How often are you supposed to hear from the people building your house? And when a week goes quiet, does that mean everything is fine, or that something went sideways behind a wall you can’t see anymore?
You’ll learn:
- How often we are in touch during a build
- What lands in your daily photo album
- How the weekly site meeting runs
- How the schedule gets updated between meetings
- How all of it works if you live far from the site
How Often Will I Hear From My Builder?
The minimum on our custom home builds is a standing weekly meeting with you and our project manager, and usually your architect too. We also send a written update at the end of every week, by text or email, on what happened and what’s coming. On top of that, we text through the week and share photos daily, so you hear from us most days.
What Does a Daily Job-Site Photo Album Show Me?
Every day we’re on site, our field team adds photos to a shared album for you. We tell them to go through every room and take lots of pictures.
The album gives you a dated record of the house at every stage, including the parts that get covered up. 10 pictures of the same wall can look like too many, until something happens in that wall. One of our albums has about 3,000 photos in it. Because the photos are dated, if something happens in a wall later, we can see exactly what it looked like on each date.
What Happens at the Weekly Site Meeting?
We start with our team’s questions from the job site, so they get answers fast. Then we go through the schedule, what has happened, what’s coming up, and any decision still waiting on an answer. We use the same agenda every week, and we walk through the house.
You, our project manager, and usually your architect are there. Your architect is your advocate and your eyes and ears on the job. We save up questions for the architect and bring them together before the meeting, so nobody gets a million emails. One client in Southern California comes up regularly for the field meetings, so there are more eyes on the job.
It’s one thing to see a plan on paper. It’s another to stand in the room and ask why the fireplace mantel is at that height, or see that a door should move 6 inches to the left. Our clients are building their dream home, so they want it right the first time.
Why Do We Make Selections During the Meeting?
Because something that can be worked out in 10 minutes on a live call can take 2 weeks over email. Most choices, like windows, doors, tile, and appliances, are made during pre-construction. A few are still open when the build starts, like interior door hardware on one recent job. We ask you to pick those during the meeting.
Long-lead items are why most choices are made in pre-construction. Getting every detail of a window order right can take 1 to 2 months of back and forth between you, your architect, and the supplier. If a lead time gets missed, a single item can turn into 3 months of waiting.
| How the decision gets made | How long it can take |
|---|---|
| Worked out live | 10 minutes |
| Worked out over email | 2 weeks |
How Does the Schedule Stay on Track Between Meetings?
We set up the schedule in JobTread and save the original version so it never changes. Every Friday, our team meets at the office and updates a working copy. Keeping the original version fixed lets us see where the job stands at any given time.
A construction schedule isn’t set in stone. The date that matters most is the end date. Everything in between is probably going to get moved around and adjusted, which is why we review it every week. A change order with labor in it can move the schedule, since an extra hour of work can add a day. A material swap on its own doesn’t usually change it.
The city has a say in timing as well. In Berkeley, you may need an inspection while the work is in progress, and a final inspection when it’s complete.
Between meetings, our project manager and assistant project manager call the superintendents in the morning to see what they need and which subcontractors to follow up with. In the afternoon, they check how many workers each site needs tomorrow. That way we’re in touch with every crew on the job every day.
How Does This Work if I Live Out of State or Overseas?
The weekly meeting becomes a Zoom meeting, with the same agenda and the job-site questions first. For one of our overseas clients, we also have the architect come to the site. The daily photos go into the same shared album, and you can comment on them.
We have out-of-town clients right now, one in London and one in Seattle.
Why Does Regular Reporting Matter So Much?
Pre-construction can take about 6 months to a year, the build runs about 12 to 18 months after that, and our warranty runs 5 years. That’s a long time to work with people, and you shouldn’t have to guess what they’re doing. If you want a closer look at how long a custom home takes to build in the Bay Area, we’ve written that up too.
| Stage | Usual length |
|---|---|
| Pre-construction | about 6 months to a year |
| Construction | about 12 to 18 months |
| Warranty | 5 years |
In any relationship, how well and how often you talk is one of the biggest things, and a build is a long relationship. Good builders all do quality work, so what sets a builder apart is the experience, and communication is a big part of that. We tell clients up front that either of us can bow out if the fit is wrong, because we’re going into a marriage of sorts, from pre-construction through the 5-year warranty.
So we’re upfront and honest, and if something goes wrong, we never hide it. We’re usually the first to admit when we made a mistake. Owning our mistakes is a big part of how we earn trust.
Want to See How Updates Would Work on Your Project?
If you’re weighing builders, ask each one how often you’ll hear from them. We’re happy to show you how a custom build runs at Vought, or you can start with our custom home building in Berkeley.
