Talk to your builder. What other builders do for other people has no bearing on what your builder is doing for you.

Client to GC translator:

Tomorrow = maybe Friday

By Friday = sometime next week

Next week = maybe 2 weeks

You are a ways away. Our build was delayed by approximately 3 months. Some of that due to a commercial job taking priority. We lived in hotels for 2 plus months. Yikes!

If you are able, talk and request an updated timeline. Talk to the GC every Thursday and ask him if you are still on target.

If you are able, give some breathing room. You don't want the finishing rushed.

Good luck.

How big is this house? Can you post pics/drawings?

Our house is 3,246 sq.ft. on one level with a bonus room. It is basically square, nothing complicated. We were told after we got under roof that we would be in by end of July, mid August latest. Looks like now end of Sept. to me. Never any explanations for the delays. JN3344 I can relate to your GC translation, if he says by Wednesday next week he really means 2-3 weeks! I am beginning to realize that no amount of urging on our part makes things happen any faster, and we were given the same advice by a friend....not to rush the finishing. I just wanted to reach out here to see if this is fairly typical for new home construction. The pace of our construction makes us feel like we are treated as a side job and we didn't know if we had unrealistic expectations. Thanks everyone.

With markets tightening, this isn't surprising. What is surprising, actually, is that you were quoted such a short time for a custom home.

While it "shouldn't" take that long to build a house, there is a lot of inactive time in a build - waiting, fixing, redoing, weather, etc.

i've given up thinking that it can really work like a well oiled machine.

Ours may end up taking 14-15 months so I understand!

We're in the same situation as you, but much, much worse, if it makes you feel better. We bought our property in October 2013, cleared the land and broke ground in spring 2014. Our builder was well known in the area for building ICF but had very poor planning. He quoted 8-10 months for the build. All his subs were sequential, only being scheduled when needed. It took until 2016 to get the shell, roof, interior studs, and rough HVAC in before we fired him and found a great builder. Our new builder came in late last year and will be done in a couple months. All his subs are scheduled months in advanced and he's great at sticking to his milestones. In our state, there's a huge building boom so subcontractors are at a premium right now. If they don't like a job, they can easily find another one. If you don't get them lined up early, then you'll be a side job when they can get the time. Our trim carpenter is booked two years out now. We lost our awesome tile installer to INS, and although we found another great installer, they're scheduling us when they can, causing some delays. It takes a great GC to keep his subs lined up and production high. I'm lucky to have found one.

I really feel for you dazureus! I think our builder does a lot more remodels and additions than houses and it would seem that is what takes priority. I think you are right that they call up subs when needed rather than schedule in advance. I would certainly have asked about scheduling procedure had I known this was the way they operated. This would be an important question to ask a builder before signing a contract. We are too close to finish to fire them now. Good luck with your new GC!

fwiw, 4 months from foundation completion to drywall is a decent pace in my experience. If he keeps up that pace I would expect you to be in your home around Thanksgiving/Christmas time assuming you don't have lots of complicated millwork and finishings.

Six months might be reasonable but weather, busy subs etc can easily add a month or two. No different than remodeling - seems like always twice the time and twice the budget.

Everyone wants things done faster, better, cheaper. Pick two! No one gets all three! :-)

I agree Virgil. In our case we only want what we were told we would have, or a viable reason for delay. I want honest answers, not answers they think we want to hear......it erodes trust.

A neighbor is in the middle of a remodel. The remodel is behind schedule. The reason: the subs the GC wants to use are booked, either he waits or uses an unknown sub. The GC has done both, and he would prefer to wait.

I live in Silicon Valley, Northern CA, In May I contracted to have my house painted, in October.

I found the trim work to take forever. We Had drywall hung on January 11, paint on the walls February 7, cabinets in February 14, and then floors, trim, electrical etc etc. Final move in date April 14. We moved in without driveway and landscape. I would say we looked a finished product around Memorial Day. Our house is around 2600 sq ft. Any time I asked how long something would take the answer was always 2 weeks. 2 weeks could mean 2 hrs, 2 days, 2 weeks, or 2 months. I was so frustrated at the drywall stage bc I thought it would move so fast. Hang in there. As long the quality isn't comprised you won't remember the long wait to move in.