When you’re building your dream home, you want everything to be perfect! From the concrete mix used, the size of your rooms, your doors, and windows, paint for the exterior and your interior design – everything needs to be spot-on.
However, having been Darwin home builders for a long time, we’ve observed that in a majority of custom home building projects, there are always a lot of hiccups that surface, which make the experience unpleasant for both the homeowners and the builders.
We’ve identified a few common situations that happen all the time, and we’ll go over each of them with you. Make it a point to cover all these scenarios with your builder beforehand, and we guarantee that your home-building experience will be a breeze.
Situation 1: Pondering over the Punch-Out/Walk-through list
At the end of the project, the homeowner and builder do a walk-through on the project to make sure that all requirements were fulfilled to the homeowner’s satisfaction. It is a best practice to arrive at an agreement on that list at the start of the project. Making sure that both parties sign off on the list will help avoid any clashes later.
If you need to add any changes later on, make sure to communicate them to the builder on the fly. Also, a lot of changes in requirements will make project completion slower and lead to frustration in both parties. If there are still significant changes to be made, it is best to make a new list and ensure that both parties sign off on that.
Situation 2: Cost changes for add-ons
The initial quote that is given by the builder matches the requirements that were initially given to him/her. Subsequent changes in requirements and add-on features are likely to change the cost mentioned initially. It is understandable that there will be some changes during the course of the project. However, it is important that you effectively communicate the nature of changes to the builder and discuss the associated costs. It is also best to put it in writing.
Situation 3: Measuring out your expectations
It is completely natural to expect your dream home to be flawless. However, it is essential to communicate to your expectations to the builder. This is hands down the most common issue between homeowners and builders, based on our experience as builders in darwin. A lot of things can get lost in communication and the project can end up not meeting your expectations. To avoid these problems, it is best to keep all your builder in-the-know about your desires, and also to have a second opinion on whether or not, what you need is practical and/or desirable.
Situation 4: Undermining the builder
This is again a pressing issue that surfaces anytime home builders work with homeowners. As a homeowner, you should voice your issues and concerns directly to the builder. Trust between both parties is important. If you do not trust the skill and expertise of your builder, the project is bound to be unsatisfactory. Interview lots of builders before undertaking your project. Once you find the builder that is the right fit for your project, allow him/her space and flexibility to work. Trying to control the project, taking matters into your own hands and bypassing the builder to approach people above him in the chain not only undermines the builder, but also causes a lot of confusion. All this extends the project delivery timeline.
As home builders Darwin, we’ve encountered clients who directly approach the sub-contractor with their requests and talk to everyone except the builder about the project. Besides delaying the project, these practices are not helpful in any way and cause confusion and frustration to both parties.
Make sure you go over all these scenarios and follow the best practices that we’ve covered in this article. Adhering to these guidelines will help the homeowner as well as the home builder and the project will be successfully completed to your satisfaction.