At this point in time I was hoping to have started building our new home. We have all the trades selected and are ready to go.
Unfortunately our current home has not sold. We had made the decision that we would not start to build until our home has sold. Having the pressure of building a new home, while trying to sell your existing home, was not something we wanted.
We wanted to make sure we were not in a rush and making bad decisions because of time. This unfortunately will put a strain on the trades people we are using. They have other commitments and this may bump us to the bottom of their list.
In this issue of Design Your Home magazine we wanted to be able to share our experiences of building a new home but the details will have to be shared in the fall issue. The delay however gave us the opportunity to talk to future neighbours, friends, and trades people in regards to what we should be watching for in our new build.
A suggestion I would recommend, is when you are getting quotes, make sure it is as descriptive as possible. Understand exactly what your quote covers. You may find out later, what you assumed was covered, may not be.
An example is Plumbing/Heating has a wide range of components you have to be aware of.
Air conditioner/Furnace/HWT/HRV
Duct work
Plumbing and waterlines
Make your own list of what is needed and then have each trade quote from your list. This will make it clearer on what you are paying for. The different trades people were very open to tell me what was covered and were willing to give me suggestions on other companies that can assist in other area of the job.
By doing this you may also avoid unexpected costs and keep your build on budget.
Stewart Dyck
Publishing Editor,
Design Your Home