Tips For Communicating What You Want With Your Building Contractor

Construction & Contractors Blog

If you are looking to have a home custom-built, you will need to work closely with the building contractor. A general contractor often helps oversee such building projects, doing everything from helping with the original design of the home to managing a team of workers to build the home and ordering materials and overseeing the work itself. In order to get the house you truly want, you need to learn how to communicate your preferences effectively. Here are some helpful tips for doing that.

Hire an Architect

While a building contractor can help with some of the design work for your new home, they are not an architect or a home designer. If you have some specific or unique qualities you want in a home, or have a general idea of how you want your home to look but not particulars, it helps to also have an architect helping you out. They will cost a little more, but can work closely with the building contractor to get you your dream home. Once you work with the architect, it becomes much easier to narrow down exactly what you want and communicate that with the building contractor.

Interview the Contractor Beforehand

Some issues with communicating with the building contractor happen early on, so before you even hire them, make sure they will be a good choice. This should be someone experienced, but also someone who doesn't try to take over and add their own personal touches. Make sure, with a custom home, you have the final say with everything, from the layout of the bedrooms and kitchen to the materials being used. While the contractor will let you know when something won't work from a building standpoint, they should still run everything by you first. When you first start looking for a contractor, look for red flags, such as a contractor that tries to tell you what you want in your home instead of asking you what your preferences are.

Check in on the Project Periodically

Since you are building a custom home most likely from the ground up, you won't be living on site during construction. However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't return before it is completed. Keep checking in on the work and ask the contractor how it is going. You don't want to be a burden, but this is your home, so it is okay to ask about certain things you don't understand with the materials or building process, and make sure you continue letting them know about aspects of the home you want to make sure are done right.

Show Clear Examples of What You Want

Sometimes, words aren't enough to explain things to a contractor. Bring photo or video examples of different details about your home you are hoping to have, from a paint color swatch for the exterior trim to a layout of a kitchen that you once saw in a home design magazine. 

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29 July 2016

Colin's Construction Blog

Hello, my name is Colin and this is my construction blog. When people think of the construction industry, they often just imagine guys in hard hats building brick walls. While this is a popular image of the industry, it doesn't reflect the true diversity of different contractors and tradesmen who are involved in a construction project. Lasy year, my wife and I decided to construct our dream home. I had to arrange visits of plumbers, roofers, electricians, surveyors and home builders in order to get the job done. I learnt a lot during that experience, so I decided to start this blog.