Brought a beautiful plot and now thinking forward to building your dream house? Then you might also be thinking how long does it take to build a house, ain’t that right? That question crosses everyone’s mind when they think of building a new house and moving there.
Well, there is no definitive answer to this question, as it depends on a bunch of factors. But still, to give you a rough idea, on average it takes around 6 – 18 months to build a new house.
However, if you want to have an in-depth understanding of how much time it takes to build a house, what factors affect the time, how can you build faster, etc. go through this guide. It’ll be worth the time!
How Long Does It Take to Build a House?
According to the Census.gov, in 2021 the average time required to build a single unit house in the United States is 7.2 months. You will need this much time if you are building a house with a contractor. If you are building it all by yourself then the time can be extended to anywhere above 1-year.
And this time frame includes the time needed for the permits and authorization. For that, it usually takes around a month. But what is not included here is the planning time.
However, below we’ve attached a few charts of the average time required to build a house in the United States and some other areas.
Average Time Takes to Build a house In the United States
| Single Unit Houses | ||
| For sale purpose | Contractor- Built | owner -Built |
| 6.5 months | 9.4 months | 12.1 months |
| Houses Above 2 Units | |||
| 2 – 4 Units | 5 – 9 Units | 10 – 19 Units | 20 + units |
| 11.9 Months | 15.8 months | 15.5 months | 17.2 or more months |
Average Time Takes in Northeast
| Single Unit Houses | ||
| For sale purpose | Contractor- Built | owner -Built |
| 10 months | 11.3 months | 13.6 Months |
| House Above 2 Units | |||
| 2 – 4 Units | 5 – 9 Units | 10 – 19 Units | 20 + units |
| 16.2 months | 19.5 months | 18.1 months | 22.6 months |
Average Time Takes in South
| Single Unit Houses | ||
| For sale purpose | Contractor- Built | owner -Built |
| 5.9months | 8.5 months | 11.4 months |
| Houses Above 2 Units | |||
| 2 – 4 Units | 5 – 9 Units | 10 – 19 Units | 20 + units |
| 6.7 Months | 12.2 months | 16.6 months | 16.3 or more months |
Average Time Takes in West
| Single Unit Houses | ||
| For sale purpose | Contractor- Built | owner -Built |
| 6.7 months | 12.6 months | 14.3 months |
| Houses Above 2 Units | |||
| 2 – 4 Units | 5 – 9 Units | 10 – 19 Units | 20 + units |
| 11.7 Months | 14.8 months | 15.2 months | 19 or more months |
Average Time Takes in Midwest
| Single Unit Houses | ||
| For sale purpose | Contractor- Built | owner -Built |
| 7.4 months | 8.3 months | 10.8 months |
| Houses Above 2 Units | |||
| 2 – 4 Units | 5 – 9 Units | 10 – 19 Units | 20 + units |
| 10.3 Months | 13.3 months | 12.9 months | 14.7 or more months |
All these charts are to give you an idea, don’t take these numbers as accurate because as we’ve mentioned before, there are a bunch of factors that determine the time needed to build a new house.
For example, building a mansion in California will take way more time than building a barndominium in Louisiana for obvious reasons. Rules and regulations are not the same in every area. The soil condition isn’t the same, nor is the size and design of the house.
Then there comes how many workers are working every day, what’s the weather condition, like that there are a few factors which affect the time.
Learn more in the coming section.
Factors that Can Slow Down the Building Progress
Doesn’t matter how well you plan, most of the time there will be some minor delays in the process due to some factors. And in this very section, we’ll be going through the potential factors that slow down the process.
Authorization & Permit
You can’t build anything without the permit & authorization of the PBD (planning and building department). and on average it takes 1 month to get authorization from the PBD.
However, if your land has any issues such as easements, property line disputes or zoning issues, or anything like that, then that’s going to take more than a month to get the permit. It is faster and easy to get authorization if you’re building a house in a housing development. People get the green flag pretty fast with that.
Weather
Building a house in the wrong weather will cause you to pause the progress for months. For example, if you started building a house during the rainy or snow season, you won’t be able to work constantly, you will have to pause the work when it rains or snow. Plus, they can destroy some of the works too.
However, once the roofing is done, rain, snow, or summer won’t cause much trouble.
Topography
On what type of soil you are building the house also matters, as there are varieties of soil. Some soil is hard to break through which will require more time. Plus, if the land consists of rocks, you’ll have to give extra time to removing those. So it is mandatory to check the soil and land conditions before building a house.
Experienced contractor and crew
A crew that is experienced in building houses will work more efficiently than the newcomers, that’s a no-brainer. Hence, if you want to get your job done properly and quickly, don’t hesitate to spend a few more bucks to hire a good contractor and crew.
Conclusion
If you can ensure a proper plan, pick perfect weather and hire an experienced contractor & crew, you can expect your house to build efficiently without much delay.
However, this guide should give you a broad view of how long it takes to build a house in different areas. And if there is anything else you want to know, don’t hesitate to let us know through the comment section.
