Archive for the ‘Construction Questions’ Category

Want To Be Your Own General?

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

Many people I talk to say they want to act as their own general contractor. They believe if they run their own project they can save money. Some will succeed in doing this; however most will find they’ve bitten off more than they can chew. We have been hired many times by a homeowner that has gotten in over their head. The old adage about being your own attorney comes to mind.

Choosing the right sub-contractors can be a hard task. Let’s say you want to build a small room addition. Did you know that it could take 10 sub-contractors for that project, one for each phase of the job? If you were to interview 3 for each trade, that’s 30 different contacts to make. One of the advantages of hiring a general contractor like myself is that I already know which sub-contractors to use. I have gone through a lot of subs over the years, and I remember all the bad ones. Yes, it is possible to get lucky just by opening up the yellow pages or calling someone out of the paper but how lucky are you feeling today? The subs I use have been cultivated from years of experience. I am given a lower price from them because I use them over and over. Even if a person were to call the subs that I use, the price they would give them wouldn’t come close to the price they would give me. Sub-contractors may have experienced problems with a naive homeowner doing their own project. This could make them nervous and could cause them to raise their price to you even more.

An important part of my job is scheduling the subs. This is an area that is very tricky. Most subs have a lead-time. In other words it may take them a week or more from the time you call them until they can get to your job. I get quicker service because I use them week in and week out. If you are not ready for them the day they show up a trip charge can be assessed plus you might have to wait a week for them to return. There are certain parts of projects that aren’t covered by subs. Those things will need to be done before you can proceed. The subs will not go out of their way to talk you through this.

I like to think I can sell a job at a price that will allow me to make a profit while the homeowner benefits from my years of practical knowledge. I have been in this business for close to thirty years, and I have learned a lot from my mistakes. People who think they can run a project and not make mistakes are fooling themselves. If you make one error, it can wipe out any savings you might have had. Time is another factor. Most people are employed full-time. If you were to try and run a job in your spare time, it could drag on forever. The building department is very wary of homeowners “playing” contractor and the inspectors will certainly be looking for code violations. The codes are changing all the time. It’s quite a task just keeping up with them.

It’s your house and your money. Consider how you can best create your dreams with the least amount of negative impact on your daily life. Construction doesn’t have to be a nightmare. It’s up to you!

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Frequently Asked Remodeling Questions

Friday, July 10th, 2009

DaveSometimes it happens in a store, sometimes at the gas station. It happens once in a while when I’m picking my daughter up at school. It always happens at parties. As soon as someone finds out that I am a contractor I get asked. It usually goes like this: “So you do home remodeling, what would it cost to remodel my home?”

 

My favorite answer is actually a question of my own: “What does it cost to eat dinner in a restaurant?”

The answer, to both questions, is “It depends.” If we are talking about dinner, it could be $3.99 at Roberto’s or $399.00 at the Hotel Del. It depends on the food, the environment, and a million other details. If we are talking about remodeling, it depends on whether you want a simple extension of your family room, or an entire second story master suite complete with fireplace and luxurious bathroom. The bottom line is that what it costs depends on what you want.

The next question is usually some variation on “How long would it take to remodel my home?” Again, this is like asking how long it takes to cook dinner–and the answer is the same: “It depends.”

The actual construction time varies according to the size of the project-of course remodeling a bathroom is going to take less time than building a whole new second story. Sometimes simply getting to the start point seems to take forever.

Most remodeling projects require City approval in the form of a permit, and this process can be very lengthy. In the beach areas, you may also have to get approval from the Coastal Commission, or if your home is on a canyon, you may have restrictions because of endangered species living there. Researching and resolving these issues must be done before anything is built. This adds time to the job, and we have little control over how much.

Usually when I start explaining the permit process and zoning regulations the question becomes “Why can’t I do what I want with my own home?”. In terms of permits, I use the restaurant analogy: the Building Department issues permits for building like the Health Department issues permits for food service. The City wants to insure that structures are safe to occupy and resistant to hazards common in the area (e.g., earthquakes, floods, etc.). I’m sure you want that too- after all you wouldn’t want your neighbor’s house to burn up (and possibly cause yours to burn too) because the electrical system was installed improperly.

