Est. 2003
Custom home builder in Cumming, GA.
Forsyth County has been the fastest-growing place we build for two decades, and the land is still the story. Lake lots, mountain lots, north Forsyth acreage on septic and the last estate parcels in the south county communities each start a custom home from a different place.
Custom home builder · Cumming, GA
New homes across Forsyth County.
From Vickery and the south Forsyth estate lots to the shoreline around Lake Lanier and the acreage north of Sawnee Mountain toward Matt and Coal Mountain: that is where our new-construction work in this county goes. We have built here since 2003 and we know which parcels the city permits, which the county permits, and where the sewer stops and the soil test begins.
Everything sits on one fixed-price contract, from the site work through the certificate of occupancy. We file with the city or Forsyth County, send a photo from the site each working day, and warrant the house in writing for a year.
Know your lot
Three kinds of custom home lot in Cumming.
A Cumming address covers city parcels, county parcels, sewer and septic, lake and mountain. Which one you have decides the first permit.
Septic, well and a long approach
Matt, Coal Mountain, the land north of Sawnee. A soil evaluation for the drain field comes before the permit, the driveway is a real line item, and the house is placed around both.
Shoreline rules and a steep site
Lots along the lake are steep, wooded and governed at the water's edge by the Corps of Engineers. The house is engineered to the slope and the dock is a separate approval.
Sewer, sidewalks and an ARC
Vickery, Windermere, Polo Fields and their neighbors. Utilities at the street, and an architectural review that approves the elevation before the county sees a permit.
What we build
Every part of a Cumming custom home.
Lot & Site Work
Design & Floor Plans
Shell, Roof & Exterior
Kitchens & Baths
Outdoor Living
Basements & Bonus Rooms
Included in every build
One contract, no allowances left blank.
- Lot evaluation & site plan
- Architectural plans & engineering
- Permit application & inspections
- Clearing, grading & erosion control
- Foundation, framing & roof
- Plumbing, electrical & HVAC
- Insulation & energy code compliance
- Windows, doors & exterior finishes
- Kitchens, baths & interior finishes
- Selections & 3D renderings
- Daily cleanup & job-site photos
- One-year written warranty
Local conditions
What Forsyth County land does to a house plan.
This catches more homeowners in Forsyth than anywhere else we work. Plenty of houses with a Cumming mailing address sit outside the city limits, and those permit through Forsyth County Planning and Community Development rather than the city. Your zip code will not tell you which one you are. The parcel will, and we check it before any drawings are prepared.
North of the city and away from the main corridors the parcels are on septic. Forsyth County Environmental Health approves the soil evaluation and the drain-field location before a building permit is issued, and that field claims a stretch of open ground most buyers have already mentally spent on something else. House, driveway and septic get laid out in the same sitting, since none of the three can move without shifting the other two.
Lake Lanier lots add the shoreline. The Corps of Engineers controls the water's edge, so the dock and anything below the flood pool line are separate approvals, and the lot itself is usually steep enough that the foundation is engineered to the slope and a walkout lower level is the natural result. Red clay over rock everywhere means drainage is designed, not assumed.
How we work here
The sequence for a Forsyth lot.
Pull the parcel record first
It answers three questions at once: which office reviews the plans, whether a soil test has to happen before them, and on a lake lot where the Corps of Engineers line falls.
Stand on the land
Where the water leaves, what the slope will cost, which trees are worth the drive curving around, and on septic where the field can go. The footprint is the result of that afternoon.
Draw once for both reviewers
In Vickery or Windermere the committee approves elevations and materials before the county opens the file. One set of drawings answers the committee and the code together.
One price, then the application
Site work, septic where it applies, foundation, every trade and every allowance on a single fixed-price proposal. The application follows, filed under our license.
Build, with the inspections booked
Footings, then framing, rough-ins, insulation, drywall, finishes and the final walk. We hold the inspection calendar, and a picture reaches you from the site every working day.
Permits
Who issues your building permit, Cumming or Forsyth County.
Inside the city limits the City of Cumming issues residential permits through its Building and Zoning office at City Hall. Most 30040 and 30041 addresses are outside the limits in unincorporated Forsyth County, and those permit through Forsyth County Planning and Community Development instead. Either office puts a new house through the full review: the site plan, the foundation, the framing, the energy compliance and each trade permit. Georgia enforces the state minimum standard codes statewide, so the rules do not change when you cross the city line. Only the office does.
