01Custom homes
Building a new house was the biggest decision we’ve ever made, and it never felt rushed. We walked the site most Saturdays and always knew exactly where things stood.
Whole homes · 02 · A new house on your lot
Custom Home Builder in Cambridge
Custom home builder in Cambridge that builds from your designer’s plans. The builder coordinates the permit applications with your designer, and work on the lot starts once the permit is issued.
- Licensed builder
- WSIB
- Years building
- 15+
- Houses completed
- 300+
What’s included
What’s included
in a new house.
A stage is covered only after it is inspected, so the work behind the walls has already passed.
Plans and permits, coordinated with your designer
The designer draws; the builder coordinates the application with them and the municipality, so no work starts before the permit is issued.
Foundation, framing and roof
The foundation goes in, then the frame and the roof, until the house is closed in and the trades can work inside it.
Electrical, plumbing and HVAC, coordinated
The builder sequences the electrical, plumbing and HVAC trades inside the closed-in house, and their rough-in is inspected before drywall covers it.
Interior and exterior finishes
Siding and windows outside, and flooring, trim, paint, insulation and drywall inside, all go to the builder who built the frame.
Final inspections and handover
Set stages of the build are inspected by the municipality. The final inspection is the last one, and handover waits for it.
How it runs
The whole frame,
stage by stage.
Five stages in the same order for a room and a whole house, with one builder answering for each.
- 01
Permits
Plans from your designer and a building permit come first; the foundation is dug after that.
- 02
Structure
The foundation, then the frame and the roof, until the house is closed in.
- 03
Trades
Plumbing, electrical and HVAC are booked around one another, with inspection before walls close.
- 04
Finishes
Inside and out, the finishes are done by the same builder who built the frame.
- 05
Handover
Handover waits until the final inspection is signed off.
Why Hanna Homes
Why one builder
for all of it.
On a new house the approvals and the ground come first, and nothing goes inside until the roof is on.
Your designer’s plans tell the builder what must be built first. If the drawings need changing, that goes back to whoever drew them.
Sanitary and storm lines stay separate under the lot, and their layout is settled before the foundation work starts, not planned around the walls.
With the frame and roof up before the trades arrive, wiring, pipes and ducts get roughed in under cover, in a fixed order.
Regulated status, drainage and buildable area are checked on the lot early, so the plans do not have to be redrawn to satisfy an approval.
Start with a call.
Client reviews
Their house,
their words.
Whole homes and single rooms, in the words of the people who live in them.
02Whole home
We put off the whole house for years because we couldn’t picture living through it. Akram walked us through every stage before it started, and each week went the way he said it would.
03Kitchens
The crew covered the floors and cleaned up at the end of every day, which mattered with two kids at home. The new kitchen is the room everyone ends up in now. Worth every week of takeout.
04Basement apartments
We turned the basement into a unit for my mother-in-law. She has her own entrance and her own kitchen, and we still get Sunday dinners. The paperwork I was dreading turned out to be the part I thought about least.
05Additions
We needed more room but didn’t want to leave the street. The second storey went on over the summer, and from the sidewalk you’d think the house was always built that way.
06Bathrooms
One bathroom is a small job for a builder, but they treated it like the whole house. The tile lines up, the door finally closes properly, and they finished the week they said they would.
07Knockdown & rebuild
Our old bungalow wasn’t worth saving, so we took it down and built new on the same lot. They kept the neighbours in the loop from demolition to the final walk-through. We love coming home to it.
08Basements
The basement used to be storage and a furnace. Now it’s a family room the kids actually want to be in. A clear quote, no surprises, and the site was swept every night.
09Whole home
We bought an older house knowing it needed everything. Akram was straight with us from the first visit about what was worth keeping. Every room is new to us now, and it still feels like the house we fell for.
10Kitchens
Third builder we spoke to, and the only one who returned every call. When we changed our minds about the island halfway through, they made it work without any drama.
01 / 10
Projects
Selected work,
inside and out.
Three rooms are done: a kitchen, a basement and a bath. So are two whole homes, a new house and a bungalow.
01Custom Homes
A dark gable, glazed two storeys high.
Limestone makes the base and forecourt, and the porch is cedar. Board and batten is deep green-black, and the roof is standing seam.
01 / 05
Gallery
From the street
to the basement.
Every service, from the street to the basement. Tap a picture to see it whole.Kitchens, bathrooms and basements follow the street views of whole homes. Open a picture to see all of it.
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13 pictures: Whole homes · Kitchens · Bathrooms · Basements
Service area
Within an hour
of Burlington.
