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- Meet the Team
- Sales Process
- Design Process
- Building Process
- Our Blogs
David Gring - Steiner Homes Director of Sales I serve as Director of Sales for Steiner Homes. My specialty has been in new construction, selling over 55 homes in the past three years. These 55+ homes represent over $16.5M in sales. I'm proud of my 21+ years of sales experience, ranging from Sales Manager in downtown Chicago, to being a partner of my own company in NW Indiana. I'm blessed to currently represent the Steiner Family! I feel that Dan & Val Steiner have not only carved a niche in the homebuilding marketplace, but they are offering exceptional style, beauty, and value to their homes in Northwest Indiana! I have great respect for the fact that the home buying and building process is a very personal endeavor, and I'm here to guide you through those steps. Whether it is in finding your lot, designing your home, or building the home of your dreams, I would be honored to work with you in the transaction! |
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Adam Steiner - Steiner Homes Residential Designer I serve as the on-staff residential designer for Steiner Homes. As Dan's son I have grown up around the home building industry and have picked up much over the years. I was blessed with the opprotunity to start designing homes at a young age and now have been designing for six years. I graduated from Purdue University in December of 2008 with a Degree in Civil Engineering with a focus in Structures. I would be honored to take my experences and design your next home. My job here at Steiner Homes is to make sure you're building your dream home. Dave and I will sit down with you and custom design your home to your needs. We can take aspects from any plan you like or start from scratch. We love to hear how your family works and how you live. |
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Getting to Know Us -
- Meet with our Director of Sales – David Gring will enjoy meeting with you to qualify your needs. This is the beginning of the sales process, and we want to clearly understand what is important to our customers in the selection of their home and lot.
- Review Steiner Homes floor plans – we have over 42 unique floor plans of our own, offering ranch, master-on-the-main, and 2-story designs. We will also build a custom floor plan that our customers bring to us.
- Tour some of our homes – one of the favorite parts of our sales process! Visit our model and spec homes and enjoy the terrific standards and features that we offer in our homes.
- Visit subdivisions and review potential lots – we have excellent relationships with developers all over Lake and Porter County in Northwest Indiana, and we can assist you in evaluating potential home sites or the one that you bring to us.
- Meet with one of our partner banks – there are a number of banking institutions and mortgage brokers which we partner with that offer terrific service and professionalism.
- Explore our website – you will be amazed at the amount of information offered on our website! You can down-load floor plans, get pricing, view pictures through a slide show, contact us, and much more.
Personalize Your Home -
- Select a home that matches your lifestyle – whether it is one of our floor plans or your custom plan, we will focus on your lifestyle and the way that you live.
- Choose a home site – select the home site, in the subdivision and city that you will call home.
- Personalize your Steiner Homes floor plan – you can make some room size adjustments to our standard plans, add a third-car garage bay, or modify the front elevation. We do all of our design and CAD work in-house, so we can efficiently fine-tune your home to your needs.
- Review additional options – we are proud of the standard features that we offer, but if you want to add more hardwood flooring, finished basement space, or special features to your new home, we will provide you with the options and pricing necessary.
Making Your Final Decision -
- Meet to review our contract in detail – our Director of Sales, David Gring, will review your contract, answering any questions, and outlining the building process to follow.
- Obtain pre-approval letter from your bank – we require a pre-approval bank letter, outlining the specifics of your loan and the date.
- Approve your contract, submit copy of pre-approval letter, and provide 10% down-payment - these three items are necessary to commence the building process.
- Take copy of contract to your bank to obtain commitment letter – the commitment letter confirms the final amount of the loan, terms, and dates. Your financial institution can efficiently produce the commitment letter after approving the contract.
Where to Start -
Ok, so maybe you’re at the point where you’re starting to think about building a home. And let’s say you have the financial issues settled such as budget, lender, timeframe etc. That brings you to the next logical step: your home plan.
My first suggestion is to button down your taste and style. Walk through floor plans and look at plans online. Analyze what you love and hate about your place now. When building a new home some features and aspects may simply be out of your price range, but you shouldn’t have to sacrifice the layout of your home at all.
