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From Plans to Frame Stage: Site Meetings and Working with Your Builder, with Ben

Want to learn how regular site meetings, record keeping and collaborative communication with the builder can help create a smoother, more professional build?

Listen as HOME Method member, Ben, gives us his latest project update – a renovation and extension of a California Bungalow. It’s currently under construction and at frame stage.

Listen to the episode now.

Hello. This is Episode 381, and I am joined once again by HOME Method member, Ben, to talk about what happens when your project finally moves from drawings into real walls, a real roof and regular site meetings on your building site.

If you are in construction now, or heading towards it, this conversation will give you a really practical look at how to stay informed, keep your communication organised, and maintain a strong relationship with your builder along the way.

You may remember Ben from Episode 352 and Episode 353, where he shared how their project began and why he and his partner, Mike, chose to pause and redesign in order to better align with their budget and goals. 

We then caught up again in Episode 371 and Episode 372 to talk about choosing their builder and stepping into pre-construction after more than a year of due diligence.

Make sure you check out those episodes if you haven’t heard them – they’re a great journey through Ben and Mike’s project. 

In this latest episode, we check in at frame stage, with the roof now on and the house really taking shape. Ben shares how their weekly site meetings have created a steady rhythm for the project, as well as Ben’s record keeping and communication management overall. 

Additionally, the builder has done a great job of facilitating open conversations with subcontractors during these site meetings, to assist in collaborative decision-making in the project.

We also dive into one of the big technical decisions that’s come up during the build. Ben talks through the process of revisiting the original plan for a vapour permeable membrane and looking at an Anticon blanket alternative, and how it was resolved on site. 

This episode is a great example of what it looks like to move through construction with structure, respect and agency, managing relationships and your own confidence along the way. 

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW.

Before we dive into the conversation, let me give you some context on timing. 

Ben and Mike joined HOME Method in April 2021. 

The last conversation I had with Ben in Episode 352 and Episode 353 was in November 2024. We caught up again in August 2025 for Episode 371 and Episode 372, and this latest conversation happened in November 2025. Ben and Mike’s project is due for completion in early 2026.

Here’s Part 1 of my conversation with Ben.

I hope you find our conversation about regular site meetings, rhythm in communication and record keeping really helpful. 

It is such a powerful reminder that your project is not only about drawings, contracts and construction stages. 

It is also about how you intentionally show up in the relationship with your builder, and how you hold your role as a client who is informed, organised and respectful.

Inside HOME Method, these are exactly the kinds of moments we prepare you for. Not by giving you a script for every scenario, but by helping you understand how your home is put together, what questions to ask, and how to hold your ground without turning the project into a battlefield. 

You can see in Ben’s experience how that education supports him to stay involved, speak the language, and still remain collaborative and relational with his team.

Let’s hear from Ben now.

This is the transcript of my conversation with Ben, as he takes us through this latest update on his construction progress, and shares how site meetings, record keeping and collaboration with his builder is delivering a smooth construction process – even with key decisions regarding Anticon and roof detailing.

Amelia Lee
Well, Ben, it is so great to have you back on the podcast. I’m so looking forward to catching up with you about where things are at, as we were just chatting about before started recording. Your Friday wins, you shared a photograph of where construction is up to. And I know with HOME Method members like you, it’s probably felt like such a long time coming for you. And I see this photograph of this house that’s under construction with cladding on it and the roof on it and really starting to take form, and I find it’s really interesting for me, you and I have done these one-to-one Zoom calls as well with the podcast, but you’ve been doing the member upgrades with the Zoom consults along the way a couple of times as well. So I’ve already walked around in your head and seen it visually from the outside. And sometimes, it’s this weird thing of having a foot in both worlds, where I know the level of excitement you will be experiencing, seeing this come to fruition after so much planning and intention and care and preparation and research and all of the involvement that you’ve had. 

