Building your house gives you an extraordinary opportunity to develop a concept or a dream and turn it into a perfectly designed home equipped to your liking. However, to turn the idea into a home, you’ll have to put your design on pen and paper. Then transfer the design to the ground by laying the foundation and constructing your home. There’s the design element and the construction element that must come together to raise a building. So, how are design and construction linked when building your house, and how can you combine the two? Read on to see how you can seamlessly merge construction and design when building your home.
Construction and Design Are One
Generally, we tend to separate the two elements. But, you don’t have to separate them when custom-building your home. Designing a house is part of the construction process. It serves as a map to guide home builders during the construction process. It’s more of a plan that precedes the action. Let design precede construction instead of letting them work separately. It’s better if the two elements work harmoniously to turn your concept into a home. You should enjoy the process instead of turning into a middleman that’s always trying to settle disagreements between the ‘design hat’ and the ‘construction hat.’
How do you merge the two hats?
Merge it Through Design-Build Approach
The design and build approach lets one contractor take over the entire project, including the pre-construction and post-construction designing. The contractor, designers, and you as the owner work together throughout the project, making it possible to merge construction and design into one. You’ll work with a single contract, team, and point of delivery. You won’t liaise between two companies nor draft two contracts (design and construction contracts).
To sum it up, the designer and the contractor will work together right from the beginning to the end of the house building project. If the designer and the contractor work as a unified team, there is a high chance they’ll design, build, and equip your home to your liking. In addition to this, there’ll be no excuses or shifting of blame between the two parties.
Custom Build Your Home
Alternatively, work with a custom home builder. Custom home builders often have a team of people who can handle all the building processes. If you work with a general contractor, they’ll hire different subcontractors to work on the project. Therefore, there is a high probability that the design process may conflict with the construction process. The custom home builder will be there as you conceptualize your home. They will help you draw up the initial design sketches and blueprints. They’ll be there as you excavate, lay the foundation, and erect the building. It won’t stop there. The custom home builder will also handle the post-construction design and the equipping of the house. The general contractor, on the other hand, will only execute the construction part and leave the rest to other contractors.
Self-Build
In this case, you’ll have total control over planning, designing, and construction. You’ll get the opportunity to design and build a house that meets your living requirements, lifestyle, and taste. You’ll be the project manager hence harmoniously merging all the processes. You’ll have to let an experienced architect guide you as you draft the design of your home. This will come in handy as you seek them planning permission from your local municipal office.
Or you can design it yourself. Take advantage of resources available online. The resources provide a detailed guide and information regarding home design, design markets, and trends. You can also use design apps to draft a design. Once you settle on a design, build it yourself or work alongside a home builder to ensure the builder injects every design detail into the project.
Final Thoughts
Building a home from scratch is an intensive process. That’s why it’s crucial to merge all the building processes. You can achieve this if you take total control of the project or turn to a single point of delivery. Contracting and subcontracting the building project to different professionals will lead to disputes, miscommunication, delays, and an overstretched budget. The above approaches will make it easier to combine design and construction processes when building your home.
