End of the job

Koontz - It's the end of the job this week, at least for my part. The project isn't done and the client isn't ready for final inspections, but the budget is shot and the client doesn't feel he can afford help any longer.

In our area the city development code states that if you don't have inspections every six months, at a minimum, you must reapply for permits and pay fees again to re-activate your permit. That's the down side to my leaving the job now, the client probably can't get to his next inspection on his own. On the other hand, this client isn't all that concerned with inspectors and code issues. I discovered upon my return to the job this week that he had removed an interior wall that was not part of his original plans or permits. Just got motivated apparently! I would just as soon not be present when an inspector walks through the project again!

As a contractor I recognize that it is to my benefit to keep inspectors' on my side. I do project walk-throughs with inspectors before I even begin a job, just to ensure that I won't have trouble down the road. Clients have a different attitude toward the permit/inspection issue and often complain about what they see as restrictions and delays brought about by code issues. In the best of all worlds, these issues are for the health and safety of the client. In the worst case, they are revenue generating projects for the city department. Either way, there are only so many ways to circumvent an inspector's request for something. Even then I can usually only accomplish it with a good attitude with the inspector and alot of evidence for my side of the discussion. Notice I said discussion-it's a rare case when you can argue with an inspector and win! And the boss will almost always back his inspector, not the contractor.

City government is a bureaucracy-not a democracy, contrary to popular opinion. So don't push your luck if you don't have to. And don't ask your contractor to risk their relationship with inspectors they will have to continue working with after they leave your job. Unless you can pay me enough to retire after your job, I can't afford it.

Bagging on Peg's Back at Work House

Fitzpatrick – First Peg, these folks were extremely lucky you agreed to come in and rescue their job. Had they not had a prior relationship with you, they would have had a hard time coming up with someone to fix their mess, period, let alone for a reasonable amount.

I’ve seen the house Peg’s griping about. It’s in a historic district of our fair city, and what these clients have chosen to do to it has actually lowered its value. For instance, as I recall, it’s a kit-type bungalow (a simplified Craftsman that one could buy as a kit back in the day) and the owners replaced the front door with one of those god awful contraptions of panels, beveled glass and curlicue brass. They also opted to replace their fenestration with white vinyl windows with fake grids. At least they’re double-hung. Wood windows folks, with clad exteriors. It’s the only way to go to give a house like this it’s due.

But I disagree with your pronouncement on oak, Peg. It’s all in the stain and the grain. I’ve seen great slab-front pickled oak cabinets in a modern kitchen and terrific quarter sawn oak recessed panels in a Craftsman house. As always, the details and the context matter.

If these clients had spent a few hundred dollars on design consultation they would have saved thousands in lost value. A grand or so on an architect and/or kitchen designer and they could have had something really special and valuable; a bungalow renovation of integrity on a beautiful tree-lined street in a historic neighborhood. Instead, they have a badly-modernized home that doesn’t realize its potential aesthetically, as an investment or as a member of the community.

Back at Work

Koontz-Jodi has kindly been posting alone while I went on a personal detour. So today is Monday and I am back at work. And what a Monday it was.

My current client got himself into a fix assuming he could act as his own designer, draftsperson, contractor and laborer on a 600 square foot addition. Doesn't sound so big does it? But the 600 square feet includes a new kitchen, master bedroom and master bathroom. Of course the first thing he did was demolish his existing kitchen and move all the necessaries out to the garage. The addition he told his wife would take three months has gone on for eleven months now. At the ninth month he called me asking for some consultation. At the tenth month he called and asked if my partner and I would take over the project and get it completed.

A couple of good lessons here. This client and his wife both work full-time and though he has quite a few construction skills; he actually use to work for me many years ago; having a shop in the garage is quite different than running an actual job. Especially when you're doing it after your own "pay the bills", work day.

HIs second mistake was the assumption that he had the ability to effect the correct design. Because it's his first home, and it certainly needed the additional space he's adding, it is not a calamity. But the reality is that he didn't utilize the space nearly as well as he could have. He just has a poor design. Poor enough that though my partner and I are working on the job now, we will not use it as a referral work because of the clients' design, material and color choices.