In regard to zoning, I can only say that the planning groups that determine zoning regulations and review any exemption requests are made up of civic-minded folks that want the best for our City. You may not agree with all their decisions-I don’t always agree with them either-but you must agree that it’s a difficult job to accommodate everyone’s needs and desires for their community.

When I meet someone who has already done a remodeling project, their question is more likely to be “Why did my project cost more than I thought or was told?” Of course, I can’t say specifically why their project cost more, unless I did the job.

In most cases though, what the homeowner has forgotten was all the little upgrades they made along the way. For example, when we are first discussing the project, the homeowner is looking for ways to save money, so when I ask if they want a Jacuzzi tub instead of a plain one, many people will say no. Then once we get into the job and they can see how nice their new bathroom will be, they change their minds and decide to spend the money for the tub with whirlpool jets. It’s not unusual for a job to have several change orders, each one representing a “little” thing that increases the price of the overall project.

My favorite question is this; “Could you come out and give me a proposal for remodeling my house?” . Although you might think the answer to this one is always “yes!”, I sometimes have to decline the opportunity. Why? I have found the best way for a contractor to go broke and leave homeowners with half-finished projects is to say “yes” to any and every job that comes along.

I know that in order to build a quality product and have a happy homeowner, our projects need to be supervised effectively. My superintendents can’t do a very good job of that if they spend half their time traveling from one job to the next. That’s why we sometimes have to say no to a job that is in an area far from other projects currently underway.

Do you have remodeling questions I didn’t answer here? Call me at 858-274-0005 or e mail me at dave@kcoconstrcution.com and I will do my best to answer them.

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Tips When Remodeling

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

Hello, I’m Ruby Konstantin. Dave K, who usually writes these articles, is my husband. I’ve been working with Dave in our family remodeling company for quite a few years now, so I thought I knew everything about the business-well, except for the things that require the use of power tools!-but I recently learned what remodeling is like from our customers’ perspective. I thought I’d use that experience to pass on a few tips to those of you planning a remodeling project.

You might think that since we are in the remodeling business that we would be doing remodeling at home but I have been waiting 10 years to remodel our kitchen. The ugly yellow countertop, the old vinyl floor that never got sparkly clean anymore, the cabinets with their old-fashioned doors and knobs– all of it just had to go. Clairemont Kitchen

The first step in our project was the demolition of the existing kitchen. Everything right down to the walls had to come out. That meant moving the refrigerator into the dining room, the stove onto the patio and everything from all the cabinets to wherever we could find a spot.

Here’s my tip number one: as soon as you know you will be remodeling start cleaning out the rooms you’ll be working on. I didn’t start soon enough so I found myself still pulling pots and pans out of the back of my kitchen cabinets late the night before they were to start.

When I got home from work the next day my kitchen was gone. If you have never lived in a home without a kitchen, let me tell you it’s pretty weird. You don’t realize how often you are in there in the course of a day. Naturally, at dinnertime it meant we just had to go out to eat. Normally, I love that, but after a week or so, it gets old. Plus, the perishable food in the fridge that I would have been using to make dinner-veggies, salad stuff, etc.-ended up in the trash. Tip number two for kitchen remodels: start purging the fridge a week before you start. Face it, you aren’t going to be cooking dinner, so why waste the food.

On my day off, there were workers in the house all day, so I could forget having a relaxing day at home. Here’s another tip: try to plan your days off so that you aren’t home all day when they are working there.

I hope you haven’t gotten the idea that this was all just a hassle. There are fun parts too, like picking out the materials and colors for the project. For me, it was kitchen cabinets, countertops, and flooring. There were so many choices in so many price ranges and each material–Corian, marble, granite–had its pluses and minuses. I love to shop, so I was in heaven.

Here’s a tip on picking out materials-educate yourself about the qualities of the materials you are looking at. It’s not only about the way it looks; you should also consider factors such as your lifestyle when selecting materials. For example, we have a pool and people often come in from the pool through the kitchen, so I needed a floor material that water wouldn’t damage.

