Delays and unexpected events happen. It's part of constructing a new home. If you are waiting to pour concrete, you are at the beginning of the journey.

Relax and enjoy the ride. Don't get uptight. Pick and choose your battles wisely.

Yes, what Virgil said! We are on our second custom build and have had numerous remodeling and construction projects before and let me tell you, it is NOT for the faint of heart! Honestly, being a week late on concrete is MINOR in the grand scheme of things. I would not make that the first battle I picked, although 15 years ago, I might've felt differently. Lived and learned a lot, I suppose.

Delays are frequent in home construction. Sometimes the previous job ends up delaying a sub to get to yours and then there's a snowball effect with the subsequent subs. Has your builder given you an estimate on when he feels like it'll be done?

If you're a wine drinker, stock up on it now ;)

Delays are more the norm, than not. Some delays are unavoidable, like weather, others delays are material ordering or sub related - scheduling type issues. Builders like to project a best case scenario and buyers want to believe it but it rarely happens that way. It seems the only builds that are consistently speedy are large production builds with buyers who are willing to wait by the sidelines and not question.

Most projects have something that goes wrong to some degree. Most of them are unforeseen and unavoidable. I look at them as a sport, something like the anticipation of your opponent's serve in tennis. You prepare and do the best you can. "It is not what happens to you that makes a life, it is how you handle the things that happen to you that will make your life great."

Delays and problems will happen. For me how it was/is handled is the key. So being upfront that there is a delay, why it happened, and what the new plan is makes me feel like the builder is thinking ahead. Someone just saying oh well we have a delay or not telling me is poor communication and not planning ahead. The key during the whole build is communication and settling on what that looks like for you and your team. So yes delays will happen but how will they be handled?

Do you (OP) have regularly scheduled progress meetings with your builder?

Virgil- we talk to him almost daily. He said today that he would get us a schedule for the rest of the build which I think will be helpful.

If you want to commiserate or need a sounding board, join those of us in the middle of a build over on the monthly Building a Home threads.

Here’s the link to July, if you’ve not already been there:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5948581/july-2020-building-a-home-thread#25728303

Most project take twice as long and cost twice as much, from the original estimate! If you use that as your starting point, then you can be pleasantly surprised when things end up a bit faster and cheaper!

@chispa I don't think that is true! If it is then that is very poor planning. All budgets and timelines should allow for contingency and surprises but double the time and double the estimate is far from acceptable. I would never ever work with anyone who had that kind of track record.

Our timeline was 4 months off due to permit delays. From first hole in ground to us in home was exactly as predicted time wise.

In terms of budget we ended up 15% over and that was due to unexpected excavation issues and increase in lumber.

Total time for a custom build is usually in the 10-12 month area. Rarely less, occasionally more. Prepare for 15-25% budget overage, hopefully you will come under.

A week slip here or there is nothing as the project progresses! However, be wary of chronic or major delays and errors. These can be a warning sign of mismanagement or incompetence.

Managing schedules for residential construction projects is challenging to say the least. Delays come in the categories of permit-related, weather-related, code inspection related, late client selections, changes/change orders, illness or injuries, material manufacturing or shipping delays (particularly in the Covid-19 world) ordering and shipping mistakes, and subcontractor delays which can be caused by any of the aforementioned delays.

Time is money. Rest assured that delays impose a cost on your builder that, for the most part, can't be passed on to you. It's in their best interest to avoide delays and to make up for lost time where they can.

I recommend the book: home building for dummies, or something similar.

You forgot "fishing" and "hunting season" on that list unless those are covered under "illness or injuries".

@WestCoast Hopeful, yeah, I was exaggerating just a bit! Maybe I shouldn't have used the word estimate. Most homeowners seem to not have a grasp of current costs, so my comment was that someone thinks they'll update that kitchen for $40k, when real world numbers are closer to $80K.

We are doing the research for a future project and my DH 100% believes the GC's timeline! We've done this before and it has always gone over the timeline, but DH seems to forget the pains of the previous projects 😄

In the beginning of the building process, I was told it takes twice as long and twice as much as initially estimated (I'm in CA, so it can cost 3 times as much). It's been a year since I took out the building permit, and we're about 70% done. It's a DIY project for the most part and would probably go faster with a general contractor. Regardless, I would definitely take the weather, COVID-19, material shipment delays, building inspection and other factors into consideration.