With a month on the job, we've now gotten this client through his rough inspections, (building, electrical, plumbing), we've sheet-rocked the entire addition, gotten the texture in the kitchen and washroom done, set the kitchen cabinets-which God forbid are Oak!! (Note to all remodelers-Oak does not belong in the kitchen!) Installed the new sink/disposal/dishwasher and fixtures. (Because the client can't get his plumber to return and this is not because of payment problems, it's just been too long between stages and the subs have moved on to other projects and are not responding to the agreements they made). We've laid the kitchen tile and grouted it, we've started on the finish electrical work-because the client's on-the-side electrician will not return to do the rest of his job either. We've arranged for an air-conditioning/heating unit to be installed and we completed the plumbing and electrical on that to get it running because our summer here seems to have started in the last week

And all this work is being done at an hourly rate because we can't walk into the middle of a job and realistically bid it out for the client. Although my client was allegedly acting as the general contractor on his addition, he didn't pay attention to what his subs were doing, or how they were doing it. So I come in to do the finish electric work and I have to double check all the work the first electrician did because there are several "right" ways to do a project like this. For my liablity and the clients' safety, I can't assume I know what the first guy did, I have to know for sure. That all takes a huge amount of time. It's frustrating for the client, because he just wants me to wire everything up! And it's aggravating for me, because I have to track everything back before I can actually get anything further along. One of the grand things about construction is to actually effect changes, so getting paid for your time or not, doing work that doesn't make noticeable progress makes for a bad day.

So that was my Monday. Sounds just right for a Monday doesn't it? I am convinced the week can only improve after this day.

How Much Will It Cost #1

Fitzpatrick—After you know what you want to remodel, you want to know how much it costs. For building improvements, this is a chicken-or-egg question; you won’t know your costs until you know your “Scope of Work,” to borrow a term from commercial construction. And if you’re like most folks, you won’t know the scope of your project until you know how much it costs.

As an example, my husband’s cousin’s best friend (how’s that for distant relation association) is an eyewear designer. When someone approaches him for a design, they first arrive at the price at which the frames will be sold, then work from that point on the design and manufacturing process.

This method saves time and, as we all know, money. When I worked for a small remodeling contractor a few years ago, I was sent to a job and told to measure it. This took an hour, plus travel time, roughly 30 minutes. After I finished, the homeowner asked how much I thought his proposed project, a room addition, would be. Based on a square footage calculation I estimated a minimum of $40,000 for our company to do it. His budget was $20,000; not an impossible sum, but not likely to be undertaken by a licensed contractor who pulled a permit on the job. He wasted a total of two hours of his time—to book the appointment, baby-sit the measurer and finally talk about money. If he had merely told our office his square footage and budget, or if the person answering the phones had been trained to ask this question, we would all have known within minutes that we were not unsuited for each other. I’m sure this man had better things to do with those two hours. The remodeling contractor, who lost about $100 of staff overhead to deal with an unsuitable client, certainly did.

A remodeling project isn’t a car sale and you shouldn’t do business with anyone who treats it as such. Be realistic and forthcoming about your budget. You’ll be taken more seriously by the kind of people you want to work with.

Space for Both Spouses

Fitzpatrick-In the March/April issue of Inspired House (www.taunton.com/inspiredhouse), architect Sarah Susanka points out in her regular article, Not So Big Solutions, that while we carefully provide a bedroom for each child in the house whenever possible, spouses most often share a space. This makes securing privacy difficult for the very folks who shoulder most of the stresses in the family.

We all need private space—and a quiet place to sleep.

My husband snores. Like rockets, like a jet airplane, like a vacuum cleaner that’s sucked up a sock. Poor guy, right? Busted nose, asthma. But what about me? I was finally vindicated by a comment on National Public Radio’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! about a study that said women suffer disproportionately from snoring because they are too nice to do anything about it. I’m sick of being nice. I started sleeping in the spare bedroom.

I know. Now we’re one of those couples about whom people feel free to speculate regarding the status of their conjugal relations. Speculate away. I’ll vouch that a good night’s sleep has a more positive impact on libido than proximity. Besides, with the layout of our 1,250 square foot house, with both bedroom doors open, we’re approximately twelve feet apart; close enough to share conversation and a Walton’s good night every evening.

