re: Why would anyone build a new house?

I have bought and renovated, built, and GCed a build that I did a lot of the work on. I actually enjoy the process but I am a contractor's nightmare. I am OCD, especially about trim and finish work.

I looked for over a year to find our GC for our custom build and finally found a guy that had just moved to the area from NJ and happened to also do amazing sanded in place floors. He was as particular as me and he and my architect got along well. The only problem was trim. I had milled the lumber and profiled all the mouldings except some egg and dart, corbels, and appliques that I had a friend with a CNC router run for me. I had every piece of moulding designated and grain matched for a specific area and had models of each of the built up mouldings but they kept telling me it just couldn't be done. I finally just hired one of their helpers and ran the trim on the weekends myself. Apparently, true custom moulding using hardwood is a lost craft in my area. I ended up building the staircases as well. I learned the reason there are people who specialize in just building staircases.

I was lucky I found a GC that understood what a true custom home was and got along well with the architect and me. Most of the GCs I talked with thought a custom home was just a spec house built for someone specific that got to choose their colors and fixtures.


I enjoy the process and like getting exactly what I want built but it can be a big PITA.