Renovations from Heart to Home

          The process of renovating a home, depending on the size of the project, can be an intimidating project.  Even small repairs sometimes can lead to big stress if we're not comfortable having strangers in our home.  It's important to ensure a comfort level with your builder that reduces the worry and stress during your renovations so that not only is the completed project beautiful, but the actual process of construction is a pleasure as well.

            Likewise, for the small business owner taking on increasingly larger budget projects, there are easily as many areas of stress and pitfalls that can overwhelm and damage projects.  The homeowner can relax once the dust has settled, but the owner of a construction business can face a few more projects knowing the profits will go to repair the mistakes of that last disaster.

            The result of this cocktail mix of potentialities is that renovations are often approached with dread and uncertainty on the one side and bravado and a thin veil of strength on the other.  Having heard all the stories of great projects gone terribly wrong, the fear that things can go bad will invite the reality that they just might again.

The solution is communication

            Talking to each other is absolutely the best way to avoid problems in any situation.  A renovation is no different.  In some ways it resembles a marriage (albeit short) and a blending of families and requires all the skills, patience, finesse and forgiveness.

            For a renovation project to be successful, all tools must be laid on the table. The builder presents a portfolio and the homeowners must open the doors to their intimate closets.  Fears and insecurities must be made as evident as the dreams and desires.   Beyond the fancy pick-up and the big front door, the people should meet as partners, joined together to create something wonderful.

            Being open and honest from the beginning, having a realistic conception of amount of dust that is generated goes a long way to easing through difficulties when the roof is torn off or the owner runs late on a decision.  In any good relationship, talking through the problems, ensures that problems can be removed and not grown to inoperable tumors.

Money is the root of all good

            People are often uncomfortable talking about money, but in a large renovation, a lot of the green stuff must change hands and it is not always easy.  The grease to get the project complete must be applied efficiently or the engine comes to a grinding stop.

            Ego and power must be left at the door as much as it is possible to leave the muddy boots.  Certainly if "X" is not accomplished, "Y" dollars should not be paid, but often in the shadows lurks an insidious creature exerting control or undermining a sense of worthiness that can easily foul things up.

            Money should be treated with the same care, respect and ultimate neutrality as the lumber for which it is exchanged.  It is the commodity that builds the structure, no more or less than the nails that hold it together.  One cannot be done without the other and so it is best considered with emotional neutrality as any other item negotiated and executed in the contract.

Playing in the Sandbox

            Staying relaxed and focused on the end result keeps homeowners and builders on the same team.  The project is the uniting factor and it should always be remembered that it is in the best interests of each party to get it done in the best way possible. 

            No one really wants a problem, but some are inclined by nature or experience to look for them and in projects of this size and complication, there is no shortage of possibility.  A better understanding of what it takes from both sides will more often create a meeting in the middle that results in an addition or renovation in which all can take pride.

            This is a blog about finding and nurturing that sweet spot for both the homeowner and the small business owner.  Like marriage counseling, it shines a light on various aspects of each individual, sometimes in celebration and sometimes with discomfort.  The purpose is to make the union stronger.

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4 Ways to a Successful Renovation

Stress in the renovation of a home--no matter the size of the project--is inevitable. At some point, feelings of invasion are sure to develop and sleep is lost to nights of fear that the construction will never end.

 The pre-construction phase is the most important because decisions made in advance can create a project that runs much more smoothly. While there is no specific formula, the larger the project benefits from more time in the planning stage.

Taking informed measures early in the process to ensure the dust has somewhere to settle eases the impact of many of the problems and keeps everyone talking to each other. There will be surprises, but anticipation of what is predictable makes the discovery of the rest just a little more fun.

Observe, Observe, Observe
As the decision to remodel is being considered, it is crucial to observe and gather information from as many sources/resources as possible. Blogs, television shows and articles like this can help, but talking with friends, family and even strangers who have experienced their own projects gives ideas and experiences more specific to your particular situation. Look for real stories, rather than the quick and clean impressions that portray an easy and seamless transformation.

More than any other time, communication between partners can determine the quality of the project. The success of a well-designed home is in the movement between rooms, the flow of sound as well as bodies and the interaction between occupants. Dance your dance and notice. As you live in the one space, share a constant dialogue about what life could be like in the new.

In addition to dreams, observe the reality and ask a lot of questions. Begin with the most important functions like cooking, eating, relaxing, sleeping and working. Consider the laundry, the lawnmower and the libraries of books, knicknacks and DVDs before picking out the linoleum. Location is critical, function absolute.

Browse magazines, the internet and ask for a peek into your friend's closets. Talk together about what you detest as much as like. Be open, clear and make sure to listen carefully because once the walls are installed and freshly painted, it costs a lot to take them out.

Visualize and design

Some projects are easily imagined and communicated to your builder and can make a huge difference in the way life works in the home. Others are too overwhelming to conceptualize beyond the certain knowledge that things need to change.

There are many ways to go about the design and no hard rules beyond making sure you are comfortable with your choice. The plan will change your life as well as the details changing along the way, so it is imperative to work with someone who can understand and respect the intimacies down to the toothbrushes, your mother's antique snow-globe collection and the lingerie in your closet.

