Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Setting Expectations During A Remodel Can Make All The Difference

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Who’s job is it to set the expectations for a remodeling project.  Is it the contractor or the homeowner?  The answer is yes.  It actually it falls on both parties.

For the contractor we need to let the customer know what we will be doing and when.  we are in their homes tearing up their kitchens and bathrooms and disrupting their schedules.  We do tend to forget sometimes that some things we think of as just part of the job aren’t things the homeowner would automatically think of.  Simple things like the need to park somewhere close to the project or removing pictures from the wall on the room next to the project room.  I can tell you it’s a sinking feeling to start tearing drywall off a wall and hear a crash in the next room as something falls off the wall.

What time will we be starting and finishing? Do we work on Saturdays?  Who are these people we’re sending to their house?  And after the excitement of starting the remodel wears off, when will we be finished and out of their lives?  These are all things we need to communicate early so that our customers can adjust their schedules and have some clarity during what can be a time of turmoil in their home.

For the homeowner, make sure you understand the contract and what you are getting.  You did get a written contract didn’t you?  Does it describe the products you’ll be receiving and the level of fit and finish you were expecting?  If you wanted stained hardwood trim and the contract calls for painted MDF you need to clarify that now before it’s all hung and painted.  It’s always best to ask questions early and often to be sure you’re getting what you want from the start.

Does your homeowner’s association have certain restrictions or requirements that your remodeling contractor needs to know about?  What will you do with your pet or children during the project?  Something as simple as which door you would prefer we use to get to the work area can make you feel more comfortable during the process but you need to make it known to your contractor.

Some requests are over the top but for the most part if work together to keep both sides clear on what is expected throughout the project it will be a much smoother process.  In the end communication is the key to a successful and relatively painless remodel.  If both sides keep that in mind it can make all the difference.

Herb Coulter, The Remodeling Company LLC – 804-266-3776

Schedules Can Change During A Remodel

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As I sit here in the office this rainy day trying to rework my schedule for the next several weeks I thought it would be a good subject to talk about.

I try to keep a tight schedule on all of our remodeling jobs but sometimes things don’t work out that way.  This week we had two days of rain that caused one job to run over.  That change caused a domino affect.  Some things just needed to be moved a day but for others it meant being moved by several days or even a week.

It all depends on the job at hand.  Some parts of the project we want to start and finish in successive days rather than tearing it up on Friday and leaving it over the weekend.  So a one day delay could move that job into the next week and then affect other jobs down the line.

Especially on larger projects there may be delays in our sub-contractors schedules that need to be addressed in ours.  Key people being sick or supplies being back ordered are just a couple more reasons for delays.  We can usually move some things around to keep jobs going but sometimes the order is fixed and we have to wait.

This is just one of the many things you’ll need to consider when starting a remodeling project but it is important.  I try to bring this up early on in the planning stages just to let our customers know that it is possible.  Understanding that there could be delays from the start may not make them any easier to take but it’s always best to be informed from the start.

 

Herb Coulter, The Remodeling Company, LLC

Not Everyone Is Handy

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Some people just shouldn’t work on their own homes (or others for that matter).  Here’s a collection of “fixes” from Reuben Saltzman on Zillow.com that just shouldn’t have been done.  Some of them are dangerous and some are just stupid.  Of course, if you don’t see the problem with them perhaps you should hire someone next time your house needs worked on.  You know who you are.

http://www.zillow.com/blog/2012-04-17/horrors-scenes-from-a-home-inspectors-no-no-book/

Herb Coulter, The Remodeling Company LLC

 

Why Hire A Contractor At All?

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I was recently asked the question “Why should I hire you instead of just hiring my own plumber or electrician?”.  The quick answer is to save you the time and headache of finding good companies and then scheduling and managing when and what they are doing. Let’s take a little deeper look at what value we bring to the project.

We use the same sub-contractors on all of our jobs and have a great relationship with them.  We make sure they are all licensed and that their insurance is up to date.  And we handle the payments to them.  Some contractors like to brag that they don’t use sub-contractors.  That’s great, but do they have a licensed plumber or electrician on staff?  If not they may not even be able to pull the appropriate permits to complete your job.  Why not use experts in the field rather than a “jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none”?

What is your time worth to you?  How much time can you take off from work or away from your family to manage all of the different trades that need to work on your kitchen or bathroom remodel.  Do you know when the plumber needs to be scheduled so they are not in the way of the electrician?  Or when to have the cabinets delivered so they are installed in time for the counter top templating process?  It can get costly if you get charged extra trip costs for not having the work completed in the right order and a sub-contractor having to make extra trips.

One point of contact and one company to pay.  We handle all of the payments to the sub-contractors.  If there is a problem you’ll have one person to deal with.  In most cases it will have been picked up and solved before you even knew it was a problem.

There are many things that go on behind the scenes to make a remodeling project run smoothly.  Unfortunately for good remodeling contractors the better we do our jobs the easier it looks to our customers.  Don’t let a smooth running job fool you.  It takes a lot of hard work to make a job look easy.

Give us your feedback.  What value do you see from working with a good contractor?

Herb Coulter, The Remodeling Company, LLCHerb Coulter The Remodeling Company Glen Allen, VA