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Do I Need to Move Out During My Home Renovation?

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(Part 3 in a series that examines our remodeling customers’ most frequently asked questions.)

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Our design build company has been providing high quality kitchen, bathroom and whole house renovations to fine homes in the greater Philadelphia area for more than 20 years. We find that many homeowner questions repeat, and this is a common one.

When you decide to renovate your home, there are many decisions to be made: colors, finishes, appliances, and whether to stay in the house or temporarily find other living arrangements. The right choice for this latter decision really depends upon the scope of the project, the other rooms available for your use during the renovation, and your tolerance level for the inherent messy stages of construction. If, for example, you are renovating your kitchen but have an extra utility area with a sink, a refrigerator, and space for a microwave, you can certainly remain in your home fairly comfortably during the renovation process. If, on the other hand, you are renovating the only full bathroom in your home, and you have no other means for showering and caring for your personal needs, you will likely want to find temporary accommodations elsewhere. When making your decision, keep in mind that, in addition to the rooms being renovated, your construction team will also need staging, cutting, and storage areas. So, during a kitchen renovation, you may find that the adjacent dining room and the garage are temporarily unavailable to you, as well. You can figure that the staging area will have to be 2-3 times the area of the rooms being remodeled. Most remodeling clients don’t believe this when we tell them, but you can see why in the image above.

Have additional remodeling questions you need answered? Please don’t hesitate to ask. We’d love to hear from you.

Spring “To Do” List: Projects Big and Small

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“Spring is the time of plans and projects.”

—Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

With the first day of Spring (finally!) arriving this week, homeowners invariably turn their collective thoughts to refreshing their homes and yards. Whether you are planning a full design build renovation of a kitchen or bathroom, or any of the following smaller, repair and maintenance projects that will enhance your overall enjoyment of your Philadelphia area home, we are happy to help.

  • Additions or space-enhancing design solutions to help the house you have feel bigger;
  • Kitchen and bathroom facelifts, including new tile, paint, fixtures, stone counters;
  • Hardscaping, patios, and decks;
  • Energy-efficiency improvements that make the house you have cheaper to run and more comfortable to live in;
  • Roofing, flooring, painting, tile, siding, and masonry, including pointing, block and flat work, and slate work;
  • Family rooms, mudrooms, entryway enhancements, closets, and other storage solutions;
  • Home offices, libraries, work spaces, and entertainment spaces;
  • Finished basements;
  • Home systems upgrades, including heating, cooling, and electrical.

How Long Will My Renovation Take?

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While it is difficult to discuss how long a remodeling project will take without being specific about the type and scope of room being done, generally speaking, most of our projects take between two and five months from start to finish, with the average being three and a half months. We manage a number of complicated, inter-related phases of work during a project. Here’s how it breaks down:

Design — Whether you are considering a kitchen, bathroom, outside space, addition, or redesigned interior space, you can expect the design phase to last 2-8 weeks, depending on the complexity of the project. Our design team will conduct a complete site survey and meet frequently with you to learn what you want from the project, your aesthetic sensibility, and your budget. With this input, the design team will prepare and revise schematic drawings and elevations, accompany you on supplier visits, and otherwise define and refine what the project will involve. The faster you make decisions, the faster this section of the work progresses.

Contract Signing — The time it takes for this is dependent upon you as a homeowner. Once a Project Construction Agreement (PCA) is signed, we schedule the work as soon as possible. FYI: You can speed this process along by signing during traditionally slow production seasons, such as late summer or the winter holidays.

Project Setup — It takes a couple of days to a couple of weeks to complete permit applications, final selections, final drawings, and project site set up. And it is the best way to get the high-end replica watches.

Demolition — It will take a couple of days or more for our crew to work on-site within RRP/EPA lead safety guidelines to remove pre-existing items from the space, including old tile, appliances, flooring, drywall, and cabinetry using a large truck or dumpster.

Rough Framing — Installing new walls, floors, and roof structure can take anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks, depending on the size of the project.

Rough-Ins — During this stage, all new mechanicals, wiring, plumbing, and HVAC are installed. On most projects, only one subcontractor can work at a time on these tasks, so this can take a few days to a couple of weeks.

Inspections — Once all of the subs are done, the building inspector can come through and approve the project to be closed in. We allow a couple of days for this step, keeping in mind that some townships are faster than others.

Close In — We then spend anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks installing the drywall, plaster, cement board, subflooring, and hardwood flooring.

Finishes — On our projects, this is typically a large project section with many moving parts. Tile, paint, and other types of flooring all have to be installed in the proper sequence in order to protect them from damage, and this process can take several weeks.

Trim-Outs & Trim Carpentry — Next, cabinetry and trim are installed, followed by electrical switch plate covers, HVAC covers, and specialty items that will be mounted to the newly finished walls. This can take anywhere from a day to several weeks.

Substantial Functionality — Once the room is able to be used for its intended purpose, it is termed “substantially functional.” This marks the start of your one-year warranty period.

Punch Out — The lead carpenter has a final meeting with you to sign off on any remaining issues that need to be resolved. After they are, your project is complete.

Have additional remodeling questions you need answered? Please don’t hesitate to ask. We’d love to hear from you.

Image: Mark Gisi/Tabula Creative

How Does Your Home Fend Off February Chill?

