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This article originally appeared in the La Jolla Light.

It would be so much easier to go into any project knowing exactly how much time it will take to complete. For many people who are ready to build their luxury dream home, they want it ready yesterday, which is understandable. The construction process is long, it’s messy, it’s hard, and it is expensive. It can strain healthy relationships. But one thing your luxury home construction timeline won’t be is as precise as a Falcon 9 rocket landing.

That being said, you want a licensed and practiced professional working on your luxury dream home. Aside from being knowledgeable about what you’ll need during the planning phases, your highly experienced architect and builder will be able to give you an accurate general timeline because they know how to build luxury homes, all the ins and outs of what needs to be dealt with, and they have the teams on hand to actually do the work.

If you’re building your luxury home by using a personalized construction plan, your luxury home build might take anywhere between six to ten months to build. However, for a custom plan with many unique features and details, don’t be surprised if your build takes closer to a year or more to complete. It took three years to complete construction on Tom Brady and Giselle Bündchen’s 22,000 square foot mansion and moat and ball-inflation room. And while that was well before Brady had all that time off from work, he did probably have an experienced team working continuously on the project.

Your exact timeline will be dependent on the size of your home, as well as working around fine and specific detailing, i.e., do you want a mosaic-tile floor installed by hand? Do you have many unique angles? All custom designing will take extra time, as tiles or wood will need to be cut exactly to the shape they’re filling. There can always be delays in a project, but your builder should be able to give you a fairly accurate estimate up front.

So once you get through the concept and design phase, including planning, price estimation, value engineering, and evaluation, you and your team (including a designer, if you hire one), will move into the phase of purchasing materials.

Permits will be required before the process begins. Your builder will be able to walk you through all the specific needs required for your area and type of structure.

Then comes the budget approval and finalization, loan approval, and, at last, the construction phase begins. Often, your contractor will want to have another meeting to make sure everything is set to start smoothly.

One of the benefits of new construction is that you do not have to worry about the surprises you might find in a remodel (bad plumbing, mold, faulty wiring, etc.). There will be a geological survey to make sure that the foundations are solid, and your house is up to date on all the codes (especially the earthquake codes here in California).

Many construction companies will have a dedicated project manager keeping you up to date on all the developments throughout the construction process.

In Southern California, we have the benefit of being able to work year-round, with only a few stops because of significant rain. In freezing or near-freezing climates, you have to wait for warmer weather to pour the concrete foundations. While it takes about 27 days for the foundation to fully cure, framing can start two to three days after pouring, as it will take a long time (more than 27 days) for the structure to be heavy enough to require full concrete curing.

Inspections occur after each phase of the building process: after foundations are poured and cured, the complete rough framing and exterior drywall installation, after the rough plumbing and electrical and HVAC and all ductwork, after which the roofing goes in and the structure is considered “dried in.”

If you have lots of elaborate framing, including arches or vaulted ceilings, this will add to the timeline. But the bigger your builder’s company, then, technically, the more hands you will have on deck and the quicker the process will go.

Once the inspections for these have been conducted, the complete insulation and interior drywall installation and surfacing takes place, followed by the exterior finishes, such as stucco, plaster, or masonry. Next up in the process is the completion of interior trim, including windowsills, frames, moldings, doors, as well as the paving of walkways and driveways.

After this, all the hard surfaces go in. Here’s the fun part, where the structure starts to really look like the luxury home you’ve been dreaming of. Floors go in, as well as cabinets and countertops. Next up comes the installation of the mechanical and bathroom fixtures, and your electrical panel is completed.

Then, all the mirrors, doors, and extra fine detailing go in, followed by the cleanup.

During this phase, landscaping will also take place. You can decide whether you want to move in before the landscape and external details are completed, or whether you want to wait for all your external features to be completed before you move in. Keep in mind that even external work will be messy and likely increase the dust and dirt levels in your new home, especially if you are adding features such as outdoor rooms or a casita or solarium, or if you are adding features to a pool such as waterfalls, which will likely require tile- or stonecutting, which automatically equals mess.

The last requirement is the final inspection by a building code official, who will then fill out a certificate of occupancy. If the building code official finds anything wrong or missing during this final inspection, the builders will need to make any corrections and a final walk-through will need to be conducted before the certificate of occupancy is awarded.

To get started on your luxury home build or remodel project for 2017, or for any questions about the luxury home design and building process that our expert team can advise you on, contact us at www.murfeyconstruction.com.

This article was originally featured in Ranch & Coast

A modern version of the quintessential beach cottage was designed by the team at Stephen Dalton Architects, who worked in tandem with the luxury custom estate builders at Murfey Construction to bring the homeowners’ vision to life in coastal Solana Beach.

Open-plan design is the over-arching theme of the interior, which embodies a white and grey color palette. The great room features the clean lines associated with simplicity and modernity. Kitchen cabinetry from Lecht, high-end European appliances, and polished concrete floors work together seamlessly to create a space for living and entertaining in a way where form truly meets function.

While the home is relatively modest in size at just under 2,000 square feet of living space, some of the key design elements work to bring the outdoors in, creating the illusion of a much larger home. Opposing La Cantina doors in the great room and bi-fold doors in the master bedroom extend the space onto well-appointed patios. The true star of the show, however, is a rooftop deck, where glass railings allow for unobstructed views of the ocean and California coastline. 858.459.6865, murfeyconstruction.com

This article originally appeared in The La Jolla Light

While many people are making up their list of resolutions for the New Year to include health, fitness, and variations of good behavior, the New Year marks a potential time to kick start your adventure to finally getting your new luxury dream home.

