Month 2 Custom Home Build Progress: Framing, Roof, Plumbing, HVAC, and Electrical
Updated January 5, 2023
In this post, we’re sharing everything that happened during the second month of our custom home build, including framing completion, roofing, plumbing, HVAC, and electrical rough-in!
The second month of building our custom home completely flew by! Going into this custom home build process, we really had no clue what new home construction was like (we’ve never done this before), so everything was brand new to us.
At this point, the build was moving REALLY fast and we could barely keep up with everything between prepping for selection meetings and on-site walkthroughs. It was the busiest month out of the whole build and extremely stressful with all the decisions to be made.
Continue reading to see our custom home build process by stage during the second month of construction!
Month 2 of Custom Home Build:
- Framing Second Floor
- House Exterior Progress
- Roofing Install
- Plumbing Rough in
- HVAC Rough in
- Electrical Rough in
- Selection Meetings
- Construction Delays
- Build Process Recap
- Summary: Month 2
Framing Second Floor: 7 Days
In our first month of building, we left off with the second floor subfloor installed. They continued framing the second floor and roof which was really cool to see!
These stairs to the second floor were just temporary and the actual stairs will be custom built at a later time.
Finishing up framing the second floor took another 7 days, bringing the total time to finish framing the whole house to 15 work days.
House Exterior Progress
It was really cool and exciting to see the exterior of the house getting built. Framing went by SO fast and each day you could see the home come to life little by little.
Below is a progression of our house exterior from framing to roof install:
Roofing Install: 3 Days
During our exterior selections meeting with the builder, we selected a black roof (which pretty much everyone in our neighborhood has as well). The roof was installed over 3 days.
Plumbing Rough in: 7 Days
Normally our builder doesn’t have the homeowner meet with the plumber, but we had some specific things to discuss regarding the heights of plumbing fixtures, our reverse osmosis system, garage sink plumbing, and more.
We got to meet with the plumber on-site and walked the house together. They were very accommodating to our requests and proceeded to complete the plumbing rough in 7 days.
Recirculating Hot Water
One plumbing upgrade we did was installing recirculating hot water so that there will be readily available hot water (you don’t have to wait for the water to turn hot)!
Normally, there are only 2 copper pipes for Hot and Cold. With a recirculating hot water system, there is a 3rd pipe installed.
HVAC Rough in: 6 Days
We never had any discussion with the builder specifically about HVAC vent locations or anything until we had a sneak peek of the proposed HVAC diagrams submitted with our permits.
We asked a few questions based on that document. The builder was kinda surprised since I guess no one else had asked HVAC questions before until it was already installed.
They said they would take into consideration the HVAC requests but had no guarantees – it would ultimately be up to the HVAC installers.
One of our requests was adding a vent in one of the bedroom walk-in closets since we noticed there wasn’t any there on the diagram. They did end up accommodating this request.
Another requested change was the location of the first floor thermostat – it was going to be placed right in the middle of where my console table mirror would go and they accommodated moving it to a different wall instead. However, they did not allow us to change the location of the second floor thermostat and it had to stay in our primary bedroom.
There are specific reasons and calculations for heating and cooling a house so if you have specific requests, all you can do is just ask and see what they say.
Electrical Rough in: 7 Days
About a month earlier, we had our blueprint walkthrough to discuss switches, outlets, and recessed light placement (in theory) and they sent an updated quote based on the blueprint walkthrough.
During the on-site electrical walkthrough, the electrician physically marked out the locations of everything.
Even though we would request certain outlet locations, sometimes that would end up affecting code requirements of outlets being placed at certain distances in a room, so it wouldn’t always end up where we wanted exactly (without having to add an additional outlet to meet code). You just have to be a little flexible and do the best you can.
There is a LOT of electrical in each space so the decisions can be very overwhelming, but the more prepared you are, the smoother it will go.
We also let them know the exact heights of light fixtures we wanted, especially for wall sconces! This was a little stressful to figure out but we used SketchUp for our room designs to help us determine these heights.
Selection Meetings and Walkthroughs
- Cabinet Meeting #2 to finalize drawings so the cabinet guy can mark out plumbing locations
- Plumbing Walkthrough (we requested this)
- Countertops
- Electrical Walkthrough Onsite
Construction Delays
Normally, windows and exterior doors are also installed after the house is framed.
In our case, our windows were delayed due to very long lead times and the builder was already aware of this potential delay and had supposedly ordered windows early.
Without windows installed, the exterior finishes like masonry, stucco, and siding cannot be installed yet.
RECAP: Custom Home Build Process Month 2
Number of Work Days for Each Stage
- Framing Second Floor – 7 days
- (Framing Whole House – 15 days total)
- Roof Install – 3 days
- Plumbing Rough – 7 days
- HVAC Rough – 6 days
- Electrical Rough – 7 days
SUMMARY: Month 2 of Construction
Overall, month 2 of building was pretty rough. Everything was moving very quickly (which is a good thing) but we could barely keep up with prepping for meetings and making very permanent decisions about specific heights and placement for plumbing and electrical.
With all the other selection meetings going on as well, decision fatigue was hitting us hard at this point!
We definitely learned you need to have a specific vision for EACH space in your home and how you want it to turn out exactly. This will help inform all of your plumbing, HVAC, and electrical placements.
When all of the plumbing, HVAC, and electrical were completed, we took photos of what was behind EVERY wall in the house so that when mounting things in the future, we’ll be aware not to drill into anything important!
Follow @vivandtim.home on Instagram for more behind-the-scenes of our custom home build!
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