How House Construction Works

Have you ever wondered how a house is built? What holds up the ceilings and the walls? What keeps the rain out? What parts go into making a house? How many different people are involved when a house goes up? If you always wanted to know the answers to questions like these, or if you have simply been curious to know all the steps that go into making a new home, then read on. You'll learn how the houses we develop are actually built.

Setting the Stage

So let's start at the beginning. What is a house? According to Wikipedia, a house is "A building that functions as a home for humans or other creatures, including simple dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes and complex structures composed of many systems." I don’t know about the “other creatures” part but you probably have a very specific mental image of the "typical house." It is a structure on its own piece of land, generally with a lawn and plants outside. It has a pitched roof, walls covered in brick or siding, windows and doors. Inside there are rooms like the kitchen, the living room, bedrooms and bathrooms.

I can show you a hundred pictures of houses and they may all be completely different in their specifics, but they will all share those basic characteristics.

Steps to Building a House

One of the amazing things about American homes is that the huge majority of them are built using completely standardized building practices. One reason for this consistency is a set of uniform building codes that apply across the country. Another reason is cost -- the techniques used to build homes produce reliable housing quickly at a low cost (relatively speaking). If you ever watch any house being built, you will find that it goes through about twenty or so steps:

1. Grading and site preparation
2. Foundation construction
3. Framing
4. Installation of windows and doors
5. Roofing
6. Siding
7. Rough electrical
8. Rough plumbing
9. Rough HVAC
10. Insulation
11. Drywall
12. Underlayment
13. Trim
14. Painting
15. Finish electrical
16. Bathroom and kitchen counters and cabinets
17. Finish plumbing
18. Carpet and flooring
19. Finish HVAC
20. Hookup to water main, or well drilling
21. Hookup to sewer or installation of a septic system
22. Punch list

Many of these steps are performed by independent crews known as subcontractors. For example, the framing is generally done by one subcontractor specializing in framing, while the roofing is done by a completely different subcontractor specializing in roofing. Each subcontractor is an independent business. All of the subcontractors are coordinated by a contractor who oversees the job and is responsible for completing the house on time and on budget.

We will walk through some of these various stages in more detail in our upcoming blogs so that you will know what is involved, understand all the steps and learn about the different materials used in the construction process.