ᐅ Approach – Preliminary Work and Preparations During the Pre-Construction Phase

Hello everyone,

Our construction project will start around mid-June with the earthworks. The building permit / planning permission and applications for utility connections and temporary construction power have been submitted, and the first trades (earthworks and masonry) have been confirmed. The surveyor still needs to be commissioned for rough and fine staking. That’s the current status. The site toilet (a friend is building next door) is in place.

Since there is still some time until mid-June, we would like to use it to take care of preparations and preliminary work for the construction phase now, to avoid extra effort and stress later on.

For example, I was thinking about getting kitchen quotes and choosing flooring, tiles, and sanitary fixtures now, so that these don’t require much coordination later.

Do you think this makes sense, or is it a completely wrong approach?

What other preparatory tasks come to your mind that could be done now?

Good luck

HansDampf88 schrieb:

For example, I was thinking about getting quotes for a kitchen and selecting floors, tiles, and sanitary fixtures early on, so there wouldn’t be a lot of coordination needed later.

Does that make sense from your perspective, or is it the completely wrong approach?

We did the same: planned and ordered the kitchen, chose sanitary fixtures and flooring. We wanted to use the time without pressure to focus on each item carefully, without having a thousand other things on our minds at the same time.

We did it the same way.
Kitchen, sanitary fixtures, flooring, and thoughts on interior design.
We also reviewed the electrical planning several times for ceiling outlets, sockets, etc.
But of course, that depends on whether everything is already firmly planned on your side.

Additionally, we planted trees, installed bat boxes, and planned the garden.

HansDampf88 schrieb:

We would like to use this time to already make preparations and preliminary work for the construction phase, which would otherwise cause additional effort and stress later on.

At least I would start planning the kitchen right away, so that small changes can still be made if needed (for example, moving a door or shifting a wall by a few centimeters (inches), etc.).

We also wanted to select sanitary fixtures and tiles, but they thought it was too early for that. The tile supplier told us that around the turn of the year there is usually a collection change for tiles, and there is a risk that the chosen tile might no longer be available or that you might change your mind about it.

In the end, we were still early and visited the supplier several times. Maybe it’s just us, but after a few months I simply forgot what we had chosen, and in the photos it didn’t look as nice as it did in person.

What I would do differently next time is to visit for sampling again beforehand, but not “officially” to make decisions. Instead, first just look around, have everything explained, and maybe do some more research on your own later. Then visit again just to look, and only on the third visit, if you still like your selections, place the order.

HansDampf88 schrieb:

For example, I was thinking about getting quotes for a kitchen and selecting flooring, tiles, and sanitary fixtures early on, so you don’t have a lot of coordination work later.

That’s definitely not a bad idea since you usually need multiple rounds of meetings and considerations for that. We’re currently working on the kitchen, and it’s taking some time.
We haven’t done any selections yet, but I’ve already spent quite a bit of time focusing on the garden. My preferred garden shed has a delivery time of several months, and it wasn’t easy to find kits for both the garden shed and carport that can support a tiled roof. I plan to assemble the garden shed sometime in the summer, so we’ll have some storage space before moving in. With things like that, you also need to keep in mind that it shouldn’t be placed where contractors still need access.

Great, then my thoughts weren’t too far off after all.

Are there any other things you would have taken care of beforehand if you had more time before the construction started?