This is an intro to subs…
___________CONSOLIDATE ALL THIS VERBAGE….EDIT
SEE, BEFORE YOU BUILD…
This is the absolute reason
for this whole website!
In practical experience of building… so many decisions are made, on the spot, with 5 minutes of biased discussion in a pressure filled moment, when everyone is in a hurry for some answer… any answer….we just gotta get this job done…NOW mood.
But, if you were in a basic, design and architecture class…and you presented a 2-5M house that looked like this, your teacher would kick the design back, and say NO. It would be a mercy C if that.
Finally, having pictures of your house, will help you when a contractor or sub, says it it can’t be done…
“you can’t put a driveway in this tight space”
And you pull out your drawings, showing cars in each position.
Or an architect that puts stairs up, and not providing a landing, and windows at the top, middle and bottom of the stairs.
Having the landing right where you want a full-size door to fit…where he puts in a crawl space. Over and over I could prove the better design is possible… not by words, or demands or anger. But by pictures.
And so so often, the subs did not speak English….and a picture bridged the communication problem.
So often, a contractor or sub, will repeat what they have done before successfully… repeat, repeat, repeat…. because they want to do the job, and get paid. Be done, and move on.
Showing them something different, is challenging, scary, a risk to them and their job.. A picture calms them down, and things can proceed with confidence.
Front yard stairs, with no rail….and sharp stone corners.
Straight stairs with no landing, in a 12 foot ceiling room.
Stairs that stick out to the main passage way, that is a trip hazard to people looking at the glorious room.
3 story house, with no elevator?
Decks too small to lean back a chair and put your feet up.
Resting in a grand living room, looking at the underside of a roof, instead of the sky and Nature.
A bathroom, completely internal to the house, such that it has absolutely no natural light.
Massive rooms, with no outlets for a lamp in the center where the people sit.
Just thoughtless, painful, ugly, and inconvenient design from top to bottom.
Besides the looks of a house… seeing it first, on your screen, from inside and out, checking the views, proportions, the flow…this can all be fixed.
In the moment, when the compressor is on, you can barely hear the question, when English is the second language.. you have to defend an idea… only a picture will get you thru this moment… A picture made in the calm of your quiet living room, without pressure… THAT will weigh decisions not what is easiest, fastest, or what we have done before.
it the cornerstone,
the touch stone
the kernel,
the KEY of good design, good logic, beauty.
It seems so obvious, but even really really great architects, DO NOT DO THIS.
___________
Before I remodeled…everything was a surprise. I didn’t have any idea of the order of the subs would arrive….or that it mattered.
Hopefully you can START to become aware of what will be happening, when, and nudge you to begin doing your own research…
I am not naive enough to think this is a complete how-to… just an introduction to get you going,
You have to learn the specifics of your region, climate, laws, codes, and education level of your manpower.
That one last thing, is interesting…
if your sub learned his job 20 years ago, (plumbing, framing) well, you get old tried and true.
But if you watch TOH, and see the advancements in construction
well… this you will NOT get, with a sub just repeating what he learned 20 years ago.
I don’t have an answer for this, except, picking a contractor that hires the best…..and that might cost more… or you have to accept, it can’t be done, as seen on TV….
You WILL have to let go of some of your standards…. Pick your battles… 95% might be good enough… we only live on earth so long, and…and your house might only be good for 70 years at best… we are not building stone castles here. You pick your battles.
To set the stage of your standards and needs… have great 3D drawings, to prove your design works.
Have detailed specs in writing to hand to your contractors at bid time… (thickness of drywall, soundproofing demands, water pressure correct etc.)
They will use YOUR specs to come up with a price, and evaluate if their team ability matches your level of building. The contractors WILL know more than you, so be open to their ideas too.
The idea is you are closer to their equal, not a idiot to be fleeced.
This is NOT easy….each of the 15 subs, the bank, the architect, the landscaper has spent THEIR life, learning their trade.
For you to be moderately conversant in THEIR field is an impressive feat.
This is why it is good to study/draw for a year, to get things right.
Your drawing and learning time, will be on YOUR schedule at this point… that is a tremendous pressure relief.
And… you might actually change your mind and just move…that is OK!
What you learned will be useful someday, when you are ready.
You will either have a disastrous full blown nightmare, by being under-prepared, or a controlled nightmare, by being prepared.
Either way, it is a nightmare … just as raising kids, going to college, all delayed gratification of anything is hard… but eventually it’s worth it.
Yes I hate my plumber. He knew this, but kept it his little secret…(POOR WATER FLOW WITH DISTANCE) because he was a lazy, slob! (but related to a great electrician by marriage of their kids..and worked for the same contractor that picked her battles). You are lucky to get 8/10 great subs… He was one of my loser 2.