Home Project Playbook

The Home Project Playbook section of the website is designed to help you through your new build or remodeling project from start to finish. 

Any successful sports team or business has a playbook (or an operating procedure or a manual), so it makes sense to have a playbook for your home project.

I think you should be able to enjoy your project, there will be a few stress points I'm sure, but in principle it's possible for your home project to be an enjoyable experience.

In my experience, very few people hand over the entire experience of designing and building their home over to the design professionals and contractors.  In reality, most homeowners are fairly involved - if not deeply involved.

Getting involved in the right way, at the right time, with the right people armed with the right information is the recipe for an enjoyable and successful project.  The Home Project Playbook will keep you on the right track.

The playbook is a step by step guide that will take you through all the aspects you need to think about as you navigate through your project.

You'll learn to advocate for what you want in your home, work effectively with the professionals that you hire and create a home you'll love living in.

A playbook in 4 phases

The playbook is split into 4 phases:

1. Project Preparation
   
2. Design Preparation
3. Design
4. Construction
   

The Playbook is a work in progress.  Anything without a link is coming soon.

Phase 1 - Project Preparation

Phase 2 - Design Preparation

Phase 3 - Design

Phase 4 -  Construction

Project Preparation and Design Preparation

You can see that the first two phases are both to do with preparation.  I bet you can't wait to get started on your project.  The first steps most homeowners take is to call a builder and or design professional to start talking about their project, what the possibilities are, what will it cost and how long will it take. 

Those are all important questions.

It makes sense though, that you'll get ask better questions and better answers from builders, contractors and designers if you have spent some time upfront doing a bit of homework and preparation for yourself.

The Home Project Playbook will guide you through the steps you need to take to get prepared and informed.

Design

When it comes to design there are different routes you can take on your project.  Maybe you're planning to hire an architect or designer, maybe you want to design your own home or you might be buying a house plan.

Whatever route you're taking you'll work more effectively with the professionals your work with and make better design choices if you understand the process of design and that's what the Home Project Playbook is here to do.

The Home Project Playbook focuses on the steps you’ll need to take as a homeowner during the design phase of your project.

If you’re working with a design professional, your role as a homeowner is to provide information, then give feedback and approve the design work that your design professional does for you.  You'll be at a great advantage if you understand the design process and how to participate in it for a successful design outcome.

If you’re planning to design your own home or if you’re interested to learn more about the art of home design, take a look at Home Design School.

If you're planning to buy a house plan you'll need to be able to check that the design is right for you and will work on your site.

Construction

The construction phase is where you spend the bulk of your money during your project.  And yet the tendency is to move into this phase without sufficient knowledge of...

• How best to find the right builder for your project
• What everything in your contract means
• What to expect and look out for during construction.

The Home Project Playbook will bring you up to speed with what you should know before you commit your cash to construction.

The playbook is currently a work in progress and sections will be added as soon as they are available. 

Sign up to the newsletter to be informed as sections become available.

The Playbook is a work in progress.  Anything without a link is coming soon.

Phase 1 - Project Preparation

Phase 2 - Design Preparation

Phase 3 - Design

Phase 4 -  Construction

How the Home Project Playbook came about

House Plans Helper has, so far, concentrated on bringing you information purely about home design.  While design is certainly an important part of building or remodeling your home, there’s a whole lot more to making a project happen from start to finish and increasingly I have been receiving questions from homeowners which have to do with situations and scenarios which arise during their projects.

Looking back at the questions homeowners like you have sent in, I can see that they fall into several categories of concerns that you have about your projects…

• How best to manage your budget – what should you spend and how do you prevent going over budget?
• How to make sure the design is right for your lifestyle.
• How to hire a general contractor that will do quality work and won’t take you for a ride or leave you high and dry.
• How to handle the amount of decisions that you’ll need to make.
• How to avoid arguing with your partner, or resolve arguments with your partner.

To summarize, you want to know how to get through your project smoothly.  I think that it’s not only possible to get through your project relatively smoothly, but to have an empowering experience where you start with a vision, make it happen and make it through any challenges that come up along the way, and enjoying your new home when your project is finished.