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Realizing it's become a clich?to emphasize the need for team-building spirit during planning, organizing, and controlling a home building or remodeling project, we're very hesitant to pounce on this idea without first bringing to your attention how this spirit has been put to use during the most extreme circumstances. Before you do any project planning, please "think outside the box?by getting a copy of Caroline Alexander's Endurance and Margot Morrell's Shackleton's Way then return to your endeavor with renewed hope, vigor, and team-building spirit.

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TWO YEARS PRIOR TO BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATION:

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1. Consider your capabilities and define your anticipated level of involvement in the project. Begin to appreciate the difference between "Office?and "Field?management because the information base for "head?knowledge and "hand?knowledge are both necessary to your project's success. Consider what professional services may be required for your project. Utilize the community of Design-Build professionals through a team-building effort so decisions can be made collaboratively. Pay close attention to the ideas presented by Koberg and Bagnall in The All New Universal Traveler.

2. Begin an initial study of ALL project costs as an exercise in project feasibility. Contact a "friendly" construction lender to discuss financing of your project, inquiring whether you may act as an Owner-Builder vs. working with a General Contractor. Create a written statement of your overall budgetary objective. This statement will describe the purpose of your endeavor by defining your values and concerns, and balance your ideas with fiscal responsibility. Identify your cost range: economy, modest, custom, or luxury. Don't forget to pre-qualify for a loan, which should be a free service with the lender. Spend some time with Householder's Estimating for Home Builders.

3. Create a reasonable project timeline for all Design-Build events so you begin to distinguish when your project will actually be completed from when you'd like it to be completed including ample time for the entire Design-Build process from inception of the first schema to the final punch list. Refer to Petrucci's Residential Contracting. This is a means to be realistic about your current commitments before embarking on your home building or remodeling project!

4. Before you purchase a lot, be certain it's buildable to your satisfaction. This means a lot where development is economically feasible. Contact a "friendly" real estate agent to discuss city or county requirements for issuance of a building permit. If you own a lot that's buildable, collect existing site documentation so you don't repeat what's been previously accomplished and officially recorded by others with public agencies governing your site's location. Get an official copy of your site map with tax parcel number and legal description. Take a look at Johnson's Residential Land Development Practices.

5. Define how you intend to live and characterize the best place in which to do it. Before you do any final Drawings of your site or floor plans, render a graphic, rough sketch depicting three basic questions: How will I approach the house? How will I arrange the living spaces? How will interior/exterior relate to one another? Consider whether your project will require the services of an Architect, Designer, or Stock Plan Service. Take a serious look at Connell's Homing Instinct. Interview "friendly?Architects or designers who are familiar with doing a project similar to yours, asking how best you might work together.

6. Decide how you intend to record information related to project management. Either "paper & pencil" technique or use of computer software will be effective. If you want to use software, purchase a professional software tool like "EZHOMEBUILD" from Home Construction Consulting, which will provide an electronic means to organize and manage information for your project. However, it must be emphasized that homes have been constructed and remodeled for centuries prior to the advent of the computer, so traditional paper and pencil techniques are reliable, just not as efficient. Either way, concentrate on the primary goal of project management: to create a home style that meets the needs of your family's lifestyle. Checkout Case's Design/Build for Remodelers, Custom Builders, and Architects. To augment doing your mathematical calculations, purchase a hand-held calculator like the "Construction Master IV" from Calculated Industries.

7. Create a "Cardboard Box File?by purchasing a cardboard "banker's box?approximately 12"x16? Place 50, letter-size, hanging files into the banker's box. Insert 50, 1/3-cut file folders inside the hanging files. Label the tabs according to each phase of the building process-there'll be extra files and you'll definitely use them! Become accustom to filing information as you develop your project. Review Hrin's Daily Field Guide: A Logbook for Home Builders.

8. Create a "Storyboard" on a wall in a designated area of your home office to act as a Design-Build collage. Dedicate one half for exterior ideas and the other half for interior ideas. Hang pictures, colors, samples, sketches, et cetera on the wall so you begin to visualize the entire ensemble of patterns and textures for your homestyle. Read Susanka's Creating the Not So Big House and Tolpin's The New Family Home.

"Down Home with Tom Landis" Streaming Audio

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DOWN HOME RADIO EXCLUSIVE "Home By Design" with Guest Sarah Susanka

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Tom interviews Sarah Susanka, author of Home By Design: Transforming Your House Into a Home. This is the book that Ms. Susanka has always wanted to write. A guide to what underlies style, and an exploration of the principles that transform an ordinary house into home. Susanka's philosophy is simple: good architectural design is as important as good nutrition, and a savvy understanding of your surroundings lets you craft a better place to live.

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