ᐅ Traveling During the Construction Phase?

Yaso2.0 schrieb:

I think very few people can afford such luxury.

That’s probably true. I have already factored in the loss of income.

Yaso2.0 schrieb:

But when (at which stage of construction) does taking care of the wellbeing of the tradespeople start?

As soon as tradespeople are on site, it’s important to look after them. If they enjoy coming to the building site and don’t have to worry about making mistakes, they will work much better and try less to hide improvised solutions. Supervision is one thing, motivation is another. As a layperson, you won’t really have control, but motivation is something you can manage.

Yaso2.0 schrieb:

Do I really have to be on site while the excavator does the groundwork and the civil engineering work is going on?

If you have a very simple plot, it’s not too big of an issue – the foundation slab and the installation of utilities are, as mentioned earlier, critically important.

I don’t consider skipping a vacation a significant investment in your own build. Of course, everyone will see that differently.

We will be traveling right after the civil engineering work and hopefully be back in about two weeks when the actual shell construction really begins...

Unfortunately, everything has been delayed on our end, so the construction now coincides with our planned vacation.

However, the shell builder will most likely only "set up the crane," "install the batter boards," and maybe start the first steps of the basement shell—if even that 😀

It was important to us not to miss a single step of the process, but I think that’s really up to each person, and no one can really answer that question for you.

We also have parents nearby who can check in from time to time—plus we have complete trust in our construction manager, so I think it’s fine to take a one- or two-week vacation.

What I do find surprising, and definitely don’t intend to do myself: I keep hearing that some people stop working earlier, get up early, and put in a lot of effort at home to bring the construction workers food and drinks almost every day? I think that’s completely exaggerated... Sure, bringing the occasional non-alcoholic beer or some pretzels/trucks driving by is fine... But I definitely won’t be constantly catering to the construction workers. Why would I? None of my clients provide me with food here in the office 😀 — just wanted to point that out... It even sounds like some people don’t take vacation except for that reason.

exto1791 schrieb:

But I definitely don’t constantly provide meals for the construction workers. Why would I? None of my clients here in the office provide me with food either 😀 – Just wanted to point that out...

If you reduce your involvement to just providing food, I agree with you. Showing appreciation is important – and placing enough water, occasionally offering fruit, or ordering a pizza after completing a milestone are just some ways to do that. Showing interest, saying thank you, giving praise (and there are plenty of opportunities for that), and offering immediate, constructive feedback – those are what matter for a good outcome.
What this has to do with your job and why you think you shouldn’t treat others better or by your standards than you yourself are treated at work is unclear to me. If you make that comparison – how much better would many things be at work if there was more appreciation? Who feels comfortable working only for money? Don’t purpose and appreciation play a role in your job as well?

hampshire schrieb:

If you reduce your involvement to just providing food, I agree with you. Appreciation feels good – and offering enough water, occasional fruit, or ordering pizza after completing a milestone is just one way to show it. Showing interest, saying thank you, giving praise (and there are plenty of opportunities for that), providing immediate and constructive criticism – that is important for a good outcome.
What this has to do with your job and why you believe you should not treat other people better or by your standards than you are treated in your own job is unclear to me. If you make this comparison at all – how much better would many things run at work if there was more appreciation? Who feels comfortable working just for the money? Don’t meaning and appreciation play a role in your job?

Then you definitely misunderstood me. I will definitely visit the construction site every day, talk to the workers, and give praise/criticism – show interest and so on...
This is one of the most important parts of the job and unfortunately it is often neglected, as you already mentioned!

I just wanted to point out that it is not necessary to bring a cake to the site every day and spoil the construction workers to that extent – I have no idea where this idea comes from nowadays in this industry? At least in our area, this is never expected or anything like that – praise/thanks, etc., and occasionally bringing little things is completely fine.

But I have also seen a neighbor who supplied the construction workers every morning with fresh pretzels (probably why he never went on vacation 😀) – in my opinion, that simply isn’t necessary 😀 – of course, if someone wants to do it, go for it – but I don’t know any job sector where that is standard practice.

PS: Yes, of course I referred only to the catering! I wrote it that way! So it has nothing to do with praise/criticism/meaningfulness or appreciation...

FloHB123 schrieb:

You probably won’t get a representative opinion on this topic here in the forum. It’s mostly frequented by people who are very interested in homebuilding and who have read up on the individual trades involved in building their own house, in order to identify mistakes early on.

Yes, only the original poster belongs to that group 😀

exto1791 schrieb:

At least in our area, this is never required or anything like that – compliments/thanks and occasionally bringing small gifts is perfectly fine.

No one is talking about expecting anything.

Yaso2.0 schrieb:

The period would be late July to mid-August. Possible construction start could be late June.

Yaso2.0 schrieb:

The earthworks are scheduled to start in calendar week 25 and then the foundation slab will follow. The bricklayers are planned for calendar week 33. By then, we will already be back.

Yes, it’s up to you how you evaluate the homebuilding process or the progress. I sent a colleague out for the first excavator because I wasn’t there. The first masonry work on the foundation slab, formwork, etc., was quite interesting. And then the slab curing… nobody else does that. Then the first course of blocks. So, I was always excited whenever our concrete or bricks were delivered. The cornerstone Euro coin is buried too… we only don’t have a capsule.

Acof1978 schrieb:

I think the foundation slab is hugely underestimated.

I agree.

haydee schrieb:

Personally, I learned a lot. Especially the foreman during the earth and concrete works explained a lot to me. Of course, not everything goes perfectly and mistakes happen. Neither I, nor my husband, the site manager, nor the foreman noticed that a terrace foundation was missing on the slope.

Same here. He offered to still change this and that, e.g., parapet or passage, because he was more familiar with a more conservative construction method.

It’s really interesting to read about how construction progresses for others. Here in the city, I think people would start looking at you strangely if you showed up on the construction site with food—especially twice a day (!)—that’s not expected at all. We usually went once a week, mostly on weekends, and took our time to observe everything. Not so much for supervision, but more out of curiosity to see how the building was developing. During the shell construction phase, we only met our site manager once by appointment to discuss something. The construction workers just greeted us briefly and then got back to work, so I believe our daily presence would have really annoyed them. Personally, I don’t like it when someone constantly watches over my shoulder while I’m working, so we applied the same approach with the workers and it worked well. So, from our experience: during the shell construction, owners are generally unnecessary for the workers. Later on, when it comes to laying tiles and flooring, questions about electrical installations or painting, it’s definitely different—you become more involved and truly “needed.”

Since your site manager also told you that it’s okay to take a trip, I would definitely recommend doing so. You can tell that you’re really in need of a break, and honestly, after Covid, we all are. Everyone wants to get away for a while, and for a child, construction is much less exciting anyway. After recent months, a vacation is a great idea for your family. No shell construction in the world is completed within two weeks, so just take that time to relax. Inform your construction company that you’ll be reachable by email and phone for invoices and questions, and if you even have an independent expert who can visit the site in your absence, nothing can go wrong.