Why You Should Choose A Full Service Contractor Before Your Architect
The basic rule of thumb is if your project costs more than 5% of the value of your house, or if you are making structural changes to the interior or exterior of your home, or if you are making significant changes to the floor plan of your home, you need an architect for your project.
This is the part of the project where the design build approach will add significant value and save you a lot of money over the life of your project. Its best to find a contractor that will work with the architects and have long term relationships with many very good architects. This can get you better pricing for their services for your project than you can by contacting them directly. They will pass that savings on to you.
Once you select the architect you want to use for your project, the contractor will work with them throughout the design process to make sure they are designing a project that fits into your budget. We cannot understate how important this is for the success of your project and we have seen many projects never get off the ground because this step was not followed. Your architect is not paid to tell you no. If you tell him you want something, he assumes you can afford it. The time to determine how much your project is going to cost is during design, not after design is complete.
Once the architect finishes the design it is time to pull permits and build your dream. Proper planning and constant communication are the keys to success.
Before the work is started, you should sit down with the contractor and have a project kickoff meeting. At this meeting you will go over the construction estimate with you in detail as well as present you with a construction schedule so you can make plans to minimize the effect of the project on your day to day life. You will also be provided with a list of items you need to select, the budget for those items (with the contractor discount), and the schedule of when those items need to be selected to meet the construction schedule.
Once we begin construction we will communicate with you about the status of the project however often you like, but we recommend status meetings weekly at a minimum. If something comes up of major importance we will contact you immediately. We will never proceed with work that is different than the original estimate before we have approval from you in writing.…
Kitchen Or Bathroom Remodel – The Truth Not Seen on TV Shows and What to Expect From a Contractor
With all of the do-it-yourself shows on network television, most home owners fail to realize how many extras actually are required to complete a remodel. These shows which run for a 30 minute span of time can actually take well over a month or two depending upon the project undertaken. While edited television holds the viewer’s interest, it does a poor job of educating the home owner with the actual process of having a remodel. Patience and planning are the keys to an effective remodel. There is no general rule of thumb when it comes to how long a particular remodel will take. An example is some kitchen remodels can take as little as one week while others can take one month or more.
There are numerous factors to be considered. It all comes down to how well planned the design is, how the home owner makes themselves available for the contractor, what materials are to be used, where the source for the materials is located, and so on.
The first key ingredient to a successful remodel is patience. The home owner needs to understand and expect that the design stage can take several weeks alone. After sitting down with the builder or contractor to discuss what the home owner’s desires are, both the contractor and the home owner need to address potential challenges of the space to be remodeled. While the home owner will have many questions needing to be answered, the remodeling contractor should be asking a plethora of question of the owner. The more thorough this preliminary consulting is the more enjoyable the remodel will be and with fewer surprises.
Even with the most conscientious builder or remodeling contractor, occasional unforeseen snags can pop up from time to time. There are many reasons that this situation may occur. Older homes often can possess more hidden surprises than newer houses due to new building codes which were not the same as when the house was originally built. That is not to say that newer constructed homes are free of these types of situations. The solution for this scenario is to clarify the contractor’s experience.
Contractors always should have a portfolio of past projects to offer up to new clients. Many times a new design possibility may come to mind of the home owner from viewing examples of past work performed. Most remodeling contractors are more than happy and even excited to display their past accomplishments.
The home owner needs to patient once the planning and design stage has begun. It can take weeks upon weeks to decide on materials and acquire them for the job ahead. The one aspect of remodeling or even having a custom home built, which many clients fail to do, is consistently inspect the progression of work being performed and observe materials being used. The most contractors are competent and know exactly what they are doing, but an extra set of eyes will not hurt. Asking questions throughout the remodel will help to avoid any possible confusion with both parties and will yield result in a happier home owner when the job is completed.…
Hiring A Home Remodeling Contractor
Finding a contractor is a headache in home repair, causing the most anxiety of all phases. In a contractor you are looking for someone trustworthy who puts effort in a good job and charges a decent price. Unfortunately, contractors cannot offer guarantees. However, do your homework and you can improve your odds, finding a winning home remodeling contractor can take a ton of weight of your shoulders and relieve you of that throbbing headache.