@Ashlee Schneider I always recommend that clients focus on getting 100% of decisions made and committed early to the builder early as these have the largest schedule impacts. Schedules are best when there are no open ended items. Otherwise, contractors are usually motivated to get things done to get paid.

Regarding concrete, many suppliers are near maximum capacity and serve customers (concrete contractors) with the most amount of leverage first. Rain can push schedule. Having just completed two foundations, the one in the rock had no rain delays, but we had plenty of delay due to rock issues. The other foundation in the silty sandy area was delayed most of the spring due to both rain and lingering moisture in the footings, causing failures of our probe test, even after previously passing compaction tests. Ultimately we suspect it was migrating water a few feet down from neighbors.

When we started our custom build we had to demo the old home and it took a month to do that because rain. Then we had to wait to close on our construction loan which was also delayed for 3 weeks. After that we have blazed through every step so fast that we are ahead of the window manufacturer now.

There are all sorts of random unforeseen events that will throw off your planning.

Just as some examples that have happened with me, in just the first half of building so far: My decking materials are out of stock everywhere and we had to choose an alternate. We couldn't get my shiplap siding and my builder went in and manually cut all the little grooves to make them fit together. My fireplace has gone out of production for an unknown period (factory shut down for COVID) and right now we're looking at an alternative that is twice the cost, requires changing the framing, and has an 8-10 week delay. My interior doors are taking twice as long to get here as normal (normally 3-4 weeks, mine are taking about 8 weeks). The stain for some of my wood is now no longer being made - after half of the stuff that needed to be stained was finished. Cabinets are on long delays, so I had to switch to a local cabinet-maker. Vanities and some light fixtures I chose are out of stock everywhere, so I've had to come up with new options.

And that isn't even covering all the little issues here and there that got resolved easily.

Things you never expected to go wrong will. Some will cause delays, some will increase costs (although I've had some decrease costs, as well! So it partially balances out.)

A small delay in your concrete is probably going to be the least of the problems you'll have coming up. Custom building requires an ability to go with the flow. Enjoy the process. It's so much fun to watch YOUR house come together!

As Forrest Gump once remininised, "homebuilding is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." Or when.

We're not very far into our build, but I wanted to share a small piece of advice. Look for the blessings, and write them down as often as possible. Things will go wrong, but things will also go better than expected. We're only in the framing phase, but I've written about several things in my gratitude journal already.

FWIW, our basement was dug April 21 and the foundation crew didn't start until June 1. Seemed like an eternity, but I used that time to make selections, put together a vision board and daydream about my new home. :)

Happy building!

Sometimes when cooking a meal, things that were under your control don’t go as planned...

Building a house is similar, but on a larger scale, and things are not under your control.

Dont play a victim, don’t play up the drama.

After having 2 homes built for me (because once wasn't enough torture, LOL), what I can assure you is this....

Everything will take longer and cost more than you ever thought possible.

And yet even when something is not linear it is more that fair to expect effective and open communication. Most people can accept delays when explained and a plan to resolve is in place.

Delays in residential projects are common; commercial not so much. When General Motors wants the concrete replaced for the new front end alignment machines at the car plant, they aren't going to listen to any excuses as they've got 3,000 people out of work after Christmas shutdown. Two weeks, in, out, and calibrated, no excuses or you'll never see your name on a bid list again.

You can stay in your hotel a little longer. That's what your builder is thinking.

Chase bank expects you to turn that used car lot into a state-of-the-art bank in 90 days. You'll do it or you'll never build another. None of this concrete nonsense.

@User,

I've sometimes likened my role to that of a conductor. The picture you painted--with words-- of the entire performance should be copyrighted and printed on tee shirts. Contractors could give them to clients at the start of construction.

The only dimension that's missing is that the performance is for an audience which expects it to be flawless, studio quality and for next-to-nothing cost tickets they purchased on Amazon.

This helps so much. Thank you for the helpful responses!!