Tips and Information About The Joys and Dilemmas of Building or RemodelingAre you buying a new home? Are you planning on buying a new home in the near future? Are you planning a major remodeling project in your home? If you can answer yes to one of these questions, I would suspect you are full of excitement, anticipation, worry and down right overwhelmed at all the decisions that will be required of you! Building or remodeling a home can be a happy and wonderful experience, but it will probably include some stressful times as well, and can cause some friction with couples during the course of building. I would be remiss, in not preparing you for this reaction to the building procedure. It is normal and common for most couples to experience this. The best way to avoid the conflict and stress is to be as knowledgeable and prepared for the project as possible. The stress is usually generated from the realization of how much money this whole procedure is going to require. First, making the decisions on the perfect home, then what products, features, upgrades and color choices you need, can add to the anxiety. All of these choices are overwhelming enough, but can add financial expense to the home as well, thus causing disagreement and friction.
I can speak to all these emotions and feelings from first hand experience. For many years I managed a design firm for a large custom homebuilder in Florida where I have worked with hundreds upon hundreds of people and couples in this very situation. My personal experience along with my professional experience has given me great insight and understanding of the dilemmas and joys of building or remodeling. In my personal homeowner experiences we have had a builder build for us twice, I have acted as my own contractor and built my own home twice and have purchased 3 homes over the years that required minimal to extensive remodeling. I’ve been through it all! I’m going to attempt to break down the expectations and decisions required of you, so you may be more prepared and confident through this building process.
TIPS ON FINDING THE RIGHT BUILDER/CONTRACTOR
As you are looking at new homes and models, narrowing your choices down to a few, it is important to research the background and integrity of the builder/contractor.
• Check with the Better Business Bureaus in you area.
• Talk to past customers, find out about time frames, professionalism of extended staff and operations. Ask about home service and attention, once the home is completed. Ask how changes were handled as the construction progressed. Determine the builder/contractors longevity in your area. What additional services does the builder offer? (Ex: draftsmen, interior design help etc.) Meet these staff members. The working relationship with them during the building process will be important and lengthy. Try to get a sense of your compatibility.
• Talk to the key subcontractors the builder uses. Ask them about their relationship with the builder, and payment history.
• Before you sign a contract try to get past the salesperson, and talk to the owner or head superintendent that would be overseeing your construction. This is whom you will be dealing with once construction has started. I believe it’s important to develop a mutual trust and relationship with them. Seldom are the salespeople seriously involved past the contract.
TIPS ON BUILDER/CLIENT RELATIONSHIP
Let’s assume you have done your research and made a decision on the home and builder you would like to contract with for your home or remodel.
• The most important advice I can give you about buying a new home or remodeling is to get everything in writing, signed by both parties. Be as detailed and thorough as possible.
• Start with the base home price and standard specifications. Add any contingencies that may be necessary. Be sure to include in your contract any upgrades shown in the model you may desire or products and features that have been decided upon before this stage.
• Builders should price for you a specific cost of these items, appropriate for the floorplan you are building, before you get to a final contract. Be sure that this has been done, and not left to settle at a later time. This is probably the first place that a builder and customer can hit the "rocky road." Vagueness and relying on verbal information and pricing from the salesperson and other staff members can be an extreme source of future frustration and disappointment.
• After construction has begun, changes or change orders will often be necessary or desirable. Insist on the cost and description of each and every change being documented on paper, and signed by both parties. This will eliminate many of the verbal miscommunications or misunderstandings between the builder’s staff and customer.
• It is also a good practice and many times required by the loan institution, for all construction draws to be co-approved by you and the bank. This is your guarantee that the builder does not get the draw until the work meets with your approval. Most loan institutions are pretty stringent about releasing draws too soon. Remember, this is your home and money being spent, so you want to maintain as much control as possible over this segment of the construction process.
• Make sure the builder is requiring the sub-contractors to sign a lien waiver, once they have been paid for their work on your home, and ask to be provided with copies. This is your proof that the sub contractor has been paid, and cannot place a lien on your home at a future date, due to lack of payment.
