Ready, Fire. Aim!

Ok, you’re in it now.

At this part of the project, you’ve already picked your contractor, and confirmed your budget, and timeline.

The ball is rolling.

But hang on, are your expectations clear?

What I mean is… is your family/partner and contractor clear on what’s expected in terms of the overall plan?

This part can get tricky.

Once plans are drawn up, estimates are in place and the Project Manager gets the team started, even the smallest changes at this point can really delay the project.

I asked our Project Manager John, what commonly delays projects, and here is what he said:

When customers make changes during the project. This causes us to alter our plans. It also tends to take a good chunk of time for the team to regroup and try to figure out how to tackle the new changes. Generally, the farther along we are toward completion the greater the impact a change order will have.

That does create friction. Sometimes, these delays could be avoided if the initial plan is clear, and everyone knows what is expected of them. BUT, we also know, sometimes things come up.

Here’s what else John had to say:

Surprises can pop up that we didn’t anticipate! There are often surprises hidden behind walls or under floors. When doing renovations we don’t have a clean slate. We are often building off of work that someone else has done, possibly a long time ago. We can encounter problems like damage caused by tree roots, rodents or insects, materials that were commonly used in the past but no longer meet building codes and poor workmanship or shoddy materials.

Time is money and money is time. That’s why NEXT WEEK’S advice becomes a real valuable tool during a renovation project. Stick around because #6 is on YOU and your CONTRACTOR!