The time has finally arrived to build the custom home you’ve always wanted. You’ve bought the site, nailed down the design and engaged the custom home design build team. But with the start of construction looming you have questions and concerns about the build process. How can you be sure it’s going to proceed on schedule? How can you be certain the design you settled on is in fact the one that will make the most of the site’s potential, fulfill your family’s needs and make the desired impact?
Ensuring a Successful Custom Home Design Build
A successful custom home design build depends on many factors but none that loom as large as the design itself. People planning their dream home can sometimes lose perspective, overlook details and insist on things that will later prove to be wasteful or unnecessary. Every attempt should be made to get a handle on these elements before construction begins. These include:
- Distribution of Storage Space – Take another look at how much storage space you’ll have and how it’s arranged. Has your desire for deluxe walk-in closets gobbled up space that could be better used for other purposes?
- Windows and Light – If one end of the property opens onto a lovely vista of downtown Toronto did you make sure there are plenty of large windows facing that way? Are there confined, internal areas of the floor plan that could have benefitted from skylights?
- Unnecessary Features – It’s a nice idea to set aside a third of the first floor layout for an enormous dining room with a formal table that seats 20, but will you ever actually use such a thing? If not some of that space can no doubt be put to better use.
- Safety and Practicality – Do you have young children for whom the spiral staircase will not only present a formidable obstacle but also a safety hazard? If the kids are older will you really be needing a ‘game room’?
- What About the Garage? – In order to achieve a certain visual balance did you put the garage next to the living room? If so you should reconsider. All the utilitarian elements (garage, kitchen, laundry room etc) should ideally be together and away from the main social and sleeping areas.
- Bathroom Placement – It’s a design given that you don’t want a bathroom opening up onto the kitchen, living or dining room. It may have seemed like other considerations left you no choice but you’d be well advised to rethink this before construction starts.
Once the build of your Toronto home is underway making changes to the design becomes a more difficult and expensive thing to do with each passing day. If you want your custom home design build to go smoothly you would do well to settle all design/layout issues in advance.
At Heidan we understand that a custom home design build is a process, not an event, and as such changes are to be expected. We’ll work with you to make any necessary revisions before the craftsmen arrive thereby ensuring the build process is as smooth and incident free as possible.