And at the same time, my other foot’s sitting in my professional world where this was already a real building in my head, because that’s how I see it when I look at the drawings. It’s like, I’ve just been waiting for it to get to where it was in my head. So, if you could, before we dive in, can you just give us a quick snapshot of where construction is at the moment, so everybody understands what you’re up to?

Ben
I know exactly what you mean. I walk through there and I was like, “Oh, I’ve seen this before.” Well, I’ve seen this before because it’s been my head for, like, the past however many years. So, yeah, it’s a strange level of familiarity and newness, which is exciting. So I guess, like, in terms of the stages, I guess, we’re in the frame stage. I think that’s it. Where the floor is down, the walls have gone up, and finally, the roof’s on, which was a long time coming, it felt like. I am so relieved that I don’t have to watch the weather forecast every week and look at how much rain it’s going to rain down on this exposed timber frame because it’s roofed. And most of the windows are in, and the cladding is supposed to be going on this week, so the building itself is starting to take shape.

Amelia Lee
Yeah, awesome. And so can we talk a bit more about how things have felt up to this point? When we spoke last time, we were talking about how to run site meetings, about getting there a little bit early to walk around and check things before you actually had the conversation with the builder. How’s that all been travelling for you up to this point in the project?

Ben
Yeah, pretty all right. I do feel now, we’re in a bit of a rhythm, right? So, we meet on site every Friday morning at 7am. I wasn’t sure whether it was going to feel like too much, or what was going to happen week to week. But some weeks have more things happen than others. But at the same time, whether it’s a discussion around what’s happened over the past week and what’s happening the next, it is very much that time to discuss things forward-looking, or things that were on my mind, or things that I wasn’t anticipating that the builder wanted to talk, or whether it’s problem solving. And that also keeps me from feeling that I need to contact the builder whenever anything new enters my mind, or I have a question. If I really have a thing, I was like, “Well, is this super urgent? Can this wait until Friday?” I think most of the time that it can. And I think the builder is probably doing something along the same lines, because he will need to contact me during the week, but a lot of things are just reserved for that Friday. And, yeah, it feels like a professional way to conduct this, which I think really, like, along those lines, it does feel like now, it’s a project, and we’re just doing this on a week-to-week basis, and seeing progress.

And it’s funny, because, like, I’ll be really in that sequential, almost like work mode. And, yeah, the fact that this is going to be the home that we live in, sometimes I forget, strangely.

Amelia Lee
But that’s the thing, you’ve been operating like such a great project manager in how you have prepared for this project, and then got yourself set up for execution. And I love hearing that idea of rhythm. And any builders who are listening who get fed up with being interrupted throughout the week with calls from clients with their latest thoughts on their mind, please heed the fact that a regular site meeting is probably the answer to solving all of that. Because when you’ve got a builder who has proactively planned this project, and you, as a client, have proactively planned this project, then it does mean that you’ve got this reliable hotspot of communication where you’re going to get to be on site, you’re going to have a forum for those conversations and those concerns, and it’s going to happen in a manner with some structure around it so that you can be feeling like it’s not just being lost because they’re in the car somewhere and they’ve not noted it down, and all of those kinds of things.

So it’s such a professional way to run a project, and when you’re spending this much money, you want somebody who’s going to run it professionally, and you’re going to want to feel like it’s being taken care of professionally. So I love that that’s been your experience.

Ben
And also, I’d like to mention, it is definitely project progression, but I think it’s also this relationship maintenance thing. Because there can be a lot of correspondence, whether it’s text messages or email, etc, but especially when there’s either questions or you think something’s not necessarily off track, but like, there’s an issue that needs to be dealt with. Sometimes, whether it’s on the phone or, even better, in person, it just helps. You don’t find yourself in a situation where something’s either misconstrued or etc, we’re just actually spending time together as two people. So I think, yeah, that has helped feel like now we’re in a different stage of the relationship. I had been told that it is this relationship during the build process, and now I understand that even better.

Amelia Lee
That’s awesome. Yeah, and you’re not having to worry about the tone in an email, or also that sense of panic or urgency that you can have that just accidentally gets conveyed in an email or a message like that.

