Avoid These 3 Very Costly Common Mistakes When Building Your Home

Building your dream house can be an exciting prospect. Not only do you have a say in every detail or feature you want, but you can finally see your long-awaited vision in completion. While the home-building process can be enthralling, you’ll likely come across many challenges and potential hiccups. Some people make design choices they later regret, while others make common mistakes that cost them thousands of dollars to fix.

Here are some things to avoid when building a new home:

1. Starting Without Professional Home Builders

So, you’ve mapped out the entire home design. While it’s smart to prepare for a build, many homeowners get overzealous and craft a blueprint that doesn’t match their budget or meet safety standards. The last thing you want is to spend too much time and energy on a design before choosing a general contractor. 

Always start by choosing a home builder, and then you can move on to designing the house. Remember, the home design determines your budget. You can save money by choosing an existing design and making a few custom changes to it. 

The home builder you choose will be the one managing the building process from start to finish. They’ll be responsible for handling the costs associated with the build and recommend the best ways to save money when building a new home. Setting a realistic budget can help you determine what you can afford and see where you can upgrade rooms, features, and more. 

What Increases the Cost of Building a Home?    

Some aspects of a design can increase the overall cost of building a custom home. You should consider these factors before making any final decisions on the layout of your future home:

• Size: Think of it this way, the bigger the house, the more time and money it will need to complete. Bigger doesn’t always mean better. If you want high ceilings, a larger kitchen, an en suite for the bedroom, and a four-door garage, that’s a lot of lumber, labour, and money. Try keeping size in mind when budgeting and creating a floor plan for your new house. 
• Features: Along with the size of the home, the features you choose can impact the build process and total cost. That includes adding special windows, wood floors, tiled bathrooms, or a brick exterior. These are all factors that must be weighed before making concrete decisions. 
• Complexity: Most homeowners often overlook this aspect, but the complexity of the house can also affect your budget. But what does that look like? For example, let’s say you want a home built on a lot with a balcony overlooking the view. Sounds great, right? But you also want one-half of the home built to be four different levels. That will take some serious handiwork, lots of time, labour, and money. 

Creating an affordable design and hiring the right team of builders will help your dream home get built well and within budget. 

2. Choosing the Wrong Builder

A common mistake when building a new home is hiring the wrong builder for the project. Finding a home builder is a difficult process that many people skip over because they’re so eager to get the ball rolling. 

It’s integral that you take the time to research home builders before choosing one that might cause numerous delays, mistakes while building, and problems with following a schedule. 

You can start by asking friends or family for recommendations, checking out online reviews, and reviewing their references. You’ll want a home builder with a lengthy resume and experience building all types of homes. Look at their portfolio and see if it matches your style and taste. 

In addition, you can create a list of questions to ask a potential home builder, such as how much customizing experience they have or if there are any building restrictions you should know about. A professional and experienced builder or contractor should be able to provide answers. 

It’s pivotal to feel confident with your home builder as you will both work closely during the entire project. They should be able to answer questions and explain certain processes while committing to the job. 

3. Taking a “Hands-Off” Approach

Every new home-building project will come with its own set of challenges. It’s important to approach those challenges in a calm and cool manner, but some people take it one step further by taking a “hands-off” approach to the building process. While some home builders may appreciate that, you should still be as involved as possible. 

If you take too much of a relaxed approach, your builders are left to question whether you want specific changes made to the home build and whether your budget will cover certain factors, such as materials and equipment. Remember, just as it’s crucial to feel confident with your hired building team, the team will want to feel confident about you too.

How To Stay Involved

There’s a fine balance between being too involved and not being involved enough during the construction process. 

A few ways to show your builders that you’re an active participant in the build include the following:

• Visit the Construction Site: Don’t be afraid to make trips to the building site. You can make a few scheduled visits to see the progress of your new home. This way, you can point out any changes or mistakes you notice and ask questions regarding the process. Making visits keeps everyone on the same page and ensures your future home is built according to plan. 
• Communicate Regularly: A Lack of communication won’t be good for anyone, especially your team of builders. Try to communicate regularly through emails, phone calls, or texts. Let the team know you’d like updates, and reach out when you want a question answered.
• Review the Documents: Take the time to read over the details of your contract and insurance policies. You may require the help of a lawyer to point out anything that looks off. The contracts should highlight project finish dates, estimated costs, and contingencies in case the construction process gets delayed. 

Are you planning to have the perfect home built and need high-quality building materials in Winnipeg? The knowledgeable team at STAR Building Materials has you covered. Feel free to contact us today to request a quote and for detailed information regarding our many services. We look forward to working with you.