Custom Home Builder in Butler County, PA

Building Contractors United is a custom home builder in Butler County, PA that builds on your lot, on acreage or in a new neighborhood, and handles the site work that most home builders subcontract. Residential new construction is one of our strongest areas, and because excavation is a core service, we clear, grade and dig the foundation ourselves before our crews frame the house. We build across Zelienople, Cranberry Township, Mars, Butler and the North Hills. JT Minarik, our Construction Manager, has been building since 2009 and is on site for every home.

What our custom home building service includes

We handle lot evaluation and site work, foundations, framing and structure, exterior envelope, interior finishes and outbuildings. Here is what each phase covers.

Lot evaluation and build on your lot

Building on your lot starts with understanding the ground: slope, soils, drainage, access, utilities and setbacks. We walk the property with you before you commit to a plan and tell you what the site will cost to prepare. Acreage lots along Route 68 and Route 8 often need well and septic, long driveways and significant grading, and knowing that up front keeps the budget honest.

Site work and foundation

We self-perform the clearing, grading, foundation excavation and utility trenching for every home we build. Clay and shale soils north of Pittsburgh hold water and move with freeze and thaw, so we focus on drainage, footer bearing and waterproofing from the first day. A dry, stable foundation is the one thing you cannot fix cheaply later. See our excavation and site work page for more on how we prepare a home site.

Framing, structure and roofing

Our crews frame the house, set trusses or stick-frame the roof, and install sheathing, windows and roofing. We build conventional wood-framed homes as well as homes that mix steel and stone, like the modern custom home with an indoor sports court we completed north of Pittsburgh. Standing-seam metal roofing, which we installed on a recent pool house build, is a popular choice for durability on exposed sites.

Exterior finishes and outdoor living

Exterior work includes siding, stone, brick, trim, decks, porches and patios. We also build detached garages, pool houses, workshops and barns, and we grade and finish the yard so water moves away from the house. The goal is a home that looks right on its site and holds up to western Pennsylvania weather.

Interior finishes

Interior finishes cover insulation, drywall, trim, cabinetry installation, flooring, tile, painting and built-ins. We coordinate licensed plumbing, HVAC and electrical trades and manage the schedule so finishes go in once, in the right order. You get a clear selections schedule so decisions are made before they hold up the job.

Design-build for custom homes

If you do not have plans yet, our design-build approach lets us price the home as it is designed, so the drawings match your budget. Working with the builder during design is the simplest way to avoid falling in love with a plan you cannot afford to build on your lot.

How BCU builds a custom home

Every home follows our four steps: Consult, Estimate, Build and Walkthrough.

1. Consult. We meet at your lot or ours, talk through your plans, your budget range and your timeline, and evaluate the site. We tell you what we see, including anything that will add cost.
2. Estimate. You receive a free, itemized estimate covering site work, foundation, structure, finishes and allowances. Allowances are realistic for the finishes you actually want, not low numbers that grow later.
3. Build. We pull permits with the township, prepare the site, pour the foundation and build through framing, envelope, mechanicals and finishes on a published schedule. JT runs the field and you get regular updates and one point of contact.
4. Walkthrough. We walk the finished home with you room by room, complete the punch list, coordinate the final inspection and occupancy, and hand over your keys and warranty. Our 2-year workmanship warranty starts at move-in.

Why BCU for your custom home

We build the site and the house. Most custom home builders subcontract excavation and foundations. We do that work ourselves, so the schedule and the quality of the ground your home sits on are in our hands.

A Construction Manager who is on your job. JT Minarik has been in the field since 2009 and is personally on site, not managing from an office across town.

Fully insured and PA registered. We carry general liability and workers' compensation insurance and hold PA HIC #PA193140.

Honest pricing. Free estimates, realistic allowances and straight answers about what your lot will cost to build on.

A two-year workmanship warranty. We stand behind your home in writing for two years after completion.

Woman-owned and local. BCU is a woman-owned builder based in Zelienople. You can reach our team directly at (724) 900-4123.

Building custom homes in Zelienople, Cranberry Township and across Butler County

A custom home builder in Butler County, PA spends most of its time on sloped lots with clay and shale soils, and knowing how to build on them is what separates a good foundation from a cracked one. Many of the best homesites north of Pittsburgh are hillsides with views, which means walkout basements, retaining walls and careful driveway grading. Townships each enforce their own setback, stormwater and grading rules, and sites that disturb an acre or more need a PA DEP NPDES permit and Butler County Conservation District review of the erosion and sediment plan.

New home construction in Zelienople and Harmony tends toward acreage along Route 68 and Route 19 north of Cranberry, where well and septic are common and privacy is the draw. Cranberry Township and Mars offer newer neighborhoods and infill lots with public utilities close to Route 228 and the Westinghouse campus. Further up Route 8, Butler and the surrounding townships have larger parcels at lower land costs. In the North Hills, teardown and rebuild lots are increasingly common. We build in all of these areas and anywhere within about an hour of Pittsburgh.

If you own a lot or are shopping for one and want a custom home builder in Butler County, PA that will handle everything from the first shovel to the final walkthrough, we would like to meet you at the property. Request a free estimate or call (724) 900-4123. We show up when we say we will, we price it honestly, and we build it to last for decades.