Facing the construction or renovation of a home can be a positive experience that is lived with enthusiasm, or transformed into an endless nightmare. Here, a series of tips regarding home design to ensure that the adventure has a happy ending.At first glance, the process of designing and building a home may seem like a relatively orderly task, but its varied edges sometimes make it a traumatic odyssey. Illusions, frustrations and conflicts can be the order of the day, and obscure a process that has a transcendental purpose, such as making one’s own home.
Although the intervention of a professional is necessary, it is important to know what one can do to improve relations between the different actors involved in these processes, and to minimize the conflicts that may appear.
1. The budget
When facing a new work or a renovation, it is necessary to have a reference of the estimated costs, from the materials to the fees of the professionals and the workers.Performing a work generates sensations and illusions that in many cases are constrained by budgetary issues. That is why having in mind the amount of money to invest allows you to dream with your feet on the ground and avoid many frustrations. A clear budget allows to foresee the expense of the work throughout the time in which it is developed, improves the programming of the tasks and avoids misunderstandings and frustrations between the parties.
2. The project
The relationships between the environments are also defined (knowing that the kitchen has to be close to the daily dining room, for example), and the development of internal circulation. These schemes also allow the best use of the spaces, see how the environments can be integrated, enlarged or provided with natural lighting. In general, the decisions taken in these instances impact on the spatial quality in the environments.
In relation to construction, there are currently different systems that meet the needs, costs and times of each work. These more standardized processes make it possible to shorten the times, make a cleaner work and, above all, build a lighter building than traditional systems.
3. Permissions
This point is as important as the previous ones. It is an obligation to notify the authorities what type of work is being done. To do this, it is advisable to contact the municipality and consult what type of permit is needed, which varies depending on the type of intervention that is going to be performed. In the case of a new work, next to the permit process, a project must be delivered that conforms to the current standards of the codes, signed by a registered professional.
4. The work
This stage is where the drawing becomes reality, and the ideas that were previously worked on the project begin to take shape. These two factors, which are usually the most problematic, can be improved if tasks are planned and scheduled. This means knowing when a certain task is going to be done (either lifting a wall or placing a floor), and how much that task costs.
We also find the construction manager, who acts as a defender of the client’s interests in the work, who supervises and approves what the contractor does.
5. The services
This point is specifically linked to new works and requires attention before construction begins. It is important to know if the land where the work is going to be erected has access to basic services: Running water, gas or electricity. The absence of any of these can significantly change the budget of the work, because resources will be needed to build the missing infrastructure, and these works are not usually cheap.
6. Maintenance
The useful life of a house, its durability over time, is as much or more important than the project and its construction. Like people and animals, a house must be fed in order to function, and a bad decision in the project stage or the work can affect its operation, making it much more expensive and inefficient than it could be. It should be borne in mind that a small investment in the work during the construction instance may be more beneficial in the long term, when considering the extension of the building’s useful life.