Building a Dream Family Home, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly….
Building your dream family home is something to get excited about – it can be a fantastic “once in a lifetime” opportunity to create your unique space.
However with the excitement also comes anxiety.
There is the worry of the cost and continually rising prices. Everyone seems to have a building horror story of builders or materials not turning up when required. So what should we do?
Do we try and live with what we have, or should we take a fresh approach to the whole process?
How can you build the dream but avoid the building nightmare?
The CLPM team carried out some research just by chatting to people we know. It is always the way that as soon as you start talking about renovations, new build homes, or self builds you know someone who knows someone with a story.
In this blog we highlight three different approaches to the process of creating a dream family home and show where using an independent company can help to avoid those building nightmares.
Here are their stories:
The Ugly…
Jas and Subash are recently retired and have lived in their family home for nearly 30 years. They decided they wanted to remodel the property to make more “child friendly” areas for their grandchildren.
“We wanted a double storey extension which would also involve using the internal space differently. Our planning application was successful and a friend of mine recommended a builder. They had been looking to undertake major building works but had a delay so as the builder was ready to go, we decided to get under way with our project.”
Recommendation
As the builder was a recommendation and seemed to be a good guy, we didn’t even consider any form of building contract or independent management.
Things started well and the initial phase of the build happened very quickly. The only concern was that the builder had a limited company but always wanted cheques made out to either him or his wife.
Payment before work
But, things soon deteriorated and the building nightmare began. This began with men being taken off site onto other jobs. Sometimes weeks would go past with no one around. When someone did turn up they would do small elements of work and then be looking for further payment. The structure was half built but not watertight and winter was coming on.
The build that had been due to take six months eventually finished after a painful18 months.
The workmanship was dreadful. The clients have had permanent problems with leaks. None of the windows are properly sealed so the house is now cold and draughty. They are having continual problems with damp in many of the rooms.
Going legal
The clients looked into pursuing legal action but the builder has put his company into liquidation and there seems little to can do.
Having spent over £200,000 trying to build a dream family home, our clients were bitterly disappointed and feel that they have had a complete building nightmare.”
They have had to carry out further work to remedy some of the initial mistakes. They now think that if they had a professional contract in place, and someone looking after the finances things would have been better.
The build has cost them a lot more in time, stress and money.
What if..
- If the clients had carried out a bit more research – would this have been different. Maybe!
- We feel it is always best to be protected by a contract.
- Know when to hire professional help. When you feel out of your depth, there are others who will be willing to help make a bad situation better – or more bearable.
- Don’t go it alone.
If the clients had got in touch with us, these are a few pointers of advice we would give. We could have got involved at any stage and helped manage the situation. It may have been seen as an additional cost at the time, but plenty of un-necessary post costs may have been avoided.
The Bad…
Mark and Chantelle were moving from Central London. They were moving back to the area they grew up in. Their renovation was their first experience of undertaking a building project. They did get a lot right but told us about what didn’t go so well.
“We started looking at houses not realising at the time that our family would shortly be expanding. We found a beautiful Victorian period property. The house was not our dream home but we realised that with some structural changes and extension work, it could become so.
Research
We thought we did all of the right things. We researched items like bathrooms and the kitchens, planned our budget and then added in some extra money “just in case”.
Similarly with choosing a builder. We met with four companies. When pricing came back, there were some fairly significant differences. None of the quotes that we received provided that much detail which made it hard to see where the variations could be. We selected a company at the lower end of the price range .
Time delays
The build did not go entirely smoothly. The project overran on time. We had expected to be able to move in September as our baby was due in early October. Finally we managed to move in December but by the following March, not everything had been finished.
We waited for the builder to come back to repair a leaking roof that had previously been watertight. They proved reluctant to return to complete the work despite the fact we retained several thousand pounds of the monies owed.
Now, we wouldn’t say that we have had a building nightmare but we still feel that we could have made our lives a lot easier if we had considered a different option of managing the build, perhaps through independent management of the project.”
What if..
We think the clients did lots right here. However there are still some services that we could have helped with.
- Programming. If there was a professional programme in place, delays could be highlighted and minimised.
- Contractor management can also be build into a contract, so there is a period of time that the contractor has to return and complete any outstanding task.
The Good…
Nadia and Lee are a professional working couple with a toddler and young baby.
“We had bought our home knowing that we wanted to make changes for our growing family. Ours was a comparatively modest job, a single storey extension to create a large open plan kitchen & family space, downstairs office and cloakroom.
We chatted to some local friends who had recently completed a similar building project talked us through the building nightmares that they had experienced. They felt that they never had a clear picture of the costs and trying to keep track of the progress of the build whilst working themselves proved hugely stressful”. Their friends had to call in an independent company along the way, and said they wished they had been on board from the beginning.
Best Advice
The man piece of advice that they were given which they found invaluable was to consider using a local independent building project management company. Nadia and Lee researched this advice, and found companies who were close to them. They chatted their project and concerns through and their build was managed very well.
From day one they project manager provided clear structure to the project, walking us through each decision, offering friendly advice, dealing with third parties, tracking progress against timelines and ensuring that all aspects of the project had been considered. They liaised with our architect to ensure the designs were ‘realistic’ and were able to be translated into our dream.
Where unexpected issues arose (such as the builders finding electrical wiring under the house) they investigated the implications, explained the options and advised on the best course of action.
Monitoring Progress
Nadia and Lee were particularly impressed with the weekly reports, especially as they were now living offsite. The reports provided photographic evidence of the builders’ progress alongside the project timeline and expected delivery for the weeks to come.
Detail and knowledge
The project team demonstrated a keen eye for detail which was evident from their vast knowledge. If something wasn’t right, they knew who to call to resolve it. If product didn’t arrive they were on the case.
This ensured that the project ran to budget and all changes were tracked and explained whilst maintaining extremely high standards of finish.
Additionally, while they were not the cheapest option, in the long run we believe this was good value. With bespoke services, this route saved us quite a bit through intelligent suggestions on how to reduce costs along the way and continually ensuring all prices quoted were competitive.
They said “If you want to know what’s happening, how much it’s costing and ensure that you get a first class building finish using independent building project management is the best decision you will ever make.”
It’s clear from these examples that creating a dream family home and avoiding a building nightmares is a complex and time consuming process. Remember whatever building work you undertake has to be managed by someone. CLPM are very happy to help.
Using a Construction Consultancy
These examples show what can go wrong, and really wrong, and of course there are sometimes issues when an independent company is on board. However with someone other than the contractor looking after you, there is always another pair of eyes. CLPM also work with a variety of businesses, and our network reach is vast. So if something does go amiss, we will know someone who can help resolve things for you.
The industry statistics show that projects will run more smoothly with an independent construction consultancy on board.
If you want any more details on our project management services, please call 01923 896550 or email info@cl-pm.com
You can also read about our previous jobs where we have been able to help clients with their projects. Our case studies show many different situations where our project management team have made a significant difference to the project’s success.
