Being contracted for a multitude of home improvement projects is never a walk in the park. These remodel and reconstruction endeavors take time, energy, organization, research, and perhaps the most difficult aspect – working within tight limitations set by the client. For every job you get contracted for, there is a myriad of inhibitors, deadlines, and hoops to jump through. The client puts forth tight parameters such as time and budget that keep you and your team on your toes. You attempt to have all the wants and needs of your client and the home itself flowing in a harmonious current, catering to any and all requirements evenly.
How to work within your client’s limitations without compromising the quality of your work becomes a constant theme of any home improvement project.
There are three main limitations typically facing a contractor and his/her team when setting out to complete a home project from start to finish. Below, we’ve outlined some life-saving solutions to keep your clients happy, and your business thriving.
On A Time Crunch
Typically, when a homeowner comes to you with a proposal for a renovation, ADU, or remodel, they want it done, and they want it done asap. Rare is the homeowner who can afford to spend the necessary time needed to complete a home improvement project realistically. Patience is out the door after the first few weeks, and you anticipate the string of phone calls, questions, and pressure put on you and your team. Most homeowners, if naive to the business, are just relatively unaware of the realistic amount of time and man-hours required to do a quality job while working within many parameters. Your clients fear the obvious disruption to their lives, such as cooking meals from a camping stove and showering at neighbors’ homes for weeks or even months on end. They consider benchmarks such as holidays, graduation parties and birthdays that need to be worked around. And more than anything- they just simply don’t want to wait. They’re excited and ready to be living in and enjoying their new home.
These expectations can pose a detrimental threat to the quality and integrity of your process. Other factors that affect the timeline can be as unavoidable as foul weather, lag time on ordered materials, the surfacing of hidden problems, and zoning difficulties. Luckily, there are a few things that can help hasten the speed of a project even when everything else is slowing you and your workers down.
When providing full-blown home renovations to large scale rooms such as living rooms, master bedrooms, and dining areas, there is a lot of time spent developing a floor plan that works with the layout of the house and with the client’s needs. Wall construction and framing is such a crucial yet monotonous task, which leads to a lot of time, negotiation, planning, and headache when deciding the framework design and build for each space. Perhaps it doesn’t have to be so difficult… Consider integrating space optimizing solutions into these integral spaces rather than spending valuable time, energy and cost in subjugating rooms that inherently don’t need to be fully separated. Making use of beautiful sliding glass doors, glass wall partitions and entire Glass Room Dividers can quickly and effectively craft spatial distinction between various rooms throughout the home without compromising potential flexibility. Your clients will be surprised not only at how stylish and modern a look it adds to any room but also how helpful the use of customizable glass partitions can be in a home. Saving them money in materials, and construction time. This is a sure way to save time and unnecessary stress during any renovation.
With Style And Innovation In Mind
The typical homeowner expects you and your company to provide quality service, while also crafting style and distinctive design throughout their unique home. While a large concern for you is structural integrity, materials, and technique, it’s, of course, necessary to consider the overall aesthetic of the home. Not to mention special features or useful functions that add value and intrigue to the house. Providing helpful technologies throughout the interiors to make everyday life easier for the homeowner is a great addition. Things like remote-control light switches, smart faucets, glass doors and glass walls that allow natural light in, wireless speakers, solar-powered path lights all increase the value and show that your company cares about a more sustainable way of building, and living. By providing helpful additions, you help conserve resources and save your clients water and energy costs with these innovative technologies. By thinking ahead, you can introduce green gadgets and solutions that will undoubtedly reduce the homeowner’s overall carbon footprint and provide them a home to feel proud of, all while working style and taste into the green design.
On A Budget
Work with what already exists. During the remodeling process, aim to repurpose and upcycle anything you can so as to save on materials and utilize perfectly useful and charming pieces and home features. You want to make sure you can pair existing features and structural elements that work, with upgrades and novelty to retain its inherent charm all while at an agreeable cost. Introducing useful features such as sliding glass barn doors to separate rooms is an instant win-win. Not only do you provide flexibility, but it’s a cost-effective solution to partitioning two rooms that don’t need or desire full separation. Much smarter and economical than building out two entirely distinct rooms that would inevitably require doors, trim, electrical and additional framework. Glass barn doors are a wonderfully rustic point of interest that will excite your clients and save you time and slash costs for the homeowner.
Another bonus of having interior glass room dividers, closet doors, or laundry enclosures installed in the home will add ever-lasting value to the current and any future owners, including virtually maintenance-free care.
Furthermore, consider keeping but renewing unique structural elements that your team can upgrade with new drywall, a fresh coat of paint or small additions to the existing features. This will save a lot of money in building materials and labor in the long-run.
With the previous limitations posing potentially compromising threats to the success and timeline of your projects, there was understandably a lot to stress over. Now that you have a few helpful tips guiding your next project, big or small, it is sure to be a happy success. To get inspiration and see some space optimizing solutions, visit our photo gallery. Contact us at The Sliding Door Company to get in touch with one of our team members for a free consultation.