What it actually costs.
No honest builder can price a custom project from a phone call. What we can do is show you exactly what drives the number, before you have spent anything finding out.
Most builder websites dodge the money conversation entirely. We would rather have it early and honestly: here is what actually moves the cost of a custom home, addition, renovation, boathouse or deck, and how we keep the number and the design attached to each other.
The site, before anything else
Two identical houses on two different lots are two different budgets. Rock that needs breaking or a slope that needs a stepped foundation, trees under protection, a tight urban lot where everything arrives by small truck, a shoreline where materials come by barge: the land writes the first chapter of the number. This is why we walk the property before we talk figures.
Structure and spans
Open plans, tall spaces and big glass are bought with structure: longer spans mean engineered beams, more steel, deeper footings. None of it is visible in the finished photos and all of it is in the price. A floor plan that works with sensible spans instead of against them buys back real money without looking like a compromise.
The envelope
Roof complexity, wall area, window count and quality: the envelope is where weather is kept out and where budgets quietly grow. A roofline with six intersecting planes costs more than a clean gable everywhere it exists: framing, sheathing, shingling, flashing, and every future repair. Windows are commonly one of the largest single line items in a custom build, and the spread between builder-grade and architectural glazing is wide.
Finish level
The same room can be finished at three different budgets and all three can look good in photos. Millwork, tile, plumbing fixtures, flooring species and cabinet construction are taste decisions with structural price differences. Our job is to price the level you actually want, show you where each dollar sits, and never let an allowance hide a surprise.
Water, if you are building on it
Waterfront construction carries costs land never sees: crib and steel work planned for ice, barge and marine logistics, shorter work windows, and approval processes that take real time. It is also where cutting corners is most expensive later, because the lake finds every one of them.
The unknowns, priced honestly
Renovations and additions open buildings that keep secrets. The honest way to price that is a contingency sized to the age and history of the building, stated out loud, and spent only with your sign-off, not a low bid that meets reality at your expense in month three.
Why design-build protects the budget
When the designer and the builder are different companies, the drawings and the price meet for the first time at tender, and the classic result is a design you love that comes in far over what you meant to spend. Under one roof, every design decision is priced as it is drawn. You trade the surprise for a running conversation about where the money goes, which is the single most effective cost control that exists in this industry.
Get a real range for your real project.
Tell us the property and the ambition. The first conversation puts honest brackets around the number, and it costs nothing.