The Step by Step Guide to the Residential Building Process

A house is not a home, especially if no one lives in it. Well, a house is so much more than just four walls and a roof too! But, how exactly do you build a house that you could finally call your home? Well, here's a simple step-by-step guide to the standard residential building process. 

1st Step: Excavation, Foundations, Basements and Cellars

To make this simple yet somehow informative residential building guide, we asked for help from a few of the best residential builders in the field today. For the first few steps, it should be time to hire some heavy movers to join in and shape the landscape of your new home.

First footings are placed, which look like guide rails for the house's floor plan. Next, concrete is poured into a mould within the cleared area inside the footings, and then holes are knocked through the concrete for use with power lines and other utilities.

The home's foundation should be based on the Building Code of Australia, as they not only serve as the base of the house, but they stop warping and expansion too. These are also required to be designed by a licensed structural engineer, and must have the required ventilation, waterproofing and termite protection.

For constructing cellars or basements, since building them occurs beneath the water table, a series of pumps are used to continually drain water to the surface while construction is ongoing. Now should also be the best time to acquire a utility line for any installation you require – Wether it's power, water, gas, Internet and so on. The good thing is that your contractor or home builder could do this for you!

2nd Step: Framing, Slats and Sheets and Interiors

If the footings and foundations are the house's horizontal guide plan, the frames are the guide for the home's vertical building plan. The framing refers to the the skeletal timber skeletons and outlines that are built by carpenters. The framing also begins laying the flooring, doors, windows and roof.

A professional carpenter or contractor could help you with  the process of framing and building the home's interior. Although walls will still not be built during this stage, the homeowner will be able to walk around and get a feel of the home's interiors.

For the roof framing, the standard timber work for roof slating is erected, and the process of waterproofing it starts at substrate level. For slats and sheathes, the carpenter or contractor will install the windows and doors. Once the doors and windows are installed, sealed and completed, the house should now be wind and weather-proof, and ready for constructing the interiors.

3rd Step: Interior utilities, Insulation, Lines and Piping   

For this stage, your contractor should have their checklist ready for the permanent electrical fixtures, phone lines, TV lines, Internet wiring, sewage and plumbing and security systems. After a thorough safety inspection, your home will be ready for setting these up.

For the insulation, insulation baths are to be installed between the wall framing before the installation of any drywall or plasterboard. For the presentational interior, the plasterboard is attached directly on to the timber or wooden framework, and the plasterboard is ready to be primed for painting.

After the installation of cabinets, permanent utilities and work surfaces, your professional builder should now work with a plumber and electrician to instal the final utilities, to finally make your home a truly livable one!