Building a house is a difficult task. No, building a good house that will last for many decades is a really difficult task. Especially if you pay attention to the number of little things that need to be considered at all stages of preparation and construction itself. It seems that this cannot be dealt with. However, we have prepared useful and practical advice for you that will help you design a project, make an estimate and, as a result, build a reliable and good house from scratch.
Preparation for construction
Oddly enough, preparing for the construction of a house can often take more time and spend more of your energy than the construction itself. The main problem with incorrect planning is that mistakes made during this stage can negatively manifest themselves much later. So how do you properly prepare for building a home from scratch? A smart strategy would be to use premium services like Montgomery County home builders to get top-notch quality and make sure that you’ll get the house you planned.
Choosing plot
The first thing to pay attention to is the choice of a plot for a home. Let’s go from the opposite, namely, from the mistakes that many face when choosing land for their home.
First, you need to pay attention to what kind of communications are connected to the place. It is most important. Not all agencies have accurate information about engineering communications, so you need to contact the management company. If possible, with the permission of the company, conduct your own geological research. It’s inexpensive and pretty fast. However, such studies will help you know exactly at what depth the groundwater is, what kind of soil is on the site, etc.
Make sure to ask the neighbors who have already built nearby to tell you about the land No one will tell as much about the area as the people living there. Also, a conversation with potential neighbors will eliminate various kinds of concealment of the truth on the part of the agency, whose main goal is to quickly sell you a plot.
What to pay attention to when choosing a site
As for the basic things, everything is simple here. When choosing a site, pay attention to the following things:
Are there slopes on the site? It would seem that even the smallest slope can significantly increase construction costs. Retaining walls using concrete wall forms, and additional methods to prevent tilt and collapse. In general, this is an important point. Don’t miss it. It is best to try to choose an area where there are no noticeable irregularities at all;
After purchasing a site, you should immediately erect reliable fences or, if an agency provides such a service, order it;
On the purchased land, even before the start of the construction of the house, several important areas should be allocated for construction waste, work on concrete, and the possible incineration of small waste. The success of any construction work lies in order. Moreover, as you know, the combustion products of the same concrete can be very harmful.
Stage two. Calculate the cost of building a house
So, the question of finance. Next, how to make an estimate so as not to spend even more than planned.
First of all, take into consideration closing costs for new homes. Closing costs are processing fees you will have to pay to your mortgage lender. Lenders charge these fees in exchange for creating your loan (mortgage), which is all documented in a disclosure form, produced shortly after closing on the property.
Almost all the owners of modern houses, who independently engaged in construction, confidently declare that the more they tried to save, the more they had to spend in the end. Often this happened because of the foremen, who “approximately” calculated the cost of all work, and as a result, the price tag grew several times. The main thing to keep in mind is that you should never try to cut costs through the engineering of your home and other important parts of the building. This really, in most cases, only leads to an increase in your costs.
This cost calculation should factor in location, as well. For example, new construction homes in Utah County will have a different price than new construction homes in another county or state. Costs vary from state to state and even region to region, so make sure you factor those in, as well, especially if you’re moving out of state.
Our advice is to hire an experienced quantity surveyor who will manage all aspects of the financial side of your project.
Stage three. The right project
This is an entertaining fact, but as statistics show, buying a ready-made standard project and building a house according to it is a much more correct decision than attempting to implement self-construction in any of its manifestations.
So the obvious thing to start with. It is worth buying a project from a company that has already established itself in the market and has a good reputation. Free projects on the Internet or advice from “familiar builders” will not bring you any good.
After purchasing a project, you should not immediately dive headlong into a construction site, hoping to do everything faster. Construction begins only after you have at your disposal all sections of the project.
Pay special attention to things that you might miss at first glance. For example, we are talking about the height of the living quarters of a house. Remember, comfortable living will be provided by ceilings from 2.8 meters high and no less.
Even at the stage of a project, you need to know:
A good house, even at the project level, should take everything into consideration. For example, if the house is being built in a dusty environment (near a quarry, farm, or main road, for example) a good dust suppression system will be necessary. Similarly, space should be left for luxuries like a bath, sauna, or walk-in wardrobe so that they can be added later if desired. A good project must take all of this into account.
You must take care of what kind of decoration will be inside. Design finishing projects should be considered in advance even at the stage of familiarisation with the main project of the house.
Don’t forget about landscape design. About twenty years ago, there were controversies about landscape design, but today it is reliably known that its design is extremely necessary and important.
Michaelangelo‘s professional landscape design allows you to ensure the correct insolation, which in turn makes it possible to create comfortable conditions in all living quarters of the house; landscape design is not only bushes and trees with stone gardens, it is also a competent laying of all engineering communications.
Conclusion
In this article, we gave you important tips that we hope will be useful to you. We know that this is a grand and difficult task, but if you follow our advice, it will become a little easier to build a private house that will serve your family for many decades. Good luck in building your dream home!