In terms of things like the cabinets, think about what worked and didn’t work in your old kitchen, and incorporate solutions in the new layout. For example, we had a spacious pantry cabinet which was great except things on the back of the shelves tended to get forgotten about-in fact when I cleaned that cabinet out I found we had 8 cans of tomato paste back there (I’m not sure but I vaguely remember some recipe those were meant for).

In our new pantry cabinet, which is the same size and location as the old one, we have slide out shelves so everything is easily visible all the time. Yes, it cost a little more for that feature, but the convenience is worth it to me.

I also decided to go with a style that doesn’t require knobs on the cabinet doors since on our old cabinets I always disliked how grubby the knobs could get and how hard they were to clean.

My final tip to those of you planning to remodel is to take the time to think about these things before you start. I spent a fair amount of time in my kitchen just looking at what was there and thinking about how I wished it was before we did anything. I also looked at my friends’ kitchens, photos in magazines, and displays at home improvement stores. If you do that, you are much more likely to end up with the kitchen (or bath or room addition) of your dreams.

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How To Pay For Your Remodeling Project

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

If you are getting serious about remodeling your home, then it’s time we had the talk about money. No, not the talk about how much it will cost. I want to get you thinking about where you will get the money.

I should say right up front that I am not a financial or tax advisor. I can’t tell you which of the ways to get money for a remodeling project is best for you. I just want to give you the basics to help you start the process of deciding for yourself.

Let’s start with one financing option you are bound to be familiar with-cash. Whether you got the remodeling cash the old-fashioned way (saved up for it) or won the lottery or had a big tax refund (what’s that like?), using your own money is cheaper than paying someone else for the use of theirs. Of course, if the cash you are thinking of using is your family’s emergency stash, then it’s not the best idea to sink it into a new kitchen.

Another option you’re no doubt familiar with is a credit card. Using your credit card(s) means less hassle, and no waiting for approvals to have the money. If your home improvement project is urgent (leaky roof in rainy season) a credit card might be the best bet. You will pay for that convenience, as credit card interest rates are way above the rates of other financing options. You may also find that your contractor doesn’t take credit cards, or prefers not to because of the 3%-5% service charge they pay on each transaction.

So if you don’t want to wait to save the money to pay cash, and you don’t want to use a credit card, how can you get the money for home improvements? If you own a home in most parts of San Diego, chances are you have the money you need in the form of equity in your house. There are several ways to tap this resource: a home equity line of credit, a second mortgage, or a cash-out refinance are some of the most common.

All of these options are similar because they all borrow against the equity in your home. Since your home is the security for each of these loans, if you aren’t able to make the payments, you could lose your home. You may also be able to write off some or all of the interest expense in loans of this type (please check with your tax expert on this one). However, there are differences between them.

A home equity line of credit is a revolving credit plan, like a credit card, with a specific credit limit based on the equity in your home. The funds are obtained by writing checks as you need them and payments are made only on the money you use. For example, if your line of credit is for $100,000 but you only use $60,000, the payments are based on the $60,000 and not the full $100,000.

A second mortgage is disbursed as a lump sum and is repaid over a fixed period of time under pre-set terms, just like your first mortgage. Since you receive the money all at once, your payments are based on the total amount, even if you don’t end up using all of it for your remodeling project.

A cash-out refinance is another way to use your home’s equity. If your home is worth significantly more than you owe on it you may be able to refinance your first mortgage for the appreciated value of the home. After paying off the original loan, the leftover money can be used to pay for remodeling.

Another idea is to look for a lender that offers construction or remodeling loans. This type of loan is based on the projected value of your home after the improvements are made. In some cases you can borrow up to 130% of the value of the existing home.

Before actually applying for a loan, talk to several lenders about all your options. Keep in mind, the lender will tend to focus on the options they carry. This is why many people like to start with an established mortgage broker as they usually carry many more types of loans. Besides helping you understand your options and the various trade-offs involved, the broker or lender can help you pre-qualify you for one or more loans.

