Checklists for home building
Having a home building checklist can help you ensure that you stay on track during both the planning stage and the construction stage for your new home. Here is just a sample checklist that will help you ensure that all of the necessary information and details are planned into your contract for your home construction. Also, this home building checklist or another like it will help you know what you need to look for when you are inspecting the construction progress of your new home. There are numerous checklists that you can draw up when you are planning your new home, constructing your new home, and decorating your new home. This particular checklist for home building is meant to be primarily a guideline for home building checklists.
Sample checklist for new home building
1. Look at the foundation footings: are the footings continuous under all of the walls of the foundation? Do the footings have two steel bars?
2. Look at the foundation: is the foundation square and plumb? What about the code requirements: are the foundation walls thick enough in terms of backfill height? Double check with your local zoning and building codes.
3. Look at the foundation drain tile: is there a 4 inch perforated drain tile? Does your lot have slope? Will the water flow away from the foundation? Are there two to three feet of washed gravel over the drain tile? Is there straw or felt paper covering the gravel before the backfill dirt is placed?
4. Before concrete slabs are poured, has termine control been performed? Has all lumber been appropriately treated with terminte-repelling borate chemicals?
5. Vapor barriers: is there a plastic vapor barrier present underneath every single basement and garage slabs, along with crawl spaces?
6. If you have a septic system, is the septic tank the correct size? What are the local code requirements for the leach liens? Are the leach lines placed appropriately? Do you have a map of the leach field so that all distribution boxes and distribution lines can be located easily?
7. Concrete slabs: are all of the exterior concrete slabs self draining? Ensure that all control joints and contraction joints are saw cut to a minimum of 1/4th of the thickness of the slab.
8. Are your staircases at least 36 inches wide? Ensure that all of the riser heights are the same height. Double check code requirements to ensure that your staircases meet the local code requirements.
9. If there are trenches that either cross paved areas or pass under paved areas, check to ensure that they are filled with self-compacting gravel.
10. Before the roof is shingled, is felt paper placed on the roof? You need the felt paper to ensure that you meet fire classification standards
11. Check the wall water barrier. You need to have felt paper or air/water infiltration barriers on exterior walls, or some other way to prevent wood rotting.
12. If you have brick on your home, ensure that there are flashing in place at the base of all walls and above and below all of your windows and your doors. Also check to ensure that weep holes are either 24 inches or 32 inches on center. Finally, double check to ensure that there is fabric behind the first four courses of your brick in order to keep the path to weep holes open.
13. If you have skylights, ensure that there are pre-engineered flashings to prevent any leaks.
14. Check your furnance and your air conditioner. Are the supply ducts the proper size to minimize any drop in static pressure? Has there been a heat gain/heat loss calculation performed in order to ensure that you are installing the right size of equipment? Look carefully at the calculations.
15. Look at your water heater. Is it the right size for how many people will be living in the home? Is there are an expansion tank that will go along with the heater?
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