stress free remodeling

JEB BREITHAUPT B. Arch. MBA

with SHARON O’MALLEY

Copyright © 2014 Jeb Breithaupt

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 10: 1500689459 ISBN-13: 978-1500689452

DEDICATION

“Home is Heaven for beginners.” --Charles Henry Parkhurst

In memory of my late father, Joe Breithaupt, whose example taught me the importance of treating people with respect, their homes with care and their

trust in me like gold.

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CONTENTS

Introduction 1

1 Make No Mistake(s) Pg #

2 You Just Don’t Know Pg #

3 Wise Choices Pg #

4 The Contractor From Hell Pg #

5 The Best-Laid Plans Pg #

6 Keeping It Real Pg #

7 Remodeling Gold Pg #

8 Why Remodel? Pg #

9 Why Jeb?

Pg #

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INTRODUCTION

What are you waiting for?

You’ve been planning to enlarge your master bathroom, build an outdoor kitchen or get your indoor kitchen out of the avocado-green ’80s for … forever, right?

Why haven’t you started yet?

Let me guess: You can’t bear the thought of a bunch of dirty contractors tearing your house apart and then taking their sweet time putting it back together.

Or you’ve tried remodeling before, and got burned by a final bill that was way more than the original estimate.

How about this: You hired a pal or a brother-in-law to build a patio or redo your guest bathroom, and he botched the job, either because he really didn’t think it would take so long or because he ran into problems he didn’t know how to solve.

This one’s (unfortunately) typical: You expected your contractor to take care of everything for you, but it turned out that he couldn’t help you with the design, advise you about products or even give you the correct measurements you needed as you searched all over town visiting showrooms and comparing prices. And you had to spend your vacation days doing work you thought you had hired him to do.

I have to tell you: I’ve heard it all. I’m the first one to admit that creating your dream home can be a nightmare—and I’m in the remodeling business!

I’m the owner and principal designer at JEB Design/Build, a full-service home remodeling and custom home building business in northwest Louisiana.

I’m here to tell you that remodeling does not have to be a nightmare. In fact, it shouldn’t be. And it won’t be if you’ll let me help you.

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If you live in northwestern Louisiana, I can help you by redesigning your kitchen, bathroom or master bedroom/bathroom suite, or by creating a room addition, outdoor kitchen, party-sized patio or second story for your home. I can do a whole-house remodel or even build a custom home for you.

If you live somewhere else, I can help you with the advice and wisdom you’ll find on the pages of this book, which I’ve drawn from my 30-plus years as a remodeler, designer and builder of some of the most beautiful homes in the Ark-La-Tex.

You may have read some of this practical, insider advice in my weekly Shreveport Times newspaper column, where I try to help homeowners overcome the obstacles that often accompany the remodeling process: bad contractors, overwhelming choices, poor planning, budgeting concerns and fear of the unknown.

My column also offers remodeling-minded homeowners the hope of having a comfortable renovations experience and achieving the results they’ve dreamed of ever since they started thinking about updating, upgrading, upscaling and expanding their homes.

On the pages of this book, I’ll try to help you understand a little bit more about the remodeling process and the contractors you might hire. Just as I’ve helped hundreds of Louisiana homeowners make the most of their home-improvement dollars and the best of their remodeling experience, I can put you on the same happy path.

Throughout the book, I’ll intersperse my advice for working with contractors and watching out for yourself with examples of how I do business with my clients.

My process, which I know from experience is a bit unusual for a home-improvement contractor, is one that creates satisfied homeowners. In fact, those homeowners ranked me so high on Angie’s List that I won that organization’s Super Service Award. Plus, more than 90 percent of Jeb Design/Build’s past clients have given my team and me the highest possible ranking for customer satisfaction on the Guild Quality Survey. That’s a customer satisfaction survey administered by a third party.

These results stem from my training as both an architect and a businessman; I have a bachelor’s degree in architecture and an MBA from Louisiana State University.

Still, I owe most of my success with customer satisfaction to my own clients, who, over the years, have shared with me so many horror stories about their stressful, angry, unsatisfying, offensive prior experiences with

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other contractors that I decided long ago to create a process that was better.

I vowed that before I make any decision or take any action when I’m working with a homeowner or in someone’s home, the answers to these two questions must be “yes”:

1. Is this decision or action going to delight my client?

2. Would I do the same thing if I were remodeling my own home?

Let me give you an example of where this led me, and this might surprise you (it surprises most people): The price quote I give you when you sign a construction agreement with JEB Design/Build is the price you will pay me on the day the agreed-upon work is finished. Not a penny more.

Let me say it again in case you can’t believe what you just read: We never go over the budget for the work that we agreed to in writing at the beginning of the job. Guaranteed.

My goal: to make the whole remodeling process, from the minute you meet me to the moment you hand me your final payment, easy for you.

This might surprise you, too: My licensed, insured and experienced team will take care of everything for you. We have architecturally trained designers who will design your new room and even figure out how to relocate or remove walls or add on to the house to make the room bigger.

Or we can work with what you already have, and move counters, cabinets, appliances and plumbing fixtures around in an existing room so it “flows” better. Sometimes, we simply freshen up a space that just needs new paint, appliances and fixtures. Whatever you need. Guaranteed.

We have a talented, creative interior decorator who will save you those trips to the showrooms, and instead, will bring you samples of tile, carpet, paint, granite, marble or whatever you would like to see. She’ll help you coordinate colors and textures and styles and finishes—and then order it all, accept the deliveries, bring it to your house and get it installed. Guaranteed.

All you have to do is say, “I like this one” or “I like that one.”

Our expert builders, plumbers, electricians, painters and other licensed, insured home-improvement professionals who will respect the schedule we make up, with your input, and who will keeping working until they’re finished with your project and you’re happy with their work. Guaranteed.

We’ll know you’re satisfied when you tell your personal project leader that you are. He’s your single point person for the project—the one you’ll tell your concerns to and who will, in turn, get those concerns handled.

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Guaranteed.

You’ll never have to talk to a painter or an electrician or a tile installer. Your personal project manager will deal with all of those subcontractors so you don’t have to. Guaranteed.

And because we have a long list of plumbers, roofers, landscapers and other home-improvement specialists whom we trust completely, you’ll never have to search for or hire a subcontractor on your own as long as we’re on the job. Guaranteed.

Plus, we have policies -- lots of policies. Policies for cleaning up after ourselves. Policies for respecting your privacy and your property. Policies for keeping you in the loop every step of the way during your remodel. Policies that guarantee that everyone from my team who sets foot in your home understands that this is your dream, your vision, your home and your very hard-earned money.

JEB Design/Build is the whole package. Start to finish. Design to walk-through. We do the work. All of it. Guaranteed.

I’m not kidding you or pulling any punches here.

I’m serious and sincere when I say . . .

Anyone who wants to remodel can have a good experience. Anyone who wants a dream home can have their every expectation met.

Anyone can have a home that they’ll be proud to show off to their friends, family, neighbors and colleagues. (Believe me, people will be very intrigued when you tell them what you’ve done to your home. They’ll beg to see it.)

And believe me, people will be almost incredulous when you tell them about how smoothly the job went with JEB Design/Build. They’ll want to hear all about it.

Then, they’ll want to complain to you about the Remodeler from Hell who made a mess of their house. Guaranteed.

If you live in northwestern Louisiana, I want to help you in person. But if you live too far from Louisiana for me to handle your home remodeling project myself, the information and advice in this book will help you find someone like me in your area. Honest, reliable, trustworthy home-improvement professionals do exist!

I’ll admit that quality home remodeling is not inexpensive. In the long run, though, getting the work done right the first time is always way less expensive than having to do it twice.


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And paying for quality usually isn’t a problem for people who understand the difference—and correlation—between cost and value.

Plus, I throw in a little afterglow: Bragging about (and showing off) your new kitchen, a room addition or a tricked-out master bathroom will be loads of fun; that’s for sure.

Getting to that point should, at the very least, be painless.

The fact is … the beautiful kitchen, bathroom, addition, suite or patio you get at the end of the remodeling process isn’t the only quality product you deserve for your hard-earned money. The remodeling experience should be as happy as the outcome.

Here’s my philosophy: I firmly believe anyone can have a satisfying remodeling experience and get the outcome they hope for and deserve if they do two important things:

1. Make a plan before you let anyone hammer a single nail.

2. Choose a contractor you can absolutely trust.

Colors, finishes and room sizes are important, but not as critical as these first two steps.

So as you read the following pages, you’ll learn about:

The importance of having a plan in place before work begins.

How to hire the best contractor for your job.

Why the contract between you and your remodeler is so important.

How to head off the real potential of tension between you and your spouse or partner that a home renovation can cause.

How to get the most value for your remodeling dollar.

When you’re finished reading, I hope you’ll call me.

The home you already live in could be the home you’ve always dreamed of in less than six months! The sooner you call me, the sooner you’ll enjoy your “new” life in the home of your dreams.

Until then, I hope you’ll enjoy the stories and advice I’ve shared with you in this book.

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CHAPTER 1

MAKE NO MISTAKE(S)

Why I hate HGTV

Why do I hate HGTV? Let me count the ways.

I had the opportunity to listen to a speech by David Bromstad, the star of the popular HGTV design show Color Splash, at a big kitchen and bath industry show in New Orleans about a year ago. He gave a good talk about style trends to an audience of designers and remodelers.

When he was finished, a guy in the audience raised his hand and asked the TV superstar: “Would you tell your producers not to make everything look so easy?”

That guy hates HGTV, too.

And the old Extreme Makeover Home Edition. And all of those shows that make it seem like it takes just 30 or 60 minutes to tear a room apart and put it all back together looking better than ever.

It makes me want to throw something at my TV screen.

The fact is: It takes a lot longer than the duration of a TV show to do a remodeling job right—even a small one.

And by a lot longer, I don’t mean enough time to watch the next home and garden program. I mean days, weeks or months.

It also costs a lot more to remodel than those TV decorators let on. I’m guessing Bromstad pulls in a good six figures when a non-TV client hires him to redo a kitchen or bathroom.

I understand that this is the nature of TV. You just get the highlights in the half hour or hour allotted for the show. So what you see are bits and pieces of the job and a whole lot of homeowner/contractor drama mixed in.

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But it seems not everyone understands that TV isn’t always a good mirror of reality. I’ve talked to lots of homeowners who ask me to do to their homes what Bromstad did on TV—and they want it by Saturday. They want it for a couple thousand bucks.

That is totally unrealistic. Like TV.

And I’ve got more. (I’m still counting the ways I hate HGTV!)

To make those shows more dramatic, TV remodelers will tear into a wall that they know has mold and rot behind it and pretend they’re surprised. The homeowners also seem surprised. They fight over whose fault it is and worry that they’ll have to tear the whole house down.

Are you kidding me?

Every contractor in America knows that if you tear a 20-year-old bathtub out the floor underneath it is going to be at least partly rotted. And there’s a good chance there’s some mold growing under it. Same goes for an 80-year-old wall with no insulation in it. Rot and mold.

It’s not a surprise.

And there’s no need to tear the house down over it.

Same goes for taking down a load-bearing wall and then realizing that if you don’t replace it with some sort of supportive beam, the ceiling could cave in.

Those contractors know that well in advance. No remodeler/designer/builder with two minutes of prior experience would tear down a wall without first determining if it’s a “structural” part of the house; that is, if it is one of the walls that’s been reinforced to hold the roof up.

I know, I know. If it were all planned out and everything went according to plan, the TV show would be boring and nobody would watch it. The cameras demand drama and screaming people and the threat of the roof falling down.

So watch TV and be entertained. But don’t fall for it.

Instead, go to your remodeler or designer with realistic expectations. You can expect that quality takes time and costs money.

In the end, you’ll be as happy with your result as those people on TV seem to be with theirs. Only you’ll get yours with a lot less drama.


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Avoid the 11 most common mistakes

homeowners make when remodeling

You’ve finally decided to build the master bedroom suite of your dreams, to convert your adult child’s old room to a craft room or to upgrade your kitchen so it suits your inner gourmet chef.

Where in the world do you start?

I’ve worked with hundreds of homeowners over the years, so I’ve heard my share of both contractor horror stories and remodeling success stories.

The horror stories always begin the same way: “I didn’t know.” The success stories start the same way, too: “I did my homework.”

In fact, as you’ll read in great depth later in this book, the more planning you do before the work starts, the better your remodeling experience will be.

Many of my homeowner clients hire my company, JEB Design/Build, after they’ve had a horrible experience with another contractor. They come to me because they’ve heard they’ll have a much, much smoother ride with me. Or they come because they know I can clean up the other guy’s mess and do the job right this time—exactly how they want it.

Either they’ve fired another contractor because he wasn’t doing what the client wanted or because he wasn’t showing up and getting the job done; or they tolerated him until the job was finished, and they weren’t happy with the work.

In both cases—in fact, in all cases of a homeowner with an unhappy contractor experience to report—they have made at least some of these 11 all-too-common mistakes that led to disaster. I’ll share their mistakes with you here, with the hope that you will learn from them, avoid them and use your new knowledge to get a good result and a hassle-free process.

Mistake No. 1: The homeowners didn’t know what they wanted when they started their project.