Instead, there’s a methodical approach to it, which just lowers the stress levels overall, and really does set up a far better, smoother construction process. So yeah, it’s really brilliant that that’s been your experience. And I think too, because you’ve done so much work to understand the construction process through what you’ve learned in HOME Method, and it does become that beautiful thing that we talk about, where it’s a weekly show and tell and then you’re forward planning, “Okay, what decisions have we got coming up? What do I need to be aware of? How can I still stay ahead of the curve on this so that I’m never feeling like I’m putting out fires or in a reactionary state about really important, significant decisions?”

Ben
I agree. And one more quick thing about these site meetings that I’ve really enjoyed, and I’ve been so pleased… So now, the builder has started to use that time slot to bring in sub trades or some of the people that he’s contracting to, either answer my questions directly or take us through stuff. So that’s being seen as just a really good time, and I’ve really conveyed my appreciation for bringing those people in as appropriate. So it’s been great to see what I’m perceiving as a positive reaction from the builder to those as well.

Amelia Lee
That is awesome. That is so awesome because, I mean, we talk about you’re never supposed to speak directly to the trades, but when the builder actually is the one that’s bringing that communication together, and you get to hear at the coalface why something has to be the way that it is, or what possibilities there are if you’re trying to problem solve with things, that you’re not, then, relying on the builder to pass things on secondhand, that you can really have that collaborative approach to it. That’s really powerful.

I’m so glad that the builder is embracing that this way. And yeah, that’s just all sorts of green flags. That’s absolutely fantastic.

Ben
Yeah, it’s been great to see.

Amelia Lee
And so, have there been any unexpected discoveries along the way, and how have you actually gone about resolving and adapting to those as they’ve come up?

Ben
During the build process, I think one of the biggest things has been the roof, and how that’s been, I guess, insulated or how that’s been dealt with in terms of that sub level under the roof itself, in terms of being able to manage condensation and water infiltration. Originally, as part of getting educated about buildings and how that works, I learned so much about condensation, and how roofs can and should be constructed to manage that, and how that leads into so many things, like a well-maintained building, a healthy home, avoiding mould. I really had so little idea at the beginning, and now, I can speak with a lot of confidence why a flat roof introduces so many more challenges. And really, through this process, and through both HOME Method and our one-to-ones, we made this big pivot from a flatter roof to a pitched roof, which I’m super happy with. And partly, to manage the condensation, and also to make the water management much, much easier, so as part of what we specified during the, I guess, pre-build, specified as part of the contract documents was a class four vapour permeable membrane for just underneath the roof sheets to make sure that humidity could get out and water couldn’t get in. 

And that was reasonably well-received by the builder as part of the specification processes, and even been included in some correspondence with the prospective roofer. And in addition to that, we also asked and ended up specifying ventilation, like e-vents and ridge vent, to make sure that that was part of it. So when it came time to the roof was going to soon go on, I had sent a couple emails and had the discussion around verifying the way that we were going to do it, certainly, but we documented this all months and months ago, but it would just be good to touch on it before things actually went on. And through that series of questions, that was the first time where the builder brought somebody to site. So we ended up, I walked in on Friday morning and builder said, “Oh, we have a special guest star today, you had all these questions, and I brought Ryan, and he’s going to be able to answer all your questions.”

So we started talking through that. It was evident that the roofer was super experienced. But in terms of the work that they often do with a vapour permeable membrane on the roof, what a lot of people know is that things have changed in the construction industry, but certainly with the National Construction Code, and things are being done in this new way. And vapour permeable membranes are newer than anticon blanket and other ways that you insulate or manage roof condensation in a cold climate. And he had some of the equipment there that he was going to end up using. And then we, the three of us, me, the builder, and the roofer started talking through how this was going to go on. And actually, a lot of conversation, it was nice to be there, because the builder and the roofer were talking about how are we going to manage this? How are we going to tie it into the frame and etc?

