Final planning

We have spent the past 9 months exhaustively planning this house and finally the light at the end of the tunnel is almost here. The design is done, the quotes have been tendered and received, the design fees have been paid (almost), the development permit approved, and we are just waiting on the appraisal from the bank and stamped drawings from the engineer. Initially the planning process was fun, but about three months ago we had pretty much had enough of it.And now, well, we have definitely had enough of it.

I keep thinking to myself “haven’t we talked about this house long enough??” But there are so many important little details that go into the planning and building of a house. I may have had a small idea of this before, but really this whole process shines a completely different light on the importance of Planning. When moving into and renovating an old house, you learn to live with and work with the idiosyncrasies and nuances of an old house (nothing being level, that weird door, baseboards not quite lining up, that one awkward window that looks onto nothing, and so on), but when building a house, you really don’t want to start off with any of those weird things. I am very detail oriented and like to research things to the n-th degree, much the chagrin of my wife from time to time – except in this process. My anal-retentiveness has finally come in handy!

If you are planning to build a house, and are not detail oriented then you need to learn to be one. Otherwise you are liable to get a home that may be close to what you had asked for but not entirely what you had expected. I cannot tell you how many little mishaps, potential mistake, errors and omissions we have already caught and corrected. It is crazy to me at times, but really there are so many aspects that even the people you are paying to know about all of it may miss some of these details or do it the way they always have done it (even if you specifically say you want something else). So it’s all on you. You’re the only one there to make sure that it is done how you actually want it. Which means you have to research and know enough to at least ask the questions that will lead to ensuring that you will get what you want.

I have learned now to tell our team that when we want something, I ask to confirm that it was done, and then follow-up to make sure. I’m certain that the various people working on the house will be completely sick of me pestering them by the end, but I don’t care. I want to make sure that our house turns out as we have intended it to.

And if there is something that I don’t know about then I ask someone who does know to check it. And then double-check it and then triple-check it. Incredibly, on triple-checks we have still caught errors.

In the end, all of this stuff is just on paper. We actually haven’t even done anything yet. So we will see what the actual build process goes like. I’m hoping (wishful thinking perhaps) that because of the significant focus on the details in the planning stages that maybe, just maybe, the build process will go smooth. But this hope is not going to allow me to assume anything. At all. Ever.