Secondly, another great thing to look at is how your lifestyle may look in the years to come. Is your family growing? Do you love to entertain? Do you work out of home or have any hobbies that you just love? Your lifestyle should directly affect the floor plan you’re looking for.
Finally, don’t settle and don’t get close-minded. You shouldn’t have limited options due to your builder. We want you to get exactly what you want in a home, and will customize or design from scratch any home plan for you. And honestly I love it. The most exciting part of my job is to design someone’s dream home.
Cost Effective Options to Spice Up Your Home -
As you are finalizing your selections and floor plans you may find there are an overwhelming amount of choices and options you could add to your home. I want to help let you know about very cost effective ways that can really spice up your home.
Trim Details – Built-in and custom details can really set your home apart. There are some things that we keep using in our homes due to their value and popularity. Custom built wood lockers are a very appealing and functional option especially for those big or growing families. There also may be a space on your plan to add custom shelving as well. This can be a beautiful way to utilize all the space of your home.
Ceiling Finishes – Most all plans are versatile enough to alter the way the ceilings finish. A tray or cathedral ceiling can dramatically change the feel of a room. This may be one of the most cost-effective ways to make your home feel more spacious. A tray ceiling can add a ton of character to any room as well.
Structural System -
This may be one of the most worried-about aspects of the home building process. It may simply be due to a lack of understanding or it could be the fear of getting ripped-off. Either way it’s a huge issue to your home and should not be overlooked. There is less to worry about than meets the eye though. Almost all the structural systems in the home have been specified and pre-engineered long ago. The government will then regulate that these codes are followed with checking and double checking your home’s systems. The permitting and inspections processes are for exactly that reason. The bearing walls, framing system, footing and even concrete foundation are all thoroughly checked with many other aspects of your home.
As far as the specifics of your home it may be up to personal preference. Such as your basement system, here at Steiner Homes we use all load bearing walls for the structural support. We have found it to be the most cost-effective option in home building. Steel beams are another very popular option due to the feeling that it gives you more space in your basement. It may be true, but in most cases we find you can still get great basement space and save a few grand just by using load bearing walls. Other options such as pre-fabricated joist systems, we try and steer people away from because usually you increase your costs without really increasing your benefit.
If you really want to get down to the nitty-gritty of the structure and actually look at joist and rafter size and spacing you can, but you will find that it again is all regulated. The codes take into account each specific room use, the snow load in your region, spans between bearing walls, even the species of wood used in the lumber. All this to ensure the home you will be living in can withstand all the demand you or the environment can throw at it.
Kitchen Layout -
This may be one of the most crucial aspects of the home. Kitchens sell homes, it’s so true. When considering a kitchen it is not only layout but location within the floor plan that could make or break your home. Here are some things I find in floor plans. Make sure you have a great view from your kitchen sink. Most of our homes include a nice, big window to the rear right above the sink and honestly I feel it’s a great effect. Also, make sure you have excellent workspace. In almost all of the plans I design I really make this a big consideration. I try and work an island into the kitchen layout somehow. I feel like this is your best bet to achieve the workspace you desire. Islands are also great because the really help out your traffic flow in a kitchen, especially if you entertain. Another thing to consider is whether or not to put your sink or cook top on the island. It can be a unique look and give your kitchen a nice feel, but it may diminish some of your most functional workspace in the kitchen. It just comes down to personal preference. As far as location goes, I find most people want their kitchen near their garage entrance. I would agree, it does make the most functional sense. A further aspect I find people love in their homes is a countertop overhang off of the island. This makes a wonderful area to put some stools and create an inviting and entertaining eat-in kitchen.
A Review of American Home Styles -
One thing that I think could help a ton in your search for the perfect house of floor plan is educating yourself. This article is just a quick review of some American home styles so you can know a little bit more about that perfect home you’re looking for.
For starters, almost all the new homes being built are really just a mix of some various styles thrown together. To get a home that remains precisely true to historical styles can be very expensive. However, due to some advances in technology in the last century and some creative planning, you can still get a beautiful house that will remain beautiful for years to come. I’ll explain the more predominant styles we build and see people asking for, and then I’ll touch on some less popular styles. If you want to research further, most of the information I’ll be writing on is from A Field Guide to American Houses, by Virginia and Lee McAlester. It is a very thorough book and should be able to answer just about any question you may have. I’m sure you can find it at most bookstores.