Knowing how much you will have to spend will be a big help when you are meeting with a contractor (and I hope it’s K-CO!). Don’t be afraid to be up-front about your budget. That will help you separate the “need-to-have” features from the “nice-to-have” on your wish list. Together you can plan a project that gets you the home of your dreams that is within your financial means.

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How To Get Your Money’s Worth When Remodeling

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

Remodeling projects can cost tens of thousands of dollars or more-maybe the biggest amount you will ever spend at once, aside from your house itself. When you buy a house you can see it. When you remodel, you are buying a piece of paper. How can you be sure to get the most for your money?

Here are a few rules to lives by when you are remodeling your home:

Know what you want. I’m not talking about which faucet you want or what color the paint will be; I mean what the scope of the project will be, in broad terms. Make a “wish list” and prioritize it. For example, if you’re adding a master bathroom, think about what you consider that to be. Will it include a tub or a shower or both? You need to decide what you definitely want and what you can live without, so that you don’t start out over your head financially.

Don’t compromise on the people. Family Team

You need smart, honest, ethical people working on your job to get the most out of your investment. Remember when you are picking a contractor that price isn’t the whole story- the most expensive one isn’t necessarily the best. The best advice I can give you is this: get references and check them! Keep in mind that someone who is difficult to work with when they are trying to get your business–hard to reach, shows up late or doesn’t listen to you– isn’t going to get better as the project moves along. To sum it up, here’s one of my dad’s favorite sayings: “There is nothing more expensive than cheap work”.

Educate yourself about materials. There are many choices for countertops, cabinets and fixtures, and you should know a little bit about them before you decide. It’s not just about appearance; you need to think about whether the characteristics of the material will suit your lifestyle. Most contractors can give you the pros and cons of each material. For example, highly polished stone, like granite, looks great but can show every fingerprint or smudge-a poor choice if you have little kids and are fussy about having your kitchen countertops looking shiny clean. Tile is less expensive and offers many choices for color and finish, but some people hate the idea of having grout to clean. Knowing more about each material will help you make smart choices for your home.

Watch out for “creep”. This is what we call it when the customer expands the scope of work during the course of the project. It usually begins when you, the customer, decide to add something small to the project-let’s say a skylight in your new bathroom. That’s a few hundred dollars, seems like nothing much when the total project is in the tens of thousands. Then you decide to upgrade the tile, another couple hundred dollars. pretty soon you’ve added a few thousand to your project. I’m not saying you shouldn’t add those things; many times it’s well worth spending the money. Just be aware that a bunch of little things can add up. Like my grandpa used to say, “It might be small potatoes but get enough of them and they will fill a truck”.

Spend the money where it counts. Given the choice between a fabulous bathroom countertop or a fabulous garage door, I’d spend the money on the garage door. I’d do that because it’s not only the first thing I will see every night when I come home, it’s also the “face” of my house to the neighborhood. I can make up for not having the high end countertop by doing something interesting with paint or linens in that room. In a kitchen, I would be more likely to sacrifice high end appliances for high end countertops because for me, the brand of refrigerator isn’t as important as the look of the countertops. Of course, if I was a gourmet cook, I might choose a fancy stove instead of the countertop.

Don’t be stingy. Okay, this may sound like a contradiction with what I just said but think about this: Do you really think you’ll remember 5 years from now what you did with the $200 you saved by not upgrading your tile? Probably not, but as long as you live in that house I bet you will remember that you compromised on the tile and didn’t get exactly what you wanted. That’s one of those times to bite the bullet and spend the extra to get what you really want. You aren’t buying a t shirt that’s going to wear out in a year or less; you will likely be living with your decision for years. Over 5 years that extra $200 translates to $3.33 per month…less than a cup of fancy coffee.

Take your time. You are dealing with two big things in your life, your money and your home. There is no need to rush and many reasons to think things over carefully.

