|
|
|
|
PHASE #0
of Home Remodeling Project
"Things you should seriously consider before you engage in a home remodeling
project."
[On to Phase 1] [Seen Enough]
[Project Overview]
[Home Design Reference]
[Lien Waver Example]
[Buy
a House] [Heating & AC]
Before
we began this project we had extensive experience in home remodeling and were excited
about the aspects of recreating our living space. Unfortunately, there are a number of
snags that we ran into along the way that we would like to share with you just so you know
this process was not as it would seem when you watch "This Old House" or
"Hometime".
Here is what we actually did, how it turned out, and how we would do things
differently:
| What we did: |
How it turned out: |
How we would do things differently: |
| Hire an Architect |
Badly. The architect fees were
estimated to be 3-5% of the cost of the project. However, we had just started this project
and got a bill for $2000 and had not yet had anything remotely resembling working
drawings. We actually liked this architect and found him to be very responsive as well as
friendly. However, from the start a number of questionable things happened that made us
change our minds about this decision. First of all, the architect, sent out a staff person
to measure the house. Which we were remodeling. This person measured for over 3 hours and
I actually saw his notes upon completion. This guy measured every single doorway, wall,
room, hallway, as well as the outside dimensions of the house. The problem I had with this
is that we were completely gutting the second floor. So a majority of these dimensions
were completely useless. When the architect came back with a couple sketches of the
proposed house plans they only used the outside dimensions of the house. These sketches
also didn't take into account the fact that somehow you need to get furniture in these
rooms. No consideration was given to where to place windows, doors, closets, ect. based on
where/how you would set up a bed for example. A neighbor who is a builder came over when
they saw us using this architect and told us that while this guy was good, that the plans
were often unnecessarily expensive to build. For example, this person had designed in
special order garage doors rather than standard doors which would jack up the price on the
overall project -- which in turn increases their fee. Apparently, this is pretty standard
practice and unsuspecting home owners only find out too late or must pay for changes to
the plans to correct these which may also involve receiving approval from the city. |
An architect can be a very useful resource in
any home remodeling project. However, if you know what you want to build, how you want it
to look, and for the most part what materials you prefer. The architect becomes a
very expensive addition. Based on my experience, for a full set of working drawings you
are talking between $5-10,000 minimum. If you want your architect to obtain variances (if
required), any/all permits, and oversee construction your costs will run you several times
that figure above and approaching 5-10% of the project costs. A cheaper way to approach
this is to either hire an independent draftsperson. They could draft you working drawings
for less than $1000. If you buy your lumber from some building supply stores, some will
provide you these services for free. An interesting comparison between building focused
draftsperson and an architect is that draftsperson really understands dimensional lumber.
They will give you plans that will be the least expensive to build -- an architect will
always be more expensive. |
| Obtain a variance |
Badly, although we had talked to our
neighbors prior to this project about what we were planning to do we did not sail smoothly
through the process of obtaining the necessary variances. Our house is located within two
different zones. White Bear Lake City zone and the lake shoreline district zone -- any
house within a block of the lake falls into this shoreline district zone. The lake shore
zone is especially critical about how the land can be used. To proceed with our building
plans. We needed three variances. A side set back variance -- because our house was only 7
feet off the property line to the west, any work done on the house to this side required a
variance. Since we were going to be rebuilding a large part of the west wall of the house,
we needed this variance. We also needed a front set back variance as the code stated the
house needed to be 25 feet back from the street (or perhaps it was the center of the
sidewalk - something like that) - the existing foundation already exceeded this variance.
There was also a impervious surface variance that required no more than 30% of the
property of each lot be covered with an impervious surface. The existing house, garage,
driveway already exceeded this. Thus adding the front porch required these two variances.