When remodeling a master bedroom and bath, now referred to in the trade as an ensuite, make sure you address privacy and acoustic issues. Try to carve out private space in the home for each spouse; be it an alcove, an office at the top of the stairs, or a studio or library within the couple’s bedroom, as Susanka suggests.

Or the set-up for my next house; a master bedroom with shared closets and a bath connected to two separate sleeping areas.

Reverse Osmosis Unit

Fitzpatrick-I’m in love. No more lugging five-gallon bottles. No more deciding on the lesser of two evils; looking at the water dispenser in the kitchen or skipping out to the garage for a drink.

I purchased my reverse osmosis unit at Costco Online. As a rule, I never order any building supplies off the internet. Too much can go wrong—support can be iffy, and the items are too heavy to deal with if a return is necessary. Plus, I’m a firm believer in spending one’s dollars locally.

But no one hereabouts had this particular unit. It’s touted by the manufacturer, Watts Premier, as a “zero waste” model. Most reverse osmosis units consume upwards of four gallons of water for every one that’s purified. This thing even filters anthrax. I’m a happy householder.

Here’s what our family of two spent on bottled water in 2004: $923.98
(Divulged with the confidence that my husband will never read this blog).

Cost of the R/O unit including shipping and tax: $335.17
Cost for professional installation (2 hours): $158.90
Total: $494.07

The unit requires filters that need changing every six months and one year. This appears to cost less than $200, unless I have to call out the plumber to do it; according to Consumer Reports, the filters can be difficult to install.

Do your math. Is a permanent filter right for your family’s kitchen remodel?

Power and the Kitchen Sink

Fitzpatrick—A small victory in my epic search for healthful water; I had a reverse osmosis unit installed under my sink last month.

I hired a pro to do it, a young plumber who’s been in the trade since he was 15. The unit requires a power outlet to operate. Most kitchens built since the 60’s have power under the sink, due to the advent of garbage disposals, which also require electricity.

I read in my local utility newsletter recently that water treatment entities would like to see the disposal go away. There’s no reason to put all that stuff down the drain. It makes a lot of noise, takes a lot of water and the scrapings and clippings would be better off composted. I never use mine anyway. Do you?

In the future, I’ll suggest that my clients nix the disposal, but install an outlet anyway under the sink in case of a water treatment device. And make provisions for a compost scrap storage bin.

Think about these issues to if you’re contemplating a European-style free-standing island sink that’s open underneath. They’re sexy and mid-century, but it will be a challenge to relocate all the cleaning supplies, let alone a compost bin and a water filter.

What’s Important In Life and Remodeling

Fitzpatrick—Peg and I don’t have human children—we have our projects and our beloved dogs. Last week, Peg had to put one of her babies down, and one of mine had surgery for cancer.

Events like these bring life’s important issues into focus. Planning, directing or simply living in the midst of a remodeling project can engender some of the more chaotic and neurotic impulses you might experience. Don’t forget what’s important—before, during and after your project.

Countertop Supports

Fitzpatrick—A good friend of mine bought a house last week and e-mailed me snaps of the place. The kitchen is attractive—large, angled and white. But what stuck out in the photos were the brackets supporting the bar countertop overhang, also called corbels, those curved almost boomerang-shaped pieces of wood that are the aesthetic equivalent of orthopedic shoes. They’re in the kitchen of my little piece-of-garbage tract house too and were the first things my general contractor-brother mentioned every time he came over. (He doesn’t visit anymore). What are they doing in a residence worth twice as much?

Answer: lack of imagination on the part of the builder or design professional. There are many design-worthy brackets available, from intricately-carved wood to wrought iron to solid surface-clad. If you want to emphasize the counter, not its support, the overhang may be engineered with outriggers, strips of wood that run from the vertical surface under the top and remain invisible.

All cabinet companies make the homely brackets and sometimes offer no alternative. If this is your only choice for support and you are set on it being visible, buy a quart of stain from the company and finish some appropriate corbels you purchase elsewhere.

In rare situations, the high school shop-worthy brackets are appropriate, just as those shoes are—like if your new fashion look is 1950’s-woodshop-teacher. Always keep an open mind and never say never in life and design.