Right up there with root canal work and filling out your tax return may be the ominous task of remodeling your home.
No matter if you’re redoing one small bathroom or doubling your home’s square footage the prospect sends shivers down the backbones of many otherwise secure, confident individuals and produces seismic faults in once stable marriages.
The actual process causes some who’ve survived to promise themselves never again, even if they become horrendously squeezed for space.
What’s the big deal, you ask, never having been down this less than primrose path or seen the movie, “War of the Roses,” a tale of a vicious divorce in which the vow, ” ‘Til death do us part,” gains new meaning?
Here’s the deal: You have to make countless costly decisions; pack up or move belongings, then put them back; sometimes share your bathroom, phone and kitchen with an architect, designer, contractor and their subcontractors; be surrounded by sawdust, inhale paint fumes and listen to the grating sounds of jack hammers and drills.
Though tensions and tempers often flare among family members and owners and crew, work can progress smoothly. Many homeowners even survive to tell and laugh about their nightmares, er, experiences, which often are equated with childbirth: painful, but well worth the effort.
“I always ask my clients before we begin work how stable their marriages are and how they react to stress,” says Chicago architect Stuart Cohen, who knows firsthand what it’s like, having remodeled his Evanston condominium and not been totally delighted with the process. “It’s awful when you work all day and come home to a place in flux,” he says.
Still others, like Highland Park residents Larry and Diane Ruder, who are clients of Cohen and his architect wife, Julie Hacker, can’t wait to be able to afford the second stage in remodeling their 1950s ranch.
What makes one project go smoothly, another bump along but without major mishaps and still another run amok and end in litigation?
If you ask those who’ve been involved, most cite a long list of varying reasons for the problems. Missed deadlines. Cost overruns, when budgets were already stretched to the limit. Work not finished according to expectations. Lack of privacy.
Many therapists skilled in interpersonal dynamics lump all these explanations under the heading of loss of control, which isn’t surprising when daily routines are disrupted, surroundings are thrown into chaos and strangers descend. “Most of us enjoy the comfort of the familiar, and many don’t adapt well to change,” explains Georgia Nicholson, staff psychologist with the One-On-One Learning Center, a not-for-profit educational and testing center in Northfield.
The antidote, Nicholson says, is careful planning every inch of the way. That means owners need to cover their bases from the moment they select a crew to knowing how and where they’ll shower and eat if bathrooms and kitchen are to be torn up and where they’ll store clothing if a master bedroom comes under siege.
The following baker’s dozen of suggestions won’t guarantee a picnic throughout the ordeal, but will help you survive and keep your project on track and everyone in good humor, at least much of the time.
1. Analyze why you’re remodeling. Be honest about why you’re doing the work and whether it’s cost-effective.
The Ruders lived in their house for several years before remodeling, in order to be certain what they wanted.
2. Set a budget and try to stick to it. Build in some financial give for changes and unexpected problems to be resolved.
3. Choose your remodeling team carefully. Don’t settle for verbal promises of good craftsmanship, timeliness and cleanliness. Check a worker’s prior work in person and talk to references. Under ideal conditions, subcontractors-plumber, electrician, plasterer-have worked together, so they represent a well-oiled team. Many experienced remodelers consider the contractor the linchpin, who chooses subs, visits the site daily, keeps the project humming.
Be sure subs sign lien waivers before you authorize payment. If the contractor or architect doesn’t pay the crew or suppliers, they can come directly to you for the money. You don’t want to be saddled with liens on your property.
Gut reactions are worth remembering. Red flags to give you pause for concern: Workmen who repeatedly trek in dirt and mud, refuse to hang plastic sheets to keep dust from spreading, make excuses why a project is months behind.
4. Understand the time frame of remodeling. It doesn’t occur like magic, though it’s not equivalent to brain surgery. Be sure the contractor’s time frame and your expectations are realistic and in sync. Equally important, don’t time completion to a major event, like a wedding or birth of a child, advises Michael J. Schaffer, owner of KWI, a custom cabinetry shop in Chicago. “That’s a recipe for disaster,” he says.
If possible, plan a kitchen remodeling during warm weather when it’s easier to barbecue, says Pauline Colbert, whose kitchen is being remodeled by de Giulio kitchen design of Wilmette. “We’ve been using our gas grill, eating at friends’ homes and trying quite a few restaurants. We had originally considered remodeling at the beginning of the year and decided it would be too messy.”
As an alternative, peg the remodeling to an out-of-town vacation or to when children may be at camp or college, suggests Nicholson of One-On-One.
5. Draft an air-tight contract. The American Institute of Architects has a standard contract you can use. However, it’s wise to have it looked over by a real estate or construction attorney, who may add more provisos. Be sure you have in who’s responsible for what parts of the job, including cleanup, so there are no misunderstandings; know when work will be started and completed; how and who will resolve disputes; when payments are due; whether you offer a bonus for a job completed early and a penalty for work completed after the due date. Some attorneys recommend holding back a percentage of monies due until after the project is done, just in case you need a bargaining chip.
6. Set ground rules that may not be covered in the contract. Let the contractor know apartment building and town rules regarding when work is and isn’t permissible. Let workmen also know if they’re allowed to use a bathroom in your house, your phone, your refrigerator. If not, you or your contractor may have to rent a portable toilet, cellular phone or small refrigerator for workers’ food.
You don’t want work crews infringing on your family’s home life, but you also need to treat them as colleagues, not adversaries, says architect Richard Becker of Highland Park. “I had one client who baked brownies to create a warm, fuzzy atmosphere. That wasn’t necessary.”
7. If the project is large, consider dividing it into manageable phases. Do one floor of a two-story home or one end of an apartment so that you always have one working bathroom; a place to cook, even if on a hot plate; a place to hang out, put up your feet and to store breakable possessions.
When architects Cohen and Hacker remodeled her parents’ Highland Park house, they rigged a temporary shower in the basement. “Not ideal, but better than nothing,” Cohen says.
Working in stages allows you to hold out the next stage as an incentive to get the initial work done properly.
8. Consider moving out temporarily. Some prefer to stay and observe construction daily. Others know their limits and that they won’t be able to survive the constant noise, fumes, plaster dust and stress. There are pros and cons to each option. If you stay, you’ll be available to answer questions and spot problems before they mushroom.
Cohen, however, says that answering questions should be part of the architect’s or contractor’s bailiwick rather than the homeowner’s. He recommends leaving, if a temporary rental is in the budget or if relatives live nearby.
9. Keep detailed records. Some owners like to post charts of when major benchmarks will occur-walls going up or plumbing roughed in-in order to stay on top of progress and to use as leverage if work bogs down. Some owners and attorneys recommend documenting unresolved problems on paper, in certified letters or on film or videotape.
10. Make the experience an adventure. If you’re redoing the kitchen, still among the most popular remodelings, now is the time to try that new takeout food shop or restaurant you’ve been considering. Let every family member get a say. Buy young children a tool set and let them pretend they’re remodeling.
11. Call in your chits. Entertain like crazy and do favors for friends before the siege begins, then wait for offers of homecooked meals and weekends away at friends’ country homes to roll in.
12. Reward yourself periodically. When the floorboards are laid or the painting done, uncork a bottle of champagne or sneak away for a night at a nearby hotel.
13. Keep laughing. Rent movies to level your mishaps. In addition to “War of the Roses,” try “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dreamhouse,” “The Money Pit,” “The Birds.” The Ruders still laugh about the time a workman crashed through their temporary roof into their bedroom. “We had winter rain, water was pouring into closets, the tarp gave way and a workman fell through. It was funny since no one was hurt,” says Diane Ruder.