The predominant style of American homes since the late 1960’s has been coined as neoeclectic. This basically means that home builders and designers have pushed to revert back to more traditional American styles while still retaining bits and pieces of the modern influence. This style of home is what you will see in most subdivisions and new homes across the Midwest. Neoeclectic is a pretty broad term that includes styles ranging from neo-tudor to neo-victorian and just about everything in between. Most of these styles take a few forms from style but leave out most of the historical details.
To get into some more specifics, I’ll start with one of our favorite styles here at Steiner Homes, the arts and crafts home. The arts and crafts movement started two major American styles: craftsman houses and prairie houses. These styles both focus on having low-pitched roofs with a big emphasis on the front porch and massive front porch columns. Craftsman homes had their origination in California and focused more on open detailed woodwork both inside and outside the home. Gable brackets and exposed eaves are also some aspects seen on craftsman homes. The prairie style is typically associated with Frank Lloyd Wright and emphasizes horizontal lines more so than wood work.
The other main style I see influence most of our homes is the colonial home. Colonial style is also a rather broad term that refers to most of the European influenced homes that originated in our American colonies. This style includes Dutch, French, Spanish, but mainly English influences. The two predominant English influenced styles are Georgian and Adam houses. These styles relied on symmetry with the windows and doors. Some other aspects included in these styles would be a paneled front door or ornate details such as pilasters or dentil. Shutters, arched windows and dormers became more and more popular in later versions of this style.
Ok, so maybe you’re at the point where you’re starting to think about building a home. And let’s say you have the financial issues settled such as budget, lender, timeframe etc. That brings you to the next logical step: your home plan.
My first suggestion is to button down your taste and style. Walk through floor plans and look at plans online. Analyze what you love and hate about your place now. When building a new home some features and aspects may simply be out of your price range, but you shouldn’t have to sacrifice the layout of your home at all.
Secondly, another great thing to look at is how your lifestyle may look in the years to come. Is your family growing? Do you love to entertain? Do you work out of home or have any hobbies that you just love? Your lifestyle should directly affect the floor plan you’re looking for.
Finally, don’t settle and don’t get close-minded. You shouldn’t have limited options due to your builder. We want you to get exactly what you want in a home, and will customize or design from scratch any home plan for you. And honestly I love it. The most exciting part of my job is to design someone’s dream home.
Cost Effective Options to Spice Up Your Home -
As you are finalizing your selections and floor plans you may find there are an overwhelming amount of choices and options you could add to your home. I want to help let you know about very cost effective ways that can really spice up your home.
Trim Details – Built-in and custom details can really set your home apart. There are some things that we keep using in our homes due to their value and popularity. Custom built wood lockers are a very appealing and functional option especially for those big or growing families. There also may be a space on your plan to add custom shelving as well. This can be a beautiful way to utilize all the space of your home.
Ceiling Finishes – Most all plans are versatile enough to alter the way the ceilings finish. A tray or cathedral ceiling can dramatically change the feel of a room. This may be one of the most cost-effective ways to make your home feel more spacious. A tray ceiling can add a ton of character to any room as well.
Structural System -
This may be one of the most worried-about aspects of the home building process. It may simply be due to a lack of understanding or it could be the fear of getting ripped-off. Either way it’s a huge issue to your home and should not be overlooked. There is less to worry about than meets the eye though. Almost all the structural systems in the home have been specified and pre-engineered long ago. The government will then regulate that these codes are followed with checking and double checking your home’s systems. The permitting and inspections processes are for exactly that reason. The bearing walls, framing system, footing and even concrete foundation are all thoroughly checked with many other aspects of your home.
As far as the specifics of your home it may be up to personal preference. Such as your basement system, here at Steiner Homes we use all load bearing walls for the structural support. We have found it to be the most cost-effective option in home building. Steel beams are another very popular option due to the feeling that it gives you more space in your basement. It may be true, but in most cases we find you can still get great basement space and save a few grand just by using load bearing walls. Other options such as pre-fabricated joist systems, we try and steer people away from because usually you increase your costs without really increasing your benefit.
