Hello everyone,
According to our site manager, the groundwork at our site could start in three weeks.
We haven’t booked any vacation yet, but we would like to travel for three weeks at the end of July.
Were any of you on vacation during the construction phase, or is there a specific period or stage when one should definitely be present?
Or can we just go away without any worries?
I asked the site manager, and he just said, “go ahead” 🙂
How did you handle this?
According to our site manager, the groundwork at our site could start in three weeks.
We haven’t booked any vacation yet, but we would like to travel for three weeks at the end of July.
Were any of you on vacation during the construction phase, or is there a specific period or stage when one should definitely be present?
Or can we just go away without any worries?
I asked the site manager, and he just said, “go ahead” 🙂
How did you handle this?
Here in the forum, you probably won’t get a representative opinion on this topic. Most of the participants are people who are very interested in the subject of house building and who have educated themselves about the various trades involved in their own projects to spot mistakes early on.
However, if you live farther away, have a family, and work full time, it’s simply not possible to be on the construction site every day and, ideally, also provide meals for the workers.
If you’re away for three weeks, you probably have someone who can empty your mailbox and water the plants. You could ask that person to open certain mail and send you photos. Regarding invoices: apart from the fact that payments can also be handled while on vacation, you could contact the general contractor before your trip and ask if anything might come up in the next few weeks that would require a quick response from you.
However, if you live farther away, have a family, and work full time, it’s simply not possible to be on the construction site every day and, ideally, also provide meals for the workers.
Yaso2.0 schrieb:
I wouldn’t mind the follow-up questions, but the objection regarding written communication and the invoices that have to be paid is absolutely valid, and I have completely ignored it so far!
If you’re away for three weeks, you probably have someone who can empty your mailbox and water the plants. You could ask that person to open certain mail and send you photos. Regarding invoices: apart from the fact that payments can also be handled while on vacation, you could contact the general contractor before your trip and ask if anything might come up in the next few weeks that would require a quick response from you.
As a builder, I believe you should be present on site from the very beginning. Even during the less pleasant phases, there are occasionally things that need to be clarified.
A tip from our expert:
“Visit the site every day, even if you don’t know much. Call me if you notice anything concerning. Gut feeling is often right.”
The time between pouring the foundation slab and setting up the house was ideal. Not much happened during that period.
A friend maybe stopped by the construction site once a week. The house is fine.
Personally, I learned a lot. Especially the site supervisor during the earthworks and concrete works explained a lot to me. Of course, not everything goes perfectly, and mistakes happen. Neither I, nor my husband, nor the construction manager, nor the supervisor noticed that a terrace foundation was missing on the slope. In hindsight, that was good because I ended up scrapping the original plan.
There are many small details that come up with thoughtful workers — even during earthworks. For example, in our case: “You still want a water connection in the garden, right? Should I leave the pipe longer in case you want it further back? You’re not the first to complain about missing meters. You can always cut it later.” Thanks, yes.
Or: “Do you want to drain the terrace? It currently just drains on-site? I can do it right now…”
No one picks up the phone for this; these things are settled over a cup of coffee or an after-work beer.
A tip from our expert:
“Visit the site every day, even if you don’t know much. Call me if you notice anything concerning. Gut feeling is often right.”
The time between pouring the foundation slab and setting up the house was ideal. Not much happened during that period.
A friend maybe stopped by the construction site once a week. The house is fine.
Personally, I learned a lot. Especially the site supervisor during the earthworks and concrete works explained a lot to me. Of course, not everything goes perfectly, and mistakes happen. Neither I, nor my husband, nor the construction manager, nor the supervisor noticed that a terrace foundation was missing on the slope. In hindsight, that was good because I ended up scrapping the original plan.
There are many small details that come up with thoughtful workers — even during earthworks. For example, in our case: “You still want a water connection in the garden, right? Should I leave the pipe longer in case you want it further back? You’re not the first to complain about missing meters. You can always cut it later.” Thanks, yes.
Or: “Do you want to drain the terrace? It currently just drains on-site? I can do it right now…”
No one picks up the phone for this; these things are settled over a cup of coffee or an after-work beer.
FloHB123 schrieb:
You probably won’t get a representative opinion on this topic here in the forum. Most participants are people who are very interested in home construction and have researched the various trades involved in their own projects to identify mistakes early on.
However, if someone lives further away, has a family, and works full time, it’s practically impossible to be on site every day and also take care of the contractors.
It is possible with both full-time work and family. Usually, someone was on site by 6 a.m., and the day often ended around 6 or 7 p.m. Coffee and initial discussions happened before work started; food was delivered by the butcher and billed to me. At the bakery, there was a list that I paid on the weekend. Drinks were always available. Surprisingly, the overall cost was quite low.
haydee schrieb:
Surprisingly little was consumed.Our masons fueled themselves exclusively with Eastern European dance music and their own energy drinks. They left all the coffee, water, cakes, and other beverages we provided untouched.
Schimi17919 Jun 2021 10:59kati1337 schrieb:
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I still wanted to be on-site from time to time to check things and take photos. Building a house is quite an adventure, and I wanted to miss as little as possible.
...You usually don’t like to leave your own child with other people for extended periods. You want to see it grow. I see it similarly with a house that’s being built 🙂Similar topics