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Fred Loucks is CEO of Dunn & Stone Builders. He joined the company in 2010 as purchasing manager, bought it in 2019, and works with families on plan design. Dunn & Stone has built more than 1,000 homes in the Greater Houston area since 1999.
People ask me how long it takes to build a house, and they usually want one number. I have to give them two.
In 2025 the Census average, as reported by the National Association of Home Builders, was 8.8 months from authorization to finish. That splits into 1.4 months waiting to start and 7.4 months of construction.
Production construction usually runs 5 to 8 months. Semi-custom work usually runs 8 to 12. On recent Dunn & Stone homes, once the site is ready, construction averages 210 days from start to delivery. From the first agreement through design, soils, permits, the loan, and keys, most of our families are on a 9 to 14 month calendar.
| Build type | Construction | What that time includes |
|---|---|---|
| Production or spec home | 5 to 8 months | Repeated plans, bulk materials, crews that already know the house |
| Semi-custom home | 8 to 12 months | A proven plan with layout and finish changes |
| Dunn & Stone custom and semi-custom | 210-day construction average, 9 to 14 months total calendar | Construction after the site is ready, plus design, soils, permits, and the loan before that |
We count construction after the site is ready and the permit is in hand. The months before that are design, selections, soils, the construction drawings, the loan, and the permit. Those months still count toward your move-in date.
The Census number mixes houses built for sale, houses a contractor builds for one family, and houses people build themselves. Those jobs do not run on the same schedule.
The 2025 Census Survey of Construction, summarized by NAHB, puts the national average at 8.8 months from authorization to completion. Authorization to start is 1.4 months. Construction after that is 7.4 months.
Homes built for sale finished in 7.4 months from permit to completion. Contractor-built homes took 11.7 months on that same measure. Owner-built homes took 14.3 months. All three count from authorization to finish. They do not count construction only.
The survey starts at the permit. It leaves out the months you spend with me on a floor plan, finish selections, a soils report, or a construction loan. Those months still happen. They just sit outside the survey window.
We start counting construction the day we break ground. Design, soils, permits, and the loan come first, which is why a custom or semi-custom calendar is 9 to 14 months when construction itself averages 210 days.
A production builder finishes faster because the plan and the crew already exist. They buy materials in bulk. The superintendent has walked that floor plan dozens of times.
Semi-custom work starts from a proven plan, then we change rooms, the elevation, or the finish level. Each change is worth doing when it fits the family. Each one also adds coordination. I have seen a wall move two feet and take a beam, a duct run, and a window order with it.
Fully custom work from a blank sheet runs longer than semi-custom work because every assembly is new to the trades. That is why I start most families from a plan we have already built, then fit it to the lot and the household. Once finishes are chosen on a plan we have already built, we do not have to restart every decision.
Once we break ground, the house moves through foundation, frame, mechanicals, finishes, and closeout. Dates shift from job to job. We still do the steps in the same order.
Before we break ground, we run the survey, soils, the construction drawings, the foundation plan, the permit, the loan, and locked selections. Late selections here show up later as delays. Cabinets ordered after the house is framed do not arrive on the week the tile setter is booked.
| Stage | Typical window | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Site and foundation | 3 to 5 weeks | Clearing, forms, under-slab plumbing, pour, cure, inspection |
| Framing and dry-in | 6 to 8 weeks | Walls, roof, windows, wrap, roofing |
| Mechanical rough-in | 4 to 6 weeks | Plumbing, electrical, HVAC, low-voltage, inspections |
| Insulation and drywall | 3 to 4 weeks | Close the walls |
| Finishes | 8 to 12 weeks | Cabinets, tile, paint, flooring, trim, fixtures, exterior veneer |
| Closeout | 2 to 4 weeks | Punch list, final inspections, certificate of occupancy, walkthrough |
Those windows hold when the plan stays stable. A longer driveway, a wet slab week, or a cabinet revision stretches one row and pushes every row after it.
We hand over the house after the certificate of occupancy is issued and we walk it with you.
