Renovating
The 7 Key Steps to Building a New Home
Get the house of your dreams with this guide from a seasoned architect
Whether you’re building from scratch, knocking down and rebuilding, or renovating an existing structure, creating a new home is a journey of discovering who you are, what you want, how you want to live and where you want to be. It’s a chance for you to define your relationship to the world and to your family. Creating a home is more than building bedrooms and bathrooms. It is so much more than the sum of a few parts.
As with any journey, you’ll want to do some research and plan your trip. You’ll want to have a sense of what the end result should be and how much it’ll cost. And while you may wish to go it alone, having a seasoned and experienced guide to show you the way will likely mean a more enjoyable, enriching and satisfying journey.
Let’s look at the steps, in chronological order, involved in creating a home.
As with any journey, you’ll want to do some research and plan your trip. You’ll want to have a sense of what the end result should be and how much it’ll cost. And while you may wish to go it alone, having a seasoned and experienced guide to show you the way will likely mean a more enjoyable, enriching and satisfying journey.
Let’s look at the steps, in chronological order, involved in creating a home.
Keep in mind what innovative architect Charles Moore once said: “If you care enough, you just do it. You bind the goods and trappings of your life together with your dreams to make a place that is uniquely your own. The crucial ingredient is concern; care for the way that a house is built and the shape it gives to your life.”
1. Set goals
Creating a new home for yourself is all about setting goals and taking the steps needed to achieve them. You’ll want to establish the answers to a whole host of questions first.
Goal setting requires satisfying both left- and right-brain concerns, so your list of goals will include two sides – a practical, meat-and-potatoes side and an emotional, ice-cream-and-apple pie side. Each is important and each needs to be recognised so that the end result will reflect a unified vision.
Here are some questions to ask yourself and your family.
By the way, a goals statement is what architects may refer to as a ‘program’.
Read more about architect lingo
Creating a new home for yourself is all about setting goals and taking the steps needed to achieve them. You’ll want to establish the answers to a whole host of questions first.
Goal setting requires satisfying both left- and right-brain concerns, so your list of goals will include two sides – a practical, meat-and-potatoes side and an emotional, ice-cream-and-apple pie side. Each is important and each needs to be recognised so that the end result will reflect a unified vision.
Here are some questions to ask yourself and your family.
- What do we want to achieve?
- Where do we want to be?
- What will this cost?
- Can it really be achieved?
- Does plan A make sense?
- What’s plan B?
By the way, a goals statement is what architects may refer to as a ‘program’.
Read more about architect lingo
2. Establish a budget
While determining a budget should be part of any goal statement, it’s such an important piece that it’s included here as a separate task. When making your budget, of course you’ll begin with what you can afford and how the cost of your house fits in with your plans for the future. When you’re ready to get down to details, include everything that will go into the project: the cost of the land, fees and taxes, design and engineering fees, construction of not just the home but also the landscape, plus furniture and decor.
Don’t forget a healthy contingency. As with any complex project, things will happen, and the road from point A to point B will have a detour or two. Make sure these little side trips won’t send you over the edge.
A spreadsheet program such as Excel is a good tool to use for developing a budget, as you can continuously update and modify it as you work your way through the project.
While determining a budget should be part of any goal statement, it’s such an important piece that it’s included here as a separate task. When making your budget, of course you’ll begin with what you can afford and how the cost of your house fits in with your plans for the future. When you’re ready to get down to details, include everything that will go into the project: the cost of the land, fees and taxes, design and engineering fees, construction of not just the home but also the landscape, plus furniture and decor.
Don’t forget a healthy contingency. As with any complex project, things will happen, and the road from point A to point B will have a detour or two. Make sure these little side trips won’t send you over the edge.
A spreadsheet program such as Excel is a good tool to use for developing a budget, as you can continuously update and modify it as you work your way through the project.
3. Find some land if you need to move
Where do you want to be? How do you want to live? What are you looking for? Maybe you want a house in the mountains or with an ocean view, but it’s not appropriate right now, for economic or other reasons. No matter, you’ll likely face other opportunities down the track. For now, it may be a suburb with good schools, beautiful parks or convenient grocery shopping. The point is, find a spot on the globe you can claim as your own and build a home there.
Maybe the land isn’t pristine. Maybe it’s an existing house that’s old and tired and has suffered some neglect. The house may whisper to you that it really does want to shed the avocado-coloured decor, the shag carpeting and the single-pane windows, and you know you’re the person to do that. So take heart if you decide to transform a sow’s ear into a silk purse. You’ll be amazed at what can take place.
Where do you want to be? How do you want to live? What are you looking for? Maybe you want a house in the mountains or with an ocean view, but it’s not appropriate right now, for economic or other reasons. No matter, you’ll likely face other opportunities down the track. For now, it may be a suburb with good schools, beautiful parks or convenient grocery shopping. The point is, find a spot on the globe you can claim as your own and build a home there.
Maybe the land isn’t pristine. Maybe it’s an existing house that’s old and tired and has suffered some neglect. The house may whisper to you that it really does want to shed the avocado-coloured decor, the shag carpeting and the single-pane windows, and you know you’re the person to do that. So take heart if you decide to transform a sow’s ear into a silk purse. You’ll be amazed at what can take place.