If you really want to get down to the nitty-gritty of the structure and actually look at joist and rafter size and spacing you can, but you will find that it again is all regulated. The codes take into account each specific room use, the snow load in your region, spans between bearing walls, even the species of wood used in the lumber. All this to ensure the home you will be living in can withstand all the demand you or the environment can throw at it.
Kitchen Layout -
This may be one of the most crucial aspects of the home. Kitchens sell homes, it’s so true. When considering a kitchen it is not only layout but location within the floor plan that could make or break your home. Here are some things I find in floor plans. Make sure you have a great view from your kitchen sink. Most of our homes include a nice, big window to the rear right above the sink and honestly I feel it’s a great effect. Also, make sure you have excellent workspace. In almost all of the plans I design I really make this a big consideration. I try and work an island into the kitchen layout somehow. I feel like this is your best bet to achieve the workspace you desire. Islands are also great because the really help out your traffic flow in a kitchen, especially if you entertain. Another thing to consider is whether or not to put your sink or cook top on the island. It can be a unique look and give your kitchen a nice feel, but it may diminish some of your most functional workspace in the kitchen. It just comes down to personal preference. As far as location goes, I find most people want their kitchen near their garage entrance. I would agree, it does make the most functional sense. A further aspect I find people love in their homes is a countertop overhang off of the island. This makes a wonderful area to put some stools and create an inviting and entertaining eat-in kitchen.
A Review of American Home Styles -
One thing that I think could help a ton in your search for the perfect house of floor plan is educating yourself. This article is just a quick review of some American home styles so you can know a little bit more about that perfect home you’re looking for.
For starters, almost all the new homes being built are really just a mix of some various styles thrown together. To get a home that remains precisely true to historical styles can be very expensive. However, due to some advances in technology in the last century and some creative planning, you can still get a beautiful house that will remain beautiful for years to come. I’ll explain the more predominant styles we build and see people asking for, and then I’ll touch on some less popular styles. If you want to research further, most of the information I’ll be writing on is from A Field Guide to American Houses, by Virginia and Lee McAlester. It is a very thorough book and should be able to answer just about any question you may have. I’m sure you can find it at most bookstores.
The predominant style of American homes since the late 1960’s has been coined as neoeclectic. This basically means that home builders and designers have pushed to revert back to more traditional American styles while still retaining bits and pieces of the modern influence. This style of home is what you will see in most subdivisions and new homes across the Midwest. Neoeclectic is a pretty broad term that includes styles ranging from neo-tudor to neo-victorian and just about everything in between. Most of these styles take a few forms from style but leave out most of the historical details.
To get into some more specifics, I’ll start with one of our favorite styles here at Steiner Homes, the arts and crafts home. The arts and crafts movement started two major American styles: craftsman houses and prairie houses. These styles both focus on having low-pitched roofs with a big emphasis on the front porch and massive front porch columns. Craftsman homes had their origination in California and focused more on open detailed woodwork both inside and outside the home. Gable brackets and exposed eaves are also some aspects seen on craftsman homes. The prairie style is typically associated with Frank Lloyd Wright and emphasizes horizontal lines more so than wood work.
The other main style I see influence most of our homes is the colonial home. Colonial style is also a rather broad term that refers to most of the European influenced homes that originated in our American colonies. This style includes Dutch, French, Spanish, but mainly English influences. The two predominant English influenced styles are Georgian and Adam houses. These styles relied on symmetry with the windows and doors. Some other aspects included in these styles would be a paneled front door or ornate details such as pilasters or dentil. Shutters, arched windows and dormers became more and more popular in later versions of this style.
The Steiner Homes - Building Process
The construction of a home consists of many parts that equal the whole. An unorganized and careless approach can lead to nightmarish experience ending in a house with much to be desired.
From the initial phases of your custom designs, through each unique selection, from day one of breaking ground to the final days of receiving the keys to your dream, Steiner Homes is here to serve as your chauffeur through the difficult course of the home-building process.
