If you have a remodel on your mind, you may have discovered that there are several avenues you can take to achieving your goals. You may have already decided that you don't want to go the DIY route, but you still have questions about how partnering with a professional remodeling provider works. In this post we want to outline the typical experience you’ll get when you opt for the “all-in-one”, or full-service, remodeling option that we offer at Neal’s Design Remodel.
Expectations
The first step to being prepared for a full-service remodeling project is to have the correct expectations about how the project will go and what will be accomplished. While this blog post can help you with many general expectations, the specifics of your project should always be discussed with a consultant who can provide you with customized answers. For any remodeling project to go smoothly and be successful, it's crucial that you and your remodeling team are on the same page about the outcome.
Consultations & In-Home Meetings
Going into a remodeling project for any area of your home, you're going to have a list of goals and needs that you've likely already identified. Be ready to communicate these needs so that your remodeling project consultant and designer can quickly get up-to-speed on what you're hoping to accomplish. Some of the meetings in these early planning stages will be held in your home while others may occur at the remodeler’s office. Seeing your space in person will help your remodeler better understand the scope and limitations of your specific project. This is all to make sure that your project is fully accounted for as early as possible and that nothing critical is left out.
Preliminary Estimating & Design
For your project to have the greatest success, it needs to be fully understood. Every home, every project, and every design goal are different, and there's no such thing as "one-size-fits-all" when it comes to remodeling. Your team will guide you through your decisions by doing their best to balance what you’d like to see in your home with the budget limit you’ve provided. It’s always a bit of give and take, and you may change your mind about what you want to achieve as you start to see how your project is panning out. This is normal and all part of a successful project.
Contracts & Project Acceptance
Before anything happens in your home and prior to any materials being ordered, you and your remodeling team will agree on the scope of work and the budget amount. Getting this in writing is the best way to protect everyone's interests and set the roadmap for what comes next. Though a contract can't account for the unexpected, either with materials, time, or the actual conditions of your project site, it does offer a baseline for what everyone knows and agrees to at this point in the process.
Design Selections
The core of your project's process happens when you get all the design elements of your project finalized with your designer. You'll be selecting the specific appliances, materials, cabinetry, and details that will make your remodeled space what you want it to be. Some homeowners come into this phase with no ideas, while others have a very clear vision. Professional designers will be able to work with you in either case. They'll provide their experience and knowledge to your project, help your ideas come together in a cohesive way, and fill in the areas you aren't sure about.
Project Preparation
Before your project can start, there are other processes working behind the scenes to move your project along such as adjusting your project costs as you make final decisions, getting permits as needed, or arranging for additional service partners. As your project approaches the end of the design stage, a start date will be determined for construction to begin. Be aware that after that point in the process it may feel a bit quiet. Many things will be falling into place with your project as materials and cabinetry orders begin arriving as you wait for your start date.
Project Start
Your remodeling team will already know many things about how the construction will go but will also have important questions for you about how to handle situations relevant to your house, family, and even community. This gives you and your carpentry team a chance to form an understanding and establish expectations with each other and is one key to feeling great about what they are doing.
Finally, the day arrives when your carpentry team starts your project. You'll go through a demolition phase to prepare the site for the new design, followed by the installation phase where any new walls or structures will be built, and your design will become a reality. Communication is the most critical component of this part of the project. Your team will be communicating with each other and you with schedules, any issues that may arise during the project, and of course reporting on the progress being made.
Project Completion
As the construction begins to wrap up on your project, you'll work with your team to establish a list of the final elements to accomplish before your project is officially complete. This ensures that when the team leaves your home, everyone agrees about what will have been completed. At the very end, your project consultant will want to return to your project to do a final walk-through with you. It's your opportunity to review with them your experience and it's a great opportunity to celebrate your finished project. Depending on your remodeler’s methods, you will likely be asked to complete a survey or review which helps your remodeler better understand how well they did to meet your needs and goals.
If you’re ready to begin your Cincinnati area remodel and want to work with a reputable company with decades of experience with this robust process, we’re ready to hear from you. Click the image below to get started with Neal's today!