Solution: Find a professional designer/contractor to help you envision how the room will look and how your family will use it BEFORE you start remodeling. Many of my clients DO NOT KNOW what they want at first, but we work out their vision before we start. A professional designer will help you work through your ideas as well as suggesting new ideas.

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Mistake No. 2: They didn’t consult with a designer.

Solution: Spending an hour or two discussing your vision with a residential designer, interior designer or architect will introduce you to possibilities you hadn’t considered. Plus, a design professional can caution you about mismatching colors and textures and help you organize the room so it will function as nicely as it looks.

Designers also can steer you toward bargains on finishes, flooring, hardware and fabrics. Most are willing to either charge by the hour for a one-time consultation or to work with your contractor throughout the project.

Best practice: Find someone who can create a three-dimensional computer model of your new room so you can see what it will look like when it’s finished.

Mistake No. 3: They didn’t set a budget, or they didn’t let the contractors know how much they could spend on the project.

Solution: Without that piece of information, a general contractor, architect or interior designer won’t know which kinds of materials to include in your estimate. Later, you could be disappointed to learn that you can’t afford the granite countertops or stainless steel appliances you had your heart set on.

With a budget up front, the pros can help you find less-expensive but equally impressive items that you can comfortably pay for.

Mistake No. 4: They relied more on their pals than on professionals.

Solution: Even if your handy neighbor or brother-in-law built an addition onto his own house, it doesn’t qualify him to do yours.

Before you agree to let a buddy start knocking down walls or wiring your new ceiling lights, at least talk to a licensed, experienced contractor to learn if the wall is part of your home’s structural support system or if the wiring is something an amateur can safely touch.

Mistake No. 5: They didn’t shop around for their contractor.

Solution: Choose a pro who has a good reputation in your community, has been in business for at least five years, can show you a substantial portfolio of work—with pictures—and is willing to give you the names of a few satisfied customers to contact. Be sure the contractor you choose can be absolutely trusted. Past performance equals your satisfaction.

Mistake No. 6: They hired an unlicensed contractors.


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Solution: Verify that every one of your contractors is insured, bonded and has a valid license from the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors. Those credentials ensure that you can turn to officials for help if your project doesn’t turn out as you expected.

Search the state’s contractor license database online (www.lslbc.louisiana.gov/findcontractor.asp) or by calling (800) 256-1392. If you live in outside of Louisiana, search the Internet for “contractor licensing board” with your state’s name.

Mistake No. 7: They didn’t work with a general contractor. They tried to “go it alone”.

Solution: You can spend your time searching for qualified drywallers, electricians, plumbers, flooring specialists and painters—and then scheduling and supervising them, or you can hire a remodeler to act as a project manager—a general contractor—who will do all of that legwork for you. Do not underestimate how hard it will be to find qualified trades. Remember, if you hire a trade to work on your project, you are viewed as a “one timer” vs a contractor who uses many trades multiple times. Loyalty will go to the contactor, not to you.

Mistake No. 8: They didn’t insist on a written contract and a firm price.

Solution: Get everything in writing. A handshake is not good enough these days.

Ask the contractor if there will be any additional costs, including price increases if the job takes longer than expected. In case the project reveals something unexpected, like water damage in the walls or a faulty foundation, require the contractor to write up a “change order” for the two of you to sign.

Mistake No. 9: They didn’t know their contractor’s plans.

Solution: get those in writing, too—in a formal document that both you and the contractor sign.

Agree on a schedule for the project and for each week. Negotiate what time the contractor will start work in the morning, taking your family’s routine into consideration. Get a realistic estimate of when the project will be finished. Determine how often the contractor will update you on the progress of the work, and ask for a commitment to return your phone calls promptly.

Mistake No. 10: They—or their contractor—didn’t get the proper city permits for the work and honor all building codes.

http://www.lslbc.louisiana.gov/findcontractor.asp

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Solution: You need a permit whenever you disturb the electricity, plumbing or structure of your house; if you add a room, install a pool or do other major construction.

It doesn’t matter if you get the permit or if your contractor does, but you’re the one responsible for making sure a permit is issued. The work your contractor does must comply with today’s building codes, even if the rest of your older house doesn’t.

Mistake No. 11: They paid up front.

Solution: Schedule payments. Pay no more than 20 percent of the estimated project price up front, and then make incremental payments as the work is completed.

Before making your final payment, do a “walk through” of your new or remodeled room, looking for scratches, chips, uneven tiles or cabinet drawers that won’t open. Check that all materials are the ones you asked for, and then withhold final payment until the contractor makes all of the last-minute repairs.

QUICK RECAP:

The quick tear-down and rebuild you see on home and garden TV

shows is pathetically unrealistic. Quality remodeling takes time, costs money

and requires planning.

Working with remodeling professionals, setting a budget, insisting

on licensed contractors and signing a contract that spells out the scope and

cost of the job are among the most important things a homeowner can do

to create a satisfying home remodeling experience.

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CHAPTER 2

YOU JUST DON’T KNOW

(WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW)

What you don’t know can really cost you

Think you can save a few bucks by acting as your own general contractor on a remodeling project? Let me tell you how much that all-too-common mistake cost a buddy of mine who just wanted to convert his bathtub to a large shower.

The bathroom in my friend’s 1950s home measures five feet by nine feet and featured a tub that was a typical 32 inches wide and 60 inches long. He decided to take out the tub and put in a stand-alone shower with tiled walls.

So he hired a tile guy to do the work.

The tile guy told my friend he would have to go to a tile showroom or a big-box store to pick out his tile, and also, that if he wanted a decorative tile pattern or trim of another color or contrasting shape, that he should design that himself and then show the installer exactly how it should look.

Well, my friend wasn’t planning on having to take half a day off from his job to do this legwork. He didn’t realize until he got to the showroom that bathroom tile comes in about 100 different colors and in even more different sizes and shapes.

Plus, he didn’t have any clue about how to create a design for a tiled shower wall. He thought the tile guy would do all of that for him, or at least narrow the field down for him by selecting some samples based on what my pal told him he liked.

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Nope. The tile guy is a skilled installer of tile, not a designer and not a personal shopper.

My homeowner friend got through that part of his ordeal—but not until the tile guy promised he would rip out the new tile and replace it again if, after it was on the walls, my pal didn’t how what he designed wound up looking. For an additional fee, of course.

So the tile installer and another contractor showed up to remove the tub and tile the walls. They removed the faucets, drain and showerhead while they were working. Then they told the homeowner he would have to go to a plumbing supply showroom or another store to pick out new faucets, drain and showerhead to fit the new space. They also told him he should hire a plumber to install the new stuff.

So off to the showroom he went. A sales rep helped him sort through the dozens of colors and styles until he settled on a high-volume showerhead and a matching faucet set. He got them home and hired a plumber, who told him that the pipes behind the walls probably weren’t large enough to handle the extra volume of water needed to operate the new showerhead, which delivered massively more water than his old one.

Turns out, the pipes were OK, which was a great relief to my friend, who would have gotten a huge bill from the plumber if he had to replumb the house.

At this point, my friend confided in me that for the first time, he was glad he had already gotten a divorce—because if he hadn’t, he would be in the middle of a nasty one by the time this stressful remodeling project was finished.

And the job wasn’t finished. This poor guy never figured on having to hire someone to repair the plaster walls that had gotten damaged when the old tub and fixtures were removed, or a painter to paint over the mess.

And he never considered how dull and old his dull, old, toilet would look next to his shiny new shower, or how dated and scuffed his vanity and cabinet would seem next to his sparkling new toilet.

By the time his little bathtub-to-shower conversion was finished, he had replaced all of that plus the bathroom sink and faucets. Actually, he replaced the faucets twice—the second time after the plumber installed the lever-style hot-and-cold handles he picked out and there wasn’t enough room between the sink and the wall for them to move back far enough to turn the water all the way off.


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Now, my friend is self-employed, so he fortunately was able to take time off from work to spend time finding and hiring contractors, meeting with them about the project and troubleshooting a bunch of problems.

But boy, he really regretted that he had not hired a general contractor for the job—especially after I told him that JEB Design/Build is a general contractor and a design firm. He could have worked with a single company for the whole job.

A good general contractor would either employ or know a designer who could have shopped for tile and created designs for my friend to consider. The contractor would have warned him up front that a high-volume showerhead in a 50-year-old house might cause an expensive plumbing problem. The GC could have brought his own tile guy, plumber, painter and plasterer along with him, saving the homeowner the trouble of finding, hiring, negotiating and supervising that part of the job. He definitely would have steered my pal away from a faucet set that was too big for the space.

And if he were really good, he would have rendered the whole project with a 3-D computer program to show my friend—before the job started—exactly how the tile design and everything else in the room would look once the work was finished. That’s what we do at JEB Design/Build, and our clients love it.

The problem about trying to save a few dollars when you’re remodeling a bathroom or any part of your home:

You just don’t know what you don’t know.

You don’t know what’s behind the walls or what kinds of products work best in your type of home. You don’t know how much it’s all going to cost once you pay the painter, plumber, carpenter and tile installer. Like my friend, you probably don’t even know you need to hire all of those contractors.

A good general contractor knows all of that and can work within your budget.

It’s not really cheaper to manage the project yourself when you consider the unexpected costs of running the job, like paying to have an unattractive tile design ripped out and replaced, or forking over a restocking fee because the wrong-size faucets you brought home have to go back to the store.

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Next time you decide to remodel, at least consult a general contractor before you start so you can get an idea of what you don’t know—and how much it’s going to cost you if you try to do a job on your own that you really don’t know how to do on your own.

Consult a design pro before remodeling begins

Even if you know exactly what you want your remodeled kitchen or a room addition to look like when it’s finished, it’s a good idea to consult with an architect, a designer, a general contractor or some combination of the three before the project gets started.

The professional you consult should be experienced in residential remodeling. The difference between home remodeling and new home construction or commercial construction are like night and day.

A professional with some expertise in home remodeling and design can help you figure out where everything will go before construction begins, and if every wall, countertop, appliance and floor tile will be safe, structurally sound and attractive once it’s in place. You’ll wind up with a better room if you take the time to plan the space and ask a design professional for advice at the outset.

It can be so overwhelming to sift through the endless options available for flooring, countertops, cabinets, hardware and even paint that narrowing it down to just the right finishes, textures, colors and materials can seem impossible. A professional designer can give you advice and help you focus on materials, colors and textures that you will like and can afford.

Here are some guidelines for choosing design professionals.

General contractor. You could pick out your tile, granite, paint, cabinets, sink and faucet, and then hire an installer, fabricator, painter, carpenter and plumber to do the work—but you’re likely to wind up with a big hassle and a disjointed look. Instead, hire a general contractor—someone who knows the best tradesmen and designers in your community and can hire them on your behalf—and save hours of research, interviews, reference-checking and scheduling.

Some general contractors have a great eye for design, but that’s not their focus. They’re responsible for tearing out, building up and installing. So unless your project is simple and you know exactly what you want and can afford when it comes to finishes and products, you might want to also hire an architect—or hire a general contractor who also is an architect.


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Architect or designer. If your project involves tearing down walls, cutting out spaces for new closets, or moving counters, sinks and stoves, or if it touches the structure of your home in any way, you need an architect. If the project involves rearranging your space, you probably need an architect or an experienced home designer. Architects know how to keep your room structurally sound—so you don’t remove a wall that’s needed to hold up the ceiling or install your new cabinets over the only light switch in the room. They not only figure out how to safely take the room apart, but they know how to put it back together so it functions how you need it to.

Some architects can help you choose materials like tile flooring and granite for countertops, although many will refer you to an interior designer for advice on finishes and colors. A tip: Choose an architect who is experienced in home remodeling and who has relationships with interior designers so you can hire a pair that works well together. An architect specializes in commercial design but agrees to do you a favor by helping you with your home remodeling project is not the right professional for you.

Interior designer. If you truly need decorating advice—like help selecting draperies, paint colors and coordinating fabrics—you might want to consult an interior decorator who specializes in surface decoration. But if you’re having trouble figuring out how to reorganize a room so the space functions better, consider working with an interior designer.

Unlike decorators, designers usually have studied design in college and can guide you when it comes to function, safety, building codes and organization—as well as help you choose fixtures, finishes, colors, furnishings and products. Some specialize only in furniture or kitchens or bathrooms; find out before you hire yours.

If you’re lucky, you’ll find a “design/build” firm in your area, like JEB Design/Build in northern Louisiana. We’re a general contractor with an on-staff team of architecturally trained design professionals and builders—so you get everything you need from a single source.

Getting some input from a design professional before you start making your selections will improve the chances that you will love your newly remodeled space and that the changes will add value to your home if you decide to sell it.

Expand ‘what’s possible’ by meeting with an interior designer

It’s just short of amazing how much you can learn during a single

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meeting with an interior designer.

Even if you have a pretty good idea about what you want to change, add or upgrade when you remodel your kitchen, bathroom or whole house, it’s a good idea to consider other ideas, too.

Too many homeowners settle for what they imagine would be the best improvements they could make to their homes. So they tell their contractors to do this, this and that, and the contractor does what he’s told.

