What we build
Twenty-four trades under one roof, from excavation through finish carpentry.
Custom Home Builds
A house built around how you live
A house designed around how you actually live, drawn with an architect and built by the crew that drew it.
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Whole Home Remodeling
Taking a house down to the studs
Full gut and rebuild for houses worth keeping, where the bones are good and everything else goes.
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Standing Seam Metal Roofing Installation
Metal roofs with a 40-year warranty
Standing seam panels with concealed fasteners, carrying a 40-year warranty.
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Outdoor Kitchen Construction
Cooking space that survives winter
Masonry, counters and utilities built for freeze-thaw, not patio furniture with a grill in it.
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Retaining Walls
Walls engineered to hold grade
Drainage, base and batter done to spec, because a retaining wall fails from behind.
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Custom Tile Installation
Tile set on prepared substrate
Large format, mosaic and stone set over proper waterproofing and a flat substrate.
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How we work
Most people who call us have been thinking about a project for a year or more. They have a folder of pictures, a rough budget in their head, and a house that no longer fits. What they usually do not have is a clear picture of the order things happen in, or what separates a build that goes smoothly from one that does not.
The answer is almost always the drawings. A set of plans that has been thought through properly answers the questions that otherwise come up mid-build, when answering them costs money. We work with licensed architects to take a sketch on a piece of paper through digital drafting to a build-ready blueprint, and we do that before a shovel touches the ground.
From there the sequence is the same on every project. Site preparation and excavation. Footers and foundation walls, poured to the drawings and inspected before backfill. Framing, then dry-in, so the building is protected from Ohio weather. Then the long stretch of mechanical rough-in, insulation, drywall, and the finish work that decides whether the house reads custom or reads ordinary.
How a build runs
Drawings
We work with licensed architects to take what you sketched through digital drafting to a build-ready blueprint.
Site work
Excavation, lot clearing and grading, so the ground is right before anything sits on it.
Foundation
Footers and foundation walls poured to the drawings, inspected before backfill.
Framing
Structure goes up, the roof gets dried in, and the building becomes real.
Finish
Trim, tile, stone and paint, which is where a custom home either reads custom or does not.
Walk it together
We close the job by walking it with you, not by sending a final bill.
Projects built to last generations
We build projects that last generations. That was the reason for starting the company.Samuel Hand
What we specify and why
Standing seam metal is the roof we recommend most often on custom work. The fasteners are concealed under the seam rather than punched through the panel, which removes the failure point that shortens the life of an exposed-fastener roof. The metal we install carries a forty-year warranty. Where a client wants shingles instead, we use dimensional shingles carrying a thirty-year warranty.
Stone veneer is another place where the installation matters more than the product. Veneer has to sit over a drainage plane and lath, detailed so that water which gets behind it has a way back out. Done that way it lasts. Done as a surface treatment glued to sheathing, it traps moisture against the framing.
The same logic runs through the rest of it. A retaining wall fails from behind, so it gets drainage, a proper base and the right batter. A patio is only as flat in ten years as the base under it. A tiled shower is only as dry as the waterproofing nobody will ever see. We would rather spend the money there than on something that photographs well.
Where we build
Montgomery County12 towns
Dayton and the suburbs around it, where we do the most remodeling and addition work.
- Centerville
- Dayton
- Kettering
- Miamisburg
- West Carrollton
- Trotwood
- Englewood
- Vandalia
- Clayton
- Germantown
- Brookville
- New Lebanon
Greene County8 towns
Beavercreek through Xenia, a mix of newer subdivisions and older farm properties.
Building in Greene CountyWarren County8 towns
Springboro, Lebanon and Mason, where most of our custom home builds land.
Building in Warren CountyButler County7 towns
Hamilton, Fairfield and West Chester on the southern edge of our radius.
Building in Butler CountyPreble County6 towns
Home ground. Our shop is in Gratis and most of these towns are a short drive.
Building in Preble CountyMiami County6 towns
Troy, Piqua and Tipp City on the northern end of the service area.
Building in Miami CountyQuestions we get
How long does a custom home take?
From first drawings to move-in, most custom builds run twelve to eighteen months depending on size, site conditions and how quickly selections get made. We give you a real schedule once the plans are final.
Do you work with architects, or do we need our own?
Either way works. We work with licensed architects regularly and can bring one in, or we can build from plans you already have.
What area do you cover?
We work a seventy-mile radius from Gratis, Ohio, which covers Montgomery, Greene, Warren, Butler, Preble and Miami counties.
Are you licensed and insured?
Yes. We carry the coverage required for residential construction in Ohio and can provide certificates before work begins.
What warranty comes with a standing seam metal roof?
The standing seam metal we install carries a forty-year warranty. Dimensional shingles carry a thirty-year warranty.
Who is actually on site during my build?
Our own crew handles the core work. Samuel is on site through the build, not just at the start and the end.
How do you handle changes once we have started?
Changes get written down, priced and approved before they happen. Nothing gets built off a hallway conversation.
Start a conversation
Tell us what you want built. We will come back with the next step, not a sales call.
(937) 818-6177
handmadeenterprises@privategarden.org