Frequently Asked Questions
Building a custom home brings up a lot of questions, most of them before you've ever talked to a builder. Here's what we hear most often from homeowners across the Columbia River Gorge, answered the way we'd answer them in person: honestly, and without the jargon.
Cost & Budget
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It depends on your site, your design, and the finishes you choose — which is exactly why we won't hand you a number before we understand your project.
Most of our clients build in the $400K–$900K range for a new home or major remodel, though every project is different. What we can promise is this: before you sign a construction contract, you'll know your real cost, built from actual subcontractor bids, not a guess.
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Because we haven't earned the right to provide a number yet. Any number handed over before drawings, site analysis, and real bids exist isn't a cost — it's a guess dressed up as one, and guesses are where budgets go sideways mid-build.
We call the alternative the Real Budget Guarantee: before you sign a construction contract, you'll have a real, line-item budget built from real subcontractor bids — a number you can make decisions from.
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The Preliminary Building Agreement (PBA) is the step between "here's the idea" and "here's a contract." During the PBA, we develop your construction-ready drawings, complete site analysis and geotech, coordinate engineering, and gather real subcontractor bids — all before you commit to a full build. It's what makes a real cost estimate possible instead of a placeholder one. And it provides you real clarity from the start.
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Cost per square foot is a useful reference point, but it moves with site conditions, finish level, and how the home sits on the land — a home cut into a slope with expansive glass toward the Gorge costs differently than a simple footprint on flat ground. We'll talk through real ranges once we understand your site and your priorities, rather than quoting a figure that won't hold up once design starts.
Process & Timeline
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In the traditional model, you hire an architect to design your home, then hand those drawings to a separate contractor to build it — with no guarantee the two ever really talk to each other.
Design-build means one team carries the project from first sketch to final walkthrough. Our lead builder, Adam, came up through architecture before spending over a decade building homes, so design thinking and construction reality inform each other from day one.
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Preconstruction — design, engineering, permitting, and bidding — typically runs 3-6 months; construction itself depends on scope and complexity.
Before we break ground, you'll have a preliminary schedule mapping the full build, phase by phase. That's the Schedule Transparency Guarantee: we update the schedule as we go and flag changes before they become delays, not after. This can typically take anywhere from 9 - 18 months.
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Broadly: a discovery conversation, then design and site work, then the Preliminary Building Agreement (drawings, engineering, real bids), then a construction contract built on your real cost, then the build itself.
Each phase has a clear purpose and a clear handoff into the next, so you're never guessing what happens after this step. Take a look at Our Process page to get more detail for each step.
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We manage permitting as part of preconstruction, working directly with the local building departments we already know — like Skamania County's Building Division and Klickitat County's permit process for example. Because we're based here, we're not learning a new jurisdiction's requirements on your project's time.
If your project is in on the Oregon side, we work with those county’s permitting agencies just like Washington’s.
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Every significant decision — finishes, fixtures, materials — is identified and scheduled during preconstruction, before a single shovel moves. That's the No Surprises Decision Guarantee: you're choosing your countertops on your own timeline, at your own kitchen table, not standing in a half-finished space with a crew waiting on an answer.
We manage this process through our client portal. You’ll be able to provide exact selection decisions, share photos and message us directly during this process.
Not sure what selections you need to make? We’ve got you covered. We’ll list out all the typical decisions you need to make (faucets, mirrors, countertops, etc) as well as a few extras we see some clients select (wine cellars, saunas, etc.)
Design & Working With Us
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You are like most of our clients. You don't need architectural vocabulary or a finished mood board — you need someone who can listen for what you're actually after and translate it into a buildable plan. That translation is the work we do first, before anything else.
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No. The person who develops your concept and drawings is the same person overseeing your build. That's the Design Continuity Guarantee — Adam stays involved from first concept through final walkthrough, so nothing gets lost in the handoff between "designed" and "built," because there is no handoff.
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Yes. Design consultation is available on its own, separate from a construction commitment — useful if you want design-level thinking on a project before you're ready to build, or before you've decided who will build it.
Everything we do for you will provide valuable as you develop your custom home plan, even the Preliminary Building Agreement. We have a limited number of construction slots available each year, and they do fill up.
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A production builder works from a set of existing plans, repeated across lots. They don’t customize to the degree that working with a small design-build firm can offer. They also don’t always consider the land, the views, the surrounding area, and more.
We start from your site and your life on it — orientation, light, how you actually move through a day — and design around that. It can cost more than picking a plan from a book. It also means the home fits you instead of the other way around.
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Download our Free Guide to learn the questions (and answers) that will help you determine if a custom home build team is right for you.
Sustainability & Resilience
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No — in our work, resilient and beautiful were never a trade-off to begin with. That's the No Compromise Guarantee: we build sustainable, environmentally responsive design in from the start, as a baseline, not an upgrade you pay extra for later.
A well-oriented, well-built home performs better and ages better, and it's still the home you want to look at every day.
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We love to incorporate design elements to build homes more resilient to wildfire, especially in this region. While no home is fully fireproof — the goal is meaningfully reducing risk, not promising immunity.
In practice that means ember-resistant vents and screened soffits (most homes that burn ignite from wind-blown embers, not direct flame), non-combustible roofing and siding, a foundation and air barrier detailed to keep embers from finding a way in, defensible landscaping kept clear of the structure, and indoor air filtration that keeps wildfire smoke — and the embers riding in it — out.
During our design process, we’ll learn what is important to you, analyze your land and surrounding ecosystem, and develop a plan for a home that endures and is built according to your needs. These aren't add-ons we tack on after the fact; they're part of the same resilient, site-responsive approach behind the No Compromise Guarantee — folded in from the start, not priced as an upgrade.
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Hop on a discovery call with us. No obligation, no sales pitch — just a real conversation about your site, your budget range, and what you're hoping to build, so we can tell you honestly whether we're the right fit.
Remodels, ADUs & Service Area
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All of the above. Whether you're building new, adding an ADU, or remodeling a home that no longer fits how you live, the same process applies: real budgets, real timelines, one team from design through construction.
Washington's ADU rules have been evolving — the WA Department of Commerce's ADU guidance is a good starting reference before we talk specifics for your lot.
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We serve homeowners across Klickitat and Skamania County currently. We do not yet serve the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge, but are hoping to expand soon.