8 Things you need to know before building a custom home

Building our dream home becomes a priority at a certain stage in our lives. So, giving our loved ones the space to cherish and live a comfortable life requires detailed planning. Planning resolves all kinds of hurdles and lets the building come up without any issues.

Before starting to build a custom home, it is important to take note of the following eight important points.

Suits Lifestyle

Most of us have learnt to live where we are, but living in a custom-designed home is different. Your custom home is a true expression of your lifestyle, and it tells who you are. The custom home designed around your specific requirements must make use of the latest development in the construction industry.

Think about how you live your life today. Do you exercise regularly? Do you go for walks in the morning and evening? How do you spend your weekends? How often do you have a get-together at home?

In this pandemic era, when most of our time is spent at home, the custom-designed home must be a space that makes us feel motivated and positive.

Consider Your Financial Situation

Fortunately, you have secured a loan for your building construction. But you may need funds to meet other contingency expenses that happen daily. Walking every day to the nearby hardware store to get sandpaper or screws needs cash.

Next, plans may change during construction. Though your building contractor and the architect carry on with the construction as planned, be ready for unexpected expenses. It is good if you set aside some money to meet such situations.

Usually, banks perform monthly inspections to check construction at the site to release the funds on time. It is good to keep track of the expenses to know if you have spent more or less.

Planned Time/Schedule

Keeping up to the planned time/schedule of the construction will save both money and time. Completing construction as per the scheduled timeline depends on the location, size of your building, availability of construction supplies or workers.

Unexpected rains and weather play a major role in delaying construction. If the schedule extends into a rainy period, it delays the completion of the project.

The building timeline/schedule is affected sometimes because of issues, like the location, the topography of the land, and the floor plan of the custom home.

Hiring Your Architect and Builder

To get things to move on smoothly and the construction completed on time, it is better to hire both an architect and a builder. Your architect will help you draw the initial plan of your home before the building contractor constructs it.

An architect will help you visualise if your plan for your custom home is feasible and possible. It is good if your architect collaborates with your builder from the beginning of the design process. The initial interaction will help you save money and unnecessary changes in the plan during construction.

Architects design and visualise the exterior vision of the custom home. Builders make the visual design a reality. Then, your custom home is built and completed on time for occupation.

Designing Your Home for Future

What are your plans for the future? Your custom home must fulfill your future needs. You must always have some space for expansion to accommodate your elderly parents or children. Your custom home must have a place to accommodate guests or friends who visit during weekends.

Additional space to relax or work in peace is a must. Having space to incorporate advanced technical facilities and transform your custom home to suit the trend is a must.

Ample Space for Storage

Limited storage is a problem at every home. Your custom home must have ample space for storage. While designing your custom home, remember to tell your architect to turn even nooks and corners into closets for storage.

Add closets or built-in storage to store your linens, winter clothes, and cleaning supplies. Flexible storage to accommodate everything at home will give a neat look.

Investing in Fixtures

For choosing intricately designed fixtures and fittings like tiles, benchtops, light switches, and taps that add elegance to your custom home, you may need to spend more money. But you can rely on your architect or builder to get tips for scaling down costs in fixtures and fittings.

With the help of an architect, you will find the balance between what you can spend and how you want your custom home to be. While construction, you may not know what needs fewer funds and where to allocate more funds. Discussing with your architect, you may spend cautiously.

Ready for HiccupsWhile working together to bring your dream home a reality, something unexpected may delay completion. Be ready to face any issues and solve them with the help of your builder and the architect.

Even professional suggestions may fail when they don’t suit your lifestyle, specific needs, and requirements. Believe in your gut feeling to resolve those issues and move on to complete your dream home.

Conclusion With all plans and ideas to go ahead with your construction work, remember to go green. It will help your utility bills.

Remember to have more greens around your home. The abundance of nature will bring in fresh air and sunlight to bless your home with harmony and peace. Starting your day with fresh flowers and songs of birds will turn your home, a heaven.

Thiru Kumaran is a marketing and communications specialist who has worked across B2B and B2C markets, driving success from concept to sales through integrated campaigns.