FLOORPLAN TIPS
If you are working with a builder that offers customized floor plans or are building a totally custom home, there are many more decisions required of you, than if you were purchasing a basic tract home. If this is your situation, I’m sure you have dreamed about all the options and ideas you can think of. Although, I have often experienced customers getting to the color stage after working with the draftsmen on floor plans and have never considered how their furniture and family lifestyles will effect some of the most basic home decisions. Getting to a finished floorplan will be time consuming and often exhausting. This is why having a good repor with the architect or draftsmen is essential.
• Consider carefully the floorplan, traffic flow, window placements, electrical needs etc. Try to imagine your family and furnishings in the home.
• Think about the purpose and needs of each room.
• Use furniture templates of your existing or planned furniture to help determine window and electric outlet/switch placement. These are just a few of the important considerations for you to think about.
• Windows placed in the home for function and esthetics are essential, but consider how they are placed in the room for future treatment or dressing. So many times, I have had customers put lots of windows and fixed glass in their home, only to discover that they have to cover them for light/sun/privacy concerns. Considering these issues first will result in the best choice of window style and the appropriate amount of glass for your families’ lifestyle.
• I can’t begin to tell you all the decisions that each home will require at this stage. Everyone’s needs and taste will be different, along with the different methods each draftsmen and architect may have to accomplish a finished floorplan to build from. However, from a decorator’s point of view and experience, the above are often neglected and can so easily be customized for the most perfect results.
CHOOSING THE COLORS FOR YOUR HOME OR REMODEL
Typically the next phase in home construction is your color choices. Most builders will require the majority of these decisions to be made as early as possible. The builder I worked with for many years, had the customers come in for a color session after their plans were nearly complete and before construction began. I believe this is a good policy, as it allows the builder and customer to resolve decisions and pricing issues at early stages. Dragging this process out over the course of construction, can result in bad color choices, availability problems, cost factors and constant worry over the next decision. Most women are overwhelmed at the idea of choosing every finish and color necessary to build a home. There are a huge amount of color decisions to be made. I do understand how confusing and difficult this can be for many of you, especially if you are starting from scratch. I don’t want to put all women in this category as many of you do know your taste and have extreme confidence in your abilities to make color decisions. However, my experience has taught me that the first scenario is by far more common. Women being faced with color choices and decorating for a new or existing home was my motive in developing the eBook "Secrets to a Beautiful Home."
• Over the years, as I worked with clients decorating their homes, often many would come in for the color session having absolutely no idea of what color scheme or palette they wanted to decorate with.
• I had to find a way to help them with a color direction. Often customers would keep everything totally neutral, especially if resale was a concern, but usually it was due to the lack of confidence and not knowing what they wanted.
• I found that showing them the color boards used for model and client homes was very helpful. The color boards are a common tool used by decorators to visually show the customer recommended colors, products etc., but are not created for the client until the decorator has been hired and a payment policy arrived at.
• A color scheme board requires many design hours of research and digging through samples, and catalogs on the client’s behalf, and can be quite costly.
• My clients were always dazzled and impressed with the color boards. Especially if it was representative of a model home they had visited or purchased from. Seeing how I started the model and then seeing the finished model was an enlightening experience.
• I would then use the color boards to teach my client how we were going to proceed with their project. First, we would attempt to achieve their taste and style, secondly color, scale balance etc.
• This experience and customer reaction is what inspired me to create the 18 color scheme guides providing for you color scheme options and coordinated selections for an average of 6-8 rooms.
• If you are building or decorating and do not know where to begin, the 18 color scheme guides (Bonus Offer within eBook) is an ideal way for you to determine your families taste. They will provide for you a clear direction and path for all the future decisions necessary for your new home/remodel or decorating project. As the time approaches for you to make color selections for your building project, endeavor to have a color palette in mind. Arriving at a color session, and not having a clue of what you want, will only create stress and frustration for you. Hopefully the builder has provided an interior decorator to help you, and I’m sure that he or she will give you good advise, but remember this is your home and should be a reflection of your taste and lifestyle. It should be their job to help you achieve your dreams and expectations for the new home. However, you must help them with a color scheme preference.
• Sometimes, builders will put time restraints on the availability of the interior decorator for your color selections. This is all the more reason to be prepared for your color selections.
• Decorators will then show you the standard choices for each phase of the color session, and at your leading will show you additional ideas and products that may be an upgrade.
