You guys have heard me talking about my backward planning strategy a lot lately. The reason is that when people start planning for a house, the information that is readily available to us “non-construction folk” is completely opposite of what you should be doing. For example, an ad I saw while planning our house asked if I wanted to build, and then told me to start designing my kitchen. Kitchen is not item number one guys …. just so I can get that out in the open right now.
The biggest reason it’s like that is because the majority of people hire a general contractor who does all of the other planning, we just don’t see it. Then when the general contractor has planned out the majority of the house, you are asked to fill in all the pretty details like paint colors, bathroom tile, and kitchen cabinets.
Another reason it’s like that is because the final planning stage is the most attractive. No one stops to look at the fine workmanship of the plumbing done underneath the house or the insulation in the walls. No, instead they want to look at the beautiful detail in the wood floors, or the creative patterns on the crown molding.
What we don’t realize when we are planning out all the “pretty”, is that we are planning something that is completely dependent on the bones of the house. And the bones of the house are completely dependent on what is going on outside our house.
You may be making decisions on things that will all have to be changed once you plan the right things first. Rather than pretty stuff first, the order SHOULD GO:
- Property and outside specifics (like sewer/septic, electrical availability, size and slope of property, and a whole bunch of other things that aren’t even inside your house)
- House bones (all the un-seen stuff like foundation, walls, and roof trusses)
- Living parts (Plumbing, electrical, heating and air)
- Pretties (everything else that you probably already have planned out)
See the pretties? Waaaay down at the bottom of my list. Let me give you a few examples of problems you run into if you try and plan things in any order other than the one I just told you.
Let’s take a look at #1 property and #2 house bones first. I had a friend purchase her dream house plans because she knew that was the perfect house for her. Then a year later, she found the perfect property and bought it. As she was attempting to get building permits, she learned that her floor plans wouldn’t fit inside the boundaries with the required “buffer” zone of her lot. She had to choose and buy all new floor plans.
This can happen with other things like not being able to build a one story house on a steep slope, or any number of other scenarios. You need to figure out the property and everything you will be putting on it FIRST.
Another example for #3 Living parts and #4 pretties. I had my bathroom all planned out as far as the pretty stuff goes until we planned out the plumbing and learned that the tile I wanted won’t work with shower pan we wanted to use. Then I had to decide whether to sacrifice the pretties that I wanted, or to refigure all the plumbing plans.
Some things are small, and some things are big. But the reality is if you don’t plan in the correct order you will spend a great deal of time RE-planning because the 1st effects the 2nd. The 2nd effects the 3rd. And the 3rd effects the 4th.
Now I know, just as well as you do, how FREAKING HARD it is to plan out a house when you don’t know what you are doing. You spend more time trying to learn what you are supposed to be learning, then you do actually making any progress. And when you do make progress, you question it because you aren’t sure if it was correct or not. Does that sound familiar?
Today I am giving you my 21 day house planning checklist. It has everything, that you should be planning out for your new home, in the CORRECT order.
No more guessing what comes first or if you are forgetting anything, just an easy to follow checklist of exactly what you need to be planning.
This 21 day house planning checklist is part of a much larger project that I have been working on since we first started building. A project to make planning your house simple and easy, rather than stressful and time consuming.
I spent well over 1,000 hours planning our house, and I figure that over half of that was spent trying to figure out what I needed to figure out. I don’t want you to lose out on that same 500 hours. It actually made me shout-out-loud angry several times that I couldn’t find a road map for this process. I had to piece together my own, and hope that I wasn’t forgetting things. And I HATE feeling like I am forgetting things.
So PYH was born.
PYH is a 21 day house planning course that gives you clear instructions and direction on exactly what you need to know and plan for your future house.
Each day focuses on a specific part of your house building process. It tells you exactly what you NEED to know, and what you NEED to plan out.
Every day comes with checklists or planners to fill out and keep track of everything you need. They have lists of questions you need to consider, worksheets to fill out, and planners with a clear direction.
There is no fluff to wade through, just the exact information you need, questions you need to answer, and specifics you need to write down.
PYH will cut out hundreds of hours that would have been spent searching for this information and putting it together yourself. How much is 500 hours of your time worth? At minimum wage, you would be costing yourself around $5,000 in time. I honestly searched all over for a resource like this because I knew how much time I was spending just looking.
PYH will give you the peace of mind in knowing that someone just like you put together all of the most important information in one place, and that you won’t be forgetting things like insulation types, roof pitch, U-factor, and vent placement.
Here is some of the simple goodness you will receive when you sign up for Plan Your House:
- 21 days of simple, precise instruction from me, the Farmer’s Wife, delivered right to you.
