Why Did My Friend Have A Good Experience But I Did Not ?
You hear it all the time. A friend ask for a referral and they get one from someone who tells them about how well their project went with so and so. They call that contractor, hire them and are disspointed with the results. What happened?
One of the hardest things to do in remodeling is provide a consistent experience across different projects. For one, every project is different and every homeowner is different.
While those differences can present unique challenges they are not the real reason for inconsistent results.
The real reason is process. Most contractor don’t have the staff or the systems in place to create a consistent remodeling experience. When things go well its usually more because of luck than because of any careful planning.
When looking to hire a contractor referrals are important but even more important is to make sure the c0ntractor you hire has a process in place to provide consistent results.
Choosing a Contractor: What Are Your Remodeling Needs ?
One of the first things we like to discuss during our initial consult is “are we a good fit for each other”.
Everyone has different remodeling needs and priorities when it comes to remodeling their home and not every contractor is a good fit for every client. An important factor in choosing a contractor is understanding how they work and making sure they can meet your expectations.
First Step: What’s Important To You?
Before you start calling contractors you need to consider what is important to you when thinking about your remodeling needs. When you do meet with contractors ask them questions specific to those needs.
Some things to think about:
Time
How busy are you?
- Do you have time to visit multiple stores to choose your own materails?
- Do you have time to pick them up and store them ?
- Do you have meet with seprate designers and contractors for different parts of the project ?
- Do you have time to confirm schedules and manage sub contractors?
Budget
Is cost going to dictate your choices or is the budget more open ended?
- How important is it that the initial estimate be detailed and accurate ?
- Are you on a tight budget and willing to sacrifice quality to meet it?
- Can you put up with a messy home and poor planning to save money ?
- Are you willing to do some of the work yourself ?
Service
Planning, communication and organization.
- How important is timely response to your questions and messages?
- Would you like all the details decided before the project starts or do you prefer to figure things out as you go ?
- How important is having a dedicated project manager to run things… one point of contact for all your needs?
- How important is it that your home remains clean and organized during the project?
- Would you like daily progress updates
Design and Product Selection
Do you know exactly what you want ?
- How important is good design advice ?
- Do you want to decide on all the details before work starts ?
- Do you need help choosing the right products and materials ?
Expertise
What do you Need Done ?
- How important is getting it right the first time?
- Do you want someone who specializes or are you OK with a generalist ?
- Is this a small project or a large one to you?
Warranty and Follow up
Are you looking for a company with permanence?
- Who will be around in 5, 10 or 20 years ?
- How important is it to have a a good warranty on the work being done ?
- How important is follow up service?
Depending on how you answer those questions you may or may not need a design building remodeling contractor like McManus Kitchen and Bath.
A Discovery Call Could Help You Decide
Some of those questions can be hard to answer if you have never tackled a big remodeling project before. That’s why we start each project with a discovery call followed by a Design and Budget Consult.
On the discovery call we’ll discuss your needs and whether or not we would be a good choice for your project. If we are not a good fit for you we are happy to recommend other options.
If you schedule a D&B consult we’ll to get to know each other better and we’ll create a custom 3D concept and Good Better Best budget for your project.
Remodeling For First Time Homeowners
Hiring a design build remodeling contractor can seem expensive at first, but as many experienced homeowners will tell you, it pays to remodel right the first time.
- Save time and hassle with our design build approach
- Get expert design and constuction advice in one place
- If we are not a good fit for you we can recommend alternatives
Remodeling for Busy Moms and Dads
If you need to update your home while juggling kids, jobs and other activities hiring a design build remodeling contractor is the way to go.
- Careful planning and great communication are cornerstones of our process
- No need to run all over town visiting different designers, contractors and showrooms.
- We’ll create a kid safe, pet friendly plan to update your home.
Remodeling Needs for Retirees
A lot of remodeling contractors don’t understand universal design. We are certified Aging in Place Specialists and will help you update your home so that it looks great and works for people of all ages and abilities.
Remodeling for Empty Nesters
Time to tackle projects that have been on the back burner for a while ?
- Create a cohesive plan for updating your home
- Designs that express your style and respond to your needs.
- Future proof your home for retirement
Remodeling for Busy Professionals
If your work keeps you away from home a lot and you need to be efficient with your remodelling planning we are the remodeling contractor for you.
- Detailed scope of work and selections are approved during design. Nothing is left to chance.
- Full access to project schedule, via our online portal
- Easily comment on daily logs, pictures etc… and get a quick response from our team.