Throw a meeting with an interior designer into the process, and your imagination will go into overdrive. That single session with a designer can change your whole notion of “what’s possible.”

Designers are trained to think beyond the ordinary when it comes to how every facet of a room could change for the better.

For example, a homeowner might look at an empty interior wall in a room and think, “I could probably fit a bookshelf there.” The designer sees that same wall and suggests that you cut a window-sized passthrough out of it so you can see into the next room, line the top of the opening with extra cabinets and place the bookshelf on the wall underneath of the passthrough on the other side.

The design team at JEB Design/Build has been working with a couple that has remodeled their home several times before with another contractor. The other guy’s process involved walking through the house with the wife, who told him each change she wanted and exactly how the contractor should make the change.

So when my creative interior designer arrived at the house, the wife proceeded to do the same. But the space had so much potential for different—and, in my designer’s professional opinion—better changes, so she shared lots of new ideas with the homeowner.

The wife liked my designer’s suggestions better than her own original ideas, and told the designer she didn’t know one meeting with a designer could open her eyes to so many possibilities.

It can.

Designers know a lot about color, surfaces, appliances, plumbing fixtures, fabrics, lighting and the efficient use of space. They have a sixth sense for what “goes” together and what doesn’t. They’ve been in tons of other homes and have seen what works and what doesn’t in floor plans similar to yours. They study design trends, and they’re educated about what’s behind the walls, so they know if you can knock one out to create a single room out of two or if doing that would make the house fall down.


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A good designer will get to know you a little bit: what your favorite styles, colors and trends are; how your family uses the space in your home; what bugs you about what you already have; and what you’ve been dreaming about having in your home since the day you moved in.

That designer also will want to know why you want the change: Do you have a problem you hope it will solve? If so, it’s a good bet that the designer can come up with a bunch of possible resolutions.

For example, one homeowner who worked with JEB Design/Build wanted to enlarge her kitchen so she could fit a table. Her grandchildren spend quite a bit of time at her home, and she wants to be able to keep an eye on them while she’s preparing their meals.

My designer suggested that instead of cooping the kids up in the kitchen, Grandma could remove the wall between the kitchen and the family room. That way, she has a clear view of the kids as they watch TV and play video games while she cooks.

Designers also know a lot about products, so they can advise you about quality, brand names and which items will give you the most value for your remodeling dollar. And, because they work so closely with manufacturers, distributors and stores that sell remodeling materials, they often get better prices than you can, which might help you afford a higher-quality product because it’s on sale.

If you simply tell your contractor that you want to cut a door between your kitchen and dining room, you’ll get a door. If you tell your designer that your kitchen is too small and you rarely use your dining room so you want to connect the spaces, you could wind up with a big, beautiful, eat-in kitchen with room for the large table and china storage that once were part of the unused dining room.

Don’t box your contractor—or yourself—into making the only change you can think of. Ask a design professional if he or she can think of anything different or better. The answer, every time, will be “yes.”

5 things you don’t know about your DIY bathroom

Remember my self-employed, divorced friend who swears he would have lost both his job and his marriage when he remodeled his bathroom if he had a boss or a wife at the time?

He spent days and days--when he should have been working--running to showrooms and stores to pick out tile and cabinets and fixtures, and then

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going back to return the pieces he later realized he had bought in the wrong size or shape, and then picking up accessories like drain covers, piping and flanges that he assumed were packaged with the products that require them, but weren’t there when he opened the boxes.

He devoted even more time finding plumbers, carpenters and electricians to deal with problems that he hadn’t anticipated and wasn’t qualified to resolve, and then he took hours off from work to let them into his house and keep an eye on things while they were there.

His experience isn’t unique. Unless you’re so handy around the house that you know what’s behind your walls and under your floors—and can repair or adjust anything that needs it—you’ll find out when you try to turn a major remodeling project into a do-it-yourself job that you just don’t know what you don’t know.

And there’s no reason you should. I’ve been building, remodeling and repairing homes for 30 years as the owner and principal designer at JEB Design/Build, but I don’t know how to fix my car’s engine. I can’t repair my computer or my phone when they’re on the fritz. I don’t know how to replace the soles of my shoes when they wear out.

It’s not my job to know those things, and so I don’t.

So if you decide to remodel your bathroom without the help of home-improvement specialists like a general contractor, a designer and a plumber, one thing that you should know is: You don’t know what you don’t know.

Take my friend’s bathroom, for instance. Here are five things he found out that he never considered when he began what he thought would be a three-week DIY job but wound up stretching out over six months and involving a tile installer, plumber, electrician and carpenter.

1. You have an overwhelming number of choices for faucets, showerheads, sinks, vanities, toilets, tile and even shower bases. Back when my dad built houses 50 years ago, you had two choices for your tiled bathroom walls: seafoam green or pink. The tiles came in two sizes: tiny mosaic and brick-sized. Today, you can get tiles as big as 20-by-20 inches and as small as marbles. You have a choice of matte, glossy, frosted or distressed finishes—among others. You can choose ceramic, porcelain, glass, metal. Some tiles are rectangular, but others are square, round, oval or flower shaped. And colors—just dream of something, and it’s available somewhere.

That's true of any product you need for your bathroom: Your choices are almost limitless.

Tip: Work with a designer or a decorator who can narrow the selection


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down for you based on your style, taste and budget. And don’t rely on the salespeople who work in showrooms or stores for decorating advice: They’re often trained to sell, not to design.

Yes, you have to pay for a consultation with a designer or decorator. But consider how many days of work you will not miss if you let the specialist do that legwork for you.

2. Not all products are created equal, even if they look the same. Did you know that you can save big bucks by buying a name-brand faucet at a big-box store? Your faucet will look almost identical to the expensive faucet—made by the same manufacturer—that you’ll find at a fancy showroom. But they’re not the same.

Big-box stores can sell those lookalike faucets for much cheaper than the showroom can because the quality is different. It’s likely that the bargain faucet won’t last as long, will lose its nice finish sooner and will be nearly impossible to find replacement parts for.

Tip: If you work with a general contractor, plumber or designer on your project, those specialists will steer you toward the best quality you can afford. They also know how to find sales on high-quality products whose styles are being discontinued.

3. Most products don’t come with all of the parts you need to install them. Just as you have to pay extra for the cable that connects your TV to your DVD player or for the pinstripes on the side of your new car, chances are good that you’ll have to purchase things like flanges, drains, stoppers and caulk, in addition to your shower base, sink and tile.

A general contractor, plumber, electrician or designer knows what you need and will pick all of that up for you when he or she buys the product. If you go it alone, you’re going to make an awful lot of return trips every time you realize you can’t continue what you’re doing until you buy a new part.

4. Replacing a fixture like a bathtub, toilet or sink isn’t always an even trade. My friend tore out his 32-inch-wide bathtub so he could install a shower. It turns out that most shower bases are 36 inches, though, so he was surprised when he had to tear out part of his bathroom floor, move his toilet over a few inches and install a new drain. His bathtub’s drain—like yours—was under the faucets at one end of the tub. The shower drain needs to be in the center. That plumbing project was a job he couldn’t do on his own.

5. You never know what’s lurking behind the walls and under the floors. Once you tear things apart, you could find mold or rot, which won’t surprise you if you live in an older house. But you also could find that your

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floor isn’t level—so you’ll need to build up one side of the shower base so it will drain properly. Or you might learn that the pipes that supply water to your showerhead aren’t capable of delivering the large volume that your fancy new fixture requires.

Tip: Do a lot of homework before you begin any DIY project. More often than you think, the things you don’t know will cost you so much time and money that it will be well worth your while to enlist the help of a general contractor who does know this stuff—because it’s his job to know.

QUICK RECAP:

You don’t know what you don’t know when it comes to home

remodeling. Find a talented, qualified, licensed home-improvement

professional to manage your project.

Consulting with a designer is one of the most cost-efficient things

you can do when you decide to remodel. You’ll save money by avoiding the

mistakes that a pro will be able to spot before any work begins.

Beware of taking on a do-it-yourself job that involves plumbing in

an older bathroom. You’ll be surprised by what you find under the tub and

behind the walls. And you just might learn that your “old” pipes won’t

work with your fancy new plumbing fixtures.

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CHAPTER 3

WISE CHOICES

Move ‘trust’ to the top of the list when hiring contractors

If you’ve ever hired a home-improvement contractor to remodel your kitchen or bathroom, add on a room, make a major repair or replace something big like your air conditioning system, you know that relationship was as much about trust as it was about remodeling, adding on, repairing or replacing.

In fact, your ability to trust your contractor might be even more important to you than his ability to fix what’s broken in your house.

Yet most of the time when homeowners are deciding which contractor to hire, they want to focus their first conversation with the candidates on three things:

First, they want to know how much the project will cost.

Second, they want to know how quickly the contractor can start and finish the job.

And finally, they want to talk about what I call “bricks and sticks”: the size of the room, the material for the countertops and the color of the tile.

They rarely want to spend time getting to know the contractor well enough to determine if he is honest, has a good reputation, did a good job for other clients, and will treat the homeowners and their home with respect.

The result: Too many homeowners hire in a hurry and wind up with contractors who aren’t a good fit for them.

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Think again about your past experiences with home-improvement contractors. Ever had a bad one?

If the answer is yes, think about why. Did the contractor charge you way more than you expected to pay? Was he unreliable about showing up when he said he would? Did you suspect he was cutting corners by installing cheap products but charging you for quality materials that he didn’t use? Did the job take twice as long as he had predicted during that first meeting?

And was this someone you pretty much hired on the spot, without calling any of his references to ask about his work habits and cost overruns? Without checking to see if his contractor’s licenses were up to date? Without getting to know him well enough to gauge whether you could trust him to give you an accurate estimate, to operate in a professional manner, and to treat you fairly and honestly?

An awful lot of the homeowners who bring their remodeling projects and room additions to me at JEB Design/Build tell me that they at some time have worked with other contractors who promised them low prices, quick timelines and high quality that they didn’t deliver. And almost all of them admit that they were either in a big hurry to start their projects or wanted to get a lot of work done for as little money as possible.

They didn’t get what they wanted. But they could have.

Most people spend months and even years thinking about remodeling the kitchen or enlarging the master bedroom/bathroom suite before they start looking for a contractor. Then, they want it started and finished immediately.

Most people also know that top-quality home-improvement work takes time and isn’t cheap. But they forget that or ignore it the minute a contractor starts promising terms that everyone knows aren’t possible.

My advice to you: Choose a contractor who believes in measuring twice and cutting once. That’s a professional who knows the value of planning every facet of a home-improvement project before starting it. That’s a remodeler who methodically figures out how much the job is going to cost instead of giving you a quick guesstimate. That’s someone who considers potential problems and their solutions in advance instead of flabbergasting everyone—including himself—when he tears into a wall and finds plumbing pipes, a structural problem, mold or another surprise that could compound the price of the job and the time it takes to finish it.


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The first meeting with a contractor who might do a major project at your house shouldn’t just be about prices and instructions. It should be about gauging whether you can trust this guy to take a sledgehammer to your house—your most expensive and dearest possession.

Trust is the difference between a good remodeling experience and a disappointing one. And you know trust takes time.

Your home is worth it.

Hiring a remodeler? Trust but verify

I’ve heard remodeling horror stories from plenty of homeowners over the years who were unhappy with the service, price and result of a construction project gone bad at some point in their past.

But this story is over the top: Dozens of clients of a kitchen remodeler in Raleigh, N.C.’s “Triangle” area are out tens of thousands of dollars after the company suddenly shut down without doing any work or refunding any money.

The story, which ABC Channel 11 in Raleigh reported, is way too familiar: One couple made a $12,000 down payment when they signed a contract with the contractor for a complete kitchen makeover. The husband figured he could speed the job along a bit by tearing out the kitchen cabinets himself. After delays that the company explained away as the result of sick crew members, the couple learned the company was gone, without ever starting the work. So they have a kitchen with no cabinets, and no money to hire a replacement contractor.

Another family is living without water or electricity in their kitchen, and their brand-new appliances are sitting in their living room. The job will never be finished. The TV station’s reporters collected about a dozen similar stories.

The North Carolina Attorney General’s Office is investigating the out-of-business company, but the homeowners have little hope of recouping their deposits, which range from $6,000 to more than $18,000. They’ll never get back their time or enthusiasm for their projects, either.

I’m sorry to say that this can happen anywhere. But the good news is that if you do your homework before you hire a contractor, you can greatly improve your chances of signing on with a company that will charge you fairly, finish the promised work and do a good job.

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Your secret weapon: your gut.

Your biggest enemy: impatience.

Too often, homeowners in a hurry to get a job done will hire the first guy they meet. Customers hoping to catch a break on the price hire the cheapest guy. And some hire the guy who’s quickest to tell them what’s wrong with all of the other guys.

Price, speed and bravado do not qualify a contractor to spend time alone in your home.

Only trust does.

Think about it: Your home is your most expensive possession, and your most precious. You’re raising your family there—or you already have. You keep the mementos of your life there: wedding gifts, souvenirs, gifts the kids gave you over the years. You store your collections there: wine, guns, jewelry, art, shoes—whatever you love. And then you hand your house key to a perfect stranger.