And then it became evident that there needed to be counter battens and a few things in the roof that weren’t originally anticipated. And just a little bit of problem-solving on the spot, and think how we can do things. And then, the discussion went a number of different ways. And it was evident that it would have, in an ideal world, the resolution of exactly how the roof was going to tie into walls and all that kind of thing with a vapour permeable membrane could have been thought about, again, earlier in the process, and without going into too much detail, whether it would introduce how are we just going to manage on site construction issues with that? And on site, just stood there on our phones watching some insulation videos just to verify.

And that was another thing too, just knowing that the manufacturers of these building materials have a lot of information on their websites and to use it. So it was evident that a few things needed to be sorted out. And the roofer decided to, “I will, I’m going to get in touch with that company that was doing it, the manufacturer of the product and find out a little bit more. So let’s not proceed with this today. We’ll come back to it.” In the intervening, actually, couple of weeks, it became evident that going with the original plan would be, on the one hand, preferable in terms of I feel like it’s the gold standard in terms of achieving our objectives, which is managing condensation and water infiltration. But also that there was a large degree of not necessarily retrospective work, but additional things that needed to be considered and done, because of the fact that this is a little bit new, and that required maybe a slightly adjusted approach, doing some of the previous work. And then the question came up, “What if we went with one of the other solutions? The more familiar anticon blanket?” And at the beginning, there was just a strong reluctance where it’s like, “Oh, I did all this work. I understand this is the best thing. I really don’t want to set us up for trouble or issues.”

And also, I thought I did everything to set up what we wanted. And in the same vein, started just to consider the alternative, what would that actually look like to understand it? Would it be less of a gold standard? Would it be a silver standard? Would it be a bronze standard? Would it still be something acceptable? What were the pros and cons of that little bit different approach? And not just pros and cons with the physical product and how it would perform, but also, the installation, the confidence, the ability, a little bit of the relationship management, and just the prospective extra work that there would be, and would that be an acceptable solution? So really tried to bring it back to what we were trying to achieve. And in the end, I think, taking all those factors together, it was my judgment, I think, that a well-installed silver standard or bronze standard is preferable to, I’m sure it would have been installed fine, but just, I guess, a familiar, well-resolved, low anxiety, something that was a little bit new?

And also conscious, there’s a long journey ahead of us with this build and things will come up. So was this something that I wanted to push as hard as possible? And made that decision that yeah, that well-resolved silver or bronze standard is acceptable, and we’re moving forward, and I think I’m okay with that.

Amelia Lee
Thank you so much for that detailed run through, because I think you’ve pretty much described in a snapshot one scenario that really illustrates the challenge that a lot of homeowners are experiencing. Because we are at this nexus of a lot of accelerated change in the industry, and we’ve got building codes and regulations that are bridging this gap between the buildings that have been created and how they’ve been created for a very long time, versus what we’re trying to move towards.

And we’re in this interesting interstitial space of that, where we’ve got also professionals in the industry who are trying to upskill themselves to learn it, don’t necessarily have the experience of constructing it on site. And it is that thing of, yes, in an ideal world, it would have been detailed exactly as it as it was intended. It would have been documented. The builder would have understood what was required. It would have all been priced. And that would have worked. And I think I recall, because you came to the HOME Method Facebook group with questions about it, and it’s a similar situation that lots of HOME Method members are in, because they’re navigating an industry where anticon has been considered the gold standard, and now this vapour permeable membrane and the counter battening and creating the continuous airtight envelope is what people are moving towards.

But that obviously requires a slightly different approach to the detailling of how the wall joins the roof, and how you can then ensure you’ve got airtightness around. Because if you invest in a vapour permeable membrane, and it’s not airtight, you’ve got problems. So it is that thing of, as you said, you don’t want a poorly executed ideal scenario. Instead, could you look at getting a well-executed scenario, and then mitigate the challenges? Because the thing that I think is often spoken about with anticon blanket is that it is something that can still, if you’ve got humidity moving through your building and it hits that foil lining of the anticon, condensation can form. So it’s that opportunity of, how do you actually still ventilate and dry out those roof spaces so you don’t have that condensation dripping on something that’s then going to cause mould down the track?

