BUILDING A CUSTOM HOME
Build your one-of-one custom home from the ground up. Full design-build expertise, coastal and flood zone construction, and transparent T&M pricing from concept to move-in.
Signs It's Time to Build Custom
Storm Damage / Flood Mitigation
Your home took a hit and rebuilding from scratch is smarter than patching what's left. Many of our current builds are storm-damaged homes being rebuilt elevated and flood-compliant.
Outgrowing Your Remodel Budget
By the time the remodel and addition math gets close to a million dollars, a new build gives you an additional thousand sqft and exactly what you want across every surface.
Lot With Potential
You've found the right location—school zone, water proximity, neighborhood—and the existing house isn't worth saving. Infill lots in St. Pete are ideal for custom builds.
Compromises Aren't Cutting It
Semi-custom and builder-grade homes limit you to a few finish packages. A true custom home means full control of every design decision from foundation to fixtures.
Our Custom Home Process
Timeline
Design Phase
Architect pairing, full blueprints, selection planning
3-6 months
Permitting
Building department review, structural approvals
3-6 months
Construction
Foundation to move-in, all trades
10-12 months
Plan for 18-24 months from concept to move-in. No matter how decisive you are, a custom home takes longer than you think.
Sequence of Work
Surveying & Staking
Layout the building footprint on the lot
Foundation & Masonry
Footings, pilings if flood zone, masonry walls
Framing
Walls, roof structure, second floor if applicable
MEP Rough-In
Electrical, plumbing, and HVAC in walls and floors
Insulation & Drywall
Spray-in, blow-in, or batt depending on spec
Finishes
Tile, cabinetry, millwork, paint, flooring
Fixtures & Trim
Final plumbing/electrical fixtures, trim carpentry
Final Inspections
Punch list, client walkthrough, certificate of occupancy
Two-Year Timeline
From concept to move-in, a custom home often takes two years. Design and permitting alone can eat 6-12 months. Clients who understand this upfront have a much better experience.
Custom Home Cost in St. Petersburg
Builder-Grade
$250–$350/sqft
Simple design, standard finishes, rental or first-time buyer
Standard Custom
$300–$400/sqft
Full custom finishes, no pilings or elevation required
Flood Zone / Elevated
$400–$500/sqft
Pilings, elevated foundation, coastal compliance, high-end finishes
Example: A 3,000 sqft custom home runs $1.2M–$1.5M. A 2,000 sqft home is just shy of $1M—or crosses it with nicer finishes.
What Drives Costs
- •Roof complexity: Intricate cuts and hips require more framing time on site
- •Windows & doors: High ceilings with clerestory or transom windows, large sliders, accordion doors—glass is expensive
- •Foundation: Pilings and elevated foundations for flood zones add significant masonry and foundation costs
- •Finish level: Pinterest-level finishes can be five figures apiece—cabinetry, millwork, specialty tile
- •Lot size: Small lots requiring second floors are more expensive than single-story builds
What Causes Overruns
- •Finish creep: Upgrading selections mid-project without recalibrating the budget
- •Site conditions: Unexpected soil issues, tree removal costs, or lot grading challenges
- •Scope changes: Deciding mid-construction to add square footage, change room layouts, or add features
How We Prevent Surprises
By the time we break ground, roughly 75% of line items are confirmed at fixed prices—foundation, framing, MEPs, roof, windows and doors are all locked in with our subs and vendors. The remaining 25% are finishes that get confirmed as you make selections. You get weekly budget reports showing actuals versus budget so you always know where you stand.
Ready to Discuss Your Custom Home?
Get expert guidance on design, budget, and timeline for your St. Petersburg custom build.
Design-Build for Custom Homes
Pairing You With the Right Team
We approach clients from where they're standing design-wise. If you're a high-end client needing luxurious finishes that require a designer, we make sure you're paired with that person—we don't try to figure that out ourselves.
If you're a first-time home builder or this isn't your forever home, we handle a lot more of the design ourselves by navigating you through our vendors and their free design offerings—kitchen cabinetry, flooring and tile, paint. That output is never going to be as cohesive as an accomplished designer would bring, but it saves significant cost.
Balancing Wants vs. Budget
We listen to your vision. If you already have drawings, we bid those structurally using our trusted subs, and then finishes become the primary adjusters that move the budget up or down.
With a new build, that budget conversation can happen pretty early because of the size of the line items before we ever get to finishes—foundation, masonry, site work, framing. If someone just needs raw square footage, we can design a more simple rectangular house with a plain hipped roof. Versus something with more cuts and intentional spaces like butler's pantries or sculleries that drive cost up.
Lot Selection & Site Considerations
What homeowners look for in a lot: school zones if they have kids, access to work and traffic arteries, proximity to the water. Is it going to be a flood zone now? Is it going to be a flood zone when FEMA maps draw more restrictively? Other obvious things like cost, safety, and what they're willing to live with balancing all that against budget.
Most of our custom builds in St. Pete are on infill lots—because we're the most densely populated county in Florida—that have already been built before. So site work generally includes demo, some site clearing in terms of trees if the footprint is changing, prepping the ground for foundation, and later landscaping and sprinklers.
Challenging Lots
Slope, soil issues, trees, flood zones—all of those just boil down to money that's usually outlaid early in a project. Correcting a slope with fill dirt and compacting, adding pilings instead of standard foundation, working with arborists on which trees get preserved and working with the municipality to determine the tree plan and removal costs.
St. Pete Flood Zone Lots
Lots near the water require flood compliance—pilings, elevated foundations, breakaway walls below BFE. This is our bread and butter. We've built in every flood zone in Pinellas and know what FEMA wants.