Step 1 – Getting to Know You
This may be the most critical of all steps in the process – but for us, it’s also the most fun! Everyone’s wants and desires differ, and it is absolutely crucial to find out yours in order to arrive at our final destination – the home of your dreams! This is where we decide on a plan and tailor it to fit you. This could mean a room that needs to be a bit bigger or a ceiling that needs to become a trey or cathedral. Would you like a covered deck? How about a open living room turned into a office with beautiful French doors? This is where all of these questions are answered… and the creation of your dream begins.
Step 2 – Planning
During this phase, many things are happening behind the scenes in order for day one of construction to begin. Steiner Homes begins work your revised designs, land survey and home placement, subdivision developer and town approval of your home design, and working with you on initial home selections that will be needed earliest in construction, such as your tubs and showers and exterior colors for roofing, siding, brick and stone. The planning phase with initial selection process usually takes one month and overlaps with Step 3 – Excavation.
Step 3 – Excavation
The third phase marks the beginning of actual construction. During excavation, we break ground and dig out the site of your home. The phase includes the foundation, underground plumbing, and interior flooring of your home. While this phase is underway, usually taking three weeks, the initial selections started in step 2 are decided and ordered. Our second selections meeting begins approximately half-way through this timeframe, which consists of electrical and plumbing selections. We will go over each one, deciding items such as telephone and cable placement, exterior hose bib locations, and plumbing fixtures, just to name a few.
Step 4 – Framing
The fourth phase of our process turns your plans on paper into the beginnings of reality. Your house will take full shape, as all interior and exterior walls and roof are formed. While this 3 – 4 week process occurs, we finish the second selection meeting and begin the third and final one. This consists of all interior selections such as flooring, cabinetry and lighting. This final selection process, usually broken into two meetings, take place near the beginning of framing and is decided near the end of this step.
Step 5 – Exterior Finishes and Mechanical Rough-ins
The fifth phase marks the beginning of the exterior finishes and interior mechanical rough-ins. Exterior finishes begin with roofing, and continue with siding, brick, stone and exterior concrete. This entire exterior process takes anywhere from 4 – 8 weeks, overlapping with the next few steps, and is very weather dependent. The interior mechanical rough-ins, which include HVAC, plumbing and electrical typically take 1 – 2 weeks and end with an inspection period before the walls are covered.
Step 6 – Insulation, Drywall and Flooring
The sixth phase, lasting approximately 3-4 weeks, begins with the complete insulation and drywall of your home. Once this is complete, the house is cleaned and all walls and ceilings are primed. This phase ends with all hard surface (wood and tile) flooring and wall tile installed and protected.
Step 7 – Trim
The seventh phase marks the true beginning of a glimpse into what your future holds. Cabinetry and base is installed, doors and windows are cased, and stairways, columns and lockers are created. The beauty of the woodwork begins to show the gorgeous look your home will soon possess. This process typically takes 2 weeks and marks the beginning of the end of final construction.
Step 8 – Final Construction
The home stretch… excuse the pun! The last phase of construction, usually 3 weeks, sees the final touches, including final coating of paint and stain, installation of all finish hardware including doorknobs, mirrors, and cabinet pulls, and the final installation of all HVAC and electrical trim as well as all plumbing fixtures. Finally, carpet is laid, closet shelving is installed and professional cleaning occurs.
Step 9 – Your Dream... Delivered
Once construction is complete, we walk your home and develop our final punch list prior to our completion. This is our final quality control inspection and your home checked carefully using a checklist of over 300 items! After this checklist is complete and the final punch list is made, we conduct a tour with our clients and introduce their new home!
The construction of a home consists of many parts that equal the whole. An unorganized and careless approach can lead to nightmarish experience ending in a house with much to be desired.
From the initial phases of your custom designs, through each unique selection, from day one of breaking ground to the final days of receiving the keys to your dream, Steiner Homes is here to serve as your chauffeur through the difficult course of the home-building process.