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Construction Myths

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

Some of the most challenging things about the remodeling business are the misconceptions people often have about construction and remodeling. The following is a list of some of the most common I hear, in no particular order:

I don’t need a permit: If the City says you need a permit, you should get one. I’d be the first to agree that the permit process is an expensive hassle, but I also agree with the City that building permits are one more way of making sure things are done right. The building inspector is another pair of trained, experienced and impartial eyes checking the major components of the project. Wouldn’t you feel better about the internal structure of your home (the parts you can’t see) if you knew someone like that had inspected it?

I can do whatever I want to my own house: Not exactly. You still have to abide by the codes and regulations for your specific address. These include how close to your property line your home can be, how many living units there can be, how much of your property the house covers, and sometimes environmental restrictions because of hillsides or endangered species. (Yes, endangered species in Clairemont!)

I can save money by using an unlicensed contractor: Okay, we are talking about your home here, which is probably your family’s biggest investment. Are you really going to let someone tear it up who isn’t even committed to being a professional? Would you fly on a plane with a pilot that had no license if the ticket was cheaper?

The biggest construction company is the best: Choosing a contractor based on how many big ads they have would be foolish, but that’s what plenty of people do. Just because a company has an ad on your favorite TV show doesn’t mean they are the best for you and your project. Every company, no matter how big or small, does some things better than others.

This project will add a lot of value to the house: Chances are it will, but don’t count on getting every dollar you invest in remodeling back when you sell the house. Remodeled kitchens and baths are probably the projects that offer the best return on investment. Some projects are justified best by the enjoyment you have while you live there.

I can live in the house while you add a second story: Well you can, but you’re not going to enjoy it. I always recommend planning on staying elsewhere for a few months if you are considering adding a second story. Yes, it can add to the cost of the project, but it’s worth it to avoid living crammed into a small part of a home without a roof.

The lowest price is best deal: I understand why people think this. Remodeling is a “big ticket” item, so a low bid is going to be very attractive. Just remember, the price may be low for a reason-it may not include everything you want, it might be substandard materials, it could even be fraud. That isn’t to say every low bid has something wrong with it; but if you get three bids and two are similar and one is way low…you’ve got to ask yourself why.

I used to work construction and that’s not the way we did it: Sorry, but working on a framing crew for a summer during college doesn’t make you qualified to supervise my men. Keep in mind these guys have been making a living doing this work, and they are professionals. If you really think something’s wrong with what is being done, you should be talking to the superintendent, or the owner of the construction company. If you still aren’t satisfied, bring the Building Inspector into it or the Contractor’s License Board.

My room addition will be cheaper because you can use my existing patio slab for the foundation: There is a great difference between a concrete slab that is built to support the weight of people walking around on it and a slab constructed to support the weight of walls and a roof and everything that goes into a room. The patio slab is going to have to come out and a proper foundation poured before we can build your room addition.

These are just some of the “myths” I’ve run across over the years. If you have heard something about remodeling that you think might be a “myth”, feel free to give me a call or send and e mail and I’ll give you my thoughts on it.

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Expectations vs. Reality

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

Since I am in the remodeling business, I often find myself listening to what I think of as “Scary Remodeling Stories”. I have heard some truly horrifying tales, and feel for the people who have experienced bad contractors.

Quite often though, I can clearly see that what happened to a homeowner wasn’t all that serious or out of the ordinary; it’s just that the homeowner’s expectations were so different from the reality of a construction job.

I certainly believe that it is the responsibility of the contractor to communicate realistic expectations to the homeowner during a remodeling project. This should be happening all through the planning stages and continuously during construction. I also believe that homeowners in the early stages of a project are so excited that they may not hear what the contractor is telling them.

One topic that almost always comes up as a source of frustration on the part of the homeowner is scheduling. This is, unfortunately, one of the topics where the contractor often is to blame for creating unrealistic expectations.

When the homeowner asks “how long will my job take” the contractor knows they want to hear the shortest possible time period, and will offer the low end of the time estimate he’s already made for himself, in order to get the job. We call that the “blue sky” estimate, the one where everything goes right, materials are delivered on time, and no one ever misses work because they are sick. Most contractors would admit it rarely happens that way, so even though the time estimate they give isn’t exactly wrong, it’s just not too likely.

