Away During the Remodel
When making the decision on when to start a project, some prefer to be at the home/condo during the work. Others opt to have the project completed while they return to their second home up north or abroad. Either is fine with us. We totally understand someone wanting to be around in case questions arise or things change during the process. Some remodels are so intense, it is impossible to complete the job while upholding livable conditions. We work with each client to help facilitate conditions that support their lifestyles and daily living routine.
Let’s look at a project that is going to start while the homeowner is away. These details will all be discussed during the design and contract phase, so we know how to approach the situation.  If a client is returning to their home somewhere else, we have a whole approach on how to maintain clear communication as well as ways to keep the client engaged on what is happening on a day to day basis with their project.
What is Buildertrend?
Buildertrend is an in-house program we use every day. It is an on-line program where we can communicate with employees, venders and sub-contractors. Buildertrend also gives the ability to bring in the homeowner to our world. What does that mean? When we are building out a project from the start, typically the client is given a USERNAME and PASSWORD to login to the program. This allows you to follow what is happening behind the scenes such as Permitting processes and scheduling and cabinet whereabouts.
Another very cool thing that Buildertrend offers an on-line calendar that you have access to see what is happing and what’s been completed. If you login and go to the “schedule” you will see items such as permit applied for and permit delivered. Other things such as Cabinet delivery and cabinet install date. We build this calendar for our in-house employees, sub-contractors and client. We believe that by involving the client it helps to minimize phone calls and questions that can be answered simply by logging in and reviewing what info has been posted on-line. The program also is great for photos. We continually up-load pictures and progress reports so you not only know what’s going on, you can see the progress.
What to Expect
When the only option is to move forward while living at the residence where the remodel is taking place, we also have protocols we follow as to try and minimize the disruption of daily activities. If we are doing a bathroom remodel obviously you would use one other baths. If it is your master bath that is connected to your master bedroom, you can possibly live in another bedroom while using the guest bath. Kitchens are notoriously built in the center part of the home. This can be tricky especially if there is a family with children at home. You can plan to eat out for possibly a couple of months.
There are other things you can do like, move the fridge to another room or garage. Sometimes we have seen clients set up a kitchen workspace in the garage that includes a refrigerator, microwave and small toaster. If you are lucky enough to have an outdoor kitchen, well fire up that grill and plan on grilling some great steaks or burgers for a while.
We hope this helps and gets you excited about working with a company interested in making your project one that involves you, the client, and helps keeping things transparent and interesting. Ready to start remodeling? Click here to tell us about your project.