Step 1 – Getting to Know You
This may be the most critical of all steps in the process – but for us, it’s also the most fun! Everyone’s wants and desires differ, and it is absolutely crucial to find out yours in order to arrive at our final destination – the home of your dreams! This is where we decide on a plan and tailor it to fit you. This could mean a room that needs to be a bit bigger or a ceiling that needs to become a trey or cathedral. Would you like a covered deck? How about a open living room turned into a office with beautiful French doors? This is where all of these questions are answered… and the creation of your dream begins.
Step 2 – Planning
During this phase, many things are happening behind the scenes in order for day one of construction to begin. Steiner Homes begins work your revised designs, land survey and home placement, subdivision developer and town approval of your home design, and working with you on initial home selections that will be needed earliest in construction, such as your tubs and showers and exterior colors for roofing, siding, brick and stone. The planning phase with initial selection process usually takes one month and overlaps with Step 3 – Excavation.
Step 3 – Excavation
The third phase marks the beginning of actual construction. During excavation, we break ground and dig out the site of your home. The phase includes the foundation, underground plumbing, and interior flooring of your home. While this phase is underway, usually taking three weeks, the initial selections started in step 2 are decided and ordered. Our second selections meeting begins approximately half-way through this timeframe, which consists of electrical and plumbing selections. We will go over each one, deciding items such as telephone and cable placement, exterior hose bib locations, and plumbing fixtures, just to name a few.
Step 4 – Framing
The fourth phase of our process turns your plans on paper into the beginnings of reality. Your house will take full shape, as all interior and exterior walls and roof are formed. While this 3 – 4 week process occurs, we finish the second selection meeting and begin the third and final one. This consists of all interior selections such as flooring, cabinetry and lighting. This final selection process, usually broken into two meetings, take place near the beginning of framing and is decided near the end of this step.
Step 5 – Exterior Finishes and Mechanical Rough-ins
The fifth phase marks the beginning of the exterior finishes and interior mechanical rough-ins. Exterior finishes begin with roofing, and continue with siding, brick, stone and exterior concrete. This entire exterior process takes anywhere from 4 – 8 weeks, overlapping with the next few steps, and is very weather dependent. The interior mechanical rough-ins, which include HVAC, plumbing and electrical typically take 1 – 2 weeks and end with an inspection period before the walls are covered.
Step 6 – Insulation, Drywall and Flooring
The sixth phase, lasting approximately 3-4 weeks, begins with the complete insulation and drywall of your home. Once this is complete, the house is cleaned and all walls and ceilings are primed. This phase ends with all hard surface (wood and tile) flooring and wall tile installed and protected.
Step 7 – Trim
The seventh phase marks the true beginning of a glimpse into what your future holds. Cabinetry and base is installed, doors and windows are cased, and stairways, columns and lockers are created. The beauty of the woodwork begins to show the gorgeous look your home will soon possess. This process typically takes 2 weeks and marks the beginning of the end of final construction.
Step 8 – Final Construction
The home stretch… excuse the pun! The last phase of construction, usually 3 weeks, sees the final touches, including final coating of paint and stain, installation of all finish hardware including doorknobs, mirrors, and cabinet pulls, and the final installation of all HVAC and electrical trim as well as all plumbing fixtures. Finally, carpet is laid, closet shelving is installed and professional cleaning occurs.
Step 9 – Your Dream... Delivered
Once construction is complete, we walk your home and develop our final punch list prior to our completion. This is our final quality control inspection and your home checked carefully using a checklist of over 300 items! After this checklist is complete and the final punch list is made, we conduct a tour with our clients and introduce their new home!
Home|Floor Plans|Photos|Available Homes|Our Communities|Testimonials|Contact Us
Contact - Dave Gring - dave@steinerhomesltd.com, 219-916-3744
Model Home Info: 800-383-0981 Ext. 100 - Directions
Contact - Dave Gring - dave@steinerhomesltd.com, 219-916-3744
Model Home Info: 800-383-0981 Ext. 100 - Directions
As a general contractor, we get many of the same inquiries about the intricacies of the building process. With over 31 years in construction and home building in northwest Indiana, we know how to make this simple and enjoyable. The pages below should answer most of your questions, and if not, feel free to contact us. |