“Back into Your Project.” Don’t go headfirst. – What DO I MEAN BY THAT?
Most homeowners who contact an architect first are going into their project headfirst. Always establish a budget and stand by it. There are times the money is not sufficient to the scope of work. It is better to know that before the drawings are completed and a builder prices the work and gives you the bad news. Architects don’t refund for overdraws. Get your builder involved at the design phase to make certain that your design phase does not end in disappointment and hard feelings.
Some round costs are these: a kitchen renovation can cost as little as $75,000.00 to $150,000.00. A hall bath generally runs about $20 to $32k. A master bath (not politically correct to say that anymore) is as varied as the kitchen pricing – and about the same costs.
We are going to discuss all the phases during your renovation. For our example project, let’s set our budget at $100,000.00. This is a typical number for a small to medium scope renovation project. Our scope is pretty straightforward and very common. We are going to renovate the kitchen, move some bearing walls to create an open concept space, remodel the primary bathroom, scrape some popcorn ceilings, texture and repaint, and replace windows. If we have the room in our budget, let’s repaint the exterior of the home for that nice gift wrapping on our beautiful interior renovation.
Most homeowners, especially those on a tight budget offer to perform unskilled tasks on their own. Ostensibly, this is thought to save budget dollars on their project. When I talk about backing into your project, there are unseen criteria and a general philosophical mindset of which the homeowner should be aware. Let’s look at this free labor from two perspectives.
Unskilled Labor as it Applies to Your Project: How Much Should You do Yourself to Save Remodel dollars?
As builders, we look at your project as a timeline flow. Many tasks within that timeline are spread throughout that timeline. Demo, for instance, occurs from day one to nearly the end of the project. Electrical, Plumbing and HVAC occurs throughout the project. Part 1 of all these trades’ participation is permit and demo. Part 2 is rough-in. Part 3 is Top Out. Part 4 is Trim out. Carpentry occurs throughout, from demo and rough framing, through interior trim and cabinet installation. Most often perceived unskilled efforts are mixed with highly technical tasks. Having an inexperienced crew performing some of these tasks pose a safety issue and tend to slow the overall process.
The Savings of Performing Unskilled Tasks Yourself
The chief component of Backing into Your Project is to commit to your budget. Once established, lock in that number. In our example from part 1 our builder gave us a price of $100k. Commit to it from the start. The $100, $200, or $300 savings saves you nearly nothing. The builder cost for the same task is nominal and often low balled in his budget computations. The most expensive parts of your project are materials, skilled trades, and management.
Note: Buy the best quality materials you can afford. Your builder should provide you guidance on materials selections with allowance budgets and builder discounts with his established vendors.
Selecting a Builder to Assist Your Design Process
An interesting phenomenon occurs when a homeowner goes into a project headfirst and selects a builder without a design. In order to get an idea of a price for their project. Most people limit their bidders to 3. There is no reason to pick 3 any more than a reason to select more than 3 builders. Still, most homeowners go in threes when they seek prices. The phenomena is how disparate the pricing will be if you actually get all 3 to bid. Many builders will not bid the project because they have no clue what to bid. They know that they are tossing a number against the wall hoping it will stick. If they are awarded the project, they suspect they underbid it and will lose money. This mindset accounts for why most homeowners tell me stories of how they asked for a bid then they never heard from the builder again.
Of those who do bid your project you will get 3 different pricing levels and each one tells you a lot about your prospective builder.
Craig Walker is a seasoned building industry professional with over 40 years of hands-on experience in architectural design, construction, and project management.