the construction that would've overwhelmed us. At the time I was exasperated with the difficulty of getting subs to bid on our project, but now I'm incredibly thankful that they did so. It was indication enough that we'd have an incredibly difficult time doing it on our own. And now I have the time and energy to do certain things DIY (closet systems, automation) and shop for good deals on finishes which will help mitigate the costs.

And best of all is that visiting the construction site is almost always an exciting experience, and not something to dread.

This is all about your local labor market. If demand is high, the better subs will be overbooked. Some may be making up for the lean years after the crash.

Your GC may also be overbooked, and he might be putting his subs on higher priority (greater profit potential) jobs, especially since he usually does commercial. Your job may be little more than a side gig to him. This isn't personal, it's just business.

FWIW, I'm having the same issue here in northern New England. There's a shortage of good skilled people, and it likely will get worse, until we have another crash. It's a very cyclical business.

Our build has been going quite quick. Broke ground middle of Jan this year and home should be finished by 1st week of August. House is 5000 Sq ft with medium level finishes. Home will be a parade home so I have GC on a strict time line.

Ichabod - the contract timing is useless, builders have so many 'outs'. in any case, ours says 365 after start which would be November.

Not good ones. When I built homes, I supplied customers with my MSProject timeline, and gave them all updates for weather- or material-related delays. Builders are like anyone else; some people go through life just as things come up, some people go through life on a schedule.

I'd never hire someone without a PM methodology in place. Don't care what it is. PMP, Daytimer, just SOMETHING.

Our contract said April 6th, 2015. But in some fine print at the end it had a whole list of potential exceptions. We moved in while the house was still being finished in June 2015 after a big 2 week push so we could get out of the hotel. We had lived in hotels at our expense since April 1st.

It was finally done after Labor Day September 2015.

Sheetrock was done around March. So 5 months from sheetrock to completion.

We built our 3000+ sq.ft. home on our land and it took 6 months from ground breaking to move in. It was totally custom with high end finishes. Our GC said that we started in perfect weather and finished with perfect weather. That's why it went so quickly. Plus, I am the world's most organized person. When he needed a decision, he had one immediately or by the end of the business day. And, I didn't change my mind. I was at least a month ahead of him when it came to decisions and finishes.

What you need is a copy of his proposed schedule. Now days, these are done on spread sheets. It's not a contract, but it is a guideline. Having one will keep you off his back. But, it will make him more accountable, too.

There should be something going on at the site every day. If there is a large gap in activity, start squawking about it. You should be nice about it, but you need to make sure you are a priority. You will know when it's beyond the GC's control. Still, stay on top, be part of the process, make firm decisions and ask what's next every time you have any contact with him. He will tell you when there is an expected activity gap so it's not a surprise. A lot of time it's due to wanting a particular sub contractor and having to wait. If the wait is too long, he may need to get someone else. Just keep on top of it.

We are living right next door to our build. Kind of a blessing and a curse. Handy for any questions but I can be outside doing something and thinking "I can't hear any hammering....shouldn't their be hammering??" (this during framing..) or "why are there any trucks up there?" Truly they are busy all the time.

So to close the loop on this, we got the Certificate of Occupancy last week. It took 14 months since breaking ground. 4300 sq ft house, 2 floors, custom finishes. So glad its over!

My builder, a very well organized builder, feels it will take him 9 months to build our 1.25 storey fair sized (ok large) custom home. He may well intend to complete in 9 months but I'm allowing 15 months and signed the contract for the same. I'd rather he take his time to complete the build to my standards than cut corners to save time. I think it will be amazing if it can indeed be completed in 15 months. I even considered building a substantial amount myself, just because I can, but the wife did not want to lose 5 years of her life waiting, lol. I'm not counting chickens yet, we expect to break ground in a week or so.

@PineBaron -- I'll bite. I know what a 2-story house is, and what a 1.5-story house is, but your comment above is the first time I've seen mention of a "1.25 storey" house. What is a 1.25 story house, anyway?

CSKI 13:What is a 1.25 story house, anyway? A one story house is one with finished area over the garage, though there could be other interpretations.

I was the GC, the FIL the architect on custom home almost exactly as you have described. I was there 7 days a week as well as most of the subs. I personally did all of the clean up, painting, landscaping, hauling of trash, etc.... (BTW....I also have a full time job. Missed one of my sons best weeks ever playing in a big baseball tournament in early summer. Would I ever do this again....NO!!) Broke ground in early November moved in the end of July.

On my part.. I've stopped estimating.

Sigh.

I did move my short sleeved tops and t-shirts up there, so maybe I'm having hopes?