Once we applied for these all hell broke loose and we found ourselves mixed up in a
dispute with our neighbor to the west. Apparently, the previous owner did some things
without obtaining the proper permits so they wanted these things changed before they would
approve the variances. The variance board approved our proposed plans however asked that
we resolve the outstanding matter with our neighbor to the west before the city council
votes on our project. This neighbor called their city council member complaining that this
project would additionally block house's access to sunlight, wind, and view of the lake
and that they asked the project be denied. We ended up agreeing to move an AC compressor
installed by the previous owner at the cost of $1000. The other issues brought up by the
neighbor were dropped after we agreed to move the AC compressor. |
Go to the neighbors and meet with them face to
face with plans in hand and a short letter of agreement or support for them to sign. If
there are any issues work these issues out with these parties privately. If you don't do
it this way, other issues can get raised that may further complicate the process or
success. If you have letters of agreement/support in hand, there really should not be a
problem with obtaining the variance unless your neighbors change their mind. However,
since they have to live next to you, most neighbors don't tend to go back on their word. |
| Signed a authorization request from lumber yard
to obtain a lien on the house in the event of a payment issue regarding materials. |
Badly. Once the project started the
trusses were ordered. Shortly there after we received a letter from the lumber yard asking
for a permission of lien in the event of a failure to pay. We signed this and returned it
to the lumber yard. This eventually gave the lumber yard permission to place a lien on
our home for the price of all materials delivered (both paid and unpaid) when we
questioned the builder's costs of changes and additional materials. This lien, actually
gave our builder a way to charge us for excess materials delivered to our site that were
either improperly used and discarded. He also attempted to use this as a way to obtain
additional funds for work that was not authorized. |
Should have paid the lumber yard in full for the
materials with a check and not signed the request for permission to lien. This was one of
the single worst things we did. From there as materials were shipped to the site, pay
for them as required by the lumber yard. However, in this way, they can't just easily file
a lean against your home and force you to pay. |
| Sign contract provided by the builder |
The builder sent us a contract that was fairly
generic (perhaps due to his own inexperience). We were in agreement with it and signed and
returned it to him. However, our requested start date came and went. We ended up starting
two months later than we hoped, and finished several months after we had hoped. Since
this was not written into the contract we were at the mercy of the builder and their
subcontractors schedules. These people work when the feel like working with no care or
motivation to finish the project as soon as possible -- especially in absence of no
schedule to meet.
I highly suggest you state that the property be at least swept, and that all spare
lumber be first offered to the homeowner and then promptly returned to the lumber yard.
All scrape lumber and building materials should also be removed with some honest attempt
made to pickup and remove a majority of the nails left around the building site. |
The contractor may discuss things with you
verbally in terms of what would be "ideal" but if its not written into the
contract he is not liable for proceeding based on these discussions. Its best to discuss
possible start dates, length project, and possible completion dates and place these into
the terms of the contract. Provide an incentive to complete the project on schedule (1%
bonus) as well as an incentive to not risk missing the completion dates ($150/day which
includes weekdays and weekends). If the builder is provided with an incentive (however
little) they will be motivated to complete it on schedule. Make sure that the contract
only refers to the statement of work provided and that the deadlines must be met
independent of any other work performed on this site or other sites. If the builder
refuses to sign, suggest a compromise of how long they think the project will run and add
additional days to make them feel more comfortable -- only get them to agree to the
incentives (both good and bad). Note that completing the work when they state on the quote
should not be met with rewards -- as its expected. Incentives should be applied to
projects completed ahead of schedule.It is also important that completion state of the
contract be clearly stated. |
| Pay ahead of time set by original contract |
We paid for work completed but not according to
the contract which stated that the second draw would come after completing the framing
inspection. However, work stalled after this draw and it was months before the framing
inspection could take place. Even if the work completed looks as though it will pass the
framing inspection its a good idea to hold the money until inspection is completed and any
corrections suggested by the inspector are promptly corrected before the payment is given. |
Do not pay unless work is completed according to
the contract. Else, it provides the operators with leverage as they have received another
draw only perhaps no customers. |
| Final payment |
Badly. Upon completion of the work we
finally paid the builder in full, however we failed to demand lien
