Designing a new house is no easy feat, even for experienced buyers. Thankfully, you aren't alone in this exciting adventure. Home builders can be a fantastic resource before, during, and after the home building process, and are sources you should definitely rely on as much as possible. That's why it is so important to choose a company you trust, with employees who are accessible, and answer your questions and concerns in a way that calms your anxieties and helps you understand everything better.
What Your Builder Knows That You Don't
The biggest reason you should maintain a good relationship with the building team, and count on them for advice, is simply their level of experience. These professionals have years of experience building all kinds of homes, on all kinds of lots, in all kinds of towns. They've seen it all. From the homeowners who change their minds half-way through the project, to the ones who don't want to change a thing, even if it's in their best interests. They know how to guide you through financing, and what kind of home loans, grants, and other financial assistance is available to you. They know the pitfalls that are common to first-time new construction purchasers and can help you avoid them. Home builders are also up on the current trends in home design and décor, often styling their display homes in current trends.
Having honest and open communications with your building team will go a long way towards reducing the inevitable stress that comes with building a new house.
3 Ways To Create Good Relationships With Your Builders
There are several ways that you can influence the relationship and set the stage for all future interactions. Aside from the typical advice to be polite, honest, and straightforward in any interactions you have with them, there are a few more tips that are specific to the building industry that can help you make the most of your business relationship.
Meet The Site Manager. One very important thing to note is that you'll be dealing almost exclusively with the site manager. This is the person who will oversee the day-to-day process and construction, and they are generally not the sales people you see in display homes, or the owner of the company. Try to meet this person in advance of signing your contract to see if you can work with him or her. You want a site manager who welcomes visits to the construction site and can answer your questions in ways you understand.
Know The Stages Of The Building Process. It's very helpful to know these stages, and be able to recognise what stage yours is at. This gives you an advantage if and when you want to make changes, because you'll be able to time them properly so as to avoid having to re-do work that has already been completed.
Pro-Active Communication. Don't overwhelm your contact with unnecessary questions just to keep your name at the front of their mind, but don't hold back and let questions and concerns pile up only to dump them on the site manager all at once. If you have a legitimate question or concern, contact your site manager by whatever means available to you.
Your builder is more than just a service provider. The entire team has experience and knowledge that can make your experience the fun and exciting development you've dreamed it to be, instead of one that adds great stress to your life. Use this experience to your advantage by being receptive to the builder's ideas and open and honest about your needs, desires, and expectations for the process.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Granite Hocus Pocus
I've always been annoyed by all the misleading information and myths that pick on a specific subject and just sticks to it to the extent that you hear it everywhere when that subject is brought up. Starting from the most famous myth that says a goldfish has a 3-second memory, bats are blind and all the way to the greatest myth of all (which some people still believe is true) that says tomatoes are vegetables. Even though these myths have all been shot full of holes. Since it is now clear that a goldfish has quite a decent memory to even be trained in response to different sensory cues whereas, bats can pretty much see better than us at night, only not in colour. Even the tomatoes are in no way vegetables unless you wished not to pay taxes when you buy yourself some (in 1883 they were classified as vegetables in order to make them taxable under the Tariff Act).
Unfortunately, this kind of misleading and false information always spread with a speed faster than the speed of light! Even basic topics like granite properties did not survive the incorrect information attitude. I have no idea why some people decide to claim false information about the properties of granite while some others decide that they should believe it, share it and spread it everywhere without even inspecting if they were correct. However, if you have been one of the victims who were told a specific granite property, thus decided upon the information not to get yourself a granite worktop, you are reading just the right article. In this article, I have collected all the granite myths and their correction for you to check on granite's both pros and cons then decide whether to have a granite top or not.
Granite myths
1) Granite worktops are absorbent.
How much are plastic surfaces absorbent? Well, granite work tops are less absorbent than plastic. On the contrary, granite is known for its impenetrable to water property, thus, very safe to have granite around water works.
2) Granite worktops lose their shine and polish over the years
Try scratching granite and you will figure out the answer yourself. Since granite is not easily scratched, it does not lose its shine or polish even after years of heavy use. In fact, this is true concerning marble worktops and that is why we do not suggest marble in worktops.
3) Granite is affected by heat.
Granite is actually formed from the eruption of volcanoes, does that sound like they can be affected by little heat? Absolutely hoax. Granite worktops are heat resistant and the only thing you should take care of when putting a hot pot out of the oven on your worktop, is make sure you do not touch that same granite spot and burn your hand.
4) Granite can be stained permanently.
Since granite is a stone and we mentioned that it is impermeable, claiming that a granite worktop can be stained permanently pretty much does not make sense. Although you can spot wine and oil stains on your granite worktop, it can easily be removed using a granite special paste/cleaner that draws out the oil.
These are only a few of the granite myths that have spread over the years and probably caused some people to fear of installing a granite worktop. Yet, I advise that if you ever had a question concerning granite, ask the experts in our company and I am sure they will have a lot of useful information to tell you. Don't forget to follow our next blog to know the rest of the granite myths.
Unfortunately, this kind of misleading and false information always spread with a speed faster than the speed of light! Even basic topics like granite properties did not survive the incorrect information attitude. I have no idea why some people decide to claim false information about the properties of granite while some others decide that they should believe it, share it and spread it everywhere without even inspecting if they were correct. However, if you have been one of the victims who were told a specific granite property, thus decided upon the information not to get yourself a granite worktop, you are reading just the right article. In this article, I have collected all the granite myths and their correction for you to check on granite's both pros and cons then decide whether to have a granite top or not.
Granite myths
1) Granite worktops are absorbent.
How much are plastic surfaces absorbent? Well, granite work tops are less absorbent than plastic. On the contrary, granite is known for its impenetrable to water property, thus, very safe to have granite around water works.
2) Granite worktops lose their shine and polish over the years
Try scratching granite and you will figure out the answer yourself. Since granite is not easily scratched, it does not lose its shine or polish even after years of heavy use. In fact, this is true concerning marble worktops and that is why we do not suggest marble in worktops.
3) Granite is affected by heat.
Granite is actually formed from the eruption of volcanoes, does that sound like they can be affected by little heat? Absolutely hoax. Granite worktops are heat resistant and the only thing you should take care of when putting a hot pot out of the oven on your worktop, is make sure you do not touch that same granite spot and burn your hand.
4) Granite can be stained permanently.
Since granite is a stone and we mentioned that it is impermeable, claiming that a granite worktop can be stained permanently pretty much does not make sense. Although you can spot wine and oil stains on your granite worktop, it can easily be removed using a granite special paste/cleaner that draws out the oil.
These are only a few of the granite myths that have spread over the years and probably caused some people to fear of installing a granite worktop. Yet, I advise that if you ever had a question concerning granite, ask the experts in our company and I am sure they will have a lot of useful information to tell you. Don't forget to follow our next blog to know the rest of the granite myths.
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