Here are a few things to consider for a remodel or construction project in the next year:

Think about your timeline. If you have never embarked on a renovation project, you’ll need to keep in mind that these projects will always take a little longer than expected. Plans will be made and revised, permits will be required, and then…there’s life. Even in Southern California, there can be sudden, unexpected weather changes, which can delay construction, or work or family matters can shift priorities and timelines. Then there are the unexpected developments that can happen during the construction or renovation project, ranging from old pipes that need replacing to an urgent geological reinforcement to a storm off Gibraltar that delays the shipment of your Italian marble by a month. This is why you always want to budget extra time into your construction timeline.

Also critical in the planning phase? Think about where you will live during the project, whether you are undertaking a full construction or a remodel. Will you need to sell a home before you move in? That is an important consideration as it is very ambitious, even among the most easy-going families, to live in a home while it is under renovation or construction. Families have been driven apart by far less. Even if a home is technically “habitable,” there will be fine dust, loud noises, and ongoing teams of workers who will need you to be out of the way. Large portions of the day may include shut off electricity and water. Remember: camping trips are fun because they’re short term. Construction is long term. Make sure you have a place to stay that is convenient for you and your family, either for getting to work, school, or sanity.

Next to consider: Purchase or remodel? Foremost, remember that location is the key to your home’s potential worth. Do you love the location of your current home? If you have school-aged children, how are the schools in that district? Is the neighborhood up-and-coming, or is it a neighborhood with an established identity, not likely to change much? Also, do you want beachfront or up in the hills, remote or in the middle of the action? Is your lifestyle more suited to a gated community, or do you want more suburban access? These will be among the most difficult decisions you make, as the structure and cosmetics of your build can still be altered during the early stages of the building process.

When you make your construction resolutions for the New Year, have a tentative move-in date in mind, but as a general guide. If a summer construction project would work best for you, know that you will want to start planning as early as January so that you can ensure your contractor and crew will be available. Remember, they may have other projects already lining up for the year, so you don’t want to wait until just before you think you might be ready to start your build. Even more important: you do not want to skimp on your architect or contractor, as each needs to be licensed professionals with plenty of experience in designing luxury homes. Also, architects and contractors experienced with building luxury homes may be able to help guide you through some of the decision making process; you want someone whom you trust to be honest with you. Yes, your luxury home should be your design; however, a great architect and contractor will tell you what works best and what doesn’t, helping you realize the best luxury home possible.

Do your research, check reviews, and even ask around in developments under construction.

Next month, I’ll start walking you through the phases of your luxury dream home building project and how to move forward with your resolutions, from the wish phase to construction.

If you’re ready to plan your luxury home build or remodel project for the New Year, or if you have questions about any part of the luxury home design and building process, contact us for expertise at www.murfeyconstruction.com.

This article originally appeared on The La Jolla Light

A home building resurgence is underway in Southern California, especially of luxury homes. But limited space will make construction of new properties harder to come by, especially in desirable suburbs. But if you want your luxury home, you don’t have to wait for your perfect mansion in the hills or beach-front spread.

An increasing number of home buyers are turning the traditional style of homes on its head by re-envisioning the shape of luxury with adaptive reuse.

Urban renewal and renovation projects have given rise to visionary homeowners who are looking to revitalize old and historic buildings, adapting them and reusing them to make their luxury dream home.

From a 19^th century tobacco and candy shop to water towers to an extreme case of Holmenkollen’s ski jump in Oslo, Norway, being converted into a home, adaptive reuse leads people to be creative with not only what can become a living space but how to make a luxurious living space from an industrial or unexpected structure.

Older buildings often used solid materials and were crafted, rather than thrown together. Many of these details are coveted now and can be put on full display in the repurposed luxury home. Peeling plaster can be redone or it can be polished, giving interior walls an aged, patina look, evocative of old Europe. Many of the original features of the structures are highlighted to give an aged look or industrial edge to the luxury dream home. Before, builders would deconstruct old barns to get the wood to floor or beam new construction with the already-weathered and worn wood; now, adaptive reuse means updating the barn itself.

So Southern California doesn’t have many barns. However, many urban areas have buildings no longer in use, and so factories can become single-unit dwellings or zoned for a luxury duplex, or even combined to be a home and an office (this seems to be a frequent occurrence among architects).

Most factories already have the desired open floor plan and plenty of windows to let in natural light, making a perfect skeleton for a large living room and dining room for entertaining, or a game room (or bowling alley?). And since the structure is already built (and usually, these preexisting structures are in solid shape, even if a little shabby), more of the focus of the homeowners can go into the personalizing details that will become the signature showpieces for any luxury dream home.

San Diego has in place ordinances for historic preservation and adaptive reuse and under the Mills Act offers property tax relief to rehabilitate and maintain what the city has designated a historical resource. These are rehabilitation tax credits, and overall, San Diego believes that preservation can increase property values while conserving resources and generating jobs—as well as heritage tourism.

If you’re on the lookout for an adaptive reuse location or are ready to plan your luxury home, contact us for expertise at www.murfeyconstruction.com.