First and foremost, make sure they are licensed and insured within legal limits of their profession. Secondly, reviews can be fudged, so they aren’t necessarily a good way to gauge contractor integrity. Once you have established who you’re going to hire, be sure you have everything selected as far as material grade, color and quality picked out. Material prices vary so the more you have selected as to what you want, the easier the build process will be, therefore minimizing surprises. From a contractor standpoint it is much easier to start a job knowing what will be used thus minimizing questions before, during and after job completion.
Have most of the project items planned out ahead of time. Have a pretty clear idea of your design, color patterns, and material choices. Order the rough and finish materials as soon as possible after confirmation of the project start date, or know suppliers who have these materials available. Most delays result in finish materials not being available or back-ordered. Ask your contractor for advice if you aren’t sure about something, a competent contractor should be able to make excellent recommendations in terms of design, finish materials, or remodeling layouts.
I’d advise not to rush into the construction phase until all the plans, details and materials have been defined thoroughly. Try to stay with the original plans and minimize changes in the middle of the project. Following this advice will lead to your project being completed on time and within budget.
Be realistic about your budget. We ask all clients what their top line budget is, not so we can add in as much work as possible to reach that amount, but to be able to educate the clients on what they feasibly can have so that there are realistic expectations from the start. Many clients don’t factor in the costs of permits, engineering reports, city fees, or realize they need to have a bit of padding in their budget in case we run into unforeseen issues when we begin such as with unknown electrical or plumbing problems. Especially with remodels, we have to make sure your property is structurally sound before we make improvements; otherwise we are only cosmetically covering up interior issues which will eventually have devastating consequences as time goes by. It is our job to let them know realistically how much labor and materials cost as well as all of the design elements since there are dramatic differences in the cost of flooring, cabinetry, counter tops, basic tile and lighting as opposed to designer or custom features, etc. People are excited about their project and have big dreams, but we don’t set unrealistic expectations or make promises we can’t deliver. We really spend a lot of time in the prioritization process with clients incorporating their must-have items with their wish list items while ensuring the house is solid and safe. By educating a client up front about overall costs we can help them make wise financial decisions to maximize what they receive for their investment.
We always love clients that view us as a partner, not just as a GC looking to make its fee. An architect creates beautiful drawings, but we’re always the bearer of bad news — we tell how much it’ll cost. The best clients get involved, understand the costs, are quick in making decisions, clear in what their goals are, and they share it with the team.
Schedule a meeting at the location so we can do a walk thru and I know exactly what you want. We will go over sizes, material and cost so you know how much and on what your money is being spent on so you can stay within your budget.
Communicate your project vision in detail before starting your project. Then have the scope of work in writing.
Acquire three reputable bids. Going with the lowest bidder is a mistake. Do research on who you are working with etc…
Make sure you have a relationship based on trust not strictly on price
Have written agreement that is specific as to what the contractor will provide so that your expectations and the contractors scope of work match
A good contractor aims to please his clients reward him with a good review about the experience you had with him when he does so.
Research your contractor, educate yourself, and avoid low bids. If you do these all else falls in there and you will be ok.
Be realistic about your budget and don’t take on more than you can comfortably pay for, allowing for the inevitable surprises. Stay calm! Have somewhere to go in case it becomes necessary. Take a break from the house. Take the kids somewhere fun.
First, find a team of qualified design professionals and general contractor. I cannot overstate the importance of this. Choose people you can trust and then trust them to do their jobs. This type of construction should be fun, but everyone must pull their weight including the client. Second, stick to your decisions. The primary reason projects go off track is failure in the flow of information. When clients change their minds constantly the design professionals fail to keep up and the message on what to build never makes it to us. This results is lots of starts and stops and wasted effort. A lot of the time the client eventually make it back to where they started in the decision process to begin with. Finally, don’t compartmentalize. Keep your whole team involved with as many aspects of the project as possible. You aren’t looking for consensus on issues, but you do need every parties point of view to make good decisions. This improves overall team communication and makes for a smoother, more fun construction process.
In most instances, you should insure that you have a good project team on board to design and construct your project. If you’ve done your due diligence up front and hired the most qualified architect and consulting engineers, as well as the most qualified general contractor/construction manager, then you have increased your potential for success.
I think it’s mostly about finding the right match in a contractor, and trusting that he/she will take care of the work without need for micro-management.
Hire a professional for each job.
Vet the people you involve.
Need to choose contractor that you can communicate and feel confidence he can do the job in the timeline you agree.
The best advice I can give to a homeowner looking to undergo a remodeling project is to create a plan and to stick to it. Go through each of the rooms in question and write down what parts need to be updated, left alone, or repaired. Once you’ve got a full list of items that you want completed, make sure to share it with your contractor. There’s nothing more frustrating for a customer or a contractor than when we’re not on the same page. If you know what you want and have it written down so that there is no confusion, your vision becomes easier to see and we will be able to give you exactly what you want.
Answer from an architect: any successful project is one where the proposed work is well thought through and where your architect and builder have collaborated from the early stages of design. Design and build are a team and the successful projects are developed as such.
Be involved and oversee whats happening.
The first thing i would recommend is that you make sure that all details pertaining to the contract are extremely detailed. Go over the possible things that might come up as a potential issue specifically regarding your project. Make sure that all your payments are made after milestone markers in your job such as: rough electrical and rough plumbing, upon starting tile work (perhaps). Everything is based upon the particular project you are looking to do.
One of the most important things is making sure that the company is licensed, insured and bonded.
Thank You,
Management