Decisions Before Breaking Ground
Most decisions are handled through permitting. The decisions left could be finish-based selections—we may not have paint colors picked out, a client may want to wait to pick tile based on what the bathrooms look like with natural lighting.
Everything except cosmetics is typically settled before we break ground so we can move forward at an efficient pace.
Budget Sharpening
There are multiple pencil-sharpening rotations as we address the budget, finishes, and scope. In addition to rough framing, masonry, and MEPs, we're also looking at whether the level of design and finish requires specialties—special millwork requiring more specialized trim carpenters than our staff, floating staircases we may need to bring in an outside crew for.
Field Walk Before Kickoff
Late in pre-construction, we do a field walk with our project manager, general superintendent, and on-site superintendent dedicated to your project. This is the handoff meeting from the office to the field crew that's going to actually carry off the build.
WHY CHOOSE REVOLUTION FOR YOUR CUSTOM HOME
What sets us apart from other contractors in St. Petersburg.
IN-HOUSE LABOR
Our skilled craftsmen are Revolution employees, not subcontractors. This means better quality control, accountability, and a team that truly cares about your project.
T&M TRANSPARENCY
Our Time & Materials billing model means you see exactly where every dollar goes. No hidden markups, no surprises—just honest, transparent pricing.
LOCAL EXPERTISE
Deep knowledge of St. Petersburg permits, historic district requirements, and coastal building codes. We navigate local regulations so you don't have to.
TILE & WATERPROOFING
Specialized expertise in wet areas that most contractors lack. Proper waterproofing and tile installation prevent costly failures down the road.
Custom Home Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to build a custom home in St. Petersburg?
Plan for 18-24 months from concept to move-in. Design and architect work takes 3-6 months depending on decisiveness. Permitting takes another 3-6 months for a new build. Construction itself is 10-12 months depending on pilings, foundation complexity, and interior finish level. No matter how decisive and motivated you are, a custom home takes longer than you think.
How much does a custom home cost per square foot in St. Pete?
In flood areas requiring elevation, most of our custom homes run $400-$500 per square foot. Without pilings and elevation requirements, it drops to $300-$400 per square foot. Builder-grade or first-time buyer homes can be under $300 per square foot. A 3,000 sqft custom home typically runs $1.2M-$1.5M. A 2,000 sqft home is just shy of a million or crosses it with nicer finishes.
Do I need permits for a custom home?
Yes, a full set of permits for new construction. This includes surveying, foundation, framing, MEP rough-ins (electrical, plumbing, HVAC), insulation, and final inspections. Permitting for custom homes typically takes 3-6 months with multiple rounds of clarifications and comments from the building department.
How does your T&M approach work for custom home construction?
By the time we break ground, roughly 75% of line items are confirmed at fixed prices—foundation, framing, MEPs, roof, windows and doors. Those are easy to estimate once you have blueprints. The remaining 25% are finishes and selections that get locked in as you make decisions. You get weekly budget reports showing actuals versus the budget so you always know where you stand.
What's the difference between custom and builder-grade homes?
A builder-grade home might be $250-$350 per square foot with a few finish packages to choose from. Adding beyond those packages gets exorbitantly expensive. A true custom home is $400+ per square foot and gives you full control of every design decision—no compromises on finishes, fixtures, or layout. It's one-of-one versus picking from a catalog.
Can you build in flood zones?
Yes, most of our current custom builds are in flood zones, either storm-damaged homes being rebuilt elevated and flood-compliant, or waterfront lots requiring pilings and elevation. We've done millions in flood zone work and know FEMA requirements, BFE compliance, and V zone construction inside and out.
How involved will I be in the custom home process?
We like homeowners to be more involved because it creates better outcomes. We meet weekly to review budget and timeline, and you'll make hundreds of selections from tile to paint to fixtures. We don't want to stress you out, but extra eyes and extra brains working on the project generally just creates a better result.
What's the biggest challenge in building a custom home?
From a client standpoint, it's calibrating wants versus budget. People come with Pinterest boards and Architectural Digest clippings without realizing those finishes are five figures apiece. There are fixed costs to create the structure, and then we meter the finishes to accomplish the budget. Managing that balance early saves headaches later.
LOVED BY OUR CUSTOMERS
Nothing means more to us than making our clients happy, unless perhaps it is making them so happy they come back to us or refer us to their friends and family!
"We had multiple contractors tell us that our 100-year old bungalow in Old Southeast should be torn down instead of remodeled. Revolution worked with us on an extensive plan to rebuild structural components and remodel the entire house. Now we have the best house in the block!"
"The guys at Revolution have done projects for us in two houses now. They added a master bathroom for us in northeast St Pete and then remodeled every square inch of a 4500-sq. ft house in Pinellas Pt. Through every challenge over two years of construction they have been there pushing our projects forward. We wouldn't use anybody else!"
"Awesome company! I had Revolution Contractors do some work on my house and did an amazing job!!! The guys there are great to work with and very professional and knowledgeable on there work. I am very happy they way there work came out and will be getting more work done on my house from them."
"Find them to be very professional, provide sufficient info for bidding, easy to contact, and most importantly they pay good. All and all NuTrend really enjoys a very productive and lucrative relationship with Revolution Contractors would recommend them and do often"
"On a challenging structural project for an investment property Revolution saw me through all sorts of headaches with the building department and were able to carry off multiple layout changes with gorgeous results. They've done multiple projects for my family as well as my group of closest friends and are now working on my primary residence!"
"Revolution Contractors have helped my family on numerous projects, providing guidance and honesty throughout all projects. The crew is hardworking and reliable. The owners are quick to respond and very honest. Definitely would recommend!"