Towns we build in
- 01BurlingtonHaltonHome base
- 02HamiltonHamiltonby Hwy 403, 15 min, 18 km by road, approximately
- 03OakvilleHaltonby the QEW, 20 min, 24 km by road, approximately
- 04AncasterHamiltonby Hwy 403, 25 min, 28 km by road, approximately
- 05MiltonHaltonby Hwy 407, 30 min, 30 km by road, approximately
- 06MississaugaPeelby Hwy 407 and Hwy 403, 30 min, 41 km by road, approximately
- 07CambridgeWaterloo Regionby Hwy 8 and Hwy 5, 45 min, 51 km by road, approximately
- 08KitchenerWaterloo Regionby Hwy 6 and Hwy 401, 55 min, 72 km by road, approximately
And anywhere else inside the line.
Common questions
Common questions
in Cambridge.
What Cambridge homeowners ask about custom homes: what it costs, how long it takes and what the city asks for.
No per-square-foot figure is posted, because the number moves with the lot as much as with the floor area. In Cambridge a lot near the Grand River or a valley slope can add a conservation permit, a lot in a source protection area can add a compliance notice, and a mature tree in the way adds a tree permit. The lot is checked before a price is discussed.
No build duration is promised here. In Cambridge the build starts only after the approvals are in: the City’s building permit and, depending on the lot, the conservation authority, source protection and tree approvals. After that the pace follows the inspections, each called in with a day’s notice once a stage is ready.
A City building permit in every case, since a new house is far over 10 square metres and has plumbing. Add a Grand River Conservation Authority permit if the lot is in its regulated area, and a source protection notice if the lot is in a vulnerable area. Hanna Homes takes the application through with your designer and the City.
Yes, for the conservation limit: the authority’s Map Your Property tool works from an address, so a lot you are weighing can be looked up before you commit. A regulated lot needs a conservation permit for a new house, beside the City’s. Hanna Homes runs that lookup before pricing, and a tree 20 cm across or more on the lot is noted at the same time.
Not by itself. Cambridge requires a permit to remove, cut down or injure a tree with a diameter of 20 cm (8 inches) or more, so a tree inside the footprint or on the way in gets that permit before site work starts. Your designer can also draw around it. Hanna Homes counts trees of that size when the lot is checked, before the plans are final.
Still have a question?
Get a free estimatePeople also ask
Before you build,
people in Cambridge ask.
What people in Cambridge search before custom homes, answered for the town.
A builder who takes the house from foundation to handover and answers for every trade on site, instead of leaving subcontractors for you to chase. Hanna Homes, a licensed builder from Burlington, comes in at the plans stage and works the permit through with your designer.
Three: the conservation authority’s regulation limit, the Region of Waterloo’s source protection screening and a count of trees 20 cm across or more. Each can add an approval to the City permit. Hanna Homes runs them on the address before the plans are final, then builds to your designer’s drawings.
No. A regulated lot is not a closed one: it needs a conservation permit for a new house beside the City’s, and that permit adds time before construction. The Map Your Property lookup shows whether the land is regulated. Hanna Homes states no build duration, and the added approval is one reason.
Good to know
Good to know
about custom home builders in Cambridge.
What changes the work in Cambridge: the rules, the houses and the ground.
Custom home builder in Cambridge: the City permit, then the lot’s approvals
In Cambridge a building permit is needed for any structure over 10 square metres and for any with plumbing, so a new house is permitted work from the first drawing. The application goes in with your designer’s plans, and drawings are reviewed before the footprint is staked.
Two more approvals depend on the lot. The Grand River Conservation Authority regulates land near rivers, streams, wetlands, steep slopes and floodplains, and a new house there needs its permit beside the City’s. In a source protection area, Waterloo Region screens applications first, and the permit package must carry a compliance notice, with a Risk Management Plan in some cases.
Custom homes in Cambridge: lot checks before the design is drawn
Before a design is drawn, the address is looked up in the conservation authority’s Map Your Property tool against its regulation limit, so you learn early whether a conservation permit applies. A lot near the Grand or Speed River, or on a valley slope, is where the answer is most likely to be yes.
Cambridge also asks for a permit to remove, cut down or injure a tree 20 cm across or more. Where the footprint or the way in touches a mature tree, that permit is dealt with before site work. Your designer draws to what the lot allows; Hanna Homes then builds it, foundation first and finishes last.
Custom home cost and timing in Cambridge: what the lot adds
Cost follows the size of the house, the lot, the finishes and the approvals the lot brings. In Cambridge the last of those can mean a conservation permit, a source protection notice or a tree permit before anything is excavated, so the lot check comes ahead of any price. A figure without the plans and the lot would be a guess.
Timing is set by the same approvals, then by inspections. Each City inspection is requested by calling the inspector named on the permit, a day ahead at the least, and the house is closed in only after the framing has been seen. No build duration is promised on this page.
Other services
Other services,
same builder.
The other whole-home jobs we take on, with the same builder from the first call to handover.
All services
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Tell us aboutthe lot.
Tell us about the lot, and whether the plans are drawn or still to come. You talk it through with the builder first.
Licensed builder
Burlington, Ontario
15+ years
Building
300+ houses
Completed