The Bath Room

A DOZEN STEPS FOR PLANNING AND
IMPLEMENTING A SUCCESSFUL REMODEL
--  Rick Kaplowitz

Your consideration each of these key factors about your prospective contractor and process will go a long way to insuring a smooth and successful project.

1. Established builder.  Pick a contractor with a physical shop or office.  You want to know the company will be around to fix any problems that might arise during or after construction is completed.
    
2. Specialization.  Pick a builder whose specialties meet your needs.  Don’t ask an electrician to do roofing for you, or a roofer to do plumbing.  Remodeling bathrooms, remodeling kitchens and building second stories on a house each require some different design and timeline considerations.
   
   
3. Estimates.  Get a detailed estimate, one that specifies clearly the various tasks that will be done, and how much each will cost.  The estimate should specify both materials and labor costs.  The estimate should also specify management costs, as you don’t want to be surprised by a 21% add-on management fee and/or hourly management costs that were never mentioned in the estimates.  If a contractor won’t give you costs for each step of the job, but rather says “we charge for time and materials,” ask the contractor to specify how much time will be needed, at what labor rate, and with what additional fees. 
   
   
4. Management Availability.  Check (with references) that you will have one individual who is identified as your construction project manager, and who will be readily available to you.  If subcontractors are used, how active will your project manager be in scheduling and overseeing those subs?  If the company’s own employees do the work, will the project manager be on site regularly?  Your job will run much more smoothly if you know there is one person you can turn to for any questions, and if you know that one person will indeed be responsive.
   
   
5. Licensing.  Be sure your contractor is licensed by the State of California and has appropriate insurances.    The contractor’s written materials should have a State Contractors Board license number on it.  In California, if you plug the contractor’s license number into the following website, you should be able to see that the contractors has an “active”status, and that they have both a Contractor’s Bond and Workers Compensation Insurance: https://www2.cslb.ca.gov/OnlineServices/CheckLicense/LicenseRequest.asp
   Additionally, you may ask your prospective contractor for the name and number of the general liability policy that’s in place. 

6. Scams.  Don’t hand cash to someone who knocks on your door and says “We were doing a job down the block and we have an extra truckload of cement … “   Be sure you’ve got a solid estimate with an established licensed contractor before you put any money out.
   
   
7. Timelines.  Get clear timelines from your contractor, and be sure that you do your part to maintain them.  Ask for dates by which you need to have your materials picked, and then meet those dates; otherwise, your job may be pushed back on the calendar because materials aren’t ready for installation.  If you are buying the materials yourself, be doubly sure that you have selected and ordered them with sufficient lead time for delivery before the job starts, and that they are materials that your contractor knows and approves.  Both you and your contractor want to start and complete the job on time.
   
8. Communications.  If you have thoughts, questions, concerns --- be sure to communicate clearly with your project manager in a timely way.  Contractors can’t fix problems they don’t know about.   Similarly, if you are considering having multiple projects going on at once, each contractor needs to know about the timelines and projects of the others, so that coordination rather than confusion can take place.  If you are serving as your own general contractor, you are the link among the subcontractors you are hiring.
   
   
9. Payment schedule.  Your contract should precisely specify a schedule that lets you know what payments will be due, and when; don’t accept a contract that doesn’t provide that detail.  On your side, be prepared to make those payments when they are due.  Construction workers are often paid weekly, and your payments allow the contractor to meet the payroll.   Good labor contracts will leave a final percentage to be paid only when the job is complete.  You may be asked to put up a 10% (legal maximum) labor contract prepayment when the contract is signed.  Payments on materials contracts vary from part to all of the costs up front.
   
   
10. Breathing room.  Give construction workers room to work.  Keep an eye on what is happening, but don’t try to be the job foreman.  Don’t hang over the workers all day long.  Don’t climb up into the attic with them to watch them install a vent pipe.  Treat them as respectfully as you want them treating you and your home.
    
    
11. Scope Creep.  Avoid the common tendency homeowners have to ask the construction crew to do additional work “while you’re here.”  Contractors build their schedules and fees based on a mutually agreed scope of work.  Don’t try to add tasks on while the job is under way.
    
    
12. Problems.  Construction problems can arise.  Be prepared to work together with your project manager/contractor to find solutions that will address any such problems.  You both have the same end objective in mind:  a top quality, professionally completed job.