Renovation Basics, What You Should Know Before You Remodel

After a tree fell on my house in 2003, during Hurricane Isabel, I had no idea how much of my next 13 months would be consumed by the renovation. After all, couldn't the builder just put everything back to its pre-hurricane state? It wasn't that simple.

Admittedly, I brought some of the workload upon myself after a friend said, "While you're at it you should redo the kitchen. It so needs an upgrade." The tree had not affected the kitchen so, of course, insurance would not cover that part of the makeover. Money aside, I would end up spending a large chunk of time selecting countertops, splashback, appliances, faucets, cabinets, knobs, hinges. Who knew there were so many varieties of hinges?

Contractor

As with all services, I asked friends or others to refer me to companies they've used. After receiving estimates from a few different contractors, I decided to use Bowa Builders, who had remodeled a few rooms when I first moved into my home. Although Bowa was more expensive than others, renovation is so stressful that I wanted to use someone I knew would do the job correctly.

Bowa provided and paid the subcontractors, such as roofers, electricians and plumbers. Bowa's project manager supervised the work. As is customary, the contractor (Bowa) then added percentages to whatever the subcontractors charged, as well as percentages for overseeing the work.

I had to decide whether I wanted to pay a preset amount to Bowa or whether I wanted to pay time and materials. For a worrywart like me, it was less anxiety-provoking to know ahead of time what the bottom line would be, so I chose to pay a fixed price. That said, I don't know anyone who has remodeled who hasn't altered the original plan. Such revisions result in a "change order" and nearly always increase your cost.

Architect

Ditto the architect was one I had used previously. Ankie Barnes has a golden reputation in the Washington, D.C. area and not only drew up the plans but also kept a close eye on the work. Before construction started I visited Ankie's home and borrowed a couple of design ideas, for instance, putting a Juliet balcony with a glass French door in my bedroom. He was the one I called with any concerns. Like Lawyers, architects often bill by the hour.

Kitchen Cabinetmaker

I had read an article in the Washington Post that praised HomeCraft Cabinety, a business owned and run by a married couple, who accepted only one job at a time and apparently did high-quality work. I sought references and was delighted that they found time in their schedule to make my kitchen cabinets. At one point, they came just to measure my plates so they could plan the exact dimensions of the shelves. They also advised me on the layout, encouraging me—among other things—to leave plenty of space around the island they were designing.

Against everyone's advice, I chose tile for my countertops. The cabinetmaker told me she worried so much about it that one night she couldn't sleep. I loved the look of tile and the fact that it could withstand extreme heat. My coterie of advisers feared the grout would be hard to keep clean, but it hasn't been a problem and recently I learned in Leah Ingram's article "5 Household Items that Do Double Duty as Cleaners" that vinegar cleans grout, which has made it even easier to manage.

Landscape designer

A good way to find a landscape designer is to find someone else's yard that appeals to you and ask whom they used. I paid my landscape architect to draw up the plans, but since the cost of her gardener was high, I sought someone else to implement the design. My architect, who did the plans for rebuilding the house, was a great resource for referrals; for the plantings, he suggested I use the company that cared for his yard, which resulted in big savings.

Epilogue and the Punch List

After the job was completed, the project manager passed the mantle to another division of Bowa that dealt with all the odds and ends that remained. These smaller jobs collectively are called the punch list. And here my contractor continued to shine: When there was a bubble in the ceiling that looked like there could be a leak, they came. When there was a leak in the middle of the night, three years after the renovation, they came right away. And when they discovered a flaw caused by the roofer they had used, something about the insulation I never would have known about if they hadn't told me, they paid a different roofer, at no charge to me, who spent days redoing the work to perfection.

The Moral of the Story

At the same time that I was renovating, a friend was also having extensive work done on her house. Her contractor charged much less, but disappeared for weeks at a time and hired shoddy laborers who caused flooding more than once. Eventually she had to find a different contractor. Personally, I would rather have less work done and use the extra money to hire the best contractor I could find.

What do's and don'ts have you learned from renovations? How about friends' experiences? I also welcome your questions. Let me hear from you in the comment box below.