What do you do to prepare a client for having their kitchen torn to shreds, or a bath along the same line.
I’ve read a few articles on various web-sites that prepare a h/o for a Kitchen remodel, such as what to expect, what to plan for and how to deal with the impending disarray.
Does anyone have a list or prep sheet they either go over or hand out to clients before such remodels, How to deal with out a kitchen, how to live in your house while the addition is going up. Or while your master bath is in pieces.
And on a some what different note, what about check-list for picking out fixtures, colors, floor coverings etc, any choice a home owner would have to make with a date by which these decisions must be made.
Simple little things like wall switch covers or drawer pulls, floor vents always seem to be a last minute item and if an item is a special order it can slow the pull-out date and add extra trips back after everything else is “finished”
It seems like a lot of little details never make it to paper, and maybe they don’t need too. The company I work for is looking for ways to make remodels easier on the customer, and easier on ourselves.
So… I thought I’d ask what the rest of you all do?
Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, Professionals built the Titanic.
Replies
For the material scheduling, I do a microsoft project-type timeline and have line items for whatever I can think of...appliances, carpet, floor tile, light fixtures...and I assign a reasonable but fat lead time, and then I keep the customer advised as the decision date approaches.
I'm lucky on my current remodel...it's a second home for them, and they agreed to stay away during the duration. I rented a conex, parked it in the front yard, and they filled it with furniture.
Do it right, or do it twice.
Cag
An interesting question. It should be easy to answer, just copy the list that I've got on the dashboard. However, no list.
Each job done in someone's home, whether a kitchen or bath or something as simple as a trim out, needs a verbal run through with the owners. They have become used to seeing a habitat house go up in a day, the tv shows doing a complete gut/remodel in an hour. In order to head off any misunderstandings, I always try to lay out the projected sequence of events and the usual, "there'll be a bit of a mess and I'll try to make this as easy on you as possible" disclaimer.
The key to me.......is having all the pcs. ordered and under control b/4 starting. There will be no " well, the sink didn't come in.......or there's a cabinet back ordered". And when doing a drastic job that invades someone's normal life, I'll work long hours, usually weekends too until the place is habitable. I am lucky. I can count on the subs showing up on time and completing their portion on time so no pushing back another trade. These guys have worked together before and do it well. They always consider the next guy when they do their work.
Oh yeah, I've had to scramble on just about every one of those jobs. ha ha ha.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
Neil 4,
Funny I should catch your thread cause I just finished writing in a thread about good customers and how one seems to have to charge for being a therapist as the job goes on.
I simply sit down with my customers when we sign the contract and explain that A#1, no matter how hard I try to keep the dust down its going to get into things. thats what pizzes people off the most I think....the dust.
Seems that its a time thing. The longer you're in someones home the more irritable they get if theyre clueless.
Then theres the arguing between husband and wife over decissions, right in front of you, and they turn to you to ask who is right......oiy!
I don't think how much a newbie to the home improvement adventure actually gets it, no matter how forwarned.
We just do the best we can....in renovation work things always deviate from the original plan.
Every morning when I walk into a clients house I "expect" a good fifteen minutes of discussion cause they stand over my work when I leave at night and become designers "after the fact".
And some people think all we do is build stuff.
Be, jus' friggin' be
andy
In his first interview since the stroke, Ram Dass, 66, spoke with great difficulty about how his brush with death has changed his ideas about aging, and how the recent loss of two old friends, Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg, has convinced him that now, more than ever, is the time to ``Be Here Now.''
http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
I just explain at one time or another that this is remodeling....
and things can and will go wrong!
No big deal......it's quicker to fix the problem than worry about it....and I've tried to leave enough time in the schedule to still hit the due date....which will be 3 week late.
And .......if it's supposed to be here tomorrow......2 weeks.
If it's to be shipped from somewhere ......4 to 6 weeks....
Unless we're talking speciality items...or cabinets ......8 weeks.
Order early .....so when it does show up ...it might be on time.
BTW ....remember....
no matter how great a job you're doing ......2 weeks before completion they are gonna hate you!
Day of completion they're gonna like you...but look tired...and might not wanna admit it....
2 weeks after completion they're gonna love you!
Jeff
Buck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
Having done few remodels in my time I've found a few different reactions to renovations.
At first they are all excited cause its about to start, then theirs the dust, yes we did explain that, but they never thought it would be that much!
I figure that if they grew up without the silver spoon in the mouth they seem to be able to handle the disruption a lot better.
Then theirs the client that should never build, everythings a drama they should just go away and leave us to it.
Even with the best client on a big job after months of tradesman traipsing in and out we eventualy wear them down! They crack and are glad to see the back of us.
My advise is pick your client carefully if you can, explain the dust and dirt and disruption then double it and keep the job as clean as possible I know it would crap me off having all those trades through my house and I know them!
Cheers Johnhttp://www.johnwalkerbuilders.com
I'm pretty lucky,I guess. Most all of my clients go away for the winter so I can have the house while they are gone, and get it finished before they return - except for the ones where out of sight means out of mind and they don't bother to respond to requests for answeres and decisions, delaying the work, but that's another thread.
I remember having one job all lined up and I had gone over things with the client to let him knowwhattoexpect and we agreed that I would start the week after Labour Day. So I drove in about 8:30AM all loaded out with staging planks, etc. and started to unload in the area. After 15 minutes, he came out kind of bleary-eyed and wanted to know, what's going on? obvious he had got out of bed and his wife was still in the sack and they had decided to stay another two weeks but nobody bothered to tell me, Dhuh?
