How to Communicate with Your Builder During Your Home Design Project
How do you best communicate with your builder to make your relationship productive over the course of your home project? I am providing a few tips to keep everyone on the same path moving forward to the completion of a great project.
- Respecting boundaries, personal time, and acknowledging that your project is not their only project will go a long way in creating a mutually respectful relationship with your builder. When speaking to your builder, I can’t tell you enough how being pushy, insistent, calling/texting outside of business hours, and thinking your project is the only one they have will work against you. If you want your builder to be dedicated and perform at their highest level, then respect is always the name of the game!
- Set up weekly meetings from the beginning of the project. Ensure you have an agenda and a notebook that tracks changes, questions, budget issues, and timelines.
- Establish sustainable communication. Many builders will email early in the morning or after work, but they need the job description that they are sitting in front of a computer, so expect delays. I am a huge fan of email since it can be saved into a file by topic of conversation. Only use text and phone calls when necessary.
- Be available for questions, but ensure it’s not stream-of-consciousness questions. Ask your contractor to only address questions at the beginning of the day for the days or weeks of work. It is frustrating to be interrupted by one question, but it will help them organize their thoughts.
- Have your materials and finishes selected as early as possible and go ahead and order as soon as you have the green light from your builder. You don’t want to be the reason for a delay in the project.
- Make your decisions with fortitude and power, then don’t change your mind. A “TBD” in the specs column is more accessible than a change. Remember, we are busy and running many jobs simultaneously; when making changes, too many places can get confused and lost.
One of the primary purposes of creating Abrigo Home was to combine the two-fold aspect of plans and materials into one successful project. In addition, your contractor will love that decisions are made in advance so the project can move smoothly and on budget. Lastly, we’re firm believers in going down the road of your project WITH your builder together as a team!
