During these uncertain times, we understand it might feel strange or risky to begin the process of building your new home. But if you’re in the financial position to do so, you can use this quiet time to really knuckle down and focus on the planning and design stages of building your home.
Building a stunning home takes a significant amount of time, and it's important to get those early steps right. With all this downtime and extra time at home you will have plenty of time to ponder the ideas and changes you are considering and get on top of all the documentation and planning that goes into a new home build or renovation.
Here’s how you can kick-start the construction of your dream home or renovation in 2020, now.
Choose your builder
Choosing the right builder early on is integral to the success of your build and will ensure the building process is as stress-free as possible. We see too often that architects and designers are consulted early on without the input of a builder or quantity surveyor, leaving no one controlling the budget at the early stages of design. This can result in a situation where building plans are brought to the builder and the proposed home or renovation is way over budget.
This can sometimes see clients engage with builders willing to cut corners resulting in a home, made with cheap materials and substandard subcontractors that will cause problems in the long run. Save yourself the stress and consult with both a reputable designer and builder at the earliest stages. At Westwood Family Homes, we offer a streamlined design and build service so you can undertake both processes under the one roof.
But how should you decide the right builder for the job? You can learn a lot about a builder from their social media, website, reviews and testimonials. You can also check out their previous projects and speak to their previous clients. If you are looking to prioritise a certain aspect of the build, or you need a builder with specialist experience, make sure you hire someone with expertise within that area. Remember – not all builders are the same!
Because of social distancing, it may be hard to meet with builders in person at the moment, but many are currently offering phone and video consultations (we use Zoom or Skype), allowing you to talk through the design and build process from the comfort of your home.
Designing your home and decide on fixtures
Once you’ve decided on a builder and an architect (or perhaps you’re working with one of our in-house designers?), you can begin to cultivate the design for your home. This is an exciting process as you’ll see all your ideas and thoughts come to life on paper. It’s a collaborative process too, meaning there is a productive back and forth between the client, designer and builder, in order to achieve the perfect home design. During this period, builders will also be able to give you a rough estimate on the project, which means you can scale up and down depending on your budget.
Once a detailed design is locked in, the client will finalise the selections such as cabinetry, appliances, internal finishes, colour schemes, electrical plans, tiles and flooring. Making all of these selections early on will ensure there are no costly surprises (or variations) down the track.
It will also mean your builder can provide you with an extremely detailed proposal of all the costs involved so you know exactly where your money is going. If you are anything like us, you want to be in control of this and won’t want to leave it to the builder to make your selections for you.
At Westwood Family Homes, we use a fully detailed selection sheet for everything from skirting to the bathroom taps. We also use an experienced estimator to ensure our quotes are accurate and 100% specific to your requirements.
Complete all documentation
There is a lot of documentation and paperwork that goes into building a home, which can be daunting! Don’t let it pile up, so it feels like a gargantuan task– work through them one by one.
At Westwood Family Homes, when everything has been decided upon and finalised, we’ll provide a fixed-priced contract for your peace of mind. You may also have to receive approval from council and your preferred building surveyor, which can take extra time to complete. At Westwood Family Homes we take care of all that complicated stuff for you.
Get on top of everything now so you can beat the bottleneck and start your build as soon as life returns to normal! If you’re interested in getting started on the design of your new home or renovation and bringing it to life in 2020, get in touch with Paul and the team at Westwood Family Homes today to organise a free consultation!