As one of Calgary’s primary “bedroom communities”, the growing city of Airdrie has a whole lot to offer. From shopping districts and arts centres to public parks and quick access to an international airport, many of its nearly 75,000 people came here looking to turn a house into a lifelong home.
If you want to do the same, congratulations! You’re sure to enjoy an amazing quality of life in the city – and you can do so with a quality-built custom home, made to match your lifestyle exactly. Before you do, though, here are a few things to know when building custom a home in Airdrie.
Building a Custom Home in Airdrie
If you have built a custom home before you know it is quite involved… so today let’s delve into 5 of the things you should know before building in Airdrie:
1) There are multiple levels of planning involved in new developments.
Before development and building permits can even be issued, there are four levels of oversight that an area has to go through. This includes both urban and rural areas that are ready to be built up, so if you want to build an acreage, you’ll see this process firsthand.
First is the Community Area Structure Plan (CASP), which provides direction on infrastructure, transportation networks, and the overall land use. Then comes the Neighbourhood Structure Plan, which guides and directs how the land and subdivisions will be laid out, including roads, schools, housing types, and architectural themes. Next is zoning, which dictates the types of buildings allowed in each district in the subdivision. Finally comes the last subdivision, where parcels are sold and developed. It’s good to know what stage the land is at when planning where you would like to build a home.
2) It’s all about the permits (and inspections, and fees, and documentation).
Building a modern home involves a lot more than just the materials and the land these days. In order to ensure every building within their purview is up to national and provincial standards, the city of Airdrie requires thorough preparation, planning, and documentation of new builds and renovations alike.
Once the application for development is approved, multiple inspections are required throughout the process – including for site services, pre-backfill foundations, post and pads, pre-boarding (HVAC, framing, electrical, etc.), insulation and vapour barriers, and a final full-home and hookup inspection. Each one of these must be done for the next one to proceed in sequence.
There are also costs associated with permits, depending on the nature of the work, the type of residence/building, and specific measurements of the structure in question. Here’s how the city breaks them down, ranging from a few hundred to several thousand dollars.
3) The city has handy checklists for the new home building process.
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when building a custom home. Luckily, you can have an experienced builder like Thomas Built Homes by your side! We are quite familiar with all the paperwork and processes involved, and can help set your mind at ease.
For example, we can show you resources like this handy checklist from the city of Airdrie, outlining the exact requirements for new home builds from start to finish. And if there’s anything in here that still seems hard to grasp, simply reach out to us and we’ll explain it in plain and simple English!
4) The community is full of things to do.
Whether you like live music, community events, morning strolls in the park, or a thriving cultural arts scene, Airdrie is the place to be. When you build a home here, you get front-row seats to all kinds of events throughout the year, as well as easy access to some of the best natural scenery in Alberta – there are kilometres of public pathways and greenspace, while the majestic Rocky Mountains or badlands canyons are just short drives away.
If you like to watch rather than participate in sports, you can enjoy lacrosse, hockey, competitive swimming, football, or soccer in one of the city’s arenas or fields. Sign the kids up for disc golf or pickleball, tackle a winter tobogganing hill, or spend a free day visiting Iron Horse Park or the Nose Creek Valley Museum. Life in Airdrie is full of adventures!
5) Hooking up to the grid is easy.
As one of the larger communities in Alberta, residents of Airdrie enjoy convenient access to municipal water and sewer utilities, as well as a variety of supplier options for electricity, heating, and telecoms services. In addition to this, a dedicated waste collection and treatment program handles household garbage, recyclables, and composting.
Beyond this, even rural residents benefit from the city’s maintenance of roads, including a no-charge dust control application for 200 metres on either side of rural driveways. If you’re building a home on an acreage, provided that your driveway and other access points are up to code, you’ll be able to link right up to the rest of the community – with your utilities and with your vehicles.
Custom Home Building in Airdrie, Alberta
Building an individualized, custom home is no small feat – from the first blueprint ideas to the finishing touches, it involves plenty of elbow grease and deep thinking about all the details. If you’re unfamiliar with the process, you might even be wondering if it’s worth the trouble.
Well, as the builder of many bespoke dream homes – we can tell you that it is! The pride and joy that homeowners feel in having something of their own, that they have designed and built and created, is unparalleled. We’re always thrilled to help make it happen, guiding clients like you from start to finish.
Though Airdrie may be on the bigger side, it’s still got plenty of small-town charm to spare. That’s what we love about it! We’re proud to build in and around the city, delivering exceptional homes covered with our top-notch New Home Warranties. It all starts with a simple call or email…so let’s get started on your custom Airdrie home today!