Architects have an education, license and authority to command leadership in a project, and often the experience and creativity to be worth the cost. Designers may have the same experience without the credentials, usually with the passion to make up the difference. Often the guy in the truck who knows how to fit the pieces of the shelf under the stair has the best sense for what really works and how much it will take.

  Regardless of who and what, their conception, communication and quality must be in sympathy with you who will ultimately live in the renovated space. Make sure the design is what will work for you.



Investigate

As the design is conceptualized, check with the local zoning administrator about what is allowed and required for a project of that size. Even in the same municipality, rules and requirements can vary from street to street depending on use and historic designations (no matter how non-descript your home might seem).

It is their job to ensure compliance with the regulations, so no question is too much or too trivial. They have the authority to remove a window or require a roof is rebuilt three inches lower to conform. No matter who is at fault, once having gone through the renovation, you certainly do not want to do it all over again.

Decide
With the design in hand, many more decisions can be made and included in the contract before construction begins. Fixtures such as toilets, cabinets, door styles and paint colors are all important parts of the process. The choices are sequential and sometimes interdependent. They can be easily overwhelming and rushed if put off until the day the builder says, "I need them now."
Think ahead and work with your builder to make choices in a timely way according to their priority and timeline of installation. Cabinets often take six to eight weeks to deliver though often installed towards the end of a major renovation. Door knobs can be purchased immediately, but still require decisions commensurate with the style of the home.

Modesty is not an option

Some projects are so invasive, if the budget allows, it is better to move out, allowing the builder to "have at it" with no restrictions. Most often, keeping one bath and the kitchen functional at all times are logistics that must be figured into the plan. It is not unusual to be barged in upon various moments of undress.

The builder should be willing to accommodate special needs such as adjusting work for the nightshift worker trying to sleep in the back of the house or getting a portapot to reduce heavy boots across the softwood dinning room floor. Make sure they are able to focus on your project without having to come and go according to the needs and whimsies of other clients.

 This is your home and you are the one paying the contract. There are enough problems that leap out from hiding places in the walls without having to surprise yourself with disgruntled adjustments because the refrigerator is too close to the stove. Anticipating what can be figured out and getting it down on paper is the best chance to get in reality the home of your dreams.

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Whole Life Make-over

No matter the degree of our comfort level, the world has become an unsettled place. Riots and revolutions, earthquakes, tsunamis, droughts, tornados and economic collapses can be seen as the apocalyptic precursors predicted and parodied to culminate in 2012.

The housing market that has been blamed for much of the downturn of the last few years still struggles to come back and is forever radically changed. Sub-prime mortgages have resulted in a banking industry too focused on profits to take a risk on the common family just wanting to buy a home. Stuck with an inventory, developers are hesitant to bulldoze fields into suburbs, making renovations to existing homes the most viable option for bettering our quality of life.

In the good times, our culture tends to be mobile and impulsive. As an expression of success, the standard has been a bigger home in a better neighborhood easily accomplished by a quick move across town. Proceeds from the sale of one put the money down on another and payments remained largely the same. Assumptions that values would continue to rise made playing as easy as the game of checkers.

Sub-prime mortgages changed all that and it can no longer be the expectation that anyone who works hard enough can earn their own home. Real estate is accumulated by fewer and fewer people who rent it out to the many. Ownership is less a right than a pride and privilege.

Staying put and renovating to meet expanding needs for many reasons is a wonderful way to spend a lifetime. Deep roots, relationships with neighbors and the creation of traditions are just a few obvious reasons. Nothing better than a well-established home life can assuage the discomfort of global uncertainty.

On the local level, the decision to stay put and improve the home can be a terrifying prospect to those of us raised in a lifestyle that used houses as commodities so easily bought, sold and left behind. Often brand new, we have not stayed long enough to enjoy the shade of the trees we planted, nor shared the celebrations and sorrows from births to graduations to weddings of our neighbors' children who are friends with our own.

Renovations are dusty, inconvenient and hugely stressful, lasting one or many months. The contractor and workers invade the castle, often becoming part of the family in that time, sometimes the enemy. He might turn the corner and catch you in your underwear or arrive at three AM to tighten the tarp in a rainstorm. Homework still has to be done; holidays arrive; visitors want to tour and advise.

Marriages are seriously tested living through remodels, often stripping and re-painting the relationship in unexpected colors for better or worse. At the design stage, one man's recreation room bar is the woman's whirlpool spa. The screaming saws of construction might sound like the pitter-pattering little feet to the other. Constant decisions as small as round or lever door handles create relentless strain when all he really wants to think about is a round of golf.

Despite it all, the process of transformation, with proper planning, care and room for breaks, can be a time of great joy, anticipation and satisfaction. Lives are changed by taking the wall out that has separated the kitchen from family. The extra bedroom can save a marriage or unite sisters who could not share the same space. Staying in the same school system avoids the traumatic disruption of having to make all new friends all over again.

