Finalizing Construction Plans

We’d been tweaking our construction plans periodically to this point and now it was time to give them the stamp of approval. Once you have finalized plans, you can get bids from building contractors. After deciding which contractor you’re going with, you can submit your plans to the bank for approval and final underwriting.

Reviewing specs and signing the construction contract with Daron

Daron with Bridgewater Construction had helped us put our plans together and had come highly recommended. He was always on schedule and never pushy. I would always recommend getting bids for construction, but in this case I knew Daron personally and knew we were getting good value. Also, when getting bids ALWAYS make sure to get detailed Features and Specifications for your build. This is a list of everything the builder will be providing right down to the type of window trim and paint. With construction plans and Features and Specifications, you’ll be able to get an apples-to-apples price quote from different builders. It also insures that you don’t get a cut-rate bid where the builder sacrifices material quality in order to make money or charges you later in the process for upgrades.

We had one final look at the floor, elevation, site and electrical plans and signed off on them. We also signed a construction contract which provides certain particulars that are required by a lender, as well as signing a copy of the Features and Specifications. We forwarded a copy of all these with a formal loan application to the bank for approval and crossed our fingers!

UPDATE: Here are the plans for our elevation.