4. Assemble a team
While you may dream about going it alone if you have DIY skills and wish to be an owner-builder, assembling a team of tried and true professionals is usually ideal. After all, you wouldn’t represent yourself in court. So why wouldn’t you entrust your single largest investment to an experienced, qualified team?
An architect and a builder are going to be your most important team members. These people will act as guide, advocate and counsellor throughout the journey. You will likely want to add team members – a kitchen and bathroom designer, maybe an interior designer, too. Certainly a landscape designer, who shouldn’t be the last person hired when all the money is gone. You’ll want to create a beautiful yard that will complement the house.
While you may dream about going it alone if you have DIY skills and wish to be an owner-builder, assembling a team of tried and true professionals is usually ideal. After all, you wouldn’t represent yourself in court. So why wouldn’t you entrust your single largest investment to an experienced, qualified team?
An architect and a builder are going to be your most important team members. These people will act as guide, advocate and counsellor throughout the journey. You will likely want to add team members – a kitchen and bathroom designer, maybe an interior designer, too. Certainly a landscape designer, who shouldn’t be the last person hired when all the money is gone. You’ll want to create a beautiful yard that will complement the house.
5. Plan, plan and plan some more
Every large project I’ve ever worked on has had this in common. The owner, whether a private developer, government agency or corporate entity, knew the importance of planning the project in detail before starting to build.
These owners knew that moving walls on paper is a lot cheaper than moving walls after they’re built. So embark on a robust planning and design phase and consider the following.
Every large project I’ve ever worked on has had this in common. The owner, whether a private developer, government agency or corporate entity, knew the importance of planning the project in detail before starting to build.
These owners knew that moving walls on paper is a lot cheaper than moving walls after they’re built. So embark on a robust planning and design phase and consider the following.
- Play the “what if?” game. Sometimes the first answer is the right answer, sometimes it’s the 31st. Just remember not to settle until you’ve explored all the possibilities; you don’t want to say after the project has been built, “We should have done…”
- Go big or go home. And I don’t mean big as in size (that’s a whole separate discussion), but big as in big ideas. Building a home, be it from scratch or a renovation, is an exercise in making something that’s yours. So dream big and have grand plans. There will be time enough to deal with the realities of budget, zoning and codes. Don’t sweat the small stuff for now.
- Sweat the small stuff. Decisions, decisions, decisions. You’ll be asked to make more than you can imagine. Just remember that God is in the details, so make sure the details are there so that your home will be uniquely your own and reflect who you are.
6. Accept the inevitable
You’ve made the plans, gotten the permits and secured the money; now the only thing left to do is build your house. You’ve accounted for everything, so it should all come together smoothly, right?
Oddly enough, stuff happens. That’s a given. How you and your team react to these hiccups will be important. My advice is to stay calm, keep your sense of humour and work with your team to address the issues. This is where having the right team in place can pay dividends. An architect, builder and others who can work together and share ideas without criticising one another will go a long way to helping you keep your sanity.
Here are some tips for staying sane during construction.
You’ve made the plans, gotten the permits and secured the money; now the only thing left to do is build your house. You’ve accounted for everything, so it should all come together smoothly, right?
Oddly enough, stuff happens. That’s a given. How you and your team react to these hiccups will be important. My advice is to stay calm, keep your sense of humour and work with your team to address the issues. This is where having the right team in place can pay dividends. An architect, builder and others who can work together and share ideas without criticising one another will go a long way to helping you keep your sanity.
Here are some tips for staying sane during construction.
- Don’t change your mind. Early on, make all of the decisions you have to, select all of your finishes and don’t change your mind. Yes, you’ll be enticed by some new thing that comes along. Just remember that once construction starts, it’ll cost you time, money and perhaps a trip or two to a therapist if you change your mind.
- Turn a deaf ear to the goings-on. Every construction site is filled with workers complaining. After all, who doesn’t complain about his or her job? Who hasn’t wanted to vent about the boss? The best thing you can do is ignore it. Don’t worry; if it really is an issue, you’ll be told about it.
7. Enjoy your new home
You’ve worked hard and spent more than a few dollars to create your new home, so enjoy it. Revel in the way the light falls across a room and how it changes with the seasons. Find unexpected places to chat with family members. Discover how this place gives shape to your life and allows you to be the person you want to be.
In the end you’ll be amazed that your new house is so much more than the sum of the bedrooms, living room and so on. It’s the place you get to call home and make uniquely yours.
YOUR TURN
Tell us the best advice you received when building your home, in the comments section below.
You’ve worked hard and spent more than a few dollars to create your new home, so enjoy it. Revel in the way the light falls across a room and how it changes with the seasons. Find unexpected places to chat with family members. Discover how this place gives shape to your life and allows you to be the person you want to be.
In the end you’ll be amazed that your new house is so much more than the sum of the bedrooms, living room and so on. It’s the place you get to call home and make uniquely yours.
YOUR TURN
Tell us the best advice you received when building your home, in the comments section below.
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