The Overseeing General Contractor
General contractors are the people hired to oversee your project, responsible for managing every aspect of the project. Purchasing material, hiring sub-contractors is all included in the expectations of a general contractor. Usually, a contract is signed between the contractor and the party needing work performed, in order to ensure payments only be made to him. At that point, the contractor is responsible for being sure the sub-contractors and suppliers get paid. The general contractor act as a general in the military would, you can go to them if you have any concerns.
How to Find a Reputable Remodeling Contractor
Common knowledge tells us to get at a minimum three bids on the project. Most people would say ask around at your local hardware shops like Lowe’s or Home Depot and consider the word-of-mouth candidates. Ask your friends and family, even neighbors about remodeling contractors they have used in the past. In this field it’s important to believe in your instincts, consider if the contractor respond back to you promptly did they show up early or on time to your appointment? In meeting with the contractor pay attention to see if they answer questions with elaboration ask for references, lay out the expectations of the job. After the meeting has concluded ask yourself if the communication between the potential client and contractor was where it needed to be? Most importantly, you need to be sure that you can be comfortable speaking directly to this person throughout the entire process of your project you will be communicating back and forth.
Bidding
When asking contractors to bid jobs make sure you provide an identical scope of work with your plans, also include a materials list. You want every contractor to receive identical plans, otherwise they will be bidding upon different basis then you will have inaccurate bids for comparison which probably wont work out well for you. The remodeling contractor should send you bids in writing that contain itemized labor charges and a list of material.
References
When your contractor submits their references, put forth effort in checking the credibility of the reference, call and find out if it is okay that you do a drive by to take a look at the work personally. Before signing the contract, it would be a good idea to check up on how this person conducts business. Run a background check, you probably don’t want a person who is a known burglar in your house. Confirm the contractors worker’s comp as well as the liability insurance, be absolutely positive that the contractor does not have multiple lawsuits against them.…
Affordable Bathroom Remodeling Contractor
If you are searching for the best bathroom remodeling, service in Denver CO area, there are some important things you need to keep in mind. The first thing that you need to understand is that remodeling the bathroom isn’t an easy task. There are several things that need to be done, which will take a good amount of time to accomplish. There are also several experts in the industry who can help you out with bathroom remodeling. You need to take the right step at the right time to do the bathroom remodel.
The most difficult part of the bathroom modification is space management and utilization. If the bathroom is small, getting all the bathroom items in that small place becomes a great challenge. First, you would think of the bath tub and they you would try and arrange all the other items around it. Although this is a conventional method of designing the bathroom, there are some newer, innovative ways to adding value and aesthetic appeal to your bathroom.
Good Tips For Selecting The Best Remodeling Contractor
When you take the decision of complete bathroom modification, you will have to get complete take apart the old bathroom items first. If you have only one bathroom in the house, you will have to involve the other family members as well. You and your family members can sit and discuss what will go where in the bathroom. Finding a good solution for the bathroom modification is always a welcome. If you find yourself at odds with the rest of your family members arrive at consensus by accepting some of their suggestions. If you are the homemaker and you feel that a certain design would work best in the long run, feel free to take the decisions yourself.
You may have to take ideas from experts, but it is not recommended to do all what they say. You need to have a good judgement of what is good and what is not so good for your bathroom. You will need the professional help of a trained plumber for the fittings of the bathroom items such as the bath tubs, bathroom vanities, bathroom cabinets, and so on. Before zeroing in on the various bathroom items, make sure that they will fit in the bathroom. If you are not aware of the design aspects, get help from a good bathroom modification service in Denver CO area.
When taking professional help, make sure to understand the layout of the bathroom. The bathroom modification expert will chalk out a plan, which you will approve. Check out the local newspapers for the names and contact numbers of some good plumbers. You will also find a good number of bathroom professionals on the Internet. These days, even new entrants in the field of bathroom design would make it look that they are in the field for years. So, put on your thinking cap and select the best bathroom expert not by what they say they can do, but by what they have done in the past.
A bathroom modification service in Denver CO area can cost you a lot, but you need to identify the best service that will give you the best rates. Cost of the service depends on several factors which include experience of the bathroom technicians and skills of the bathroom technicians.…