Summit Building Process
You may or may not have a design for the home you want to build. Maybe you only have a rough idea sketched on paper, or a picture from a magazine. We can use your existing ideas, or help you find a plan. If you do not have plans, then a great place to start looking is to visit the Barden Building Systems website. There are hundreds of plans to choose from. These plans are only a starting point. You can modify these plans any way you want. During the design phase, your dream home can be oriented and designed to be in harmony with your lot. Floor plans can be laid out to maximize passive solar heating, scenic views, or to shield you from the wind. Whatever you can dream, we can make a reality.
Once you determine the perfect design of your new home, Summit Construction will excavate your building site, and install a foundation system in preparation of the delivery of your panelized home. Most builders will only quote you a turn-key home. Summit Construction can deliver anything from a weather tight shell of a house, to a complete turn-key house, or anything in between. A weather tight shell would have the framing erected, doors and windows installed, along with roofing and siding. A turn-key house would have the electrical, plumbing, heating, cooling, insulation, drywall, painting, flooring, cabinets, trim, and all else installed. If you have the desire and ability to complete some of your house yourself, then you can earn some sweat equity. Summit Construction is more than willing to complete your house up to a certain point, and let you take it from there. We offer flexibility that is unheard of from other builders.
Through our lending partners, we offer competitive and flexible construction loans that have an unlimited number of draws, with no inspectors to slow the process.
What is Panelization?
A panelized home is a custom home whose lumber components are cut and
pre-assembled in a factory, then delivered to the building site. Traditionally,
custom homes have been built on site by having raw lumber delivered, then
framing crews build wall sections, manually 
stand them up and fix them
in place. In the panelization process, these same walls are built
in a climate controlled factory using laser guided layout tables, computer
controlled saws, and jigs that ensure walls are square, plumb, level,
and studs are perfectly spaced. Door and window openings are framed
in the walls, and wall sheathing is applied and fastened. There
are multiple quality checks during the panelization process. Straight,
true walls are more air tight and energy efficient. Precision wall
assemblies form level second story floors, and minimizes waves in the
interior walls or large gaps behind kitchen cabinetry or trim work.
Most homes that are stick built on site begin with bulk deliveries of lumber. Chances are that many of these pieces of lumber will be bowed, warped, twisted, or have other defects. These defects will increase the longer the lumber is on site and exposed to the elements. Sometimes, builders are under pressure to use this sub-standard lumber in order to sustain profits. Also, this traditional type of building results in a large amount of wasted lumber. A panelized manufacturing system ensures the highest quality of materials and workmanship, while conserving precious natural resources.
A panelized house is erected much faster than a stick built house. The exterior walls of a typical single story house are usually assembled within four to eight hours. After that, the construction of the roof can begin. This allows your home to be enclosed much quicker, minimizing mold potential, and lumber swelling and warping. Framing costs are lower with a panelized home, and the quicker build cycle minimizes financing and insurance fees. Since on site framing is minimized, winter builds are much more feasible.
You can select many of the structural components in your dream home, from types of floor joists, to wall sheathing, to roof truss spacing, and more. There is a vast choice of doors, windows, cabinetry, and other components to choose from. This gives you maximum choice and flexibility in building your dream home.
At this point, it might be helpful to clarify what panelization is not. Panelization
is not a modular house. A modular house is delivered in large sections,
or boxes that have the floor, walls, and ceiling pre-assembled, with doors,
windows, insulation, drywall, and siding already installed. The
main advantage in modular homes are the low cost, and speed of assembling. The
disadvantages are limitations in architecture, and lack of choice for
many components, fixtures, and finishes. Modular designs are limited
to layouts that can be achieved by adjoining boxes that are less than
13.5 feet wide by 50 feet long (shipments that can be transported via
highway). In many situations, modular homes cannot have integrated
floor and roof components that span the width of the house, producing
maximum structural rigidity. Another drawback with modular homes
is the lack of continuity in walls, floors, insulation, and vapor barriers
that decrease energy efficiency and component reliability.
Summit Construction is an independent dealer featuring Barden Building Systems panelized homes. The Barden material package is comprised of the home’s wooden structure, exterior doors, windows, roofing, siding, and any exterior decking and trim. Basically, it is everything that sits on top of the foundation, and makes a weather tight shell. In addition, Barden also supplies the kitchen cabinetry, bathroom vanities, interior doors and trim. All other components such as foundation, insulation, drywall, electrical, plumbing, heating, etc are completed on site, by local craftsmen.
Barden Building Systems only uses the highest quality lumber from the U.S., Canada, and Europe to build their homes. All lumber is inspected numerous times and sub-standard pieces are discarded before use. Lumber is used efficiently in the factory. As lumber gets cut, smaller pieces are utilized as cabinet mounting backers or rake assemblies. Pieces that are too small to be used further are then shipped to recycling plants. By definition, a panelized home is a very green home due to efficient use of forest products.
For more information on Barden Building Systems, the panelization process, or home designs, please go to barden homes.