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This week started off quite brisk and windy. We noticed that this made our house exceptionally chilly, even though the temperature outside was no lower than some other nights this winter. The wind made the difference — and the reason why that happened is because we have some leaks in the “envelope” of our older home. While we have invested in many energy-efficient upgrades, such as insulation and new windows and doors, we still have more steps to take until we reach optimal efficiency that will keep our house warmer on cold, windy nights (and cooler on hot summer days, too!). But because we had an energy audit we know where those further improvements need to happen and we have a plan in place to get them done.

If your house is drafty on a windy night too, don’t let anyone tell you that your older home can’t be efficient, or that just slapping on new windows will achieve your desired results. Neither are true. To get real results for our clients, we provide a home energy auditor who is familiar with older houses to test your home’s efficiency. The auditor tests the performance of appliances and fixtures, as well as the overall house structure, to see where waste is occurring, then consults with us to develop the best, most cost-effective means of improving your home’s results. Usually, we tackle the simple, unglamorous stuff first, then make plans to tackle the sexier items later. The exciting part, for you, is seeing immediate lower energy use, resulting in a cheaper-to-run home. This approach is best because we combine the expertise and facts of a home energy audit from a carefully selected BPI pro who knows older homes with our own many decades of experience and knowledge working on older homes. We know how to get the “biggest bang for your buck,” and we can stage the steps over time to make the process more affordable.

Typically, the auditing service costs $750-$900, depending on the complexity of the home, but this investment (as well as the first round of efficiency improvements) is earned back in saved energy costs in less than three years. Many times, tax incentives are available, too.

Home Buyers + Construction Pros = Due Diligence

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Most people who are in the market for buying a home that is in need of repair or renovation are not home-construction experts — and they don’t know what the various necessary upgrades will cost them. That’s why it makes sense to reach out to a reputable local construction expert for information before you make the offer on a property purchase. We get calls from people in this position often, and this is the advice we give them:

  • Your real estate agent, who is working on your behalf, should provide you with comparable values for the property you are considering. Your agent can also tell you where that property may be falling short, in terms of value and saleability. For example, does it have enough bathrooms? Is it up to date? What other features should it have to be at the top of comparable values in the area? Are those features that you are willing to invest in?
  • Once you find a property you want to put a serious offer on, you should reach out to a building professional for some assistance in developing your renovation budget. That budget should be weighed against what the comps and your offer will be. If you do not yet have a relationship with that construction pro, you should expect to compensate them for their time. A good carpenter might bill you $70/hour; a design-build pro might run $120/hour or more. Small structural repairs and a bathroom refit with no design might be perfect for the carpenter, while a complicated project like a kitchen or addition require a design/build professional who has experience in those types of projects.
  • Most property buyers do not need to have full plans and exact budgets to formulate their offer. If you come away from discussions with your building pro with a ballpark range of expected costs — with a 10-15% cushion added for contingencies that might be found once walls are opened up — you should be in good shape to make your offer.
  • Once you close on your property purchase, reach out to the construction pro who helped you with the purchase and offer them the work on your new home. In this way, you develop trust with a valuable ally on your wealth-building team.

P.S. This article also appeared as a guest blog this week for The Somers Team of Philadelphia.

The Art of Studio Design

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We often receive requests to design spaces that integrate our customers’ professional work into their homes. These spaces dedicated to our clients’ needs to work, play, and be creative in their homes are sometimes single rooms, entire floors, or even entirely separate buildings! Not only do these studio spaces minimize costs by avoiding the need to rent space elsewhere, but they also maximize home and family time — a win/win, all around.

Shown here is a his-and-hers art studio that we created at our clients’ Manayunk residence. As the photos reveal, the interior finishes of these studios — such as hard-wearing plywood walls and floors, and a simple HVAC system — were chosen with the intent of making them true work spaces. During the design phase of this project, we really focused on getting the desired amount of natural light in the right orientation. Both studios have skylights, so creating the proper pitch for the roof was critical in order to capture the northern light. In the second studio, the view to the exterior was equally important because it was a focus of the artist’s work. We also did some behind-the-scenes rough-in work to allow for an easy future bathroom addition. We find that this small amount of extra planning pays off for our clients for years to come.

In another three-story mixed-use property in Fishtown (see the previous news item), we are in the planning phase of creating a residential rental unit, a commercial rental unit, and an apartment and studio space for the property owner’s use. As part of that workspace, we will be installing kilns that the owner will use to fire her works of art. We are working closely with this client to ensure we have the proper technical specs for her equipment and the necessary electrical infrastructure to make her space as safe as it is visually appealing.

After the Storm: Ready to Help

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We’re back in the office today and hearing from many folks with houses and decks hit by fallen trees, as well as flooded finished basements, as a result of Hurricane Sandy. We’ve also spoken to others who had forgotten routine home-maintenance issues that raised their heads during the storm.

Please be assured that we are here to help by providing a full array of storm repair services throughout Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery, and Delaware Counties, as well as areas in NJ, including the shore points. Please call for information and assistance.

Hurricane Sandy and Your Home

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If you’re like most people in the greater Philadelphia area — or the greater Northeast coast, for that matter — you spent the weekend gearing up for the arrival of Hurricane Sandy by stocking up on nonperishables, batteries, propane, generators, and the like. And while most local schools and many workplaces have closed today, you are likely spending this time ensuring the security of your home and your family.

We hope each of you safely rode out the storm. And rest assured that, if your home sustained any damage as a result of the high winds and flooding, you can count on us for help with all of your repair needs.