Picture a blueprint. Lines and patterns and figures and measurements covering a sheet of paper. Isn’t it amazing to think that a mere drawing on a piece of paper can be the design that someday becomes a towering mansion, a glass-and-metal complex filled with offices, or a simple one-story house with a built-in garage? Contractors know firsthand the work that goes into building a new structure from start to finish.
First, the contractor must talk with the customer and determine what kind of building the customer wants, what it will be used for, how big it should be, what materials will construct it. The contractor then begins to draw a blueprint.
Why is it called a “blueprint”? Originally, the name came from a form of printing called cyanotype, which produced white lines on blue paper. A printer coated the paper with light-sensitive chemicals that allowed a drawing to be reproduced. Now the term refers more broadly to any kind of architectural drawing. Of course, instead of drawing by hand, CAD (computer-aided design) is generally used now to draw the details of a structure on a screen, then printing the image out. Modern technology saves time and increases accuracy.
After creating the blueprint, the contractor can then begin ordering materials and coordinating the actual construction of the building. He puts his workers on the job of moving parts to the job site and then building. In a few months, voila, a five-story office building, a brick condominium with large picture windows…ok, maybe it’s not that simple. But construction, like most tasks, is a process. A process involves planning and time. An experienced contractor knows how to plan the construction of a house from blueprint to a finished structure.
A contractor may deal with a wide variety of customers–anyone from an insurance company to a private homeowner to a retail store. He’ll have to know current trends in building to design an appealing structure. In today’s image-driven world, a company’s building can greatly influence the impression people get of the company.
A good contractor balances what his customer wants in a building with the principles he knows about constructing a stable, cost-effective, and appealing building. Local general contractors work closely with the customer from the beginning to the end. They’ll work with you & your architect and turn your plans from dream to reality. Then they can complete all the steps of the construction in-house, from digging and laying a foundation to building from the floor up to installing flooring and carpeting.
At the end of a job, a contractor can look at the finished building and think of the blueprint that started it all. A simple (OK, maybe not so simple) drawing on paper becomes the design that guides every step of the construction process.
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