As a family-owned local business, we can offer clients the personal attention that is missing with large corporate builders. Our owner, Michael Rooke, is your project manager. Michael will personally oversee every aspect of your new home construction and ensures it stays within your budget.
Small or large, your project will have the benefit of Charleston’s most experienced and trusted new home construction professionals. We take pride in being part of the Charleston community. We enjoy supporting the community through charity and volunteer work. Our family has lived here for a long time, and we are committed to building homes that hold their value long-term.
We’ve Got You Covered
By the way, the last thing you want for your project is to find out that the contractor working on your property doesn’t have the proper insurance or licenses. It’s essential that your general contractor has ample worker’s compensation, property damage, and personal liability coverage. If something goes wrong, or someone is injured on a worksite, you could be held liable for damages. Rooke Custom Homes is fully insured and bonded, so we’ve got you covered.
FAQs
Together we develop a budget and a reasonable time frame and put it in a contract that we all sign before we break ground or start any project. This is the Lowcountry, so there is an Act of God provision in the contract. Construction during a hurricane is not only dangerous, but not likely to produce a good finished project. Check with our references you’ll see that any delays are only due to nature or outside forces; otherwise we do what we say, when we say.
Terms are broken down in the contract and are based on progress with a completion date. Typically we take a deposit of 10% for materials, and the rest of the payments are determined beforehand. Once the work is completed to a pre-determined point, a pre-determined payment is made, with final payment due upon completion.
We are very blessed to say that over 50% of our customers come to us or are referred to us from customers we’ve built for in the past. When you check our references, you’ll learn why our homeowners are so loyal and enthusiastic about our work.
Permits are always required. We will obtain the permit, handle all inspections, make sure everything is built to code, and that the project and process satisfies all requirements to the letter of the law.
Important building materials are specified in our contract. All materials are covered, however, as substitutions are sometimes unavoidable (lots of bricks run out, for example, colors of materials are sometimes no longer made). We make it clear that an equal substitution will be made but only upon your approval. For items such as lighting fixtures or doorknobs that you have not chosen when the contract is signed, a budget is determined in the contract to cover exactly what will be spent on them.
A change order is a written statement signed by the customer authorizing the contractor to do additional work not included in the original contract. The change order should be signed before the additional work is started, but often it is not in order to keep the project moving. The amount specified is due when the project is completed. A change order also may be written when a contractor comes across any unforeseen damage or problem.
For some reason we thought it would be a good idea to buy the property and plans prior to even having signed a contract with a builder. The first builder we contacted ended up bailing on us after having his engineer look over the Allison Ramsey plans we had already purchased. After contacting several others over the next 2-3 months and being quoted as much as twice what we could afford, we were ready to throw in the towel before someone recommended Rooke Custom Homes. From start to finish, it was obvious that Michael not only genuinely wanted to help us out but he and his team was determined to build the nicest home possible within our budget. Michael was also really patient and reasonable with us along the way on multiple change orders, credits for fixtures & appliances we purchased out of pocket, punch list items (before and after move-in), etc. We've been in the house for a few months now and couldn't be happier. It turned out even better than we had anticipated.
Building a home is of course quite the process. Issues come up and things happen, but all we can expect is for someone to be responsive and accountable. Michael and his team made us feel comfortable from day one. Not only were we able to build our dream home at an affordable price, but they SERIOUSLY exceeded our expectations. We will be the first to admit we aren’t always the easiest people to deal with and are VERY particular. That being said, Michael too is very detail oriented and stands behind his work. He genuinely wants us to be happy and we so appreciate that. From framing to finishes they never took shortcuts, our inspector is known as a stickler, and he complimented their work many times. Thanks so much Rooke Custom Homes, we appreciate everything you’ve done for us.
We encountered a fire at our rental house. It was a complete loss. Per our request, Michael came to us with a few house plans. We chose one and we were off. He was extremely accommodating when we decided to add a window and change flooring during the building process. It was amazing at how quickly everything come together. He was very courteous and professional, and we had a great working relationship. The completed house was absolutely beautiful. He used nice upgrade features that you would not likely receive from a pre-planned community builder. He was awesome because he really cared about the final outcome. We would definitely hire him again!
After doing some research about custom home builders in the Charleston area, I stumbled upon Michael and decided to work with him after I had a look at one of his previous projects. Now, a year later, I would not hesitate a second to make the same decision again. He takes full ownership of a project, builds great quality homes, accommodates all special requests and most importantly: No matter what might come up (and there’s always unforeseen things coming up when building a house) he stays calm and works patiently to resolve the situation. Highly recommended!
My husband and I recently purchased a home from Rooke Homes and couldn’t be happier with it and our experience. We are second-time home buyers and were attracted to the work of Rooke Homes found in one of the homes we were shown by our realtor. We found that the overall quality and attention to detail were superior to that of the big ‘cookie-cutter’ builder. Michael Rooke was a pleasure to work with and he took great care in making us happy. What would be considered extra by some builders was standard with Rooke Homes. My parents, owners of a number of homes over the years from Miami, to West Palm Beach, Atlanta, Asheville, and Savannah, custom built to previously owned, were impressed by the craftsmanship and ‘standard’ inclusions. We highly recommend Rooke Builders to prospective home buyers/builders – you will not be disappointed!