Urban Modern Project: Starting New Build Construction

We are diving into the second phase of this new build project in Austin, Texas! Starting construction is always exciting because it’s the official start of the project coming to life.  We have usually spent several weeks, if not months, designing, curating, editing and drawing out all of our ideas.  Our goal is to complete the design phase before construction even begins. We want to get accurate bids back from the contractor and plan timelines. Understanding the timelines of all of the materials we have selected helps ordering on time so we avoid any delays. 

Designing during construction is messy and costs more money because it typically means that more changes are happening.  Every change that happens during construction costs money and time so it’s something we prefer to avoid.  As designers, we produce floor plans, elevations, sections and details of anything going into the home or building. We have to clearly communicate all of the designs to the contractor and their subs so that everyone understands the design intent. They are responsible to executing the vision so our final design package is very important to the build process.

For this project, we were excited to get started! We had spent several months planning, designing and finally pulling permits to get construction started. This is a short summary of the process in getting started in construction. Take a peek at our first post where we went through the conceptual phase here!

Interior Design Selection Boards

Part of the interior design process is to create selection boards for all of the main spaces. These boards are a visual summary of all of the final selections for any project-new build, remodel, furniture packages. These are instrumental in communicating the vision for each space to everyone involved in the project.

Lot Prep

When you decide to build new, you look for land (an empty lot) or find a lot with an existing house on it that will get demoed.  Depending on the condition of the existing home, you may decide to opt for a remodel instead where you can take it down to the studs and start over. Both are significant investments and hiring professionals is essential to a successful outcome.  Starting off with an empty lot is great so that you can just get started. Other times you might have to treat the soil so that it’s suitable to build on or clear trees before starting the build.

This particular lot had already been cleared so there was no need to worry about a house demo as the previous owner had already done it.  There were only a couple of trees that were not in good condition on the lot that ended up getting removed. 

Site Work

There are several steps that happen before actually pouring the foundation. Once the ground is treated and ready to go, you start with the dirt work and placing the outer form boards of your foundation. These are temporary boards used to outline the shape of the foundation and keep the concrete in place when it’s poured. After the dirt work is done and the form boards are in place, plumbers place sewer lines and pipes for sinks, showers, tubs, and toilets.

Based on the results of your soil analysis, engineers will design the exact depth, width, and spacing of the grade beams within your foundation. These beams are designed to distribute the load of your entire home over the soil underneath. Your post-tension cables running throughout, once tightened, take advantage of the compression strength of concrete partnered with the tensile strength of steel. You will also have a plastic lining, which acts as a vapor barrier, that is placed on top of the fill. This vapor barrier serves as a way of protecting your foundation from moisture accumulation in the soil underneath your home. Not only does the vapor barrier protect the integrity of your foundation, it also prevents moisture from affecting your flooring.

Concrete Pour

Now we are ready to pour the foundation! This process is really interesting to watch if you ever get the chance to and it happens fairly quickly.  The concrete trucks line up and start pouring all of the mix into the cavity of the house.  Once the concrete has been poured, guys are there ready to create a smooth and flat surface by using a long 2×4.  Once concrete has cured, the form boards are removed.

Framing

Framing is the next visual marker in a new build as we get to see the exterior envelope take shape. The 2D drawings jump off of the pages and into reality.  You finally get a real sense of the scale and volume of each space.  You get to actually walk through a real house for the first time—all of the rooms. It’s very exciting and a highlight in the process!

Walking the house during framing during framing is critical. Not only do we get to walk through each room, we also get to feel each space. If any changes need to happen or certain decisions still need to be made, this is the time you need to do that. This is also the time to catch any potential issues or address anything that doesn’t feel right. There are times when something sounds good on plan but when you get into the actual space, an adjustment needs to be made. It’s very rare that major adjustments are made at this point however.  Working with architects and designers throughout the process eliminates or significantly decreases the amount of changes that are made here.  The minor changes we typically see during this initial framing stage is adjusting a non-load bearing wall or raising a cased opening.

Windows

Windows and exterior materials get installed after the framing is completed.  You will hear the term “dried in” which refers to the point in which the house is protected from weather.  It’s an important step in the build process. Once this point is reached, it’s a green light for all of the interior work to begin. This would be HVAC, electrical, plumbing, insulation, etc.

When selecting a new window package, there are several design decisions to be made:

• Exterior Color
• Interior Color
• Material
• Opening Direction
• Type of Glass
• Mullions

Exterior

During the design phase for this project, we decided to go with two exterior materials. One to three materials is a good amount.  We decided on two based on the size and scale of the house and looking at how those materials are going to interact and intersect.  Having too many material changes can be a lot and in the end look quite busy. 

This house is a two-story home but it’s on the more narrower side. We wanted to create interest by having more than one material on the exterior.  We decided to go with lap siding and brick. The siding material was very on-trend at the time but in more of a farmhouse style. That style is not what we were going for.  We wanted to do something different and go dark and dramatic!  We have since seen darker homes rise in popularity, which we love.  Since we wanted to break up the siding with brick and introduce a different material and texture, we needed to source an option that would work with the exterior paint color.  Our ideal scenario was to find a brick in a color that worked, but the back-up option was to select an inexpensive brick and paint it if the ideal option was price prohibitive.  

Brick Samples pulled by Nuela Designs to finalize the color and tone of the brick and exterior paint color.

We narrowed down the paint samples and decided to swatch them on the actual exterior to select the final paint color. We highly recommend doing this on every project so that you can see the color options in natural day light!

Want to see this post as a video? Here‘s one we did of this phase!