A Checklist for Building Your Home

David K

7 years ago

The time has finally home to make a home of your own&period; We believe that you are happy, even if you are not taking an active part in the construction&period; However, you still want to make sure that everything is done properly&period; Erecting an entire house out of flat ground is a complex undertaking, and since you will be the one living in it, you definitely have to make sure that everything gets done right&period; But what exactly does this &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;everything” imply&quest; There are so many things to monitor, from the quality of the concrete all the way to seemingly irrelevant things such as the height of the light switches&period; That is why we will provide you with an exhaustive checklist of the things that you need to take care of while your new home is being constructed&period;&NewLine;<h2>The initial phases</h2>&NewLine;Before you pick up the tools, make sure that everything is ready for construction&period; Materials need to match the specified quality standards&period; Timber, for instance, must be dry, of a matching color, and it must have undergone the prespecified treatment&period; Plans and blueprints have to be in order and the initial hole for the foundation has to be dug up correctly&period; The edges have to be perfectly straight and the adjacent structures, such as your neighbor’s house, need to be safe and unaffected by your operations&period; Don’t forget the retaining walls, as they provide the much-needed security during the initial phase of building&period; The surrounding ground should be supported at all times and it mustn’t be wet or saturated with water&period;&NewLine;Also, take care of the underground pipes, both yours that need to be attached to the existing system, as well as those which are just running near-by&period; Always take care not to sever any of the lines, such as gas lines or power lines&period; Once the concrete starts to pour in to form slabs, constantly check their structure to prevent any crack forming early on&period; Have the scaffolding ready at hand to be installed as soon as the object goes up&period;&NewLine;<h2>Floors and frames</h2>&NewLine;Once you start laying the floor, there have to be constant checks to see if everything fits in well together, as there are going to many pieces to assemble&period; The joints have to be tightly secured and even, as there shouldn’t be any movement of the floorboards or any squeaking sounds&period; Don’t forget to underlay the floor insulation first&excl;&NewLine;The framing should be installed only when completely dry after polishing&period; The position of all doors and windows should be double checked to prevent any irreversible mistakes from occurring&period;&NewLine;<h2>The contractors</h2>&NewLine;This is a good place to discuss who is actually building your home&period; Building a house on your own is a mammoth undertaking that requires you to elicit the help of all friends willing to help&period; Even then the sheer scale and complexity of the project will require you to hire contractors or even sub-contractors&period; Some of them will join the build from day one and some will be present for only one day in total, depending on the job you hired them for&period; If you want to move heavy objects around or hoist them up, you are probably going to call in a forklift company, such as MLA Holdings&period; They will basically rent you their forklift to get the job done&period; This way you cut on costs and the trouble of getting heavy furniture to the upper floors&period; Ideally, make an arrangement with all the contractors before you start the build itself so you can calculate the total cost more accurately&period;&NewLine;<h2>The exterior</h2>&NewLine;The exterior is much more than a neat façade&period; It consists of a cladding that should be inspected after installation&period; Structurally, the weakest points are around the edges and in the window openings&period; The weatherproofing needs to be sound and the flashings matching&period; Finally, check the exterior elements of the exterior&period; Gutters need to have sufficient fall to conduct water, the seams need to be done correctly, and the overflow relief should be present&period; Finally, when all technical checkups are completed, inspect the structure of the finishing paint on the house and the uniformity of the color&period;&NewLine;<h2>The interior</h2>&NewLine;Inside the house, it is all about the seams as well&period; Inspect the entire length of the place where the walls and the floor join&period; They need to be even and without damages that might have occurred during the build&period; The plastering in the ceiling should be flat as possible and the paint needs to be applied carefully&period; Any large chunks of paint or plaster indicate a poorly done job&period; In general, all lines inside the house should be at a straight angle&period; The colors should also match your preferences and the wall surfaces need to have the proper number of layers of paint&period;&NewLine;<h2>The roofing</h2>&NewLine;Once you finish laying down the roof tiles, make a thorough inspection of the work done&period; Roofing must be straight and screwed down and bolted firmly, without any loose tiles&period; Be sure to check around the edges, to see if all the ridge cappings and flashings are in order&period; It is essential that the whole roof structure is waterproof&excl;&NewLine;This checklist for building your home can be taken quite literally and printed out on a sheet of paper to be ticked off as you go&period; This way you will ensure that you don’t skip a single step in ensuring that your house gets constructed the right way&period;&NewLine;&nbsp&semi;&NewLine;