If you have a single moment of doubt about the guy you’re about to give that key to, don’t give it to him.

Instead, take your time to get to know your contractor and learn something about how he does business. Does he have a valid contractor’s license from the state for the job you’re hiring him to do? Does he have insurance that will replace anything he or his crew breaks or ruins? Is he willing to offer you the names and phone numbers of several past clients?

Are you willing to call those clients? A contractor who gets glowing reviews from the people he has worked for already might be the right guy for you. A remodeler whom your friends, neighbors and family members have hired in the past and are willing to recommend might be the right guy.

But don’t stop there. Find out how long the contractor and his company have been in business so you don’t get stuck dealing with a fly-by-night operation. Check with the Better Business Bureau and with the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors to learn about any complaints or unresolved disputes with clients. Do a Google search to see what past customers are saying. Consult Angie’s List and other well-regarded contractor rating organizations.

Most of all, check your gut. Do you feel safe with the contractor? Is he polite? Is he willing to put everything he promises in writing and sign it? Are his self-imposed deadlines realistic? Does he do research—and the math—before giving you an estimate? Is the price realistic—or really too good to be true?


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I call this “trust but verify.” It’s a good way to do business—and that’s what you’re doing when you hire someone to do a big remodeling job.

That’s how I do business at JEB Design/Build. I always give my state contractor’s license number to potential clients. I offer them the names and phone numbers of past clients who have worked with me on similar jobs. I show them my A-plus rating from the Better Business Bureau and my Super Service Award from Angie’s List.

Plus, JEB Design/Build earns consistently excellent scores from our clients on customer service survey by GuildQuality that we ask every homeowner we work with to fill out. This is an independent, third-party survey that gives us honest, accurate results based on our clients’ feedback. No other contractor in our area uses the GuildQuality survey, and I wonder why not? Maybe customer satisfaction isn’t a high priority for them. Or maybe they simply don’t want to know what you think.

For my part, I know we’ll work better together if my clients trust me. My advice: Choose a contractor who is willing to give you all of the information you need to verify his credentials and trustworthiness. That’s the guy you want to partner with on your home renovation.

Ask your contractor for proof of insurance

Something has changed about the best way to hire home-improvement contractors and remodelers: Louisiana and may other states have put a cap on the amount of work a contractor can do on your home without a license from the state.

In Louisiana, for example, anyone who does $1,500 worth of work on your home—including labor, materials or both—has to have a state contractor’s license.

Until recently, the state allowed contractors to do up to $7,500 of work at a residence before requiring them to have a license from the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors.

The change is the state’s effort to better protect Louisiana homeowners from unscrupulous contractors—often from out of state—who blow through after a storm, convince you they’re legit, do some terribly shoddy work, and then disappear before you even have a chance to complain about it.

Even if the law didn’t require it, it would be a good practice to ask any contractor you might hire to make changes to your most valuable

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possession—your home—to prove that he or she is on the up and up, is professional and organized enough to follow the rules and apply for a state license, and has been deemed by the state as suitable to do business in our great state.

It’s also a good practice to ask those contractors to prove that they have insurance before you let them hammer a single nail anywhere on your property.

Don’t assume that every contractor has either a license or insurance. Instead, ask your painters, roofers, remodelers, plumbers, electricians, handymen and other home-improvement helpers for their state license numbers. Then go to the Board for Contractors’ Web site (www.lslbc.louisiana.gov) to verify that those licenses are up to date. If you live outside of Louisiana, do an Internet search for “contractor licensing board” with your state’s name.

To get information about insurance, ask the contractor to have his or her insurance company mail, fax or e-mail you a copy of a certificate proving that the worker has up-to-date liability and workers’ compensation insurance.

JEB Design/Build, for instance, offers each potential client our state contractor’s license number and proof of our many insurance policies. It sets their minds at ease. Frankly, I feel easier myself knowing that nothing that might happen while my team is at your home will cost you money that you were hoping to devote to your remodeling project.

Workers’ comp insurance will pay the medical bills if the contractor or his employees are injured while working at your house—assuming the injury did not result from your own negligence. Liability insurance will pay if the contractor harms your home in some way, like if an electrician does something wrong while rewiring your circuit box and your house burns down.

Louisiana law says the homeowner does not have to pay anything for workers’ comp claims, even if the contractor doesn’t have his own worker’s comp insurance. Still, the best contractors—those that are the most professional, responsible, trustworthy and concerned about their customers and employees—have it. Knowing whether a contractor has it will help you make a better decision about whether to hire him or her.

Still, it’s a good idea to check with the insurance company that holds your homeowner’s policy. Alert your agent that you are having work done on your home, and learn whether your own liability policy is adequate and up to date.

http://www.lslbc.louisiana.gov/


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One reason: Suppose a roofer accidentally leaves a pile of nails in your yard and a neighborhood kid steps in it and injures her foot. Her parents, rightfully, will expect you to cover the medical bills. You—and your insurance company—on the other hand, will expect the roofer to pay those bills. Your insurance company will handle that transaction for you. And if the roofer doesn’t have insurance, then your own insurance will likely cover the claim.

Before you let anyone in or on your home, ask a lot of questions about insurance and guarantees. Ask all contractors how long they warranty their work and the products they supply you. Ask them what their procedure is for making things right if you’re not happy with their work. Ask them how they handle reports of suspected theft from their clients’ homes by their subcontractors.

A cut-rate deal on a home-improvement or remodeling job isn’t so cheap if it winds up costing you money in insurance deductibles and higher premiums. Trust the contractors you hire—after you verify that they are trustworthy.

If they are, they will have lots of insurance policies to prove it.

QUICK RECAP:

A home-improvement contractor’s most-important qualification is

trustworthiness.

Other essentials: a home-improvement license, insurance,

experience and favorable reviews from past clients.

The more time you spend checking out the contractor you hire, the

better your remodeling experience will be.

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CHAPTER 4

THE CONTRACTOR FROM HELL

What’s your horror story?

All I have to do is mention to someone that I work as a home remodeler and designer, and I hear a horror story.

It seems like anyone who owns a home and has ever hired a contractor to work on it has a terrifying tale to tell about the experience.

I’ve heard about a contractor who promised to convert the attic of a garage into a home office while the owner—who has to work in that office every day—was on a three-week trip out of town. When the homeowner returned, the office was torn apart, but not put back together. It took a full three months before she could get back in there to work.

Then there’s the one about the stone mason/patio guy who did such a great job outside that the homeowner hired him to renovate her kitchen. He didn’t finish the job on time, either, mostly because he showed up about twice a week instead of every day, as promised, and he rarely put in a full day at the home. When the homeowner complained that her stove had been sitting in her living room for much longer than she expected, the contractor acknowledged that the job was taking too long—and told her he’d have to charge her more to compensate him for the extra time.

Whew.


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And those are the tame tales. Homeowners have told me about dishonest contractors who charged them for high-end materials but installed cheaper brands; about guys who seemed to pull cost estimates out of thin air and then charged triple or quadruple that price at the end of the job; and about remodelers who agreed to follow design instructions from the homeowner but then went about the job as if the owner had never made her preferences known—and didn’t have any standing to do so.

I wish I could tell you that home remodeling horror stories are the exception. But nearly every one of JEB Design/Build’s clients tells me about some awful past experience with a contractor.

I can, however, tell you there’s a silver lining here.

The worse your last experience was, the better your next one is likely to be.

That’s because you know a little bit more than you did before about what can go wrong, what to expect and how to go about “managing” your project so the same thing doesn’t happen to you again.

It all starts with your hiring process.

Many homeowners who have survived a contractor crisis admit later that they rushed into the project. They hired the first and only guy they interviewed about their job. They didn’t call his references. They didn’t insist on a firm estimate in writing. They didn’t sign a contract. Or they hired the cheapest guy because he said he could deliver the same quality for way less without cutting any corners. (Big red flag. Get a list of what’s included and what’s not. “What’s not” is going to cost you.)

Often, homeowners rush to hire because they feel like they don’t have time to find the best contractor. They don’t want to bother calling friends and neighbors for recommendations, checking that the guy they like has a valid contractor’s license from the state, sitting down with the remodeler to really talk things through, and getting a sense of whether they can trust him to do what he promised and to be alone in their home.

Another reason for the rush: Homeowners tend to dream about remodeling for years before they actually start a project—but then they want to start right away. A contractor who tells you on Thursday that he can start next Monday won’t have time to check prices and put together an accurate quote. He won’t have time to create a design and run it by you. He won’t have time to make a realistic schedule to ensure that the products he needs to move the job forward every day will arrive by the day he needs them.

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The result: cost overruns and time delays. A stove in the living room. No home office to work in. Hard feelings. Paying more than you can afford. And sometimes, cutting your losses, firing the guy you never should have hired, and finding someone who knows how to plan, estimate and schedule.

My advice: Hire a remodeler you trust. You’ll know him when you meet him. He’s the guy who wants to hear your horror story because it will help him tailor your remodeling experience to your specific needs. He’s the guy who will listen to what you want—and to what you don’t—and will customize your job so you’re happy not only with how your kitchen or home office or addition or master bathroom looks when it’s finished, but so you’re happy with the way it got there.

So change your hiring criteria. You have more than a job for hire. You have an experience ahead of you, and it can be a good one or a horror story.

You choose which one the day you hire the contractor.

When uninvited ‘contractors’ come knocking,

don’t open the door

Like clockwork, the start of spring brings all kinds of people to your front door, asking you to hire them to fix up your house.

Just say no.

In fact, just don’t open the door.

Police are always warning us to be wary about opening our doors for strangers—usually after a rash of home invasions.

As the owner of JEB Design/Build, a long-time remodeling company, I want to reiterate that warning. It just makes common sense these days to be aware that there are people out there who may want to do bad things.

Some of them say they are roofers, landscapers, driveway pavers and deck builders.

Make them prove it. Ask to see the uninvited guest’s license from your state licensing board for contractors—before you unlock and open your door. If he or she can’t produce one, say good-bye.

Even if the person offers you an unbelievably good deal, say good-bye.


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The fact is that qualified, legitimate contractors don’t typically go around knocking on the doors of strangers, uninvited, looking for work. At JEB Design/Build, we sometimes introduce ourselves to the neighbors of our clients so they’ll know who we are and that we might be making a little bit of noise during our project. But otherwise, we come to your home only after you call us, make an appointment and ask us to visit you.

If your home needs repairs, renovations or a good spring cleaning, inside and out, seek out a contractor who has a good reputation, has been in business for a while, has a state contractor’s license and can give you some references to call.

Sure, that takes longer than opening your door to a stranger and agreeing to pay him or her to fix your problem on the spot.

Sure, it might even cost you more to hire a licensed contractor than one of these door-to-door contractor wannabes.

But doesn’t it make sense to check out the credentials of someone whom you are about to let into your home? Wouldn’t it be in your best interest to know if the person you’re about to write a check to has ever worked as a contractor before?

Don’t worry about offending someone by saying “no” when he asks you for work. You can politely decline the offer, or ask the person to leave literature for you on the door for you to retrieve later—after he leaves.

Besides the risk of getting ripped off by someone who charges you for work that isn’t done properly—or who takes your money up front and then doesn’t do the work—you’re also putting your safety at risk.

Police tells stories about thieves who come around, offering to do yard work, driveway paving or roof repairs, and convince homeowners to open their doors. Sometimes they ask to borrow your phone or use your restroom.

Don’t fall for it if someone says he noticed something amiss in your backyard and asks you to come outside and have a look at it. He’s probably got a friend waiting to sneak through your front door and steal your valuables the minute you walk around back.

Advise your children to send uninvited solicitors away as well. They should never open the door to the house to someone they don’t know.

The fact is, they guy knocking on your door could be a legitimate contractor who’s down on his luck and is trying to drum up business in your neighborhood. But he could just as easily be wanted by the police for some awful crime.

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Stay safe. If you’re looking for a contractor, ask friends and neighbors to recommend someone who did a good job for them. Make an appointment so you know when the contractor is coming over. Know your contractor’s name, business address and contractor’s license number before you agree to a face-to-face meeting at your home.

Don’t let the folks you hire to help with your spring clean-up wind up cleaning you out instead.

Don’t settle for a contractor who disrespects women

I’m working with a homeowner on a major remodeling project who initially told me she was afraid to hire any contractor because she didn’t want to be disrespected.

Her admission stunned me for a minute because I would think that any contractor who met with a potential client and hoped for her business would be on his or her best behavior during that interview. I know everyone who works for JEB Design/Build treats all of our clients and potential clients with reverence!

But this homeowner told me that she had worked with remodelers in the past—and so had her friends—who were downright patronizing, rude and dishonest with her. I asked her why, and she said she is sure it’s because she’s a woman.

Her perception of male contractors is that they don’t believe women know anything about anything when it comes to remodeling—even when it’s at their own homes. Her experience involved dealing with all kinds of subcontractors whom the general contractor sent to her house without introducing her, and besides ignoring her complaints, they left their lunch wrappers and cigarette butts all over her property at the end of every work day.

All of that, she told me, felt like disrespect. She wants her house fixed up, but it would be easier to live with an avocado-green refrigerator for the rest of her life than endure months of disrespect by workers whom she was paying and to whom she had been nothing but pleasant and cooperative.

