Okay, your finance is organised, the land purchased and settled, the plans have been drawn up and approved, a builder chosen - and now it’s time to build!
So ….exactly what happens next?
For those who haven’t built a home before, it can all be a bit of a mystery.
Here’s an overview of the basic stages of construction that you may find useful.
There are five main stages to building a new home from the ground up.
Slab Stage
This is where the concrete foundation slab for your home is laid. The plumbing pipes are laid into the concrete during this phase, so once they are down and built into the concrete, moving the placement of items like toilets, showers and sinks can be time-consuming and costly.
Frame Stage
This is where the builders will erect the basic framework of your home. This is the skeleton of the house’s body and provides the necessary support for roofing tiles, brick or timber walls etc. Frames can be made from timber or steel and form the shape of the rooms, walls, corridors etc.
Lock-Up Stage
You’ll hear this term frequently in the building industry. Lock-Up is the stage where the house has walls, roof, doors and windows, and the house can essentially be ‘locked up’ to keep intruders out. The house will still require flooring, painting, electrical, fixtures and fittings, but the basic shell has been completed. A payment at this stage is often due to the builder depending upon the contract.
Fixing Stage
This is when all the ‘bits and pieces’ that make a house into a home are installed – sinks, dishwashers, stoves, baths, power-points, lights, toilets, taps etc, and often includes items like carpeting. After months of anxiously waiting, your house is almost ready.
Practical Completion Stage
At this point, the house is liveable, with electricity water and sewerage fully connected. While there may be a few little things to be tidied up here and there, the house is basically finished.
You really don’t need to know too much more of the nitty-gritty than that because we’ll take care of all the day-to-day details within each of these stages for you, so you can get on with your life. With House and Land Solutions acting as your project manager during the entire construction phase, you’ll receive regular updates, photos and reports on the process, especially at each of these key phases.
Oh – we almost forgot. The sixth stage is the most important one. That’s where you receive the keys and get to explore your new home or investment!
