Turnkey Barndominiums: One Contract From Dirt to Move-In
Turnkey means you hand us the keys to the land and we hand you back the keys to a finished house. One contract covers the stages in between, so you deal with one company and one schedule instead of six subcontractors who each blame the next one.
Veteran BuiltCypress, Texas
A turnkey contract only works if it says what turnkey includes. Ours is a written scope that lists the site work, the pad, the slab, the steel frame, the shell, insulation, mechanical systems, interior finish, and the things people forget, like the driveway, gutters, final grading and the cleanup. If septic, a well or a long power run are part of your job, the scope names them too. Anything left out is written down as left out, so nobody argues about it in month five.
Selections are where turnkey jobs go sideways. Flooring, cabinets, counters, fixtures and lighting are usually carried as allowances: a set amount of money for each category that you spend when you pick the actual item. Choose over the allowance and the difference is yours to pay. Choose under and you keep the difference. We set those amounts from the finish level you describe, and we give you a selection schedule with dates, because a late tile choice can stall a whole crew.
The benefit of one contract is one person accountable for the sequence. When the slab plumbing has to line up with the cabinet layout, the same team owns both ends of it. When a Gulf storm shuts the site for a week, the schedule moves as one piece. As a First Sergeant, Leland’s job was making sure the whole unit hit its marks, and a turnkey job asks the same of us. You still make the decisions that are yours to make. We handle the order, the inspections and the trades, and you get a weekly report on where the job stands.
Building outside the city limits around Houston usually means county rules, a septic or aerobic system, a well or a utility tap, and a flood map check. The steel or wood frame is the easy part. The planning that happens before the first truck arrives decides whether the house stays dry and level.
If you are handy and want to finish the interior yourself, a shell contract fits better, and we will draw the line where our work stops.
When turnkey barndominiums makes sense
How we decide, written down so you can hold us to it.
- You want a finished, livable barndominium and have no interest in managing trades yourself.
- You live out of the area or work long hours and need one point of contact who reports to you.
- Your lender asks for one builder contract that covers the complete home.
And when it does not
- If another builder already put up the slab and frame, a turnkey contract no longer fits; we would look at what is there and scope the remaining work on its own.
- If your finish choices are still wide open, hold off signing a turnkey price until you can describe the finish level, because vague allowances turn into change orders.
How we run it
- I
Written scope
Every stage from site work to cleanup is listed, along with what is excluded and the allowance for each selection.
- II
Site and structure
Pad, slab, steel frame and shell go up in sequence, with the inspections booked by us.
- III
Systems and selections
Mechanical, electrical and plumbing rough-ins go in while you make selections on the schedule we gave you.
- IV
Finish and handover
Interior finish, final grading, cleanup and a walk-through, with a punch list we close before handing over the keys.
What we ask before we price it
- Does the deed carry restrictions on metal buildings or minimum square footage?
- Is there power at the road, and how far is it to where the house will sit?
- Do you have a floor plan in mind, or are we starting from a list of rooms?
- When do you need to be living in it?
- Who else is involved: a lender, a designer, or a surveyor?
What does turnkey include on a barndominium?
Whatever the written scope says, and we write it to cover the whole job from site work to cleanup. Driveway, gutters, septic, well and power runs are named in or named out. If it is not in writing, ask before you sign.
What is an allowance in a turnkey contract?
A set amount carried for a category like flooring or lighting before you pick the item. Pick something that costs more and you pay the difference. Pick something that costs less and the difference comes back to you.
Can I make changes during a turnkey build?
Yes, through a written change order that shows the effect on price and schedule before work proceeds. Changes to finishes are easy. Changes to anything cast in the slab or engineered into the frame are not.
Do you offer financing for a turnkey barndominium?
We work with Acorn Finance for some projects. A full home built on raw land usually involves a construction or land loan through a lender that does that kind of lending. Talk to your lender early, since many want the builder’s written scope before they commit.
Who handles permits and inspections on a turnkey job?
We do. Unincorporated land permits through the county and cities through their own office. We schedule the inspections and keep the records so you are not chasing anybody.
How do I know where the job stands?
You get a weekly update with what got done, what is next and anything waiting on you, like a selection or a signature. If something goes wrong, you hear it from us first.
Who you are hiring
Leland Cannon spent 21 years in the Army and retired as a First Sergeant. Geoff Schardien served in Air Force Security Forces and has more than twenty years in residential construction. One of them walks every job before it starts, and you keep one phone number from the first visit to the last day.
We are a service-disabled veteran-owned company based in Cypress, verified by the Texas Veterans Commission. The person who writes your scope is the person you call if something is not right.
Google reviewers have given us 5.0 across 19 reviews, and the word that keeps coming up is honest. We would rather talk you out of a job than sell you one you do not need.