Building a new house is no mean feat at all. This is why it is important to consider all the necessary factors before you start a building project. You don’t want to have to spend a huge amount of money building the house only to discover a major problem or fault that could have been avoided.
While building errors may be corrected at an extra cost in some cases, some other errors may be difficult to correct. What to do? Avoid making such mistakes in the first place. After all, prevention, they say, is better than cure.
In this article, we explain important mistakes to avoid when building a house.
House Building Mistakes to Avoid
Starting a building project without considering all the important factors can be disastrous. From boring a gaping hole in your pocket to becoming a safety hazard to the occupants in the house to reducing the aesthetic value of the property; there’s a long list of what a building mistake can cause.
Here are some factors to consider and mistakes to avoid when building a house:
1. Planning and Design
You know what they say about how proper planning prevents poor performance, right? The same applies to building a house.
If there’s any stage you want to spend ample time on, it is the planning and design stage of the house. Don’t rush it. Pay adequate attention to every detail in the building plan and design and consider the role each element will play in the outcome.
Is it really necessary to have a closet in every room? Are you optimizing the available space? These and more are some of the questions you need to ask and communicate with your architect.
Check for modern house plans and designs you may love. More interestingly, good plans would have answered these important questions for you.
2. Power and Lighting Fixtures
Have you ever been in a building where the light and power fixtures were either hard to reach or completely difficult to use? Or there weren’t enough lights and the rooms were poorly-lit? Must have been an unpleasant experience, right?
Seeing that you are planning to build a house, you can prevent all these at the construction stage by considering the position, type and how many of these fixtures will be necessary to have in the house. By doing that, you will also avoid the need to rewire the entire building or replace certain fixtures later.
Factor in light and power fixtures for other spaces like your garage, pantry, basement, and your outdoor spaces. Will you need landscape lighting too? Factor it in as well.
3. Your Lifestyle and Priorities
While there are non-negotiable building considerations, it is also very useful to consider your lifestyle and priorities when you build a house.
For instance, if you plan to host parties frequently, then you probably need to consider the size of your living room. And if you think the parties will be better off outside, then the size of your outdoor space will matter a lot. You don’t want your guests getting on your neighbor’s property because your space isn’t enough.
If you are an avid swimmer, then building a swimming pool on your property will be a great idea. So, consider your available space and determine how well a pool can fit in. Do you want it indoors or outdoors? Above-ground or in-ground? Might a Jacuzzi be a better alternative to a pool especially if you have space constraints?
4. HVAC System
The HVAC system is an aspect of a house that may lead to unpleasant outcomes if it is not properly factored in at the construction stage. You need to know if the HVAC system will be efficient enough to cool down or heat the entire house.
Note that the efficiency of your HVAC depends on the size. However, while a system that is too small may be inefficient in cooling or heating the house, a system that is too big may lead to high energy bills.
Replacing an HVAC system is not a walk in the park. So, ensure that you speak with the homebuilder before installations begin.
5. Laundry Machine Installation
The location of a laundry machine in a house is mostly based on personal preference. However, if you are building the house for occupants other than yourself, then you may want to consider a neutral location for the laundry machine.
You may choose to install the machine close to the bedrooms to make it easy for the occupants to do their laundry. However, some people think a laundry machine close to the room may be counterproductive especially if someone chooses to do their laundry at night. To be honest, no one wants to be woken up by buzzing machine sounds.
6. Kitchen Location and Access
The size of your kitchen’s doorway plays an important role in how easy it will be to get groceries into your kitchen. And should you ever need to replace appliances as big as a refrigerator, a wide doorway will make move it out pretty easy. It will be useful to have the kitchen near your main or back entrance or near the garage for easy access.
Also, as we mentioned earlier, someone who hosts house parties regularly will need ample space to entertain guests. And as you may already know parties are likely to have guests walking into the kitchen to grab a cold drink, a slice of the apple pie, or even a selfie for the gram. You can foster socializations this way with ample space in your kitchen.
7. Choice of a Homebuilder
Most of the mistakes people have made when building a house could have been avoided with the right home builder.
So, before you choose a builder, ensure that they have a wealth of experience in building houses. You don’t want to spend so much to build a house that will eventually not last.
While you can take advantage of local online resources to find a good one, referrals and recommendations have also proven to be effective when it comes to finding the right builder.
Whatever you do, ensure that the builder also has good people skills and will carry you along from the start to finish.
8. Contingency Funds
As with any project at all, a building project requires contingency funds. Not having a contingency fund is one mistake people make when building a house. So, when surprises come up during the project that they didn’t account for at the planning stage, they are either forced to pause the project or compromise on quality to make up for the new cost.
With that being said, a contingency fund between 10 to 20% of your overall budget is considered ideal.
Bottom Line
Building a new house is rewarding in many ways. It is a nice addition to your portfolio of assets and can significantly boost your financial status. However, for it to be as rewarding as it should be, there are certain mistakes to avoid at the planning and construction stages of the project.
In this article, we stated the importance of avoiding mistakes related to the planning and design, choice of a home builder, your lifestyle and priorities, space optimization, HVAC systems, and contingency funds.
If you take note of these mistakes and avoid them when building your house, your chances of having a successful outcome will increase.