10 Expectations to Have Before You Renovate (Part 1)
If you were to do an internal audit of all the frustrations, disappointments, and general bummers over the past year in your life, you could probably trace the majority of them back to one thing:
Unmet expectations.
Some of those expectations might've been unrealistic expectations on your part. Some of it was that someone didn't deliver on their promises. Sometimes the expectations needed to change, but it wasn't communicated.
A remodel is no different. Most of the issues we've encountered on a remodel were rooted in unmet, miscommunicated, or unrealistic expectations. With this in mind, we're tackling ten expectations you should have before you remodel. Conversely, having healthy expectations going into a project will minimize stress and improve your overall remodeling experience.
1. It’ll cost more than you expect.
Of all the inquiries we've received for remodel work (and we receive hundreds each year), we can probably count on one hand the number of times we've asked a client, "What is your ideal budget for this project?" and received an answer that aligned with what the project cost. This isn't a bad thing, after all; we are the experts. It does mean that when you're considering a remodel and beginning to reach out to contractors, have the expectation that the ideal number you have in your mind most likely won't be enough. Even if you've done a remodel before, over time we've seen an increase in labor and material costs that are dramatically impacting remodel budgets.
2. Reusing materials or doing the work yourself usually ends up costing you more.
As the desire is always to keep costs at a minimum, the natural inclination is to ask, “What can we save to cut costs?” or “What can I do myself to avoid paying someone else?” Our ultimate goal is always to deliver our client’s vision while respecting their desired budget. However, the best way to save costs is to reduce the scope. Saving items—like fixtures or reusing existing cabinetry—may lead to demolition taking far longer than it should. The saved item will have to be warehoused, inspected, and then reinstalled. In the end, you may have saved some material costs, but there will be significant additions in labor costs that negate the savings. Keeping certain items, like appliances, can create savings, but most other materials will end up costing more to keep than to replace. In general, it's helpful to have a conversation with your contractor and trust their assessment on saving materials to reuse.
As for collaborating on work, this is (for most contractors) a hard no. For every renovation, there are a lot of different tradespeople and subcontractors completing work. Adding the client into the mix would not only create confusion or cause the project to run longer than expected, but it could affect the finished products of the other individuals working on the job site.
3. Patience is key when starting a home renovation.
The same two questions arise at the beginning of a renovation project:
1. How much will it cost? (which we tackled in the first expectation above).
2. When can you start?
Every project has two distinct phases: the decision phase and the construction phase. You don't want to mix these phases. Combining them leads to massive amounts of stress, escalating costs, and ultimately a project that can take 2-3 times longer than if we'd kept the phases separate. Why? Let's consider a bathroom remodel. Before construction begins, here's a sample of questions that need to be answered:
Are we keeping all the fixtures in the same place?
Are we altering the floor plan?
Will we need to move the HVAC vents?
Are we going with a prebuilt or custom vanity? What size? What type of drawers? What kind of cabinets? What type of finish? Should we do linen storage?
What type of tile is in the shower? Standard brick pattern? Grid pattern? Herringbone? Do you want a bench seat? How many shower niches? Niche locations? Would you like an accent tile for the shower floor? Should we carry that into the niche? Standard curb or curbless entry?
For the shower fixture, do you want a handheld wand? Secondary showerhead? Rainhead?
What type of floor tile? What type of pattern? Maybe LVP to save on costs?
What type of style for the faucet? What type of finish? Should we match the shower fixture?
There are also questions on lighting, mirrors, closets, on and on and on…
Now, imagine making those decisions as your life is upturned by living in a construction site. Each of these decisions takes time to think through in light of a cohesive overall design and cost implications. More importantly, each of these selection items has a lead time upon ordering, meaning starting without all the selections in hand could lead to delays in construction while we're waiting for a faucet. Waiting 2-3 months to start a project can lead to a quicker finish date and a far shorter construction phase than if we'd started the day after signing the contract.
4. Just because work isn’t happening on the job site every day doesn’t mean work isn’t happening
Every project starts with a buzz of activity and is filled with excitement. Your home is crawling with workers, walls are getting knocked down, and your house looks unrecognizable after demo. Before you know it, the plumbers are running pipe, and electricians are running wire, and you think, “Wow, we’re going to get done early!” Then, slowly but surely, it feels like fewer people are at your house and work is slowing down. You start to worry if we’re falling behind schedule, if you’re still a priority, or if you're being forgotten. The reality is that remodels are a complex process with dozens of moving parts, and often, a part that should’ve taken three days takes 1.5, while another that should’ve taken 4 takes 6. Sometimes these things are unpredictable, but it’s the contractor’s job to anticipate these things and schedule accordingly.
Also, just because construction isn't happening doesn't mean work isn’t being done. Construction is just one aspect of the job, while planning is another. So, on a day without construction, behind the scenes, your project manager is confirming scheduling with the next two trades, reviewing your schedule, updating the finances, or maybe troubleshooting a problem we've discovered that you'll never know about because we solve it internally. Each project is an iceberg. The construction is just what you see above the waterline.
5. You will inevitably spend more money once the project starts as you customize your space.
No matter how deeply committed you are to sticking to the contract price for your project, it's almost inevitable that you'll add more, and it's not necessarily a bad thing. We call this the "while you're here" situation. The reality is that it will never be as cost-effective to paint an extra room as while our painters are scheduled to paint your kitchen. Or for the electrician to troubleshoot the switch that you have no idea what it does. Or to switch out that leaky toilet.
Moreover, historically we've seen clients spend roughly 10% on top of the contract price. So, if your contract is for 100K, you should expect to spend an extra 10K throughout the project. Some of it will be those mentioned above "while you’re here" projects, and some may be additions to the project, also known as change orders. With that being the expectation, you can either budget with this in mind or seek to reduce the scope to get the contract price into a range where you know you'll have some wiggle room once the project starts.
We’ll stop here for part one, and you can find the final five expectations in part 2.