Stick package on truck

To ensure that your project goes smoothly, Chateau offers these customized services:

Designing the perfect home

Custom house order process.

Chateau Building Products is a custom manufacturer of homes, cabins, and other wood products such as saunas, garden and house furniture and cabinetry. As such we continually strive to make our products meet your expectations while maintaining excellent value and quality.

To start the custom home ordering process first select a plan either from our portfolio or from any architect, designer or plan service company. Using the floor plans and elevations as a guide we are able to provide a rough, ballpark estimate for the production of a house based on your design. In most cases this estimate will cover the lock up package which would include all of the wood structure, roofing, siding, exterior trim materials and windows and doors and shipping to your site. In many cases a lock up package will cost US $20 to $30 per square foot of floor area although how we finally price your house is by calculating the exact quantities of materials and applying a labour factor for the manufacturing process. The process can only be done using accurate and complete drawings and by knowing the type of materials to be used.

If our estimate is acceptable and you wish to proceed the next step is for us to produce a complete set of working drawings including any necessary engineering. At this time we will also make any modifications to the plans that you want in your new home and together we will select the materials for the lock up package and if desired the interior materials that you may want us to provide. At the end of this process you will have a complete set of working drawings for your new home, a firm quotation for the costs and a delivery schedule. The cost for this service is generally around 10% of the estimate and is payable before we create the drawings. Depending on your area and local building codes we may or may not have to provide stamped engineered drawings for you to obtain a building permit.
We will provide you with a foundation layout drawing showing the position of any anchors, hold downs and point loads. You may require the services of an engineer to design the foundation itself. You may also require the services of a local architect, engineer or home designer to compile the complete set of drawings necessary for your building permit application. The drawings that we do not generally provide include the site plan, electrical layout, heating and ventilation layouts, foundation details and landscaping.

Once you have accepted our quotation and a production schedule we are ready to produce your new home. Depending on the size of the project and its timing we will take a production deposit that may be broken into several payments. As Chateau is not a financing company we will receive at least 90% of the money before we ship the house and the remainder of the funds will be paid before the materials are unloaded from the truck. We will work with your financing company through this process. Usually it will take us from 6 to 8 weeks to manufacture your home after receiving approval of the drawings and the deposit.

If requested we can provide supervisory help for the erection of the structure. Normally this will take around a week for most homes assuming that the site and foundations are prepared. The fees for this service are US $500 per day plus expenses.

There is a small list of items that it usually does not make sense for us to ship, these include:
1. Gypsum wall board
2. Stucco 
3. wiring
4. piping
5. heating, cooling and ventilation

There are several services that are probably better provided by a local professional, these include:
A. Survey work
B. Soils engineering
C. Landscaping
D. Foundation design
E. Compilation of the drawings into a permit application set
F. Energy calculations, we can provide much of the data but are unable to certify it.

In most cases it is preferable for you to hire your own general contractor who will be able to guide you through these processes and provide you with the various trades necessary for the erection of your house. Many GCs are not familiar with a panellized or manufactured house and may have trouble coming up with an accurate estimate for the erection of the structure. As one of the major cost savings is the reduction in expensive on-site labour it is important that you do not overpay for this work. If you are comfortable with your GC you could agree to pay them hourly or we can assist them in determining an accurate estimate of the time needed to erect the structure. Once the structure is erected the other trades work will be the same as with a stick built house with the exception that we pre-drill all of the studs for wires and pipes so that the electrician and plumber do not have to do this.

In many cases it is also advantageous to have a small crane or zoom boom forklift on site to assist in moving the wall panels and other materials. Depending on your site conditions and availability of equipment we can make the wall panels smaller for ease of handling or larger for faster assembly.

In addition to our portfolio here are some of the sites where you can find home design plans:

www.bcmountainhomes.com
www.jenish.com
www.eplans.com

I hope that this information assists you in the first steps needed to get your new home built. Please remember that building a new home is a complex procedure and doing a good job will take time and planning. We at Chateau are always here to help you along the way.

"You have my commitment that we will help you build a better home for less. " --- Peter Francis, President

Steps to building your dream home

Panel being erected

Partially framed cottage

Finished exterior

Finished interior