Lakeshore Whole Home Remodel – $364,869

Summary:

Lakeshore whole home remodel for a young family with 2 kids. A beautiful ‘forever’ home with a great view of the lake was in need of an update and some layout changes. We remodeled the walkout basement first as a separate project. Then we remodeled the upstairs, which included 3 bathrooms, the kitchen and the laundry room/butler’s pantry.

lakeshore Whole Home Remodel

Project Summary:

We actually remodeled their basement first (see that project here) so they would have some place to hang out, prepare meals etc… while we were remodeling the upstairs.

Upstairs we remodeled the kitchen, 3 bathrooms and the laundry room. We also replaced/modified the back sliding glass door and updated the foyer.

The kitchen was quite small and the previous homeowners had kept the refriderator in the laundry room, which was right behind the kitchen. We were able to fit the fridge back into the kitchen and we updated the laundry so it worked as both a laundry room and a butlers pantry .

In the girls bath we removed a wall and relocated the toilet so we could install a much larger vanity. The result is much more functional space.

The boys bath was smaller and the layout was fine but it was sorely outdated.

The big issue in the master bath was closet storage. We added several tall pocket door cabinets to increase storage and allow everything to be hidden. We added an arched doorway to the closet for interest.

We also moved the tub so a larger vanity could be installed and we updated the shower.

Key Updates:

Quote from the client:

“We’ve done several large remodels on previous homes, this project ran smoother than any of them and it actually finished on time!” 

• Fixtures
  • Newport brass fixtures in master bath, laundry and kitchen. 
  • heirloom MS3 Wall Sconces in Kitchen
  • Delta Milan Faucets in Girls bath
  • Tied Bow Sconces from Shades of Light in Girls bath
  • Signature hardware Gunther faucets in Boys bath
  • Golden Lighting Seaport Sconces in boys bath. 

Pre-construction and Construction Process

Once design is complete the project management team takes over. They review the project details with your designer several times during design so they already know what to expect.

We order all your materials and our warehouse manager inspects them, labels them and stores them in our warehouse.

Your project manager arranges permits and updates our subcontractors. About 3 weeks before the project starts he will schedule a pre-construction meeting with you at your home.

Project Timeline

Total time to complete: 18 weeks, about 2 weeks longer than expected. Not including the time to get their fridge (which took over a year!) that was on backorder from the manufacturer.

• Proposed project start date: Jan 30th 2023

• Actual Project Start Date: Jan 2023

• Proposed Completion Date: June 8th, 2023

• Actual Completion Date: June 18th, 2023

Challenges And Solutions During Construction

There were a few unexpected issues that had to be addressed during the project. 

Challenge 1: Changing Washer/Dryer

Challenge: Client did not like the ventless dryer she chose after it was installed and she used it a few times.

Solution: It took some clever ductwork and finish carpentry but we managed to fit a vented dryer in the same space. Bobby Dollar Appliances were very gracious and took back the original washer / dryer set with no restocking fee and helped the client pick out a new set that would fit in the space needed.

Challenge 2: Damaged Marble

Challenge: Multistone damaged her marble countertops after install, while trying to polish out a few marks from fabrication. Multistone refused to repair the damage, stating their natural stone dislcaimer freed them of any responsibility, which seemed ridiculous to us since thier installers physically damaged the stone on site.

Solution:  We hired a wonderful gentleman from Stone Healers, who specializes in natural stone refnishing and repair. He took 3 full days to repolish the entire slab on site and we covered the cost.

We no longer work with Multistone for our countertops.

Final Project Cost: $364,869

Cost Breakdown

Master Bath 

Project Highlights

Final Thoughts

Large projects like this can be a logistical challenge. Starting in the design process we needed to make sure that the details for each room were very clear and we had separate sets of working drawings and plans for each room.

With multiple installers working on site at the same time a detailed project schedule was critical and we did several walk throughs during the pre-construction phase to make sure our installers and trade partners knew what to expect.

We assigned one project manager to this project for the duration and it was his only project for the whole time. This allowed him to be on site every day help keeps installers organized, on track and out of each others way.

There were cetainly some surprises and ‘hiccups’ along the way but having a dedicated project manager and support staff like our warehouse manager and design assistant, meant we could resolve issues quickly and keep things on track.

With all projects communication is the key to keeping everyone happy and we sent  3-4 project updates every day to make sure everyone stayed up to date.

The end result was a very happy client and beautiful home they can enjoy for many many years. They recently reached out to us to start exploring the construction of an outdoor kitchen so we are looking forward to working with them again!