She did hire JEB Design/Build to renovate her home, but she got me thinking about whether other women feel as she does about contractors and how they might avoid some of the unpleasantness they fear they will face if they hire the wrong contractor.


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So I came up with a few pieces of advice for women homeowners who want to have a good experience with their remodelers, based on the process we use at JEB Design/Build. Here goes:

Search for a remodeling company that will assign a project manager to your job. This project manager should be your sole point of contact for progress reports, complaints, change orders and concerns, and will be the one to arrange any meetings you need to have with the designer or another member of the team. This puts a buffer between you and the subcontractors, who don’t have the authority or the knowledge to change something that might cost more than you had agreed to pay or to answer a complaint that did not stem from their part of the job. A project manager often is well-trained in customer service and will treat you with respect and get your questions answered.

Ask if the firm you hire has any women on the team. Our clients—both men and women—love working with our interior designer because she brings a woman’s perspective to their projects. It can be comforting to know that the contractor has women in positions of influence.

Don’t take “no” for an answer if you feel something is going wrong. If you see sloppy work or big scratches in your wood floor or you’re being charged more than you agreed to, for example, don’t let a contractor bully you into settling. Go to the project manager or to the company president if you have to and work out a resolution. A few years ago, a homeowner told me that she complained to a contractor who created deep gashes with a sander gone haywire in the beautiful, new hardwood floor he had just installed. His response: “Cover them with a rug.” Then, he sent her flowers. My advice: Send those flowers back and insist on a repair or replacement until you get what you paid for.

Likewise, don’t work with someone who tells you that what you want to do can’t be done. Find someone who knows it can.

Be careful about whom you hire. Most homeowners I know are busy and just want to get a guy in the house to start the work. But if you don’t do your due diligence and call the contractor’s references before agreeing to hire him, you’re setting yourself up for an unhappy experience. Ask him for the names of other women he has worked for. Then ask those women if he treated them with respect and resolved all of their concerns during the job. Ask them: “Did you get what you wanted?” That will help you understand if this contractor will do what you ask without railroading you into settling for what he wants to do.

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Observe how the contractor behaves toward you during your initial meeting. If he is late, dismissive, disrespectful or condescending on the day he has to convince you to choose him for a job that will net him tens of thousands of dollars, image how rude he’ll be after you sign the contract. Don’t ignore the warning signs.

Be willing to walk away. One of the biggest mistakes people make when they hire contractors is they sign on with the one who’s available the soonest instead of waiting for the one who will do the best job and treat them with the most respect. Don’t rush into it. Quality is worth the wait.

Don’t go overboard with criticism. It’s fine to point out eyesores or poor workmanship if the contractor really deserves the critique. But nobody is perfect, so expect high quality rather than absolute perfection.

Realize that a lot of contractors don’t have much practice dealing with customers. A lot of people in the remodeling industry come from the homebuilding trades. When they’re working on a brand-new—and empty—house, if doesn’t really matter if they leave their soda cans all over the place because the trash doesn’t bother anybody. That’s not true at your home, of course, but they might not think of that. Set some ground rules up front about trash, smoking, cursing and cleanliness. If the contractor can’t agree to what you want, keep shopping.

QUICK RECAP:

Just about anyone who has remodeled a home, added a room,

updated a kitchen or even hired a painter can tell you a horror story about

the experience.

Protect yourself from the “contractor from hell” by checking

references and asking friends and neighbors for recommendations. Never

hire an unlicensed contractor who knocks on your door without an

invitation.

If you sense that a contractor doesn’t respect you, your ideas or

your home, find one who does. It’s your home and your money.

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CHAPTER 5

THE BEST-LAID PLANS

Don’t skip the planning and design phase when you remodel

Most homeowners have a pretty good idea of what they want their kitchens, bathrooms, room additions and other remodeling projects to look like when they’re finished.

So they explain what they want to a contractor, and the contractor might nod in understanding. So far, so good.

A problem arises, however, when the contractor’s interpretation of what you want differs from yours.

This is actually a big problem, not a small one, and it occurs too often.

The fact is that unless you draw a picture of your remodeled room with every piece in place—to scale—your contractor isn’t going to be able to precisely duplicate your description. And very few homeowners have the ability or the time to do that.

So before you agree to hire a contractor for your job, it’s important for you to ask him to draw that picture for you.

Most people do better with visual cues than with verbal ones when it comes to remodeling. Once your contractor shows you a drawing—a computerized one with cabinets, countertops, plumbing fixtures and room sizes drawn to scale—you’ll know if he really understood the vision you described to him.

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I’ve found that a three-dimensional computerized drawing is an even better gauge of whether you’re getting exactly what you want. Plus, once you see a 3-D model of your new room, you might discover that you want to change a few things.

At JEB Design/Build, our designers create a 3-D rendering of what your “new” kitchen, bathroom or room addition will look like so you can get an extremely realistic idea of whether you’re going to like it once it’s finished.

This kind of pre-construction planning is so effective that I can practically guarantee you will be happy with your renovation once it’s finished.

Not every remodeler is willing to take the time to do this kind of planning, though. Some contractors figure out where things go bit by bit as they work on the room. Instead of taking the time to help you decide how big the shower will be and whether it will overwhelm the size of the bathroom, for instance, they might agree to execute your vision for an oversized shower—and you could wind up having to squeeze into the bathroom to use the sink or toilet.

Planning takes time—and it isn’t done on the back of an envelope. Beware of the contractor who looks around your room as you describe your dream kitchen or bathroom, scratches a few notes onto a piece of scrap paper, and then says: “I can start on Monday.”

That same guy is the one who will tell you, when you ask him how big the sink can be, given the size of the shower, “We’ll figure all that out once the plumber gets here.”

I’ll never forget the couple that came to JEB Design/Build to add a master bathroom on to their house. They needed an extra-large, roll-in shower because the husband uses a wheelchair. They needed a sink and countertop that was wide enough and tall enough for him to roll his chair under and use comfortably while seated. And the wife wanted a laundry room built into that huge, new bathroom.

They brought their project to us after asking the first contractor they hired (and fired) how big a room they would need to accommodate all of that. He took them outdoors to the side of the house where the bathroom would be located, and hammered four stakes into the ground. “How about this big?” he asked, without first determining the measurements of the shower, the sink, or the washer and dryer. “Maybe we could stick the shower over in the corner.”


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That contactor is a really nice guy, and the couple liked him—personally. But as a builder/remodeler, he clearly skips a few steps when he accepts a job for a room addition.

In this case, he skipped the step that requires the contractor to learn which products the homeowner wants in the bathroom, how big they are and how much they cost. He skipped the step that would ensure all of the room’s components—from the laundry room to the roll-in shower—would fit perfectly, leaving he couple a comfortable enough space to move around in.

This is the planning and design phase of the project. It’s possible that the first contractor skipped that step because he’s not a designer and he doesn’t work with one.

But skipping this phase means he won’t be prepared for what comes next. How can he accurately quote the price of the job if he doesn’t know until the plumber gets there how big the sink will be? How can he say the room will fit within the four posts he put in the couple’s back yard until he measures the shower, the sink, the toilet and the laundry area? Size is a factor that can change the price.

Don’t let your contractor skip any steps when you’re ready to add on a room or remodel your kitchen or bathroom. Choose someone who knows planning and design are just as important as building and product selection.

Begin remodeling project with solid planning

Like most things in life, remodeling goes a lot smoother when you spend some time planning it before you begin.

As you make your plan for an addition, a kitchen makeover or a bathroom remodel, don’t tear out a single tile or hammer even one nail until you decide exactly what the room will look like when it’s finished and how every piece of the project will get done.

Think of your remodeling project as if it were a journey. If you wanted to sail around the world, you wouldn’t just hop in a boat and go. You would carefully research the kind of boat you wanted to use; choose the vessel best known for its reliability and with plenty of room for all of your passengers; take sailing lessons or hire an experienced captain to sail the boat for you; map out your route; plan your stops; buy your supplies; take time off from work; and create a timetable. Only then would you climb aboard and set sail.

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That takes time and planning. So does a successful remodeling project.

Start yours with a solid plan. Here are five questions to answer as you “map out your route” to remodeling success:

1. How drastically do you want to change the room? That answer will help you decide if you can do the work yourself or if you need to hire professional help—a “captain” for your sailboat, so to speak. If you simply want to update the look of your bathroom, for example, you might be able to brush a clean coat of paint on the walls, adhere a decorative tile border over the sink and replace the vanity cabinet over a weekend of two. But if you want to convert your bathtub to a tiled shower, replace faucets and the toilet, tear out a 20-year-old tile floor and lay a new one, enlarge the room or rearrange the location of the toilet, sink and shower, you’re going to need help.

Here’s what I have learned from my JEB Design/Build clients who come to me after a disappointing do-it-yourself effort: You’ll pay a qualified contractor like me less to do the job for you than you will if a pro has to come in and remedy the problem after you’ve replaced your showerhead and faucets without adjusting the pipe size in the wall so the pipes can handle the extra volume of water required by the new fixtures.

2. Do you know exactly what you want in terms of the look of the room, the products you will use and the location of every item? Any homeowner can benefit from consulting with a design professional before starting a big project. A design/build pro, an architect or an interior designer can help you determine whether the plan you have in mind will require any structural reinforcements or if the cool look you want might be impractical once people are using the room. In the kitchen, for example, I recommend placing the stove, refrigerator and sink in a “work triangle” so each often-used item is convenient to the others.

Consulting with a plumber and electrician about your job before you start also might convince you to hire some expertise instead of trying to do tricky technical jobs yourself. Chances are, that conversation will reveal a few crucial steps you might have left out if you had tackled the project yourself.

3. What kind of help do you need? You can search for, qualify and hire an electrician, a plumber, a painter, a carpenter and a tile guy yourself—if you don’t mind taking the time to create a schedule that will ensure each of them has time to do the work that the next one is counting on to do his. Or redoing the schedule when someone takes longer than expected or doesn’t show up for a few days. Or figuring out how to squeeze in the granite fabricator, whom you inadvertently left off of your original list.


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A tip: Beware of hiring your own subcontractors (like plumber and electricians) to work together on your home remodeling project. Your project is a small job for them, so minute they get an offer from a bigger general contractor for a multiple-job project, they’ll move you to the bottom of the list. I’ve learned this from the many JEB Design/Build clients who have told me how grateful they are that we manage their whole job, find all of the subcontractors and work only with tradesmen who jump when we need them.

You’ll save time and headaches if you hand the wheel over to a general contractor who either employs or has long-term, trusting relationships with specialists ranging from designers to plumbers to sheetrock installers. That way, you will search for, qualify and hire one person: a “captain”—a general contractor who finds, schedules and supervises everyone else for you.

4. How much can you spend? Determine a comfortable budget and share the number with your general contractor. If you work with a design/build contractor like me, the pros at that shop will help you figure out how to accomplish what you want within your budget by suggesting alternative materials and more cost-effective approaches that you might not have realized were available.

A tip: Insist on a firm price quote Get it in writing. Two of the biggest complaints we hear from our clients who have worked with other contractors: 1. The price was never clear, or 2. The contractor charged them more than his estimate. By the time a JEB Design/Build client signs a construction contract, he or she will know exactly how much the job will cost. We give written quotes—and we honor them. Can your contractor make that promise?

5. Do you trust the people you have hired? If you’re not sure, keep searching. Choose a contractor who is comfortable in the role of “captain.” Select someone who is willing to take responsibility for hiring subcontractors and will stand behind the work of everyone he brings to your house. Sign on with a remodeler who agrees to put everything in writing, will take incremental payments, offers a warranty on the work, and is happy to offer advice and opinions based on his or her expertise when you ask for them.

Your new kitchen, bathroom or room addition is likely to be the most expensive project you tackle this year. Invest some time beforehand to set yourself up for a finished product that you love and a remodeling journey that’s smooth sailing.

Time spent planning = satisfaction with your remodeling result

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You’ve spent the past year or two dreaming about the perfect kitchen—or bathroom or addition—for your home and family, and you’re finally ready to get started.

Slow down.

The planning process for your big project began the minute you started thinking about how you could enlarge your kitchen or add more storage space or upgrade to shiny granite countertops and stainless steel appliances.

It doesn’t end the day you decide to take the plunge.

In fact, your vision is just the beginning of the planning phase of your renovation. For a remodeling project to go the way you want it, and for the kitchen/bathroom/addition to turn out just as you dreamed it would, you need to commit a substantial amount of time before construction begins making sure you’re working with just the right contractor and that he will get every detail just as you want it.

Too often, homeowners come to JEB Design/Build after they have already tried to accomplish their remodeling goals with someone who started the project before creating a solid plan for how much it would cost, how long it would take and which products they like and can afford. Those homeowners were understandably eager to get started and finished, especially after dreaming the dream for so long.

But 100 percent of the time, they were disappointed when they and their contractor rushed to begin the work before truly planning for every detail of the project.

That’s not to say you should embrace a contractor who drags his feet and puts the job off indefinitely. Instead, look for someone who knows that the most time-efficient way to remodel a room or a home is to understand exactly what you want before tearing anything out or building anything new.

