Every builder knows that some clients focus their budgets on the primary spaces in the house — the kitchen and the bathrooms, for example. That can leave little left over for those secondary spaces like the patio or yard. If you need your outdoor living space project to be affordable, build it in phases. Here are the pros and cons of building your outdoor dream space over time.
The Pros
The main benefit of building your outdoor space in phases: budget control. Here are a few more pros to approaching your project this way:
- You have time to enjoy the space between phases. Sometimes, huge construction projects can take months. That could mean you’ll be missing out on a huge chunk of patio time! Building in phases solves that issue.
- There’s time to test your planning decisions. While you’re enjoying your outdoor living space after Phase 1, you can take the time to assess where you’re going with the next phase. Maybe you’ll discover that you’d love to incorporate that far part of the yard into your plans. You can tell your builder and they’ll work it into the plans— better now than after it’s all been completed!
- You can preplan for future phases. It’s easy to dream big. What’s not so easy is planning big! If you work with an experienced professional to design your outdoor living space, you’ll have access to valuable experience (and great, professional-quality planning software!). You’ll be able to draw up plans not just for your present phased building project but future plans as well. Dream big, even if you think you can’t afford it. Then tell your designer/builder what you want now as well as what you’re dreaming about for the future. They’ll put it all into one vision for you and work to create a master plan.
- You can save money on individual contractors. Building in phases requires lot of planning but the advantage of that is “construction economies”. For an example, running all the utility lines in one drop can result in huge cost savings.
The Cons
Building in phases seems like an obvious solution when you have a grand plan but you don’t have a grand budget. However, there can be some downsides if you don’t approach the project the right way.
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- You could end up with a hodge-podge look. Projects that take place over time can morph into something that’s not what you originally envisioned. Maybe trends change or maybe you lose heart toward the end and just want it finished up fast. Pitfalls like this are usually due to lack of good planning at the outset. Solution: Work with a qualified builder who has good design skills.
- You could end up scheduling too many phases. It’s easy to get carried away with the idea of spreading out the cost by implementing tiny construction phases into the project. The problem with that is you lose the “economy of scale” when you’re hiring electricians, carpenters, etc. Calling these pros back every time you add another element to your design can mean big increases to your budget. Solution: Work with a qualified contractor who knows how to plan the construction phases of your hardscaping.