The full sequence from first meeting through keys is in the 5 steps to building a custom home.
Finishes surprise people. On the jobs I run, they take more construction weeks than foundation or framing.
Cabinets, tile, paint, flooring, and fixtures have to work one room at a time. Cabinets take eight to twelve weeks after you approve the order. That wait starts when the order goes in, not when the installer shows up. Foundation and framing look farther along than they are. I still have to tell families we have months of work left after the drywall goes up.
A calendar can slip. On our jobs I do not treat those slips as a crisis. Each one already has a place in the process.
The first one I watch is a finish that is still open. Special-order windows, cabinets, and appliances can take eight to sixteen weeks. We place those orders during design so they are already in production when we break ground. If someone wants a piece from a store our trades do not stock, we find an equivalent our partners already install.
We settle the floor plan first, then the elevation. That keeps design meetings from stacking. If a room still needs another look, we do it before the construction drawings go out.
In our design center we stay with vendors we already build with and warrant. When we sit down for design complete, we walk the drawings against what we already decided. If a bedroom still needs to move, we move it in that meeting, before walls are framed.
If the building-permit application is complete the first time, most county offices near Houston issue that permit in about two to three weeks. Missing pages make the county reject the application, and the wait starts over.
Site work is easier when we see the lot early. Buried debris, a high water table, or a soils report that arrives with design lets us change the foundation and the access path before we pour.
Bank payments go out on time when the loan is already in place. We close the construction loan while design is still moving, so a crew is not waiting on the bank.
I also ask families to leave 30 to 60 days between the projected delivery and a lease end, a school start, or a home sale. That extra time covers a wet week or a late inspection.
Most county offices near Houston issue a permit in about two to three weeks. Harris County is stricter on fill dirt and flood maps. Montgomery County is moving in that same direction. Cities take longer than unincorporated county land.
Most of the lots I walk sit on expansive clay. Homes here need engineered post-tension slabs. That adds a week or two of site prep compared with a simple slab in a drier market. Skip the soils report and you do not save the week. You move the risk into the foundation.
Montgomery County now rejects incomplete applications, and the wait starts over from the new filing. Send every required page the first time. Our Montgomery County permit guide walks through what the county asks for.
If the lot is deed restricted, HOA architectural review has to finish before the county will look at the application.
Most custom and semi-custom houses take 9 to 14 months from first agreement to keys. Construction itself runs about seven months after the site is ready. Design, soils, permits, and the loan fill the months before that.
The 2025 Census average is 8.8 months from authorization to finish, with 7.4 months of construction. Homes built for sale finished in 7.4 months. Contractor-built homes took 11.7 months from permit to completion. Owner-built homes took 14.3 months on that same measure.
A custom or semi-custom house usually takes 9 to 14 months from first agreement to move-in. A blank-sheet plan runs longer than a proven plan with locked selections, and those extra months sit in design, soils, permits, and the loan, not only in framing.
A 2,000 square foot house in the Census 1,200 to 3,999 band finishes near the national average of about 9 months from permit to completion. Construction can run closer to 6 to 8 months on a simple plan and a dry, flat lot. We do not publish a separate Dunn & Stone average by house size.
Finishes take the most construction weeks on the houses we build. The trades work in sequence, and a late change in that stretch costs the most time. Foundation and framing move faster than they look.
Production construction usually takes 5 to 8 months. A stick-built custom house of typical family size is not a 4-month job. Anyone quoting that on a custom plan is skipping design, permits, or both.
If the building-permit application is complete the first time, most county offices near Houston issue that permit in about two to three weeks. Cities take longer. Missing pages make the county reject the application, and the wait starts over. HOA review, if required, has to finish before the county looks at the file.
Buying an existing house usually closes in 30 to 90 days. Building takes longer. It still makes sense when the resale inventory does not match the lot or the layout.
If you already own a lot in the Houston area, or you are comparing a production timeline with a house built around your family, I will walk the land with you and put a real calendar on the plan.
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