Self-build diary of a private house

The desires of the family building the home should, with the help of architectural mediation, converge between what is desired and what is possible in terms of the authorities, as mentioned above, and what is available in terms of budget. At this stage, I think it would be advisable to also involve Financial advisor / Financial advisor / Mortgage advisor to get an idea of the construction budget. In my experience, many people think of a certain budget, but in reality their budget is much lower. People think, for example, about how much money the bank can approve for them and not about how much money they can actually afford to repay each month based on their financial behavior.

The architect's choice consists of three components:

1. Price - The easiest to compare and, in my opinion (within reason), the least significant.
2. Professionalism - Experience, personal chemistry, etc.'
3. Scope of work This section is the trickiest of all. Let's say we have two architects in front of us with similar abilities and prices. Ostensibly, we could flip a coin. It doesn't matter who we choose. In practice, this is not the case. Each architect defines the boundaries of their work differently. It might be that one architect defines their work as designing the house and accompanying the permit application until it's received. A second architect will visit the construction site a few times during construction to ensure things are proceeding according to the plan, and a third architect includes in their work the design of cabinets, other carpentry work, the placement of electrical outlets, lighting, and generally the interior design of the house. Clearly, the architect who includes interior design for the same price is actually much cheaper because if we chose the first architect, we would have to pay for interior design after construction or forgo a professional designer.

We have chosen Keren Shoham and Hamutal Sadot, who are partners, as the architects for the project. Onyx and fields Facts in the framework of a drawing (a sketch in a simple language) from paper to the delivery of the house, including cabinets, light fixtures, and infrastructure for landscaping (outdoor irrigation and lighting accessories). It is advisable to check in advance whether the planning cost includes all professionals related to the planning or if, in addition to the payment to the architect, you will also pay separately for the engineer. Regarding the division of labor between the engineer and the architect: the architect draws the house, and the engineer determines the construction materials (number of columns, amount of rebar, etc.) needed to prevent the house from collapsing on its inhabitants.

Working with the architects

Planners need to have a good understanding of the family that will live in the house, their preferences, desires, and lifestyle. For example, some people primarily buy prepared meals and cook little. These people will need a smaller kitchen than people for whom cooking is part of their family hobby. Those who really love to cook will also need a larger pantry. Those who want to cook with separation of meat and dairy will need more storage for dishes. Some people prefer a large garden, others prefer a large house. Do they prefer to eat in front of the television, or is there no television in the house at all? And so on. In our case, the details went as far as toilet usage habits, but I will leave those details to you and your architect. I recommend that at least some of the meetings with the house planners be held in your current home, while you describe what you like about it and what you think could have been done better. We had an advantage in this case because Keren, one of the architects, is part of the family and therefore has known us for a long time.

Although the architect can do the planning work solely on the computer after receiving the plot plan, I believe there is a significant advantage in the architect visiting the site itself. There can be landscape considerations. There can be light, shadow, and radiation considerations that affect both the placement of windows and the placement of lighting inside the house. If you've played The Sims, you know what I'm talking about. Upon completion of the house planning stage, architects handle the building permit process, which is a bureaucratic process involving several governing authorities: The Israel Land Authority, Home Front Command, the Antiquities Authority, and the regional/local council/municipality. Consequently, it is tedious, inefficient, and annoying. This process has a significant impact on apartment prices in Israel in general, but that's for another time.

In parallel with the building permit application process and any necessary changes to the plans, the architectural assistants work on the bill of quantities. I highly recommend giving the plans to other people you know who have the ability to understand them. Sometimes a small comment, such as about the size of the kitchen or the location of the guest bathroom, can significantly impact living in the house.

Quantity writer

When I want to make lentil soup, I start by looking for a recipe online. The recipe begins with a list of the necessary ingredients: 3 cloves of garlic, a medium onion, a carrot, half a teaspoon of salt, a pinch of pepper, a cup of lentils, 4 cups of water, and a pot. Building a house is a bit more complicated than making lentil soup, but it also starts with a list of products that will be needed for construction. Unlike lentil soup, where the work itself is not part of the shopping list and is provided for free, in construction, a large part of the grocery list is the labor of the various professionals. Perhaps a good analogy for this is a bill for car maintenance at a garage, where you see costs for materials (oil), products (brake pads), and labor.