When reality gets involved, suddenly people’s trucks break down, sinks arrive damaged, and it rains for 2 weeks straight. The contractor feels bad, but really can’t do anything to change the situation so doesn’t see the need to contact the customer. The customer comes home from work at 6 to see nothing done and then can’t reach the contractor so late in the day. Everyone is working from inaccurate assumptions-the contractor figured the customer knows what’s going on and the customer figures the contractor is trying to put one over on them. Both are wrong, but you can see why they think the way they do.

So what’s the solution? Sounds simple, but it’s just communication. I think as contractors, because we have seen hundreds of job sites and know what to expect, the burden of communicating expectations is on us. Most of my customers have never done any remodeling before, so I can’t expect them to know that they should remove all pictures on the walls in rooms we aren’t even working in. I can’t expect them to know what kind of work we can do when it is raining and what must be postponed.

I do think that homeowners can be part of the solution by listening closely and asking questions when discussing their project. No one really enjoys reading a contract, but it is the responsibility of anyone signing a contract for remodeling services to be sure they have read and understand every word in that contract. If the contractor provides any “new customer” or “welcome” package info, again, it’s the responsibility of the homeowner to familiarize themselves with all the information contained within it.

The way I see it is that remodeling is a team sport. Everyone, including the homeowner, has a role to play, and each person’s actions affect everyone else. Teams are most successful when the members communicate their expectations to each other.

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The Questions No One Ever Asks Me…And the Answers

Friday, April 17th, 2009

team-daveSometimes when I am meeting with a prospective client, I get the feeling there are questions on their mind that they are hesitant to ask. Here are some of the things I think people are afraid to ask about.

Will it cost more than you are telling me?
Yes, it could. There are two good reasons the cost of a project might increase after the contract is signed. Both occur on almost every job; we call it “creep”. Number one is that we found something unexpected when we started demo work (like rotten studs inside the wall) and number two is that you changed your mind. It could be something you eliminated initially to save money and now you decide you want, it could be something you want to change after you see it in place, like the location of a window, it could be a choice to upgrade materials as you go.

Will it take longer than you are telling me?
I hope not, but it could. You probably can think of a few things outside our control-weather, City processes-that could delay the finish date. You can also delay your job by waiting too long to start selecting the items we need to order for you, like faucets. The things you’d think we can control, like workers’ or subcontractors’ schedules, are often out of our control. When our best carpenter sprains his wrist playing with the kids on Sunday, the work I have him scheduled to do at your house on Monday isn’t going to get done on time. In my opinion what’s more important than changes in the time frame is whether we do a good job in communicating with you about them and whether we can roll with the punches to keep the job moving forward.

Are you going to make money off my job?
Yes, or at least, I plan to. This is a good thing for you. Look at it this way-if I’m not making money on the projects I do, how long can I stay in business….long enough to finish your job? Besides that, if I’m not making money here, how much time and energy will I devote to your job? How can I pay enough to keep good employees? How can I afford the insurance coverage that protects you as well as my company? Believe me, the contractor who isn’t making money on his jobs isn’t the one you want working on your house.

What can I do to help my project run smoothly?
If I had to say just one thing, be flexible. Remember that construction is an inexact science. The other thing you can do to help is to select your fixtures early. Remember that plumbing fixtures aren’t made up of just the parts you see when everything is complete. There are valves that need to go inside the wall early on in the construction and if those items aren’t picked out and ordered on time, the whole job can be delayed. The other big thing that makes a job go smoothly is communication. Please talk to me, and don’t wait until the end. Whether it’s questions, concerns or compliments, I need to know. I can’t fix something if I don’t know there’s a problem, and I never want you to wonder if you did the right thing hiring me.

Is my job important enough to you?
Yes it is. We turn away projects that don’t interest us or aren’t a good fit with our resources. The thing about your job is that I know you are going to tell your friends and neighbors about your experience with me and our company. These are the people I want to do business with next, and your job could be the thing that convinces them to call us, or not. That sounds like a pretty important job doesn’t it? My goal is to put everything I have into each job when I am working on it, so that at the end of the project, you will be happy and tell others.

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