The single most important purchase you will make in your lifetime is your home. Since, it is a large financial responsibility, it makes sense to buy or build a home that you are going to like, and after all you will be living there for some time. Of course budget will be a deciding factor that may limit you to what you want and what you can afford. In building a new home, your budget or construction allowance can be stretched potentially now making what you want attainable, instead of settling for what you are able to afford.
Hire a contractor. Why? Be your own. If it’s about saving a lot of greenbacks, managing the construction of your new home is defiantly an avenue you should consider exploring. Although, many contractors have construction experience, in essence all they do is primarily manage the building project. Most of the time they aren’t the person swinging the hammer.
Be your own contractor by managing your own building project. To succeed you must deal with sub contractors, costing out your job, checking the quality and progress of work, obtaining necessary building permits, setting up a construction time lime and sticking to it. By overseeing the work yourself, you can avoid costly mistakes and miscommunication. If you can do these, chances are you will be completely satisfied with final construction results.
Do your homework. Understanding basic construction techniques, is a simple as reading a book, you also should be able to pick up a copy of code requirements at your local building codes department for reference.
Make sure to obtain several estimates for each phase of construction, make sure to supply each bidder a copy of your house plans for their review. Each estimate should be based on the same criteria, a materials list, and complexity of work relative to your house plans. Bids must be as detailed as possible. Watch for hidden fees, such as “supervising fees” – you are the supervisor!
Get a written contract, with a timeline for work to be completed. All to often a sub contractor will have several jobs going on at once and one generally suffers due to neglects in timetables.
Although, contracts are binding, only you can addend it, provided your sub contractor agrees, this usually occurs with changes in construction or time schedules. Always make sure that your sub contractors carries workers comp on all employees at your job site and obtain a copy of certification
Understanding the sequence of construction and keeping the individual subcontractors scheduled in order is very important to the success of your project. Furthermore, you must know what inspections are required during the different construction phases and be prepared to let the appropriate building officials know when you are ready for each one. For example, there may be Footing, Framing, Plumbing rough-in, Electrical rough-in, Plumbing final, and Electrical final inspections - all leading up to the final building inspection and the occupancy permit.
Tips To Make Your Job Easier:
Always contact subcontractors to thank them for their bid even if you are not giving them the project. It’s important not to burn bridges because a lot of time and effort goes into an estimate and if you have to replace a contractor due to problems, you may want to freely call on your next choice.
Make sure that when a work crew arrives to do a job, you have the necessary materials on the site and in proper quantities.
It is always better to directly communicate with the subcontractor and not with his work crew. This will prevent misunderstandings.
Before construction begins, notify your electrical contractor to install temporary electrical power and your plumbing contractor to install a temporary water hookup.
Prepare for soil erosion by installing silt fences or hay bales.
Keep a daily log of construction progress. Include notes from your meetings with contractors and an inventory of materials delivered to the site. This will help with organization and planning.
“ Do not be afraid to ask questions and clarify your wishes" Another consideration in being your own contractor is the issue of "your time" commitment. In fact, unless you are extremely organized, it can be a full time job. At the beginning, there is research, scrambling to town construction officials, meetings with your banker, insurance broker, excavator, site visits and there are endless days of phone tag. Your family time is upset because you are on the phone all evening. After all, most contractors are working on a site all day and can only be reached after their dinner and before 11:00 p.m. At all stages, this project will certainly monopolize your time.