In thirty years as a contractor, my best of many moments is easily identified in the eighth month of a year long project that doubled the size of the house and touched every room existing, centered upon a massive restructuring of the kitchen. With a two year old, she had been washing dishes in the bathtub, the heat was off for the day in February in Vermont. The entire first floor of furniture was crammed into one room with a tiny path to the computer where she huddled in a down jacket.

"I love it!" she exclaimed, mist on her breath.

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For the Sake of Fun

So focused on my other blog, I recognize and acknowledge my lack of attention here.

In actuality, while absorbed in the lofty thoughts of heart by night, my days have been methodically constructed around carpentry projects, hour by hour, just doing the work. In completing projects with my own dirty and recalloused hands, I better understand my problems when at the lead of a much larger business.


To really be effective in any endeavor, there must be an element of fun. Responsible for the livelihood of 6 to 10 others, the overwhelming pressure to find work and produce it efficiently under mounting debt smothered rare moments of satisfaction and enjoyment. There was no time for pride or celebration.

In these past months, I have been working alone, or alongside friends who need the help and guidance to improve their homes. In addition to earnings without liability beyond my own two hands, I am able to rediscover the pleasure, sweeping up at the end of the day, of a job well done, day by day, hour by hour. There is an exquisite moment, just before driving off into the homelife, of accomplishment, of plans working out, of measurable progress.

Usually distracted in my life by larger concerns of family, our own home and mortgage, dreams of vacations, and even bigger dreams of someday being the Writer I always wanted to be, the actual tasks of carpentry have been, for me, but means to an end. Not really in stride with the tools in hand, I could recite the adage “measure twice, cut once”, even go through the motions of measuring a third time (having been interrupted by a question), and still get the cut wrong.

Better to leave the carpentry to the ones who really want to do it, I thought, and focused on design and sales. I drew great plans, supported by charts and spreadsheets that no one else actually understood as clearly, and in a booming economy, hired any guy with tools who answered the desperate ads to fill crews to finish all the jobs I could get started.

No matter the impressive portfolio that was built, so very little of it turned out to be any fun.


I miss the big projects, the large and beautiful additions, the buzz of activity on job sites, the line of pick-ups parked in the yard. Honestly, I really enjoyed driving up to answer questions, point fingers, and run off to attend to another site. I tried to be clear that I did not have all the answers, that I was just a facilitator, part of a team, but the truth is that the job needs a leader, someone in touch with every detail, someone who can prevent mistakes, and fixes them quickly with authority, demanding accountability when they happen anyway.

Today, I finish a kitchen. I have installed every cabinet, set every screw, laid every piece of flooring. The job is not perfect if one looks closely enough. I know where the scratches are and the excessive caulk that filled a gap. Even so, my friends will enjoy years of meals here, watch their grandchildren grow. Many, many more scratches will appear.


More importantly, although I would love to redo a couple of measurements and cuts, I will remember this kitchen fondly, the feeling each day of contentment and the tools in hand.

And wouldn’t you know, last night in a casual conversation about something else, I was asked to design an addition.

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Foundation

These chapters are best viewed in order:

Design

Foundation

First Story

Second Story

Second Story Addition

Roof



My father was an architect, designing schools, labs and offices. A part of every vacation was looking at buildings along the way. As an adult, I'm still learning that many of those were not actually his, but destinations for us which he viewed like an artist in a museum. Early memory for me is of a bewildered weary group of kids on the sidewalk looking up, looking around, going in, coming out, and back in the car again.

My earliest memory is awakening from my nap to see a giant steam shovel ("Mike Muligan!" my Mom called) approach the house to make mountains of dirt for me to run over.

We had five additions put on this architect's home. It was not unusual to see it featured in Sunday supplements or a part of house tours. On a little lane, cars often slowed down and circled back past the house of glass. At night, they could see right in and, mischeivously, we'd be five little kids dancing wildly.

My father built the original house on evenings and weekends after the War, moving into a small unfinished space with his wife, her grandmother, and their baby. He built the master bedroom after the second child, just before me.




The living room came next with memories not only of the excavator as mentioned, but also of our dog falling into the cellar hole, my first time on a ladder (2 rungs), men with sledge hammers knocking holes in our wall. The "Girls' Wing" was built in 1961 when I was old enough to hold boards for my Dad and learned a mouthful of curses, a carpenter's tool when things still don't fit right after the third cut.


In 1967, after several years successfully designing buildings for a new company with the strange name of "IBM", and a house full of teenagers, he designed a 2 story redwood work of art. Completely separate from the main house with a pool table and fireplace, the Octagon is counted by many at high school reunions to be one of the best memories of the day.

Finally, the pool was added in the back after the kids had mostly moved into their own lives--my first job as a contractor. Painted black to reflect the impression of a pond, rhoddendrons and sculptures dangle over the water, and natural stones of all shapes come right to the edge.



A home divided by plastic walls and still coated with dust is normal to me. Plans on the table, sketches of addtions never built, talk of the next project is completely familiar, invigorates my brain like food in the belly.

I am born and bred a remodeler.

First Story

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