• An average color session, covering the decisions I have listed below, will take approximately 6-8 hrs. Be prepared to spend as much time with the decorator as offered, and do your best to have children cared for in another location. Mothers, sisters and friends have often accompanied the customer to their color session. In some cases this is desirable, but honestly in most it just adds stress and confusion. Too many opinions make it difficult for you to make a decision, which is yours.
• The couple, as a rule, should go together for color choices, but if your husband has absolutely no interest, you will be just fine with the help of the decorator. If you feel uncomfortable and really want a family member or friend, then feel free to bring them. Decorators are used to working with extended family members and friends, along with their client.
• Usually during the course of construction, it will be necessary to meet with the decorator for personal changes as well as availability problems. Most of these needs can be handled in an hour or less.
• There will always be variations and different policies around the country, but as a general rule the above information, should prepare you for what to expect from the builder, staff, and decorator.
LIST OF COLOR DECISIONS NEEDED FOR PROJECT
I’m going to provide a list of the basic color decisions needed by the builder for the completion of your home or remodel project.
• As you review these components, consider your taste, style, color scheme, budget, and family needs. You will probably find that once the largest decisions are out of the way, it will become easier as you go. Each choice you make then narrows the field for the next decision, and so on. You will understand better once you get into it.
• If your builder does not have a form/color sheet or a decorator available, you may use these components to create your own. Having a completed color sheet available for the builder and sub-contractors at all times, will help in eliminating color mistakes. (We always included the completed color sheet as a page of the final set of blueprints, on the job at all times).
• You may find that during the construction process, some of your original choices may not be available in time for installation or you change your mind about a color choice. This is an example of when a change order will be necessary. Reselect, making sure it is documented for the builder to price and confirm availability. Once you have approved the cost, if applicable, both parties should sign the change order.
• It is then the superintendent’s responsibility to keep up with any changes that arise, to prevent mistakes happening in the field.
Please carefully consider the below components for your home construction color choices:
1. Interior walls (every room) – paint choice, texture, wallpaper etc.
2. Ceilings (every room) – texture and paint color
3. Trim / Interior doors and Moldings – color
4. Switchplates- style and color
5. Door hardware- style and color
6. Flooring (every room)- product choice (hardwood, carpet, tile etc.) then color choice including grout if applicable
7. Kitchen – choose cabinets, countertops, backsplash area (tile or wallpaper), appliances, sink color, hardware, walls (paint or wallpaper)
8. Bathrooms- (all baths-powder, hall, guest, pool and master etc.)- Choose vanity base cabinet, vanity countertops, plumbing fixtures (tub, toilet, lavs), towel bars and faucets, tiled surfaces including grout (tub surround, shower wall, shower, floor, main floor etc.) hardware, walls (paint or wallpaper)
9. Utility/Laundry Room – cabinets, countertops, flooring, hardware, walls (paint or wallpaper)
10. Fireplaces- choose body product (brick, stone, tile, other), mantle paint or stain color and additional choices your particular fireplace may require.
11. Built-ins – (Bookshelves, wet/dry bars) choose cabinets, countertops, tile, hardware, paint/stain colors
12. Outdoor Kitchen- choose cabinet base, countertops, hardware, appliances, sink color
13. Lighting fixtures/fans – choose fixtures where necessary (dining, breakfast, foyer etc.) and fan style and colors.
14. Specialty Items- (glass block, fountains etc.)
15. Exterior-
*choose roof style and color
*house body, soffit, fascia, garage door, front door, accent trim, shutters paint color
*window frame color
*brick/stone colors
*siding color
*awning color
*walkway, driveway product and color
*entry flooring-product and color
*lanai/deck product and color
*outside light fixtures
16. Pool – pool surface, tile, coping, deck, spa items, and screen frame enclosure color
SUMMARY
I’m sure by now you are beginning to understand the complexity and details necessary to complete a home or remodel project. I sincerely hope that you will consider all the information I have provided for you in this article. I do not profess to know everything about home building, contracts, banking etc. However, my many years of personal and professional experience in this field of interior decorating has afforded me knowledge and wisdom which I hope will help you and prevent some common and costly mistakes.
Happy Decorating!!
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