You have found your ideal lot, done your research and selected your Builder, designed your home, signed a contract and secured your financing. Nice work! Now you and your builder are ready to start digging. But wait! Before your builder starts to excavate your lot and start your basement, you have a few things to consider and some decisions to make.
First and foremost, you need to decide how the house will be placed on the lot. Are you going to center it left to right? How far are you going to set it back from the curb? Some of these items should have been discussed during the planning process, but you need to go over it one last time. Remember – once you pour the footer, you’re stuck!
Have your builder do a rough shake “layout” of the home on the lot the way you had previously discussed in the planning process. Now think about how the house will look from the street. Does it need to be moved back a little so the grade of the driveway is not as steep?, etc. Also, new homes may have been built on either side of your lot and this may affect how you set the house left to right. Once you agree, the builder will have it staked properly for the excavation crew. Remember – we discussed before, placement of your home on your lot is very important to achieve your needs and desires.
These initial steps can make all the difference in the success of your excavation project, but they’re not the only things you need to take into consideration! Be sure to check out our next article for other important factors to consider in digging your basement.