Where there is no sewer, nothing else can start until the septic is approved. Forsyth County Environmental Health reviews the soil evaluation and the drain-field layout before a building permit can be issued, so on acreage that step is on the schedule before the drawings are finished. A lake lot adds the Corps of Engineers for anything at the shoreline, and land disturbance of an acre or more brings the state erosion permit into it. Each of those applications and each inspection is ours to file and schedule.
Inside the city limits
The City of Cumming issues residential permits through its Building and Zoning office at City Hall. cummingga.gov
Unincorporated Forsyth
Most 30040/30041 addresses. Permits and inspections through Forsyth County Planning and Community Development. forsythco.com
Septic before the permit
Forsyth County Environmental Health approves the soil evaluation and drain-field location on any lot without sewer, ahead of the building permit.
We pull it, not you
Application, site plan, drawings, engineering and every inspection are part of the contract, city or county.
Budget
What a custom home costs to build in Cumming.
The lot drives the number in Forsyth more than the plan does. A sewered estate lot in south Forsyth, a wooded acre on septic north of Sawnee and a steep lake lot with an engineered foundation can carry the same house plan to very different totals.
Every line is priced on its own, so the site work, the septic system, the foundation and each finish allowance are numbers on the proposal rather than a price per square foot. The calculator will put you in a range. Only a walked lot and a written proposal will put you on a number.
Where the money goes
Site work and driveway length on acreage, the septic system, a foundation engineered to a lake or mountain slope, and the finished basement most Forsyth lots make possible.
The lake lot extras
Slope engineering, retaining walls, the longer utility runs and the shoreline approvals. Real lines on a Lanier build, priced before the house is.
Before you sign anything
Homework before the first proposal.
Choosing a custom home builder in Cumming
The longer read on how we work in Forsyth County, written for people still choosing a builder.
Read the article →What a custom home costs in North Georgia
The ranges we see and what moves a build from one end to the other.
Read the guide →How a construction draw schedule works
What the bank releases, when, and what has to be inspected first.
Read the guide →How to choose a custom home builder
The questions that separate a builder from a salesman.
Read the guide →Custom home cost calculator
A starting range for your square footage and finish level.
Open the tool →Where we build
Cumming & Forsyth County.
All remodeling services in Cumming · Areas we serve · Custom home building overview
In their words
Reviews from the ground up.
A whopping amount of ZERO stress. You are in truly good hands from start to finish.
Very responsive, patient with our questions, and made suggestions that improved our project.
Exceptional professionalism, expertise, and a genuine commitment to delivering quality service.
Good questions
Building a custom home in Cumming, answered.
Is our lot permitted by Cumming or by Forsyth County?+
Check the parcel, not the zip code. Most Cumming addresses are outside the city limits and permit through Forsyth County Planning and Community Development; inside the limits it is the city Building and Zoning office. The code is the same statewide, only the office changes. We settle that question before a drawing is started, and the permit is ours to pull whichever answer it is.
We are looking at acreage north of Sawnee. What do we check before we make an offer?+
Soil, ahead of everything else. A drain field needs a soil evaluation approved by Forsyth County Environmental Health, and land that fails one is an expensive thing to already own. Take us out there while it is still somebody else's: we will read the slope and the access, find where a field could sit, and give you the site-work number before there is a house to design.
What is different about building on Lake Lanier?+
The shoreline and the slope. The Corps of Engineers controls the water's edge, so the dock and anything below the flood pool line are separate approvals, and the lot is usually steep enough that the foundation is engineered to it. That slope is also why a walkout lower level is almost automatic on a lake build.
Can you build to our community's architectural guidelines?+
Yes. Vickery, Windermere, Polo Fields and most of the south Forsyth communities have a review committee that approves elevations, materials and colors before the county issues a permit. We design for that approval and the building code at the same time.
How long does a custom home take in Cumming?+
Design, review-board approval where there is one, and permitting come first, with septic approval added on acreage and shoreline approvals on a lake lot. How long the build itself runs depends on the house and the ground under it. Your proposal comes with a schedule that has every one of those approvals in it, dated.
Cumming & nearby
What will your Cumming custom home cost?
Tell us about the lot and the home you want to build in Cumming and we will come back with a clear budget and a realistic schedule, line by line.
- ✓ Lot evaluation & site plan
- ✓ Design, plans & renderings
- ✓ Permits, septic & inspections
- ✓ Fixed pricing, line by line