Framing
Many people consider the framing stage to be the most exciting. When the framing crew finishes the first floor deck, you will finally be able to take your first walk around your new house. It is an indescribable moment.
Framing will take anywhere from a week for a small house, to several months for a larger one. You will be able to watch the basic structure take shape very fast. Your home will suddenly have walls, a roof, and windows.
This is also the time when the first on-site changes will probably take place. Room sizes and layouts become much easier to see in 3 dimensions. Even the best architect frequently finds something that didn’t turn out quite the way it was envisioned on paper.
Rough Ins
As the individual trades converge on your house, things will appear to slow down considerably. In reality, a lot more work is actually being done on your house during the rough-in stage, it just isn’t as dramatic.
During the next several weeks or months, dozens of people will be installing the inner workings of your house. Plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, lighting, security systems, central vacuum lines, television cable, entertainment systems, computer networks, exhaust fans, phone lines, fireplaces, and scores of back-ups and nailers for things yet to be installed.
This may not be an exciting time, but it is very important that everything and everybody be properly coordinated. Take the time to get things right at the rough-in stage, and you will save yourself lots of aggravation later on.