What are the Basic Tools I Need to Check Home Construction?

Managing and reviewing the home construction are your main tasks as you build your own home. You will be checking behind the subcontractors. Are they following the drawings? Is their work acceptable? Since you are your own home builder, you will be checking and deciding.  

You will probably do some work with your own hands, but if you stay too occupied with saws, nails, hammers, and paint brushes, you can lose control of the overall project. Someone has to continuously manage the project, and that person is you!

Keep the following basic tools in your vehicle, so you will have them every time you go to the job site -

1. A set of drawings ("house plans") with your name on them in red ink, so hopefully they won't disappear if your leave them in the house. 

2. A note pad and pen, to make notes of things you don't want to forget as you look over the house. If you have a cell phone or smart phone with a handy NOTES function, you may prefer to use it to make notes that will be in your pocket till you address the issues (instead of carrying around a paper note pad).

3. A measuring tape that has feet and inches along its entire length (see the photo below). Having feet and inches makes checking the house against the dimensions on the house plans much easier!

4. Pink flagging tape and a good pen! Flagging tape is such a fantastic material to use throughout the entire home construction project. Use pink flagging tape to mark stakes, trees and borders. Throughout the entire project, leave notes and comments to subs and yourself, tied right to the item in question.

A roll of flagging tape can be purchased for about $2.00 from Lowe's, Home Depot and other hardware stores.

Why pink tape? We have seen every color used that is made, and are convinced that pink is the most visible. You can't see through it the way you can orange and yellow, and the bright pink color stands out anywhere. 

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