wavers of all sub contractors involved in the project. This allowed the builder an
opportunity to demand payment for extras or else he and his sub contractors would file a
lien against our home. If we had obtained the lien wavers as
a condition of the final payment we would have had leverage of the final payment hanging
over the builder's head. We didn't know what a lien waver
was until we were nearly through this project. However, after learning it, we required
each and every sub contractor there after to sign the waver as a condition for them to
receive final payment. |
The lien waver as
well as the payment conditions are powerful tools for the home owner in the event the
builder and or subcontractor fails to perform the work promised, or is paid in full for
work performed. In both cases, the home owner can leverage these - in fact they exist to
protect the home owner. If this causes the project completion to be delayed it falls upon
the builder to complete the originally agreed project or face payment deductions. |
| Contract dispute |
Badly. The builder told us we needed to pay for
extras prior to their continuing to work on the project. The law is very clear here and in
nearly every state it is written to protect the home owner -- if they don't agree to
anything (verbally or otherwise out side the project) unless a written change order is
received. The change order ends up being in effect a separate contract for additional
work. However, the builder is still under a contract and if you were wise enough to put
deadlines into the contract they are under those as well. The builders are pretty clever
with extras or changes and will make a big deal about them drastically slowing down the
project unless you agree to them. We finally wrote a letter to the state commerce
department and complained. The commerce department was key to getting the builder back to
work and complete the original contract. |
If you have a dispute, don't agree to anything
either verbally or written until you have all the information in front of you including
statement of work, cost, and timelines. I highly suggest you consult your city and even
your state agencies (commerce department if there is any dispute between you and your
builder). We found our city planning group (where we obtained the permits from) to be very
helpful. We tried to be accommodating and got taken advantage of. Be nice but don't
agree to anything. Just say, "you'd be happy to take a look at it." regarding
anything that the builder proposes but do not commit to anything unless you fully know the
details. |
| Rain Damage |
Bad, but all worked out in the end.
During the project, the sub contractor left the roof uncovered one evening. When the rain
began coming down through the ceiling, we called the contractor (at 12:00 am) to complain.
He did not answer the phone so we left a message. We finally did hear back from him later
that morning, however we had already called our insurance agent who was on his way out.
The insurance agent asked if we got proof of insurance from the contractor. We did as part
of the signed contract we received from him. The insurance agent took pictures, documented
the damage, and paid the claim. From there they went after the contractor for us. |
The contractor made a lame offer to try to fix
the damages himself. However, as we were already having trouble with him our best option
was to go through the insurance agent (State Farm). This proved very useful as he refused
to give State Farm the name of his insurance company or his policy number -- which he had
changed since we started the project. State Farm filed a lawsuit against him in small
claims and won. We had long since been paid for the damages. |
| Thrill and satisfaction of doing it
yourself |
Bad: We easily saved between $20 - 40,000
by doing all this work. I no doubt learned a tremendous amount about
home improvement and how to do many, many things one has to question the
original thought about doing this myself over hiring someone else to do
this. |
In hindsight, this project cost around
$130-150,000 to do. Originally, I was keeping all the receipts of every
trip to Home Depot, Menards, Target, and other stores. I spent an
enormous amount of time just driving back and forth not to mention all
the work inside the house. Eventually, I began to get angry with myself
as well as my family who did little to help me, encourage me, or
appreciate my desire to create a nice place for us to live. In the end,
I would have rather banked much of the money and just replaced the roof
which would have resolved much of our issues with the existing house and
allowed me more time to spend with my children - it is time away from
them that I will never get back. After 3 years of work and spreading the
payments of all this home improvement out enough to afford it, we
shouldn't have done such an extensive remodeling project - after all we
really didn't have the money. If you have younger kids that can't help
you with such a monster effort, go for it. If not, wait till all members
of your family can participate as if it is not a "group effort" it is
not worth it. |
[On to Phase 1] [Seen Enough]
[Project Overview]
[Home Design Reference]
[Lien Waver Example]
[Buy
a House] [Heating & AC]
Can Birds-Eye.Net help you or your Company?
Receive your Birds-Eye.Net articles and white
papers hot off
the presses by adding our RSS feed to your reader.
|
|
(C) Copyright Birds-Eye.Net, All rights reserved.
It is against the law to reproduce this content or any portion of it in any form without the explicit written permission of Birds-Eye Network Services, LLC. Federal copyright law (17 USC 504) makes it illegal, punishable with fines up to $100,000 per violation plus attorney's fees.
|