So he paid for an extra day, and I enjoyed the slack time to catch up on smaller things.
I try to tell people that up front they will see nothing encouraging. Demo work is hard psychologically - seeing things get destroyed. Knowing that you have $20,000 invested in a muddy hole in the ground.
Then we will start to move forward after a couple of weeks.
Then two weeks before it is finished we will be sick of seeing one another when things happen like the wall cab that came in with an unfinished end panel, delaying the crown overhead and the undercab lighting - "Yes sir, that's what that wire sticking out of the wall is for"
Everyone is commenting on the dust. I seal an area and protect the floors and cover furniture or remove it. No dust in the rest of the house. I have also seen jobs where guys went in and set up sawhorses right in the living room with no protection whatsoever. I would want to kill a contractor who let that happen. Then there are various methods in between.
Seems like the way to avoid dust complaints is to take the time to seal and protect against it when possible. Use an air scrubber. It will make your life easier too. Run the vacumn before going home each night. Budget the time to do all this in your estimate, and they will purr instead of growling at you..
Excellence is its own reward!
CAG, you got some good advice here. Here's my take on the subject. Buy and read “The Experience Economy.†As one author stated, each contact we have with the customer is called a “moment of truth.†Those daily, almost hourly, contacts validate or negate what we tell them “before†they sign on the dotted line.
The job itself, and each day we “live†in their lives impacts not only you image as a contractor, but your credibility. So preparing them for what will happen is crucial. The preparation also prepares them to expect what one person years ago coined the term “remodeling feverâ€, meaning that they see a lot being done during the demo, and when other physical aspects are very obvious, but remodeling fever hits them when the electrician takes an extra day, or doesn’t show up when scheduled, etc.
Also, what we say to them verbally has a lot less impact than what they can read. “Documentsâ€, for some reason, to us humans, is more believable and has more validity than the contents of verbiage. So while reading the above book I got the idea to make a large poster on poster board noting the various aspects of the remodeling “process.†You can use cartoons or graphics as well.
Jog your memory and in your mind, physically walk thru the remodeling process whether it’s a bath, kitchen, deck, addition, window replacement, etc. Make a poster board for each. It’s a fact that humans retain more via repetition, so explain what will over to them verbally, put it also in your contract, make the poster board. There is much more, but I don’t want to ramble which I tend to do.
It’s important to them to become aware of the fact that what each remodel represent is really a “prototype†no different than when making the initial model of a car, washing machine, etc. As such, prototypes will include minor (sometimes major) changes during the remodeling process. Most people just cannot picture a completed project much less parts of it like what the ceramic tile will look for once it’s installed on the tub/shower walls or floor, etc.
Also, to some people, the overall completed project may look great, but to others, minor details can drive them nuts, so details are important, not only to these people but also to your credibility as a detail person and capacity (and desire) to accommodate your clients.
Increased monies can be made in our industry “if†you continually concentrate on your positive “image†- what your name represents. Some of what I’ve stated above will enhance that image.
In addition, if you will email me, I’ll email you a brochure type document that I created years ago and is entitled “The Process†that can be used to further prepare clients for any remodeling project. Just modify it to your own operations and personality.
Hey Sonny,
Good to see ya kicking things up........ Good points on the paperwork. I'll give that some consideration.
Well, to add my own 2 bits, the following is my standard (and I'll never lie to you) "How things are really gonna be"
At some point the excited HO will casually bring up dust, mess, general keeping the job clean. My response: First, make sure both (Hub &Wif) are in the room and have your undivided attention...
"First, it's gonna be horrible. We run the cleanest jobs in town but it still is a mess. No avoiding it. We will do a "mean clean" every Friday, we'll have a maid service come in after D.W. and at the conclusion of the job, but stilll..........it's gonna be a mess."
Now usually, the client bravely shake their heads as if you've thrown down a gauntlet for them to overcome and that's were I go in and destroy any illusions they may hold on to.
"You don't understand, this process is gonna make you feel crazy. This (your house) is your escape. And we are gonna make you feel like you've been invaded. No more reading the paper in your undies. Eating out and paper plates are fun for a week or so. (insert your own examples)...."
"In the end, you will secretly start to loath and hate us. And that's completly normal!"
"And in a few weeks following our departure, you'll start to appreciate our insistance on using the drawn out methods rather than short cuts to produce the results you will live with and that you've paid enormous amounts of money. After that, the love will return. You'll have us back in a year or two to disrupt your lives all over again."
This loathing usually lasts a full 3 to 6 months, evidenced by the fact that we usually don't get a direct referall in that "honeymoon period".
And if you lay it out as bad...........most, if not all your clients will pay attention to the efforts you put forth to keep things sane..........they'll bragg about you to friends who bought the "budget dudes" who are hacking up their house.....................and invariably will comment at the end of the job...
"It wasn't as dirty as you said it would be................but you were right about the hate part. Here's your money, now go away!"
Take their wallet, slap them in the face with it, tie them up with three extension cords and force them to watch videos of tonado disasters for two hours while you throw hand fulls of ashes from their fireplace in their face.
If they make it through all of that with a smile on their face, they ought to be just about ready for you to get started...
If they aren't smiling after all of that, reach around, grab the waist band of your whitie tighties and yank them up over the top of your head. Get used to that feeling - it will be with you for the duration of the project...
Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
that responce should go into the "Classics of Breaktime"!
;).
Excellence is its own reward!
Get power of attorney, their checkbook, and then feed 'em lots of barbiturates. ; )
Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.