You’ve spent long hours at work, and saved up enough to finally make a custom-built house that’s everything you always wanted. But where do you start? What should you know before you get into building a home? We break down some of the most important info to know before (and during) the house-building process.
Constructing a Custom-Built House: Know What You’re Getting Into
You will make countless decisions about things you didn’t realize would even be a decision to make. The clearer understanding you have about what you want to invest heavily in, and what components you want to use that are more affordable, the better.
Building a house is also likely more of a time commitment than you realize, especially since you’ll be constantly checking your home during the construction phase to make sure everything is being built properly.
Hire the Right People for the Right Job
If you have no previous experience building a home, hiring the right people is even more crucial. You will be working closely with the builder/designer and how your home gets built will ultimately be determined by your relationship with them and the other team of professionals for siding, roofing, painting, and so on. Effective communication is the key to the best results for everyone involved.
This is going to be the place you will be living in, so getting quality results through the people constructing your home is important. Interview potential contractors, and ask for referrals from friends and family who have had positive experiences with past professionals to build a team that can achieve your house-building goals.
Thomson Dwellings understands the stress of home-building, and we can work with you to help you succeed and be satisfied with your completed custom-built home. We believe that it’s essential to get to know our applicants to ensure we mesh personalities within the design, function, and scope of every project.
Invest in a Good Home Designer
Home designers know all the jargon that goes into building and can not only help you actualize your vision, but also make the technical language easy to understand so you know exactly what the results will be at the end. Designers also see things from a different perspective and can help you get a different perspective of the logistical side of your vision.
Once you’ve hired a designer, you can help them get a clearer sense of your vision by doing some research into designs you like. Some good ways of doing this would be to check out Pinterest, video clips on HGTV, some of the guides and inspirations on Houzz, and even magazines to see what other people have done you’d like to replicate or do in your way. Once you’ve put together a list of designs you enjoy the most, share them with your designer so they can better understand your goals for your custom home.
Plan Around the Furniture You’ll Have in Each Room
Building your dream home also means having enough space for all the items you want to keep. Tables, electronics, chairs, and so on will all need to fit in your home. If you’re planning on expanding the amount of furniture you have, or are future–proofing for more space, your construction plans need to take this into account.
This includes living around your items too. You wouldn’t want to end up with a living room where you have to climb over the couch since there’s no other way to get into the living room, or not being able to get by someone in the kitchen if there will be two of you working in there.
Don’t Keep It All In, Communicate!
As nice as it might be for people to immediately understand your vision for your home without you having to say a word, it’s not the case. The more specific you can be with explaining something (even drawing a picture potentially) the less room people have for interpretation.
Don’t assume anything, and be clear with what you’d like to have done in order to get the results you envision.
Be Kind, but Firm
Be patient and understanding with the people you hire, but don’t let them take over your vision. Trust them to make the decisions that involve the more technical side of constructing your custom-built house, but communicate to them when you feel something is off and you’d like to see improvements to your home in specific areas.
Despite the challenges and time consumption of building a home, it’s exciting! You get to see something you designed get built from the ground up in the way you always wanted. Follow our tips above and you’re sure to end up with a home you always wanted.