Before you get started with your home-building project, you might want to follow a checklist
A home-building project checklist is a document with a list of activities to do at various milestones of your project journey.
This is a home-building project checklist of questions to ask before you get started. It relates to the various stages of your home building journey: searching for the ideal plot, planning and design the house, and building the house.
Neighborhood Checklist
- Has my architect approved my choice of the site?
- Is the neighborhood appropriate for my means?
- Are stores convenient?
- Is the school convenient?
- Is the church convenient?
- Are parks and playgrounds convenient?
- Are there facilities for sports and recreation I am interested in?
- How far removed is the railroad station?
- Are buses or trolleys near at hand? How often do they run? What is the fare?
- Is police protection adequate?
- Is the firehouse reasonably near?
- How expensive is fire insurance in this neighborhood?
- Are the streets well lighted after dark?
- Is this neighborhood restricted so as to keep out ugly buildings?
- Am I protected in this respect for a number of years?
- Is this section improving, deteriorating, or standing still? How will my house compare in appearance to others in the neighborhood?
Lot Features Checklist
- Will the lot size, building restrictions, and location of adjoining houses make possible the development of a good indoor and outdoor living arrangement?
- Will the surroundings make possible a correct orientation of rooms without a lack of privacy?
- Are there trees or shrubs on the lot? Can these be saved?
- Is the lot graded so that surface water will not drain into the cellar?
- Are adjacent lots graded so that they will not drain into mine?
- If there are stone walls, are there “weep” holes in them to facilitate proper drainage?
- A back yard suitable for children playing, hanging out the wash, sitting outback, a garden if needed
- A back yard properly separated from neighbors’
- Can I take care of snow removal in winter, or is there so much walk and steps to handle that I may frequently need help, adding to cost?
- Does the general situation protect me against undue exposure to the north in winter which may raise my heating bills ten, twenty, or even fifty dollars a winter over some other location?
- Is the location cool in summer?
- Will the lawn be reasonably easy to mow or must I hire help?
- Am I next to a vacant lot full of weeds which will make a good lawn impossible?
- Is the lot in keeping with the house? (The lot should be worth about $ as much as the house itself. A more expensive lot adds nothing to total value if you are buying.)
- Are the lot dimensions as stated by the renter or seller?
House Design Checklist
- The plan takes full advantage of views
- Main rooms properly oriented in relation to the sun and prevailing winds in summer
- A flexible plan for future additions and expansion
- sufficiently adaptable plans to the requirements of an average family for easy saleability
- Exterior materials well suited to local conditions
- Easy circulation within the house
- No thoroughfare: No passing through the living room to get to the private quarters
- Sufficient privacy for a guest room
- Does the house “furnish” well?
- Ample space for beds, couches, tables, etc
- Evergreen building design
- Easy on the cost of use and maintenance
This checklist should guide you to make the bet choices in your project.