So there are ways of detailling the anticon to mitigate that. And obviously, anticon’s something that has been used. I think what’s fascinating with anticon is a lot of people go into it thinking that it’s a really great insulative product. And the NatHERS modelling rewards anticon as well, in the way that it’s measured. But in practicality, when you actually install it, because it gets compressed over the top of the battens and things like that, I don’t believe it actually really delivers on that insulative outcome that it promotes that it does, just because of how it physically has to be installed. But what you were seeking was some kind of way of mitigating the moisture, creating that continuity of that thermal envelope, looking at how you ventilate the roof, all of those kinds of things. And so, yeah, what I loved watching you do in that moment Ben, was juggle that internal challenge of, “But it’s not going how I thought it was going to go”, and demonstrating that resilience and that strategic problem-solving mindset, working collaborative with your team to create an outcome where you’re still managing your risk, and working within the confines of what you were navigating.

And in my mind, that’s the stuff that comes up all the time in a custom project, is that those scenarios will come up all the time. You can’t avoid them. They’re always there. And what I love about how you were able to operate in that moment, and what I love about how HOME Method members generally can operate in those moments is you can then occupy that strategic, resilient, flexible, adaptable mindset, rather than falling in a heap, and stepping out of that conversation, giving up all your agency. And the fact that you were informed about that part of your process meant, I imagine that the flip side is for people who haven’t educated themselves about it, all of that terminology would have sounded so confusing, or you would just have just trusted that those people were making the right decision for you.

Like, the fact that you could stand there and actually feel confident to watch a video, to talk about the various things that we talk about, how did that feel for you in that moment, once you got over the fact of I’m not actually going to get exactly what I want, or I’m going to have to really figure out how this is going to work? Or were you just so focused on how do we find a solution to this problem you weren’t even really thinking about?

Ben
There are actually a couple of things. There are a couple key moments. And there was one thing that I kept in mind throughout. Like, there was that moment the first day that we were there, that site meeting, I think, went for two hours. I’m glad we started really early. And just seeing the tone of the conversation slightly shift. Well, couple of different things. Like, when both the builder and the roofer were talking to me about the advice. And certainly, as you would expect, they are the professional. It’s like, they will know a lot more than I do. And speaking that way and like, “Look, from my experience, trust me. I know these things” Like, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I do trust you. And being conscious of the couple different things. Like, at the same time, number one, the way that I was answering those, and even if I maybe didn’t disagree with something that they said, still tried to see it their way, or not reacting poorly. It could have been a tense conversation, but I didn’t want it to be, and it didn’t need to be. Because it was like, “All right, let’s just problem solve this. And even if I don’t agree with something that’s said, that’s fine. I’ll just provide my point of view.”

In the beginning of that conversation, I was like, “Oh, I’m out of my depth. What am I even talking about? Why am I saying this? I don’t know anything. I’m going to sound so stupid.” And then, I got some words out. And it was the moment that I was like, “All right, let’s check the website. Let’s figure this out.” And the tone of the conversation ended up changing. It became more collaborative, like, “Oh, what about this? What if we did that?” Then, almost like in the last part of that discussion, when the roofer was taking me as, “All right, in the scenario where we would do the anticon blanket, how would that fit in with the even roof ventilation product that we’d specified?” And then the roofer goes to some remnant piece of timber, and starts drawing it out in a section, the roofer does. And I was just like, “Oh well, first of all, that’s so helpful.” Second of all, at that moment, I felt respected, and I felt really brought in on things, and even demonstrated the roofer’s capabilities and professionalism and knowledge even more.

