09/03/2026
The PPP’s of planning before you touch the property.
Six P's. Every builder's heard it. Not every builder does it.
Here's what happens on your lot before we ever put a shovel in the ground to build, including the stuff nobody thinks about until it costs them:
• Soil testing — what's under the dirt decides what your foundation costs. Muck and organics don't show up in a drone photo.
• Boundary and topo survey — where the house actually sits, and how much dirt you're moving to get there.
• Staking and flagging — house corners, drive, tree line. Settled on paper, not with a dozer already running.
• Wetlands and listed species — a half acre of wetland or one gopher tortoise burrow can move your house or stop your permit cold.
• Flood zone and base flood elevation — your finish floor height is set by the map, not by preference. Fill costs money.
• Perc test and septic layout — the drainfield drives house placement. Not the other way around.
• Well siting and separation — distance from the drainfield is not negotiable.
• Power — how far is the nearest transformer? A long utility run can be five figures before you've built anything.
• Driveway and culvert permit — county right-of-way access. Yes it's required. Yes they check.
• Impact fees — school, road, parks. Sometimes tens of thousands, due at permit, and almost nobody budgets for them.
• Deed restrictions and HOA approval — your plan may need a yes before the county ever sees it.
• Legal access and road maintenance — an easement on paper isn't always a road you can haul a truss down.
• Fill dirt and clearing — trucking dirt is one of the fastest ways to blow a budget.
• Address assignment — you can't permit a house that doesn't have an address yet.
None of it is exciting. None of it shows up in the pretty finished photos. Every one of them is the difference between a build that goes smooth and one that turns into a fight.
Anybody can throw you a number over the phone. The cheap guys do it every day, then the change orders start rolling in and that "savings" is gone before the slab is down.
We'd rather find the problems before we start building the house, not during the build.
Luckily I have worked with many professionals over the years and can help you on your next project.
