Remodeling Costs in Tallahassee, FL

6 ELEMENTS FOR A SUCCESSFUL REMODEL:

1. Accurate Initial Estimates: 

It’s important to review the list of materials, labor scope of work and intial concept drawings in person with your contractor so you understand what is included and what is not.

2. Design, Material Selection and Planning: 

With most contractors these are all perfomed by separate businesses. Design and materials seleciton are often left for you to take care of on your own. McManus Kitchen and Bath provide all the services under one roof.

3. Ordering & Material Management: 

To avoid delays all materials should be received before the project starts. Most contractors in Tallahasee will ask that you order the materails and store them at your home. McManus Kitchen and Bath orders everything for you and we store it in our warehouse until needed.

4. Quality Construction: 

Some contractors will give you a price and then try to hire the cheapest labor they can to maximize profit. This is usually called a “cost plus” approach. We rely only on well trained and experienced trade partners and only work with fixed price contracts to ensure the highest quality.

5. Project Management: 

Probably the most overlooked aspect to a successful project. Most contractors only visit the job site once or twice a week. This can lead to messy jobsites, erratic schedules and costly mistakes. Our project managers are on site every day to  make sure things run smoothly and avoid confusion.

6. Follow Up and Warranty: 

Qualtiy contractors will provide a long term warranty with few limitations or exceptions. Our 5 year warranty covers every aspect of the project. 

How To Lower Your Remodeling Costs

Remodeling cost estimates will vary depending on whether or not your contractor is providing all 6 services or if you have to have some done separately.

There are 4 basic ways to lower remodeling costs in Tallahassee

1. Do some of the steps yourself. You can hire a traditional remodeling contractor to do the on site work and take care of some or all of the design, material selection, ordering, storage and project management yourself.

This approach can be successful if you have the time and knowledge to manage those additional aspects of the project. Any mistakes will come at a cost to you though. 

2. Hire a handman or ‘self performing’ contractor. A self performing contractor is someone who is licensed and does most of the work themselves, rather than hiring qualfied installers or subcontractors. A handyman is not licensed but also does all the work himself.

Many companies who work on rentals, investment properties and house flips operate this way. The quality is generally lower and there is still a lot of work on your part to coordinate things. 

3. Use an online designer. There are a lot of freelance designers online these days. You can send them pictures and measurements and they will create a design for you.

This approach can work but you are responsible for any measurement errors, the designs tend to be more generic and you will have to order and coordinate everything on your own. 

4. Order cheaper materials. Materials make up about 30% of project costs. Online cabinet stores sell less expensive RTA cabinets, box stores like home depot have modified versions of popular fixtures that cost less.

We do not recommend using cheaper materials to lower cost. A lot of contractors do rely on home depot fixtures and RTA cabinets to lower costs but  they have limited options and are build from low quality materials.