- The correct order in which to plan everything out so you don’t have to double back and re-plan
- A 21 day master checklist of everything you need planned out before you start building
- Over 25 other time saving checklists and planners to print off and fill out for your home
- How to create a site map the right way
- Plumbing, electrical, and heating and air planners
- Expense planning tips
- How to plan your kitchen efficiently
- No fluff or wasted time
And this year, I have also added a few new things to PYH:
- A complete organization system for you to follow throughout your whole build. Every paper you will have during your build, organized in one location. Portable and easy.
- A sample building timeline, plus instructions on how to plan out your own.
- How to plan out your budget the easy way.
And finally, when you sign up for PYH you will now be invited to join the exclusive Plan Your House facebook group. This is a group of people in the same situation as you sharing ideas and suggestions with each other. It is also a place where I share information specific to planning your house and can answer your questions about the course and about your planning, if you have them. It’s like having a mastermind group at your disposal whenever you need help with anything pertaining to planning your house. Super helpful!
***Update: PYH will be on special holiday sale November 25-27, 2019
So go ahead and quit losing sleep over house planning stress. I have everything you need to solve all those problems and questions floating around in your head. For now, download the PYH checklist, and for goodness sake take a little break from pacing the floor.
You can grab your free checklist RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW.
~Farmer’s Wife
Angel says
Hi! I can’t tell you how excited I am to have found your website. Thank you! Thank you! I so appreciate you taking the time to share all your information. I get excited when I see a new e-mail from you. (Can you tell I am excited to start building my house) 😊
Saving money and doing DIY’s are my two favorite things! Again thank you and keep the info coming!
farmerswife@therealfarmhouse.com says
You are welcome Angel!
Melody Wells says
Thank you for all that you are putting into this. We are planning to be our own General Contractors for our housebuild and your website has been the most valuable of any that I have encountered. And your information being free to download is more valuable than gold :)!
farmerswife@therealfarmhouse.com says
Glad to hear it! 🙂
Hailey says
I’m so excited about PYH!!Ilm signed up for email updates, will that allow me to stay updated once it’s available? How much with it be?
All your information is so valuable; I’m excited to see what else you have to teach!
farmerswife@therealfarmhouse.com says
Yes! You will be notified of everything since you are on the email list. Glad to hear I could be helpful!
Danielle Marsch says
Just wanted to let you know how much of a LIFESAVER YOU ARE! You’re advice and “stories as its happening” have helped me and my husband in our journey of remodeling our home. Your insight and just raw information is greatly appreciated! Cant wait for PYH!!!!
farmerswife@therealfarmhouse.com says
Thanks for the sweet comment Danielle 🙂 I am glad you have enjoyed reading. I will keep you updated on PYH
Elizabeth says
Thank you for your insight! I’m in the beginning stages and read and reread your sight daily to see what I might have missed. We are hoping to break ground in the next month
farmerswife@therealfarmhouse.com says
Excellent! Good luck!
Andrea says
Thank you so much for taking all this time to help us!! I have a husband who has worked construction for years, and doesn’t know how to explain everything to me in normal words. Since I will be doing most of the planning I need to know what the heck they’re talking about! Yeah he might be the face of it, but I’m the one answering e-mails and phone calls (he’s not the best and working with technology). So again, thank you a million. I can’t wait to get to the end result with your help.
farmerswife@therealfarmhouse.com says
You are welcome Andrea!
Stacy says
Wow! Cant tell you how grateful I am for all this! You obviously are sharing so much time and talent, and it is so appreciated! We are just getting our hands dirty with the ideas of building, I am so grateful for this resource, and we will FOR SURE be using this as our guide through the whole process. Keep it coming!!
farmerswife@therealfarmhouse.com says
Glad I could be helpful Stacy! Best of luck on your adventure.
Rhonda Wolfe says
Good Morning, I have a question. In the email that I received from you this morning and the other day , it says PYH will be released on August 23rs for us to sign up, but at the bottom of this article it says not until August 30th now.
Thanks,
Rhonda
farmerswife@therealfarmhouse.com says
Sign ups start on August 23rd, but the course itself doesn’t open up until the 30th.
Robert Johnson says
Being in the military, backwards planning is our bread and butter. I have had many houses built but this is my first undertaking being my own GC. I look forward to the PYH course and feel it is going to answer a lot of questions as wells as save me a ton of time.
Robb
farmerswife@therealfarmhouse.com says
Glad to have you as part of the course Robert! Good luck on your journey and let me know if there is anything you need.
Thelma Maenetsha says
Hello.Thank you so much for your help. I’m so excited to start planning. I get so excited everytime I receive your emails. Thanks a million.
Regards
Thelma