Your building project might be quick and simple or complex. It might be an alteration, a renovation or a completely new build. It could be a seaside holiday house or a multi-unit central city apartment building. The size and complexity of the finished build can affect the duration and complexity of the process. Whatever you’re planning, you should generally follow these stages:
Design Process
- Funding
- Brainstorm with other funder/executors
- Talk to City Planner
- Rough sketch some ideas with executors/friends
- Talk to neighbors
- Integrated Design Process
- Interview architects (test them with some small space design questions: eg. What are a couple things that you would do to make a small space feel and act bigger? tall ceilings, join living/dining room, high windows, coupling functionality
- Find builders and subs (ideally, you want to have identified a builder, plumber, mechanical, electrical subcontractor)
- Architect draws up schematics for consideration
- Have meeting- talk through design goals
- Schematic refinement
- 3D model (use SketchUp)
- Develop drawings for City
- Permit process- In Portland, processing takes 10 days for new construction, then another 10 days for corrections
- Permits
Construction Process
- Break Ground
- Excavation
- Foundation
- Concrete Forms
- Pour Foundation Wall
- Concrete Slab Pour
- Gravel
- Water Barrier
- Rigid Foam
- Rebar (and PEX tubing for radiant floor heating)
- Pour Concrete for Slab
- Utilities
- Sewer, Electrical, Water, Gas
- Framing
- Balloon Framing
- Sheathing
- Roof
- Stairs
- Windows
- Roofing
- Weather Resistant Barrier
- Rain Screen
- Rough Plumbing
- Mechanical Sytems
- HVAC
- Lighting and Electrical
- Ambient
- Task
- Accent
- Perimeter
- Air Sealing
- Insulation
- Spray Foam, Blown-in Insulation, or Batt Insulation
- Drywall
- Sheetrock, Mudding, Sanding, Primer
- Siding
- Flooring
- Tiling
- Painting
- Cabinets, Shelving
- Finish Plumbing
- Finish Electrical and Lighting
- Certificate of Occupancy
- Modifications
- Moving In