Consider how much time and money you’ll save if you see 3-D drawings of how the room will look once we’re finished, or if your contractor figures out ahead of time whether the wall you want to tear down is the one holding the ceiling up.

The more your contractor knows about your dream and your space, the more accurately he can avoid surprises, accurately estimate the cost of the job and figure out how long it will take to complete.

When all is done, both you and your contractor can be proud of a result that begins with a solid plan.


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When you’re ready to hire a contractor, look for one who places as much of an emphasis on planning as on construction.

Here’s what JEB Design/Build clients can count on, and it’s what you should insist on, too:

1. You’ll talk to someone who will really listen to you. It’s important for your contractor to hear and understand your vision and plans for turning your house into a dream home.

2. You’ll toss some ideas around with a professional designer. The guys who do the actual construction are unlikely to be able to offer advice and ideas for designing the space or for choosing finishes for backsplashes and countertops.

3. You’ll meet the designer or a project manager at your home. The best advice will come from remodeling pros who see the space for themselves.

4. You’ll see a physical plan that shows where every wall, cabinet and tile will be located. The best way to judge if it’s what you want is to view it in 3-D on a computer. Hint: To judge if a space is the right size, have your designer draw to-scale-sized furniture in to the 3D rendition. You’ll be able to tell from the image if there’s enough “walk-around” space.

5. You’ll get a quote for the work, materials and time that’s based on that detailed design and not on the contractor’s best guess.

6. You’ll pay a deposit before construction costs, but you will not pay the whole fee up front.

7. You’ll leave the legwork to the contractor. Good general contractors have relationships with good subcontractors, like painters, plumbers, carpenters and electricians. The contractor, and not you, should find, hire, supervise, pay and stand behind the work of those subs. Avoid the mistake that we hear about so often from clients who have had a bad experience elsewhere before finding us: They get caught in the middle of arguments between the subs. Your general contractor—not you—should be the final arbiter. You don’t need to be involved in whatever those subs are squabbling about.

8. You’ll communicate with a single person once construction begins, and you’ll get regular updates.

9. You’ll walk through the finished room with a member of the project team once it’s finished so you can tell the contractor if anything isn’t right.

10. You’ll get a warranty on the work, and you’ll get prompt service if anything should go wrong during that warranty period.

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That’s a process, not a rush job. That’s how to make your remodeling dreams come true.

Know what’s behind your walls before you start remodeling

So by now you know that I believe the biggest mistake homeowners make when they start a big remodeling project: They don’t plan ahead.

Many of my clients come to me to solve problems they either discovered or created when they jumped feet first into a project like a kitchen or bathroom renovation, tearing out toilets and cabinets and flooring before they have considered how each step of the process will affect the next.

Maybe they ordered a whirlpool tub and extra shower sprays without considering that their existing plumbing and electricity weren’t designed to handle the extra load. Or they tore out their decades-old bathtub without realizing how likely it was that the floor underneath would be rotting away and need reinforcing before the new shower could go in.

It’s only natural to get excited about how gorgeous your new bathroom or kitchen will look when it’s finished. But even the handiest homeowners are unlikely to anticipate all of the work that goes on behind the walls and under the floor during a remodeling project.

So spend some time planning your remodeling project before you start. It will go so much smoother if you do.

Before you hammer your first nail when you’re renovating, redecorating, repairing or expanding your home:

1. Consult with some professional contractors, even if you hope to do most of the work yourself. Ask a plumber and an electrician to visit your home and advise you about any unseen corrections you might need to make before you can start replacing fixtures and upgrading appliances. Consult with a general contractor about your project so you’ll understand its true scope.

It’s highly likely that you will decide to hire a general contractor to do at least part of the job once you know everything that’s involved.

A good general contractor will serve as a project manager and will find and hire subcontractors like plumbers, fabricators and installers—so you don't have to. A pro will get the proper city permits for the work, and honor all building codes.


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2. During that consultation, the general contractor can help you decide whether you need to work with an architect, interior designer or decorator before you start choosing finishes, colors and styles. If your project involves tearing down walls, cutting out spaces for new closets, or moving counters, sinks and stoves, or if it touches the structure of your home in any way, you need an architect. If the project involves rearranging your space, you probably need an architect.

If you’re having trouble figuring out how to reorganize a room so the space functions better, consider working with an interior designer. If you just need decorating advice—like help selecting draperies, paint colors and coordinating fabrics—you might want to consult an interior decorator who specializes in surface decoration.

A good general contractor will have relationships with those kinds of professionals and can put you in touch with them.

3. Then, consider how much, if any, of the work you really want to and are able to do yourself, and which part you want to leave to the pros. Keep your general contractor advised of that decision so you’ll know if your part of the work will impede something he needs to do.

4. Remodel with purpose. Do you need to make room for a baby or an older parent or to get the house in shape for resale? Or are you just tired of your old décor? Before spending a bundle on cosmetic changes to keep up with design trends, direct your investment toward necessary upgrades and repairs to the roof, appliances or safety features that will make your home more comfortable and help you avoid emergency spending, which can be more expensive than a well-planned renovation.

5. Set a comfortable budget, and let your contractor know what it is. Without that piece of information, a general contractor, architect or interior designer won’t know which kinds of materials to include in your estimate. Later, you could be disappointed to learn that you can’t afford the granite countertops or stainless steel appliances your designer chose for you. With a budget up front, the pros can help you find equally impressive items that you can comfortably pay for.

Too many choices? Make just 2 decisions at a time

One of the hardest parts about remodeling a kitchen, bathroom or your whole house is narrowing down so many choices.

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Just choosing a countertop can take a month. Do you want granite, solid surface, quartz, laminate or butcher block? Which color? With an edge that’s beveled, bullnose, ogee or square?

And that’s just one surface in one room. You also have to choose floors, cabinets, appliances, paint color, ceiling texture, lighting style, plumbing fixtures, and drawer pulls and caulk colors.

I’ve met more than one homeowner who decided to put off a remodeling job because the choices simply overwhelmed her. The sheer volume of choices left her unable to choose at all.

Back in the day, when my father was building and remodeling houses, his clients had far fewer choices to make. Windows came in just a couple of styles. Most folks went with similar products for countertops and floors. One “in” color for each season seemed to be enough.

The flip side, of course, is that we could consider ourselves lucky to have so many options for making our homes look custom-designed and reflect our tastes and personalities.

The trick to taking advantage of the array of remodeling products for the home: Choose between only two things at a time.

Say you’re selecting a kitchen faucet. You walk into a plumbing showroom and see 200 different models with 500 different features.

Instead of deciding among 200 choices, decide between two at a time, like this:

Ask: Do you want a sleek, modern faucet, or one with curves that looks a bit more traditional?

Suppose your answer is “traditional.”

Ask: Do you want a gooseneck spigot or a flat one that’s closer to the sink?

“Gooseneck.”

You’ve already whittled those 200 models down to 100.

Ask: Do you like silver or gold tones?

“Silver.”

Ask: Shiny silver or muted silver?

“Muted.”

Ask: Do you want a pull-out faucet or not?


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“Pull-out.”

Ask: Would you prefer a single lever to turn the water on and off, or do you want separate hot and cold knobs?

“Single.”

You’re still making a lot of decisions, but you’re only choosing between two things at a time. This so-called “binary” decision-making can help you make your selections about 40 percent quicker, and it can ease most of the “overwhelm” from the process.

In the example above, you probably knew the answers to some of the questions without even thinking, so you decided in a second or two. You know without thinking, for instance, if you like silver or gold better, so that choice was probably easy.

All told, it took very little time for you to narrow your faucet selection from 200 models to a small handful of traditional, gooseneck faucets with a brushed-nickel finish, a pull-out hose and a single on/off lever.

If you’ve had a good experience with a particular brand of faucet, you might narrow your choice even more by looking only at those single-lever goosenecks from that plumbing manufacturer.

I learned this from a smart salesman named Robb Best, who has devoted his career to home-improvement and sales.

So he knows that when you walk into a showroom, the salesman isn’t going to offer you just two choices. His job is to offer you 200 choices, so you’re sure to find something you like. He doesn’t realize that the simpler your choices, the more likely you are to buy something today.

My advice: Step back and do this on your own. Tell the salesman you want to wander around on your own for a little while before talking. Take it all in for a minute—so you can see that you have color and style options. And then, break it down into A choices and B choices.

Do you want a low-flow aerator on your faucet or is that something you’d rather not pay for? A or B.

Can you spend more than $500 or less? A or B.

If the salesman insists on overwhelming you with more than two choices at a time, go someplace else.

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Another good way to de-stress home-improvement decision-making: Find a remodeling contractor who is a designer or has one on staff. We have an interior designer on the JEB Design/Build team who will do a lot of this narrowing down for you. She will get to know you well enough to figure out if you’re into silver or gold, contemporary or traditional—and she won’t ask you to spend your time looking at faucets—or anything else—that she already knows you won’t like.

Professional designers like the one at JEB Design/Build are good at this A or B process. They’ll show you some photos of cabinets, for instance, and ask:

Do you want stain or paint?

“Paint.”

White or color?

“Color.”

“Dark or light?”

See how that works? You make just one decision between two choices at a time.

And you leave saying, “This was easier than I thought” instead of “I don’t know where to start.”

Give it a try next time you’re facing an overwhelming array of choices. Like most things in life, a big job gets a lot easier once you break it down into manageable pieces.

Prioritize your remodeling 'wish list' to avoid he said/she said

So you're breathing a little easier financially lately and you're ready to get started on some of the many remodeling/repair/home-improvement projects you had to put off when the economy was feeling too dicey.

Watch out of one more roadblock: your spouse.

Husbands and wives don't always agree on what's most important when it comes to remodeling.


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So before you hire a remodeling professional to help you spruce up your garage or build scrapbook paper-sized shelves on every spare wall in the room your kids grew up in, you might want to have a serious conversation with your significant other about home-improvement priorities.

Most of the couples I've been working with at JEB Design/Build seem to be able to agree on:

1. A "great" kitchen. Men and women agree that a "great" kitchen is the best place to start. Most families, after all, spend most of their time in the kitchen. Plus, it's where we entertain.

And it's a room that we use every single day. So it makes sense for it to be the most beautiful, comfortable and functional room in the home.

Still, couples often do not agree on the definition of "great" when it comes to kitchen remodeling. I find that she is far more focused on how the room looks, and values luxury touches like granite countertops, a tile backsplash, a stylish finish on the cabinets and even just the right drawer pulls. He, on the other hand, wants to make room for his gumbo pot and make sure there's plenty of space for the gang to hang out while he's cooking for a party.

And depending on who does most of the day-to-day cooking, that person is going to push for a design that eases the flow of the room and makes it simple to move from the cooktop to the sink to the refrigerator.

2. Function, function, function. Both spouses crave a better-organized home with more storage space and easier access to the "stuff" of everyday activities. If he stays up late and she turns in early, chances are good that they'll agree to locate the media room on the opposite side of the house from the bedroom. If the master bathroom is in need of remodeling, few couples argue about the wisdom of installing two sinks instead of one so each partner has space to spread out during the morning rush to get ready for work.

I've met plenty of husbands who get even more excited than their wives about the bells and whistles they can get in new cabinets, drawers and closet systems.

3. A masterpiece in the master suite. Because the master bedroom and bathroom are "joint property," I hear few objections when one spouse or the other wants to make enlarging, rearranging or updating it a remodeling priority.

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Most older homes have too few, too-small closets, cramped shower stalls, small bathtubs that nobody ever uses and not enough room for the big bed and sitting room that are on most homeowners' wish lists.

The disconnect: The wife might be concerned that she'll regret tearing out the unused bathtub in favor of a roomy shower with lots of sprays, while the husband might have his eye on an oversized soaking tub. My response: If you have a bathtub elsewhere in the house, one is enough. Put the shower in. And unless one of you frequently uses the small bathtub now, it's unlikely you'll use a big one, either. Put the shower in!

4. Curb your enthusiasm. It's hard for either partner to argue the wisdom of enhancing the value of the home by upgrading its curb appeal.

Before you spend your precious remodeling dollars on a state-of-the-art home theater or HGTV-inspired guest room that only gets used at Christmastime, take a walk around the outside of your house.

Replacing a weathered and worn front door, repairing or replacing roof shingles, upgrading energy-inefficient windows and trading paint-needy wood windows, shutters and overhangs for vinyl or composite materials will make your home look newer and save you—or whoever buys your house—the trouble of sanding and repainting year after year.

5. The great outdoors. Before you start arguing over whether she gets a sewing room or he gets a man cave, you might be able to agree on one more remodeling project: a bigger, better porch or patio.

If you have small children, adult children who visit with their families, or friends who like to watch football games at your place, an oversized patio with room for a high-quality grill, a big-screen TV, a dining table and plenty of chairs will keep them coming back.

Of course, you'll still have to negotiate with your spouse about whether a $4,000 grill and surround sound for the TV are as valuable as a roof to protect it all from the sun and rain, but shaking hands on adding the space is a start.

The key: Create priorities for your remodeling dreams. If you can't do it all at once, do it in the order that will result in the best value—and in keeping the harmony at home.

