In our Custom Home Builders Ontario guide, we will outlive several things to look out for when assessing potential custom home builders for your new home.
L Patten & Sons has been creating high-quality custom homes in the Collingwood and Blue Mountain area for over 60 Years. View our past work and contact us today to get started on your dream home.
Experience, customer service, and attention to detail are only a few of the key things to look for from custom home builders Ontario. Let’s now dig in to learn more.
5 Things To Look For From Custom Home Builders Ontario
1. Experience
There are certain advantages to choosing the custom home route over pre-built homes. When choosing the builder who will help you make your dream home a reality, you will want to pay special attention to three points in particular:
Experience/length of time in the business
Qualifications
References from past clients
We will touch on the latter two points below, but the main takeaway here is the longer the company has been in business with a lengthy list of successful projects to their name, the more reliable they’re likely to be.
Experienced custom home builders will make sure the job is done right
2. Reputation/Reviews
Online research is a common starting point these days, and that includes the search for the best custom home builders Ontario.
Google reviews is a great place to start gathering information on potential providers from other customers. Be wary of potential spam contributors, though; the best reviews are ones that offer at least a readable sentence or two.
Having said that, it’s easy to underestimate the value of conversation in today’s digital world. Asking around for actual first-hand experiences with custom home builders Ontario is always a good idea.
Word of mouth is the same as online reviews, just done the old fashioned way! Try to find out all you can about the builders that work where you want to build, and if possible, talk to previous clients to get the scuttlebutt on who has a good reputation and whom to avoid.
3. Certification
Anyone planning to build and/or sell a newly built home in Ontario must be registered with Tarion.
What does that mean for you? Builders in Ontario must provide warranty coverage as described in the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act. This coverage includes:
Protection for deposits;
Protection against Financial Loss for Contract Homes;
Compensation for delays in closing or occupancy;
Protection against unauthorized substitutions;
One and two year warranties for certain defects in work and materials;
A seven year warranty for major structural defects.
If you’re looking into building an environmentally friendly custom home, you’ll want to verify the following additional certifications: LEED, Energy Star, R-2000 and similar labels.
For more information on what they mean, visit Natural Resources Canada and the Canada Green Building Council.
All custom home builders in Ontario must be registered with Tarion
4. Customer Service
It is important to understand, going into a build, what you should expect from the builder.
Will the updates come from the builder themselves or from your project manager? Will you get updates weekly, monthly, or daily?
The key to any good relationship is communication. Ask the builder if there is a standard of customer service that they hold to, if there a certain amount of time that they guarantee responses in, and what is the best way to communicate with them?
Also, once you move into the home, there will likely always be a few things here and there that need to be fixed - all minor things. However, it is important to know that the builder will come back to double check things once you’ve moved in.
It’s important to be able to remain in communication with your custom home builder
5. Attention To Detail
By definition, custom homes are unique dwelling spaces that are designed specifically for their owners.
Not only can you choose a particular location, but you can customize your home to match your vision for it. Everything from theme to layout, and all fixtures from floor to ceiling, and all points in between can be designed according to your specifications.
With L. Patten & Sons, every minor detail is taken into consideration through the entire development process, and it shows in every home we build.
Each custom home should be as unique as the family that will be living in it
L. Patten & Sons Limited brings over 60 years of custom home building experience to every project we undertake. We take pride in building custom homes that are as beautiful to look at as they are comfortable to live in.
“Jerry & the team at L Patten & Sons did an outstanding job building our home.
Building a custom home is complex with many challenges, the team went above & beyond. Our family loves the home that they built us. Honesty & Integrity comes to mind when I think of L Patten & Sons.”
- CJ Horan
See more testimonials here!
We make it our goal to help all our clients realize their dreams. Quality craftsmanship, attention to detail, and complete customer satisfaction are what sets L. Patten and Sons apart in the Collingwood and Blue Mountains area custom home building community.
Our home owners can rest assured that their new home will be a source of pride and satisfaction for many years to come!