And I was like, “Oh okay.” So, walked away from that feeling really well. But then throughout this entire process, one of the other really important things that I wanted to mention, and I have to credit Mike for this, my other half, he knows that I’ve dived really deep into these kinds of things, and feels strongly about these things, but making sure that, like, do not make this tense. It’s kind of like, do not make this tense otherwise I’m leaving. And how it’s not going to help anybody, no matter what happens throughout this. Like, let’s try to do that. So, I kept that in mind. But the other thing, just recognising the fact that the roofer and the builder were engaging with these things, the fact that the builder brought the roofer and that he answered all our questions. The builder doesn’t lose his cool. And it was just how helpful, like, sent him a message afterwards, exactly how I felt.

“No matter what happens with this, it’s really helpful to step through these. Thank you for bringing these. I know this is complicated.” And then he comes back, he’s like, “Yeah, no problem. It’s a learning process for all of us.” And just, no matter what twists and turns, like, yeah, that vibe of sort of, “Let’s talk about that.” Not making it personal and trying to have that collaborative mindset. So that’s been a good feeling.

Amelia Lee
I love it. I absolutely love it. And I think in all of that, what’s being honoured is your need for detail and your need to actually understand what’s going on.

Mike’s obviously acting as the social lubricant and making sure that everybody’s still being kind to each other, and it’s not getting super tense. And this builder sounds awesome in terms of the fact that they have recognised what you need in order to feel more confident and certain in the process, and that they’re embracing that and also embracing their ability to learn in it as well. So it’s just awesome to hear how it’s going, and it’s still so early in the piece, really. So, to see such a chunky decision like that has had that resolution pathway, and you’ve been able then to also tap into resources and things like that to feel like you can feel comfortable with the decision that you’re making. Because the last thing that you want is to have felt backed into a corner, just acquiesced to, “Oh yeah, sure. Well, fine, we’ll go with it. I’m not 100% sure, but like blah, blah, blah.” And then it’s this niggling concern or regret the whole time now that you’re proceeding then with this home. Instead, what’s happened is there’s been this notion of empowerment through that, so that you are confident in the decision, and you’re balancing the priorities and weighing things up, so that you can be actively owning that decision as well.

So I think it’s absolutely awesome. So, you’ve talked a bit about how you’re staying across communication there and your decisions, any variations… So, are there any systems that you’re specifically using to navigate those chunky conversations, and trying to make sure that communication is documented in some way? How are you navigating that in the project? And have you noticed the builder doing anything? What’s happening in that regard?

Ben
So, I guess, I’m trying to scale my approach to what I need, what I think is needed for the project, and also, what the builder’s preferred mode of operation. He’s a builder, that’s on the tools so there’s a lot going on during the day.

And he’s definitely responsive in writing, but I’m aware that he’s not available all day to, whether it’s prepare documentation, respond to the needing to prepare long, detailed responses to written emails that I might provide. So, I definitely use the site meetings as a chance to, well, number one, either bring up things that I want to bring up, or, you know, receive the things that I need to resolve. And I’ll write those down for myself. But then, whether I need to make a decision or right now, we’re dealing with the mechanical ventilation, like, the options that we just talked through last Friday with the mechanical ventilation guy, it’s like, I’ll say, “Based on this conversation and what we’re considering, I’ll assemble, I’ll prepare an email and I send it to the builder, detailling everything out. And then if he needs to respond, or he’ll provide it to them, and then it comes back.

And then just keeping the right amount of notes, but not overwhelming with, “This is exactly what was said at this particular time.” Like, keeping rough notes, not holding it too tightly. Because I do think in whether it’s in my professional life or whatever, you can overwhelm people with over-documenting things. And it’s not to say that it doesn’t document, so just focusing on what needs to put in writing. And then what if it doesn’t, then I will take a note of things, because I’ll remember things a lot better that way. And just try to navigate it, and not be dogmatic about any particular system, if that makes sense.