Remodeling project should cater to both spouses


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When couples approach me about remodeling their homes, the women often want to talk about expanding the master bedroom and bathroom, and the men usually have their eye on a tricked-out garage or a new “man cave” where they can display a giant TV and hang out on football Sundays.

But before they start on those rooms, both spouses almost always agree that improving their kitchen is a higher priority.

My experience at JEB Design/Build mirrors the results of a poll that Builder magazine published recently. An informal survey of 500 homeowners confirms that men and women are more on the same page about home remodeling than you might think. In fact, both named kitchens, a better-functioning house and master suites as the top three items on their home-improvement wish lists.

Both also want a place to work in the home and a garage overhaul—but their vision for those spaces differs substantially. Women want a work space in the kitchen—where they can multitask by watching the kids, doing the laundry and keeping an eye on whatever’s in the oven while they catch up on work. Men would opt for a more traditional, private home office or den.

And when women ask for a garage upgrade, they’re thinking about storage and a sheltered, safe parking place for the car. Men are more into storing and using their tools and toys.

Still, it’s good to know that men and women can agree fairly easily about where to spend the family’s remodeling dollars.

So when it’s time to get started on your home renovations, make sure both halves of your couple have equal say.

We worked with one couple on a remodeling project that satisfied both the husband and wife, largely because both were willing to speak up about what they wanted to change in their 50-year-old kitchen.

Like me, both are big Louisiana State University fans, and the husband loves to make big pots of gumbo and cook on their outdoor grill for friends who come over to eat and watch the games on their oversized outdoor TV. She does more of the cooking during the week when they eat indoors. So she selected most of the appliances, countertops and flooring materials, while he weighed in about where and how he liked to store his grilling tools and big pots. They agreed they wanted the kitchen to open both into their indoor dining room and onto their outdoor patio so both cooks could socialize while they prepared meals.

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We worked with another couple on a master bedroom, bathroom and closet, and expected the woman to take the lead when it came to the closet. But her husband was more excited about his closet than he was about the bathroom. He had long wanted enough space to organize his wardrobe and get his closet clutter under control.

A tip: When it’s time to remodel any room in your home, both partners need to be involved. A good designer/builder will listen to what each spouse wants and come up with a plan that satisfies both of you—but only if both of you speak up about what you want. It’s not necessary for one spouse to defer to the other when it comes to designing a new kitchen, bathroom, addition or master bedroom suite. Find a contractor who can meld your styles, interests and needs into a space that you both will love.

Ask for 3-D drawing of finished room before work begins

Animated movies aren’t the only visual treats that appear more realistic in 3-D. Imagine seeing your remodeled kitchen or a room addition for the back of your house in a three-dimensional computer graphic—before construction ever starts.

Very few remodelers use 3-D software to draw a picture of your “after” room so you can get a more precise look at how everything is going to fit together once the job is finished. But it’s worth it to find one who does.

At Jeb Design/Build, we can draw our vision of a homeowner’s finished room—to scale—on a 3-D software program and color it in. It doesn’t look like a Disney animated feature film, of course, but most people are amazed that it’s possible for us to come up with such an accurate rendition.

In fact, at least half of the homeowners we’ve worked with have told us they have a hard time visualizing what their fancy new bathroom or kitchen is going to look like once it’s full of new cabinets and reconfigured so the space is more comfortable to work in. Having a lifelike picture to look at ahead of time helps us both spot things to add, subtract or otherwise change—before we’ve spent any money ordering expensive products and before we’ve started tearing out walls.

And in my view, the fewer surprises you have the day my team leaves the room and your family moves into it, the better.


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The fact is, there’s lots of software out there that contractors—and even you—can use to create these 3-D renditions. They’re not hard to use and some, designed for do-it-yourselfers, are free. An example: Google Sketchup (www.sketchup.com).

Contractors who embrace this technology typically use professional versions of 3-D software with a few more bells and whistles, and those of us who are designers put our creative skills to use to craft a picture-perfect model of your finished room for you to approve.

But be aware: It’s not cheap. We use Chief Architect and 20/20 software, which can render spaces to look totally photo-realistic. Most of our clients don’t want to spend that much extra time and money—but I wish they did. The result is so accurate that the client is never surprised by the end product—and that makes for a happy client.

The real benefit: A homeowner who doesn’t know a lot about the construction process can see how things will go together. When you look at a 3-D drawing, you’ll see things you might not have thought of. An example: One homeowner we worked with wanted to open up part of a wall between her kitchen and den so the cook wouldn’t be so isolated from the rest of the family, but couldn’t quite grasp how the two rooms would flow into each other without the wall.

Only when we showed her the 3-D drawing did she realize that she would have to sacrifice a whole row of cabinets but got to add a countertop under the new pass-through window big enough for three people to sit and eat or chat with her while she was cooking.

The drawing also helped her decide on the new countertop’s material and to ask for an arched pass-through window instead of an angular one. It gave her some ideas for trim and other pieces that she hadn’t realized would be included in the finished product.

Perhaps the biggest “aha!” she had while looking at the 3-D drawing was to realize that some of the expensive extras she thought she needed in the rooms really made them look a little bit “overdone”—so she toned the style down in a way that made her much happier with the finished space. And it saved her some money.

In a way, it’s like building the project before you even begin it.

http://www.sketchup.com/

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So it’s a bit perplexing that most contractors don’t use 3-D software. Most don’t have a designer or a draftsman with that tool on the team like we do at JEB Design/Build. So if it’s important for you to have a specific plan in place before the project starts, to be able to have a clear picture of what the room will look like when it’s finished, and to understand exactly what the contractor is going to do to your home, find one who embraces 3-D.

You should know that the service won’t be free; you’ll pay an hourly charge for the time the designer on your remodeler’s team spends creating the drawing and making the changes you ask for, or a fixed fee based on the overall project size. But you’ll save the money many times over because:

You’ll have the chance to make changes to the design before the construction begins instead of after the contractor has already spent time and money moving and installing anything.

Creating a 3-D drawing forces your contractor to determine where every single item will go and what it will look like, so the plan for your room will be absolutely finished before the work begins.

It will help you and your contractor create a schedule that can prevent delays. The reason: If the designer draws in a special window or cabinet, you can order that before the job starts so it will be ready when it’s needed.

It helps the contractor catch problems before they occur. An example: One homeowner who did not find a 3-D-friendly contactor told me later that she ordered tall cabinets to reach her kitchen ceiling, and instructed the contractor to tear out the soffit—that overhanging space that you often see above cabinets just below the ceiling—so they would fit. But when the tear-out began, the remodeler discovered that the soffit was hiding plumbing pipes, which had to be moved—a surprise to him. That added $500 to the job.

It makes your project a little bit more special. A remodeler/designer who goes to the trouble of drawing a precise, complete 3-D drawing of your new room up front clearly is a person who cares deeply about the success of the project.

If “good enough” isn’t good enough for your home and your money, 3-D is the way to start your remodeling project. Careful planning and your thorough understanding of what you’re going to get are key to a happy remodeling experience. Computer-assisted 3-D drawings assure that both of those things happen as they should.


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QUICK RECAP:

Planning is the most important part of any home remodeling job.

The firmer your plans are before you get started, the easier the process goes

all the way through.

Plan for the unexpected: mold hiding behind walls; pipes nestled in

an unwanted fur-down over the kitchen cabinets; or a structural beam in a

wall you had hoped to tear down can add a lot of cost to your project.

Design and decorating decisions can be overwhelming because we

have so many choices. Try making just two decisions at a time.

A 3-D model of your new kitchen will show you exactly what you

can expect. Ask your design/build professional to make one for you.

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CHAPTER 6

KEEPING IT REAL

Know what’s not included in your contractor’s estimate

One of my JEB Design/Build clients was griping to me about a contractor she fired after he tore into the fur-down above her kitchen cabinets and discovered plumbing pipes that would have to be moved before she could install her new, up-to-the-ceiling cabinets.

The move would add $500 to the price of the job, and because she had bought the cabinets more than a month earlier, there was no way for her to return them for a refund.

The contractor didn’t anticipate the problem when he priced the job. And the homeowner couldn’t afford to pay $500 more. She said the contractor should have known that a fur-down—the box in front of the wall between the kitchen cabinets and the ceiling—often hides plumbing pipes and ductwork, so he should have stopped her from buying ceiling-height cabinets.

He said he doesn’t have X-ray vision.

In the end, she wound up paying another contractor to relocate the pipes and install her elongated cabinets. And Contractor A will never work for her again—a fate agreed upon by both parties.

I understand why my client was upset. She had a limited budget and she chose a contractor who said he could do the work for the price she could pay. When he agreed, she assumed that meant he knew every single thing the job would entail.

He didn’t.


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I understand the contractor’s viewpoint, too. He really didn’t know about the pipes inside of the fur-down. If he had, he most likely would have told the homeowner how much moving them would cost her. Once the problem revealed itself, he expected her to pay him extra for doing extra work.

I can’t say who is right or wrong in this situation. What I can say is this: It’s a dilemma that you can prevent the next time you hire a contractor to renovate your kitchen—or any room.

You can argue with your contractor about who should pay when a problem requiring extra work shows up. Or you can make that arrangement before the work begins.

Your secret weapon: a written, signed contract between you and the contractor that details exactly what is included in the quoted price and what is not.

In my client’s case, that contract might have said that the price included removing the fur-down, tearing out the old cabinets, repairing the wall if any damage occurred during the removal, and installing the new cabinets. It also would have said the price excluded the cost of purchasing the cabinets and of doing any additional work required if the contractor found something unexpected behind the walls once he opened them up.

Then, once those plumbing pipes were visible, the contractor would have written a “change order,” or an addendum to the contract, with a new price for both of them to sign off on. At that point, the client could have said yes or no, but nobody would be arguing about who should pay. The signed contract would have made that clear: It was not included in the original estimate. The client had to pay.

This comes up all the time during a remodeling project: A contractor gives you a price for what he can see he has to do, but doesn’t warn you that there may be invisible problems behind the walls or under the floors that need resolving—and will cost you more—before he can do the work that he gave you the price for.

Besides insisting on a written contract that says what’s in and what’s out when it comes to price, you might want to:

Ask the contractor if he can think of any hidden problems that might come up during construction. An experienced plumber, for instance, will be able to tell you whether he usually finds rot hiding underneath bathroom floors when he tears out decades-old bathtubs so he can install a tiled shower.

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Walk through the room or the whole house if you’re doing a major renovation, and ask the contractor about what might be hiding behind every wall, every ceiling, every floor and every built-in appliance—like the dishwasher—or fixture—like the toilet or bathtub. This will prepare you for potential cost overruns.

Request a quote on those unknowns. In the case of the shower conversion, ask the plumber how much extra it would cost to remediate rot and mold and to replace the subfloor if those problems come up.

Consider potential “extras” that don’t involve damage. For example, be clear about whether your kitchen remodeler’s price includes the purchase of appliances or just the installation. The difference is several thousand dollars.

Examine your home on your own so you can point out potential problems to your contractor. Look for rotted wood on windows, doors and roof overhangs. Notice if gutters or metal window frames are rusted. Make a note of standing water—on the roof and around the perimeter of the house, which could be a red flag for leaks or even foundation damage.

Even if your contractor is eager to get started, do not let work begin until you both sign a contract. Without a written agreement, the contractor can decide later what is included and what isn’t, and you could wind up paying for work that you assumed was covered in the original estimate.

If your job involves a bathroom or a kitchen, expect some surprises behind the walls. They’re crammed full of electrical wires, plumbing pipes and ductwork. They’re covered with holes—for electrical outlets, phone jacks, cable lines and ventilation fans—where water can sneak inside and get trapped. That can cause rot and invite mold.

The sad fact is, “everything” is never included, even by those who might lead you to believe it is. Know what “everything” really is before you agree to pay for anything.

Don't believe an unbelievable deal

A basic law of life is this: You get what you pay for.

Yet most people—including me—can't resist believing that they're getting an unbelievably good deal.


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I learned this the hard way. When I built my first house in 1984—one that my wife and I would make our home—I cheaped out on the sprinkler system. I hired a minimum-wage laborer to help me install the thing, and I felt pretty smug for about a month over how little I paid and how much I got.

Long story short: The shrubs and the grass died. The sprinkler system didn't work right. I wound up buying another one—a more expensive one—and hiring a specialist to install it.

So I saved a couple of bucks on my original system, but I wound up paying twice because I had to replace it the first season I ever used it.

A cheap price inevitably means you're buying cheap stuff. Cheap stuff doesn't work as well or last as long as products that might have a higher price tag, sturdier materials, a reputable brand name and a long warranty.

The same is true for remodelers. A contractor who gives you a low-ball price will invariably cut corners, supply cheap materials and save time by skipping steps. He'll have to if he wants to earn a profit on a job that he's charging so little for.

You might not know he's doing that because everything will look OK when he finishes the job. You have no way of knowing that he used low-quality paint on your walls, or applied too little caulk around your bathroom or skipped the termite spray when he laid the foundation for your room addition.

You won't find out about it until the paint rubs off when you try to clean it, or the tub leaks water through the ceiling underneath of it, or your house gets infested with termites years later. Then, you'll pay through the nose to resolve the problems you could had prevented if you had hired a high-quality contractor for a few bucks more.

