10 Steps to Building Your New Home

Building a new home is an exhilarating experience. But, if it’s your first time, it can also be filled with a lot of unknowns. Decisions to make, questions to ask, a bunch of research, and a whole heap of Pinterest boards to make! Here is our step-by-step guide, outlining the key stages in the new home-building process. You’ll learn how to navigate each stage with confidence, ensuring you’re well-prepared at every turn.

We consider ourselves experts on building homes, so we thought we would try our hand at simplifying the process for you. Armed with the right knowledge (maybe a guide written by Perth’s favourite first home builder 😉) and a planned contingency budget, each of the different stages of the home-building experience will be a walk in the park.

 

Step 1: Location & the boring bits

(Land Settlement, Site Preparation, and Finance)

The first step in this exciting journey is to choose your land. Before diving into property searches, find out what you can afford as this will influence the location and size of the block you can buy. If you know what you can afford and have worked out your budget, you can start searching for the perfect block. Many builders offer house and land packages across Perth and the South West. Or, alternatively, we can assist in finding you the right land ready for construction.

 

Step 2: Choose Your Builder

The next step involves choosing the right builder, and arguably, the most important decision to your home construction journey – we know who we would pick 😉. All biases aside, it’s important you understand that whoever you choose, the right builder should make sure you’re getting a smooth, stress-free partnership and a high-quality finished home. Make sure you research thoroughly, read reviews, check out display homes, and meet with builders one-on-one before signing.

 

Step 3: Choose Your Home Design

This is where the real fun begins! As you choose your home design, you’ll start to see your brand-new home take shape. It’s important to choose a design that not only compliments your current lifestyle but also anticipates future growth in your family (fur babies included) and incorporates energy efficiency and sustainable building practices where possible.

Here, you should consider:

• What’s important to you in a new home?
• Is there room to entertain?
• Is this a home with enough room to raise children in one day?
• Do you need separate living zones?

Remember your home design priorities! Discuss with your builder how they can help you select a house design to best suit your lifestyle.

 

Step 4: Prestart

Once you’ve chosen a builder, signed a contract, and picked your house design, you’re now ready for the prestart process! This is a hands-on stage with your client administrator where you get to select all the finishes, colours, fittings, and materials for your new house. You’ll also finalise the plumbing, electrical work, and internal plans of your home. At this stage, it’s easier and cheaper to make changes than once the construction has begun, so it’s important to speak your mind during this phase! 💭

 

Step 5: Construction begins

With your finance approval in the bag, your plans all set, and the prestart process done and dusted, you’re ready for the big event – the actual build. This is the heart-pounding stage where construction begins, and you see your new home take shape from the ground up. 💗 You’ll be kept totally in the loop with site visits and chats with your builder, making sure everything’s humming along nicely.

Here’s a quick peek into the process:

Slab

After everyone gives the thumbs-up to the plans and the surveyors have wrapped up their job, it’s time to pour the slab and get those bricks delivered. The slab forms the main footprint of your home. Once poured, the slab gets a bit of a rest, going through a curing process before we kick off the rest of the build.

Structural Walls and Roof Trusses

Next up, we’ll be busy building the exterior walls and fitting in windows and door frames. Depending on the size of your home and, of course, the weather, this part usually takes one to two weeks. Once the walls are standing, the roof installation commences, at this milestone the roof is secured to your home, as well as plumbing pipes are cut into the walls and some electrical work is completed. Following this, your site supervisor will organise a site clean to make sure that it is in a workable state for the ceilings, walls and finishes to be completed.

Insulation and Interior walls

Once your structural walls are up it’s time for insulation. This is like wrapping your home in a big, warm blanket to keep the cold out and the heat in. If your home design includes a crawl space, you will need to insulate that area too, your builder will know all of this, so don’t fret!

If your home is being built with our steel frame or BrickHybrid building method, once we’re done with insulation, we’re on to the interior walls.

The next step is to install the interior trim. We pop in any remaining interior doors, and fix up baseboards, door casings, window sill mouldings, and crown mouldings.

 

Step 6: Lock-up stage

Now we’ve arrived at the lock-up stage, where we install your cabinets and benchtops for your kitchen, then your plumbing is installed and the concrete floor is poured into your garage. As soon as our expert tradespeople finish adding their magic touches your construction supervisor will arrange a meeting to discuss your tiling selection

 

Step 7: Finals

Next up after the lockup stage, we dive into finals. This is when your house starts feeling more like a home!

This step is where the electrician, plumber and painter will return to finish off the remaining jobs. Gas will be connected, external paving will be laid and your garage door will be installed – once this is complete your home will be one step closer to completion!

 

Step 8: Exterior Finishes

Time to spruce up the outside of your soon-to-be home. Finishing touches are added, whether it’s sleek cladding, charming stucco, or classic brickwork, this is when your house becomes your home.

If your home design includes nifty retaining walls for shaping your landscape or managing slopes, no worries – we’ve got it sorted! These will be built during this phase. You’re just a few steps away from stepping into your brand-new home!

 

Step 9: Practical Completion Inspection (PCI)

Now, we’re really nearing the finish line! After all those installations and touches, it’s time for the big review – the practical completion inspection also known as PCI. Your Construction Supervisor will contact you to arrange a suitable time for your PCI, this step is to ensure you are happy with your home.

If anything isn’t quite up to standards, it’s no problem at all, that’s why we have the PCI. These things need to be ironed out before your home can get its certificate of occupancy and you receive the keys.

Step 10: Key Handover

You’re in!

All that is left to do is meet with your New Home Administrator, collect the keys to your new home and move in!

And just like that, we’ve walked through the steps to building a house! Whether it’s knowing how to choose a design that suits you or what happens at a PCI, it can seem like there are a lot of moving pieces. It requires a bit of planning and patience, but the result is always worth it!

If you choose to build with Easystart, our dedicated team is right there with you every step of the way, we make sure the process isn’t just smooth but also fun. We’ll keep your journey on track, and within budget, as we work together on crafting your very first home!

If any questions pop up, or if you just fancy a chat about the process, please reach out to one of our first home experts. We’re here to help you navigate this exciting journey with confidence! Let’s do this!