Good Brother

Welcome to the world of building your own home. If you haven’t done this before it can be the most exciting and frustrating process to ever challenge a person.

Once you commissioned a builder and they tell you everything you want to hear, the architect has recommended them and the QS is giving you everything you want and all within budget you literally couldn’t be happier… well maybe not!

As we see regularly on building shows such as Room To Improve is that it’s really rare that things go directly to plan, it takes longer and costs more!

Have a rock-solid plan

From finding a suitable lot to build on, to getting all the required paperwork and permissions in order, to finding a building contractor, to selecting a design and finishing scheme, pretty much every aspect of the construction process must be planned for well in advance.

Create a comprehensive action plan with budgets and timelines for every desired outcome and leave nothing to chance. Don’t just plan for the expected – plan for the unexpected as well.

What happens if your builder accidentally cuts through a water mains during construction? What if certain permissions do not come through on time? What if certain materials are not available? Planning for every eventuality is perhaps the most important step toward eliminating delays and keeping things on plan.

Be intentional and decisive

When you make a decision after giving it due thought and consideration, make sure to stick with it and follow through on executing it. The easiest way to create delays and bottlenecks in your house building project is to change your mind about something midway through. So you chose ceramic floors, but midway through you start to wonder whether hardwood floors would work better even though it wasn’t part of your plan. Don’t. Do. It. Really.

Apart from the fact that you can expect to tack on a few more weeks onto your construction schedule, even a tiny change can have all sorts of unintended consequences that can dramatically escalate costs or even threaten the entire project altogether. Once you decide on something with your builder, follow through on it single religiously.

Make sure you have all the money you need

This is a surprisingly common mistake that home builders often make during the planning stage. Even if the bank has committed to crediting your mortgage account on a particular date, or you are expecting a payment before a specific date, do not plan as if you already have that money.

Wait for all payments you are expecting to come in first and then you can start to execute your budget.

The last thing you want is to be left red-faced with a returned cheque or failed debit, struggling to explain to a supplier or tradesperson that you’re really not trying to stiff them, but there must be a mistake from the bank…

Ensure that everything you will order is available

This is particularly important for materials that are key to your build, or cannot be replaced easily. Weeks before commencement, you should do a spot of research to confirm that all the materials and items you will order in the course of the build are available in the quantities that you need.

Never assume that a supplier must have something in stock because on the off-chance that they don’t, you could be facing expensive delays to your project while you run around sourcing it from elsewhere.

Communicate constantly!

After selecting a winning bid, your communication with the contractor has only just begun. It’s not a good idea to assume that “they know what they’re doing so I’ll just stay out of their way”.

In many cases, you need to be in constant contact to properly communicate what you want and how you want it. The contractor’s job is to render their services and get paid – not to read your mind. If you don’t get your builder to observe your vision, they still end up with a cheque regardless, while you end up with an unsatisfactory house.

Because it takes a lot of time!!

Paint colours, carpet, counter-tops…for many people, choosing the finishes and selections for their new home is the most fun part of the building process! This is the opportunity to make the home truly yours. The best part of choosing finishes for your home is that you can be as creative or conservative as you wish—it all depends on your personal style, and how you want to live in your home.

Whether you’re building a new home or renovating your current one, finishes are like the icing on the cake. If you’re feeling intimidated by the thought of choosing the perfect home selections and finishes, never fear! These five tips will inspire your creative juices.

Your choice should reflect your personality

If you’re going to live in that house with your family and have your friends over from time to time, you probably want to put a few customising touches on it. It should reflect you, which in turn helps you feel more at ease.

If you’re a quiet indoors person, soft colours and comfort-first furniture should be right up your street, but if you’re the more extroverted type and you’re likely to have a house party every now and again, you probably want a bold colour scheme with artsy, visual furnishings.

Use the Internet to get a second opinion

A number of design and photo-sharing websites give you a gateway to a world of options and design concepts. Your builder might possibly be less than thrilled to you second-guess their opinions based on something you saw on the internet, but remember that once their job is done, they don’t have to live in the house – you do.

Always make sure you have seen a good number of options before making a choice, so that you don’t see a kickass concept on Pinterest two weeks after moving in and then start having regrets. While you’re doing this however, keep in mind that you should probably…

Limit your options to keep your sanity

Now it’s all well and good poring through hundreds of options on Pinterest, trying to decide on a single design that fully encapsulates your desires but keep in mind that the number of available options is literally unlimited. If your decision is dependent on going through all the options you can find on the Internet, you will probably never get round to building your house.

To avoid the paralysis of excessive choice, consciously limit your options to a manageable number and then start eliminating them one by one. When you are down to two or three options, you can also involve your builder to help you make a selection.

Always keep your budget in mind

It is very easy to get carried away by the euphoria of creating your own living space and overseeing how it is put together. So easy in fact that you might end up several €000 out of pocket if you’re not careful! When making your merry way across photo sharing internet sites and examining options with your builder, always have your budget in mind as your primary selection parameter.

Never make the mistake of telling yourself, “I’m sure I can squeeze out a few extra €00 for this…” because it will not stop with just that one item.

Reduce your time window and just do it!

As a rule, the more time you have to get something done, the more likely you are to procrastinate or vacillate without actually achieving anything, which ends up in either a rushed decision at the last minute or changing your mind several times during the period.

To avoid creating unnecessary stress for yourself and your contractor, it is better to simply give yourself a reasonable time window to make all decisions and lock them in. Once you are done making your choices, force yourself to move on and attend to other things.

To avoid the paralysis of excessive choice, consciously limit your options to a manageable number and then start eliminating them one by one. When you are down to two or three options, you can also involve your builder to help you make a selection.

We all know the feeling of when we were younger when our parents embarrassed us or we were slightly embarrassed about bringing our friends to our home because of what they might see. Research has shown that these days, kids are a lot more aware of their social status, with the huge rise of social media, images, brands, fashion etc.

A recent study in the UK shows that children aged between 11-16 years old were very aware of their surroundings at home with regards to feeling proud or in some cases ashamed of where they live.  It shows that kids that are happier to invite their friends around have better and stronger bonds with their family and therefore spend more time at home both alone and with their friends…