Renovation FAQ for Home Owners

When you are planning to do a home renovation project, hundreds of questions come into your mind.  Though you can get answers to all these from various online and offline resources you will be simply baffled by the amount of information available making you unable to find the right answers to your questions. 

Here are some of the most common commonly asked questions concerning a home remodeling project:

Q: What are the aspects of renovation a construction contractor can assist their homeowner?

A: When you have engaged an experienced general contractor, he will be in charge of the entire project.  Almost everything that relates to your home renovation projects will be his overall responsibility. He has to take care of every phase of the project right from drafting architectural blueprints, helping you obtain the necessary permits, planning, and budgeting for your renovation, and helping you in completing the construction part of the project. They will also help you with interior designing, controlling and planning scheduling and appointment and handling of subcontractors purchasing of materials and transporting them to your site, and removal of waste and Debris after the completion of the project.

 Q: What is the planning process involved in my home renovation project?

 A:  Planning is the most important aspect of any project and careful planning and diligent execution is necessary for the successful completion of the project

 Q: What about subcontractors?

 A: The contractor must bring in his team or subcontractors to work on different parts of the project. It is his responsibility to appoint, manage and pay for the subcontractors. 

Q:  What is the renovation process followed by the contractors?

 A: The contractor will follow a very systematic process to get the project executed and completed as per the original planning.

The Quote: The contractor submits his Quote after the finalization of project requirements, the budget available for doing the project, the priorities, and the goals of the project. Based on these vital factors the contractor submits his quote based on the requirements of the project. The pricing structure of the project will be outlined with necessary break-ups for each item wherever possible. This quote will contain the overall cost of the project including the labor charges the material cost transport and all other incidental charges payable towards the completion of the project. This is the starting phase of the relationship with the contractor.

Planning: the contractor moves to the planning stage in which a workable plan is devised to execute the project as per the original plan. This plan will involve the method and ways of conducting the project work and the persons who are going to work on the project and equipment to be used and all other things like permits to be received from the government agencies and documentation communication and other vital aspects of the project to be finalized and put in a workable plan ready for execution.

Execution of the project:  the next stage is the execution process of the project for starting the building process. Usually, the building process starts with demolition cleaning and making the work area ready for work. After this, the actual building construction begins and every part of the project is executed as per the original plan within the budget and within the timeline agreed. Stages of the project will be completed with the help of well-experienced subcontractors, professionals, and other knowledgeable persons who share and put to use their skills in the completion of the project in the best possible way.

Completion of the project: in this stage, the construction and installation works are all completed with all the finishing, decoration and other installations of equipment are completed. The project sign off stage comes in when the homeowner inspects the renovated areas and accepts that all the planned renovation works are complete to his satisfaction

 Q: Who will take care of your necessary permits and inspection?

 A:  Before starting the home renovation project it is necessary to obtain all necessary licenses and permits to commence the project work. Most of the times, the contractor who comes in to handle the project takes the responsibility of obtaining all the permits and licenses. The contractor has the responsibility to have full insurance coverage to hold the homeowner harmless in case of all types of injury death and other things that happened during the home renovation

  Q: Is it better to use a design-build contractor?

 A: A design-build contractor is a person who has the facilities to design the building in-house and do all types of architectural works. So, you need not engage an architect separately to design the portion of the house where renovation is proposed. This way you can save the separate cost for appointing an architect and connected problems of working with separate Architects.

 Q:  How can you make sure that the remodeling project will be finished on time and a budget?

 A: Most of the time the contractor will be maintaining good communication with the homeowner throughout the execution phase of the project. This will help the homeowner to follow what is going on in the project and apprises himself as to the timeline that is being followed for the execution of the project as well as the cost involved in completing each stage of the project. This way the homeowner can have complete control over the execution of the project and follow with the contractor to complete the project as per the timeline and the agreed budget.

Q:  What kind of warranty the contractor can provide?

 A: The contractor who is working on your home remodeling project will offer a warranty for a fixed number of years against his workmanship and material defects after completion of the project. This warranty will cover labor and materials during the period of warranty. This is a great way to make sure that a contractor executes any work with the highest possible quality and devoid of any workmanship and other defects that will hamper the use of the renovated portion of the house.

  These are only some of the frequently asked questions to help clear the mind of the homeowner who wants to know the details of a home remodeling project by engaging a contractor and trying to complete the project to his first satisfaction