Building a Home Guide - Part 3: Design & Pre-Construction

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Building a Home: Start to Finish Series - Part 3: Design & Pre-Construction 1

Building a Home: Start to Finish Series – Part 3: Design & Pre-Construction

In part three of our Building a Home: Start to Finish series, you’ll see your home building project beginning to take shape.

In the home building process, it can sometimes seem like everything is taking forever. While that might appear at first to be true, we at Gilbert + Burke always do our best to quickly get the ball rolling and the nails hammering. Things really begin to take shape during the third stage of the home building process, otherwise known as the design and pre-construction process. With papers signed and introductory meetings had, we can finally start to turn your imaginations into real-life brick representations.

First off, we’ll all work together to create a concept drawing that matches your ideas, and meets your lifestyle goals. The house size is tailored to fit your lot and municipal regulations, and the floor plan to create the best experience for living. Once concepts are approved, we move into the fun stuff — interior and exterior selections. The process, which can typically take around two to four months, involves beginning to draw out concepts, especially the design of rooms like your kitchen. When it comes to the exterior finishes, we’ll start bringing up ideas and letting your vision take place — what kind of siding do you see in your head? Are you envisioning brick? Stone? We’ll also start digging into the functional elements of your home, like the roof, doors and windows. Then, we’ll talk details as they relate to things like decks, sunrooms and even landscaping. When it comes to the interior decisions, we’ll discuss everything from flooring and walls to ceilings and fireplaces. However, it’s not only the big decisions that we’re looking at during this stage. We’ll also talk about details like paint colors, trims and fixtures. After all, each tiny decision is what builds up to a cohesive home. We know that the whole decision making requirement can be difficult, so we have visual software that will allow you to virtually “see” your new home before it’s even built. You’ll also have a team rich in sample boards, storyboards and professional design input to help relieve any decision paralysis. While there are a lot of decisions to be made, they do indeed have to actually be made. Each little choice needs to be finalized and drawn out to enable quote procurement.

Building a Home: Start to Finish Series - Part 3: Design & Pre-Construction 2

Missed the Discovery Stage? Check out Building a Home: Start to Finish, Cottage by the Lake

After the design decisions are made and the concept drawings are approved, we’ll move in on making BCIN licensed construction drawings, which will take around two to four weeks. With the approved and drawn up construction plans in hand, we’ll spend the next two to three weeks procuring any additional requirements for applying for a building permit. From heat loss calculations and structural engineering plans to engineered truss and floor drawings and surveys, the Gilbert + Burke team will work tirelessly to ensure that you don’t have to worry. While you’re thinking of how you’re going to decorate your beautiful new house, the Gilbert + Burke team will manage everything related to quote procurement, construction estimates and land surveys. You won’t have to do a thing.

When it came to the “Cottage By the Lake”, concepts and initial plans began to take shape in January of 2016. We had to execute, plan for and begin all of the requirements for the new cottage and the boathouse, but it was a little tricky. Since the lot was small and already included an existing cottage, we had to work diligently to be able to make room for the 1,800 square foot cottage that exists now. While the clients were waiting, our team was diligently taking care of every little detail that needed to be put into place.

First, we had to apply for the purchase of the shoreline road allowance from the municipality and request a fish habitat study (which included finding a required consultant and managing report procurement). We also obtained a survey and a shoreline landscaping/re-vegetation plan needed for the zoning amendment before we could obtain the Ministry of Natural Resource’s approval for the re-vegetation plan. Only then were we able to apply for the zoning amendment, which also included attending council meetings on the client’s behalf to support said amendment.

Building a Home: Start to Finish Series - Part 3: Design & Pre-Construction 3

View the entire project Cottage by the Lake 

Once all of the red tape was removed, the building permit application was finally finalized in May of 2018 — over two years from the beginning of the project. While it seems to take forever, it’s incredibly important to feel confident that everything is being done correctly. With G+B, you’ll be sure that every application and survey meets regulation standards. Later that month, a site supervisor was assigned to the job and it was finally time to start making moves.

Our goal with this series is to showcase the nuts and bolts of the home building process, and a big part of that means showcasing the immense amount of bureaucracy and paperwork that may come along with it. Depending on your unique situation, the process can seem daunting, having a team that cares about you, your family and your home is the best way to ensure that the process is as quick and stress-free as possible. When you build with Gilbert + Burke, you’ll have the best of the best at your side.

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Ken Jaquith Director Of Client Experience
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