Amelia Lee
Yeah, it does. I think it’s this thing of the custom residential world lives inside an industry that has both corporate and non-corporate entities in it, and a lot of custom residential builders haven’t had any kind of corporate experience. And yet, they’ll be dealing with corporate professionals who have sat in meetings that do get minuted with an inch of their life. And so, it’s this bridging of two worlds to make sure that you are managing your risk. You’re not going to remember everything that you’ve discussed. You got to try and document the things that you know are going to be important and significant and potentially give you opportunity for recourse should you require it. We talk a lot in HOME Method about picturing the worst case scenario, just making sure you’re protecting yourself against that. And so, I like this idea of holding both those things. And I think it’s a challenging situation for the industry that a lot of building business owners aren’t running systems like this themselves in their businesses. So I do love the fact that you’ve gone, “Okay, well fine, we’ll work with how he needs to work, and being on the tools and all of that kind of stuff.” But still, make sure that this is being documented in a way that I feel confident and comfortable.

Ben
And just yeah, I mean, I’ve talked previously about in the scoping, in order to get to a signed contract, I wanted everything as documented as I could that. Everything I could think about, I wanted documented, whether in an email or documentation. Because at that point, it’s super important. So, yeah, just the weighing up, during the project, what needs to be super watertight, and what can be a discussion.

Amelia Lee
Yeah, awesome. Now, can we talk about how this whole thing is actually feeling for you? Because I remember when construction began, you posted some photographs in the Facebook group as the rear of the home was being demolished, and then the extension structure got started. I mentioned, we have our Friday wins post, which is always such a gorgeous post in the community, to see everybody sharing their progress wherever they’re at, and us all being able to cheer each other on. And you had photographs of this building form that just looks absolutely amazing, and it’s got the wrap on it, and all of that kind of stuff.

How is it feeling for you, seeing it finally come to fruition, and these forms taking shape on site?

Ben
Surreal in a really positive way. Actually, it hits me through the work week, really. I’m like, “Oh, Friday, we get to go to site and see what’s happened.” it’s the culmination of a lot of work, but just seeing that. Whether you felt like you were living in contemporary things, or waiting for something like, “Oh, this is the thing that I’ve been working towards.” But at the same time, managing your expectations about how long this is going to take. This is going to be months. Don’t get too excited about this.

Enjoy it, that level of I’ve seen this before, because I’ve been rattling it around in my head and just looking at these plans and trying to figure out if anything that I’ve missed, and then just being in the spaces. But being in the space where there’s no joinery, no furniture, barely any walls, I’ve said, “I feel like I’m in a Big Plans.” They project the floor plan on the floor and you’re like, “Oh, yeah, this seems about right.” So that is super exciting. I was like, “Whether it feels big or small or whatever, I know none of it’s real, because things are going to feel differently.” Like, if you go to an open for inspection home, and if you see something without furniture, I don’t have a good sense of space there. So, let alone, a building that’s really under construction. But yeah, and just looking, I was like, “Oh, is that too big?” It’s like, “Are we going to have any back garden left?”

But, also focusing myself on and again, credit to Mike, we made decisions for a reason. They were super well-considered. Yes, you have to keep an eye on any adjustments that we have to make. But trust the process and feel good about it.

Amelia Lee
And, I mean, that’s the thing, isn’t it? It’s trusting your process, trusting yourself as well, that you spent a lot of time and was super intentional about the decisions when you made them and so, unless there’s something really glaringly not meeting your expectations, trusting that that decision was made with everything that you put into it at that point. 

And now’s not the time necessarily, to throw the baby out with the bath water and revisit it all. And I think that’s one of those challenges when you’re navigating construction. We talk about when the slab goes down, things will feel small. And then the frame goes up and things start to feel big again. And then a roof goes on and it feels dark. And you’re just juggling this expectation management around how those process, how those spaces feel and those volumes feel.

RESOURCES

Listen to Ben’s previous episodes on the podcast:

Access the support and guidance you need (like Ben did) to be confident and empowered when renovating and building your family home inside my flagship online program, HOME METHOD >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/courses/the-home-method/

Learn more about how to interview and select the right builder with the Choose Your Builder mini-course >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/courses/choose-your-builder 

My free ’44 Ways’ E-Book will simplify sustainability for you, and help you create a healthy, low tox and sustainable home – whatever your dreams, your location or your budget. Access your copy here >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/ways

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