Hey friends! Today Kacey Bradley is sharing some great tips on building a home from the ground up. Check out all of her past posts on Design Fixation here. Take it away, Kacey!
You could move into a home that’s already built or, at the very least, pre-designed; however, that property wouldn’t have your personal stamp on it. Instead, you may want to consider building a house from the ground up, choosing everything from the plot of land to the foundation style to the roof that’ll eventually hang over your head.
The only problem is that you’ve never actually done this before. As you can imagine, this process requires quite a bit of know-how, even if you’re enlisting the help of a contractor and construction team.
So, to make your dream come true a bit more smoothly, read on to find five must-know facets of home-building. Keep them in mind as you take a hands-on approach to the conception and construction of your next property.
1. Prep Your Plot
In a perfect world, you will start your construction journey with a perfectly level, debris-free plot of land. In reality, though, a lot of preparation will have to be done before you can even start laying the foundation of your new abode.
First, your construction team will have to bulldoze and remove any rocks and debris, as well as any trees that will get in the way of the building process. They’ll then level the spot where your home will sit, just before they build the template for the foundation that’ll hold it all together.
2. Choose a Foundation
A foundation makes your home stable and secure for years to come, so it’s imperative that you choose the right one. Aside from the type of concrete, though, the design of the foundation itself can have a significant impact on the size and function of your future home.
For example, if you want your home to have a full basement or a crawl space, it will have to be part of your home’s foundation. The construction crew can dig out the dimensions of the room(s) you want underground, opening even more space if you want a door to the outside, etc. Or, you can go with something much simpler: a slab of concrete on the leveled ground is much cheaper and directly transfers the weight of your home to the soil beneath it.
No matter what type of foundation you choose, you’ll want to ensure three things. Your foundation should be able to hold your house up, keep moisture out and block any potential water or soil vapor from rising into your property. With those three boxes checked off, you have the perfect protective barrier to then start building your home in an orderly fashion.
3. Find the Right Teammate(s)
Unless you’re an architect or a contractor, you’ll probably enlist the help of a few experts on your journey. As such, you will want to find the right team to help you through the entire process, from designing blueprints to building your dream home.
Ask around to other homeowners and see if they have any recommendations of architects or contractors who have helped them to create a custom home. Meet with as many of them as you want before narrowing down the pool to one or two who you like best. Then, research to ensure that they’re fully licensed and insured and that they don’t have any glaringly negative reviews anywhere. Get every quote in writing so that you end up with everything you’re promised.
4. Know What You Want
With the right people in your corner, you can design the blueprint of what will become your home. This is the exciting part, but it can be stressful — especially if you’re unsure of what you want from your custom home.
It’s imperative that you know the types of spaces you want, as well as the look and feel of the style you envision. For one thing, changes are expensive to make after you start building, so you’ll want to be sure of everything from the floor plan to the materials.
Don’t forget that the rest of your housemates should have a say in these decisions, too. One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a novice home designer is to consider your own needs only. Instead, bring your family along to help you decide which spaces are vital and which materials look best. In the end, everyone will be happy if the place is customized to them, not to what’s popular in today’s housing market.
5. Expect the Unexpected
Even with all of your preparations, design choices and an expert team around you, things can still go off course. You might have to slow down your building timeline if specific resources are out of stock or if weather prohibits construction from continuing. Take all of these unexpected setbacks in stride — your house will be finished, just a little later than you had initially hoped.
In the end, it’s up to you to spur things onward and upward if you’re building a home from the ground up. To do so, keep a clear head throughout and approach your construction team with respect and kindness. They’ll want to work hard for you if you champion them regardless of the roadblocks you all encounter. With that sort of attitude, there’s nothing you can’t do — and no custom home that you can’t complete.
Kacey Bradley is the lifestyle and travel blogger for The Drifter Collective, an eclectic lifestyle blog that expresses various forms of style through the influence of culture and the world around us. Kacey graduated with a degree in Communications while working for a lifestyle magazine. She has been able to fully embrace herself with the knowledge of nature, the power of exploring other locations and cultures, all while portraying her love for the world around her through her visually pleasing, culturally embracing and inspiring posts. Along with writing for her blog, she frequently writes for sites like US Travel News, Thought Catalog, Style Me Pretty, Tripping.com and more!
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