Bird's-Eye View: The Science Behind Construction And Contracting

If you want to ensure that your new home is built quickly and efficiently, it's important to be aware of the things that could potentially extend the length of the building process. Continue reading to find out what these things are.

1. Using rare materials

Including rare materials (such as for example, antique tiles with a specific pattern) can make an otherwise generic-looking building look far more visually interesting and aesthetically pleasing. However, if you are eager to have your new home built quickly so that you can move into it as soon as possible, it is best not to ask your building to use lots of rare materials. The reason for this is as follows: sourcing unusual materials, which cannot be picked up at a local hardware chain or purchased in an online shop, can take quite a bit of time.

If for example, you want to use a specific type of antique tile, as mentioned above, you and your contractor may have to spend quite a while scouring online auction sites and visiting antique stores. This could easily add weeks to the length of your project and could potentially result in other related construction work not being completed on time (for instance, if the tiles are needed for your new home's bathroom, your contractor may not be able to install the shower cubicle until the tiles have been purchased and laid). As such, it is best to keep the number of rare, hard-to-find materials you use during the construction process to a minimum.

2. Arranging for the construction work to be done in the middle of summer or winter

New homes that are built during the middle of the summer or winter months can take longer to build than those built during other times of the year. The reason for this is as follows; these periods of the year are the times when extreme weather conditions are most likely to occur, and unfortunately, severe weather can have a serious impact on the speed with which a contractor and their team is able to construct a house.

A heatwave, for example, can make it harder for labourers to work outdoors for long periods of time, as doing so can put them at risk of heatstroke. As such, if your new home is built during the summer when a heatwave is occurring, your team may only be able to work early in the morning and later in the afternoon, when the temperatures are not dangerously high. Similarly, if your new home is built in the middle of the winter when it is very windy, cold and is raining heavily, it might not be safe for the labourers to work on scaffolding (as the wind could knock them off it) or use excavators to dig the trench for your house's foundation (as the wet soil may be dangerously unstable).

Given this, it is best to avoid having your home built during the middle of the summer or winter.