This brings to mind a potential client who told me she chose a different remodeler to renovate her kitchen because JEB Design/Build charged more than he did. When I ran into her months later, she complained that she had to replace the indoor unit of her air conditioning system the summer after the renovation. She ran the thing every day for a month until she got her first electric bill of the summer and nearly fainted. She called a tech in to diagnose the problem, and he showed her that the inside of the unit was covered with drywall dust that had turned into paste once it mixed with the condensation the unit created as it cooled the house.

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Turns out that cut-rate contractor hadn't covered the unit during the work or bothered to clean it afterward, a chore any quality remodeler would have tended to before finishing the job. And the would-be client had to admit that when she added the price of a new unit to the cost of the renovation, JEB Design/Build wasn't more expensive after all.

The bottom line is: You just don't know what you don't know. Just like I wouldn't know which parts or how many of them a computer tech would need to fix my broken PC, you probably don't know all of the work and materials that your contractor uses behind walls, under floors and on the roof.

If you hire a trustworthy contractor, there's no reason you have to know.

Hire a good guy who charges a fair price, and you won't have to fret that he's going to skimp on quality so he can eke a profit out of the paltry estimate he gave you.

So how do you know if you're hiring a good guy? Simply ask his former clients.

Request the names and contact information of several of the remodeler's past customers before you agree to hire him. Call those people and ask them:

Did he use quality products or did he substitute cheaper versions that looked nice but didn't perform well?

Did he cut corners and skip steps that they wished he hadn't?

Did the work and the materials he supplied hold up over time?

Did he offer a warranty on his work and materials—and did he honor it by returning to their homes to solve problems and make repairs?

Did he answer their phone calls promptly—or at all—after the job was finished and a problem arose?

Did he provide excellent customer service, treat their homes with respect, show up when he said he would and finish the job in a reasonable timeframe?

Many JEB Design/Build clients save themselves a lot of time and trouble by hiring us based on our consistently excellent customer service ratings on GuildQuality surveys.


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Most people think all remodelers offer the same quality, products and service, so if they shop around, they can find a good deal and save some money. But no two contractors are alike.

It's human nature to want to believe that you're getting an unbelievable deal. It's also human nature that some contractors—like any other people—are more honest, more skilled, more enthusiastic, more reliable, more knowledgeable and care more about you than others.

Vet any contractor whom you plan to allow into your home. If his past customers didn't like him, you won't, either. Don't hire him.

And don't hire someone who seems unbelievably cheap. Cheap will cost you way too much in the long run.

Hiring a trustworthy contractor lets you skip those three bids

I don’t know how it became common knowledge among homeowners that the best way to hire someone to remodel your home is to get three different bids for your project.

I’d call that a fallacy for two reasons. First, you might think you’re going to get apples-to-apples prices to compare, but you never will. Second, if your goal is to find and hire the lowest bidder, prepare yourself to accept cheap products and crummy service.

Here’s what I tell potential clients of JEB Design/Build: Remodeling a house is not the same as buying a car. If you want a Honda Accord, you can shop around for the best price on that model and the best price on a built-in Bluetooth and iPod charger. You know exactly what’s included, and sometimes, one dealership might charge less for it than another.

When what you’re buying is the services of a housepainter, there’s no standard model to shop around. Each painter uses a favorite brand of paint and provides a different level of service. One painter might use a quality paint for two coats. Another might use a generic paint and skip the insides of the closets. A third might give you a lower price, but you have to buy the paint yourself. And it’s doubtful that any of them includes a line item for how much it will cost if he finds damage on the walls and molding as the painter strips the old wallpaper and paint off.

Same goes for any kind of remodeling project. If you need someone to lay a wood floor, the least expensive of three bidders just might use the cheapest wood and provide the worst service.

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Remodeling isn’t a product with a fixed price. It’s a combination of product, customer service, craftsmanship, experience and trustworthiness. Anyone can give you a good price to paint your house; he’ll just use cheap paint and rush through the job. And there’s no way he’s including a guarantee of on-time delivery as part of what you’re buying. At JEB Design/Build, we do.

Shopping for the lowest bid is a recipe for a mess. I know a group of three women who jointly own a vacation home that’s located three hours away from where all of them live. They’ve agreed to remodel the place, and figure they should get bids from three different contractors.

That’s going to be a holy mess.

They could split the task up so each owner interviews a separate contractor, and then compare notes with the others and make a group decision. But Woman A might tell one contractor that she wants a few frills that Woman B doesn’t mention to her guy, and Woman C might decide during her interview that the guest bathroom probably doesn’t need new fixtures after all.

The bids will all be for substantially different projects.

An equally unproductive alternative would be for the women to do a group interview with each contractor. They’ll all be talking at once to make their preferences known and to disagree with each other about the scope of the work and how much they’re willing to pay. How is that poor contractor supposed to remember everything, let alone make a plan and specifications and do selections based on three completely different sets of instructions?

Even if you’re the only one who will decide on a remodeler, you should know that different contractors have different views of how a project will unfold.

Say you want a new wood floor. One contractor might assume you want solid wood; another might estimate for engineered wood; and the third might write up a price for laminate. One might include the underlayment. Another might add the cost of taking the base floor out, while someone else might assume you’ll leave it. Some of the quotes might include the threshold at the doorway and the cost of finishing the floor once it’s in place. Some might be for the floor only.


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So if you get a bid for $10,000 for your floor, how will you know if that’s fair or too high? I can’t answer that—and neither can you—until you know every single product needed for the job, which part of it the contractor is going to do and which part you might have to hire someone else for; who’s going to draw up the plans; how long the job will take; and much more.

If you get three bids for vinyl siding, will you know which ones include rot remediation or an insulated backing? If you choose the lowest bidder, are you still getting a quality product and an expert installation?

A rule of thumb in remodeling: You get what you pay for. The highest bidder might not always be the best contractor for the job, but there’s a better chance that his quote includes even the work and materials you won’t see—and probably don’t know you need—than the low bidder who’s just pricing the product alone.

What the low bidder leaves off of his estimate so you’ll hire him will show up on the invoice at the end of the job.

On a remodel, there are just too many moving parts for comparison shopping.

So my advice is: Shop for a contractor you can trust instead of shopping your job around. Ask friends and neighbors for recommendations. Read reviews from credible rating systems. Check with the Better Business Bureau for red flags. Interview a few contractors to get a feel for how well you get along and whether you like his or her process. Ask for and call former clients and suppliers to find out if he shows up on time, delivers what he promises, does high-quality work and charges a fair price.

If you hire someone you trust, you won’t have to worry that he’s hiding costs or cutting corners or charging you for work behind the walls that he’s not doing. Face it: Unless you’ve worked in the home-improvement industry yourself, it’s impossible for you to know everything that happens in a remodeling job. Find someone trustworthy who does know.

You’ll feel better about what you’re paying if you hire well and trust that you did.

Realistic remodelers don’t give on-the-spot estimates

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Remember those old TV commercials for the financial firm E.F. Hutton? The tagline was: “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen.” The ad would show a scene, like a noisy airport, and one of the actors would say, “My broker is E.F. Hutton. E.F. Hutton says…” and the noise would stop and everyone in the airport would lean in to listen.

I had a moment like that at dinner the other night. My wife, Robin, and I were out with another couple and the conversation turned toward remodeling horror stories, as it often does because I own a remodeling firm, JEB Design/Build. Our friends were complaining that their remodeler charged them way more than his original quote, and they asked me why contractors always go over budget.

I said, “We never go over.” And everyone at the table simply hushed.

Our friends looked at me as if I had just announced I was running for president. Then they laughed because they thought I was kidding.

I wasn’t.

JEB Design/Build sticks by its quotes. I know a lot of contractors don’t, but we do. And the next time you hire a contractor for any project around your house, you should insist that your contractor give you a price quote—in writing—that he is confident he can honor.

What else besides home-improvement services do you buy without knowing the price? You don’t pick up 50-cent orange at the grocery store and then find out you have to pay $1 at the cash register, do you? You wouldn’t be OK with it if your bank said your mortgage payment would be $1,000 but then sent you a bill for $1,500, right?

So why is it acceptable—even if you complain to friends later that it’s not—to pay a remodeler hundreds or even thousands of dollars more than the price you agreed to at the beginning of the job?

I suppose it has happened so often that homeowners simply “know” it’s going to happen on their job, too. Perhaps you assume that’s just how it is if you want work done at your house: You’ll agree to one price, but the true cost will be much higher—and you won’t find out how much until the job is finished and it’s too late to pare things down to save money.

I just don’t buy into that, and neither should you.

What I find is that contractors who go way over their initial price or take much longer to finish the job than they estimated have not done a realistic quote to begin with.


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You’ll know you’re talking to one of those contractors if he quotes you a price off the top of his head. You’ll know he’s one of them if he keeps saying, “No problem”—without adjusting the price upward—no matter how much extra work and materials you pile onto your wish list, even though you’ve told him you have a fixed budget.

What you need is a price quote that you can take to the bank—literally, if you’re borrowing money for a major remodeling project. You need an quote you can count on so you can determine whether you can afford to proceed with the project or if you’ll need to do just some of it now and the rest later as you can swing the money.

So here’s the secret that allows us to come in on time and within budget at JEB Design/Build: We’re realistic. Our team has enough experience with estimating the cost of a project to know that it’s not possible to predict, down to the penny, how much a renovation will cost.

So before we give you an quote, we spend a lot of time with you and at your home. You spend a lot of time talking to our team of planners and designers about exactly what you want. We’ll figure out precisely what we have to do in order to make all of that happen.

If you’re hiring us for a large remodeling project, this planning phase could take a few months. Halfway through planning, we’ll propose a working budget with a price range that includes a minimum charge and a maximum charge that could be several thousand dollars apart.

That way, our design team has some leeway to propose several different design options, and you’ll know what to expect when the time comes to start paying for the items we purchase on your behalf.

After you approve your design, then we’ll give you a precise quote.

We’ll also give you a construction agreement to sign that explains exactly what is included in that quote and what is not. That way, if we discover anything unexpected as we remodel your home, we both understand that the extra work could incur extra costs. If you decide to add some additional items or ask for additional work, we both understand that extra work will cost more, too.

That’s realistic. What isn’t is telling you how much your project will cost before you have selected your materials and we can see their price tags. What’s not is proposing a budget before you decide if you want us to tear out the wall our designer wants to remove or go with a design that will cost much less.

How could we pull a number from the top of our heads after talking with you about your project for only half an hour?

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How could anybody?

My advice: Be realistic when you hire a home-improvement contractor, and hire someone who’s as realistic as you are.

That way, both of you will deal with real estimates of time and money, and nobody winds up surprised.

Never pay your contractor 100% in advance

Whenever I tell people about my job as a home remodeler, they invariably tell me about the horrible experience they had with some other contractor.

Take my hair stylist, for example. As he trimmed my hair the other day, he talked about how he almost lost $2,800 to a guy who said he would cut down a tree in his yard—but never finished the job.

The stylist called several tree services, which all gave him estimates in the $3,500 to $4,500 range for bringing over a crane and felling a huge oak tree that got damaged during last summer’s high winds. That price was too steep for my friend, so he kept looking.

Finally, he found a guy who, after estimating the job would cost $4,500, agreed to knock his price down to $2,800 because my friend pressed him for a lower price. The guy admitted he didn’t have insurance, and my friend decided not to even ask if he had a license from the state to work as a contractor.

Red flags, right?

But the price was right, so the stylist handed over his personal check for $2,800.

Are you cringing, too, or is it just me?

The homeowner braced for trouble on the first day of the job when an especially shabby crew showed up—without a crane. When my friend asked how they were going to remove the tree without a crane, they said, “No problem,” and started cutting branches off of the trunk.

The crew tossed all of those tree limbs into my friend’s yard, and then they left. They didn’t come back. The contractor who had taken the $2,800 did not return his calls.


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So the homeowner went online to look up the contractor’s license, and guess what? He doesn’t have a license. So he called a lawyer, who, after chastising my friend for not insisting on a signed contract, discovered a long line of unhappy past customers who were suing the contractor.

The stylist was able to find the contractor’s address, so he and his wife drove over to his office—which turned out to be a trailer—and refused the leave until they got their money back.

There were tears and threats and lots of shouting, and eventually, they got their refund from a wad of cash the guy kept in his desk drawer.

I hear this kind of sad story over and over again, no matter where I go. It’s a story that’s not going away.

But it doesn’t have to be your story.

My friend made three huge mistakes that contributed to this fiasco:

First, he talked the contractor into a lowball price, knowing full well that the job would legitimately cost at least $1,000 more than the guy agreed to charge.

Second, he did not get a signed contract that would legally bind the contractor to complete the work for which he had accepted money.

Third, he paid the contractor’s entire fee up front. Never do that. It’s OK to make a small deposit once you and the contractor sign an agreement, but pay the rest in increments as the job progresses. And never make the final payment until the job is finished to your satisfaction.

What this contractor did is nothing short of a scam. He took money, pretended to do the work, and then left without finishing it. Some scammers don’t even pretend to do the work: They cash your check and you never see them again.

Don’t fall for it. If the deal seems too good to be true, it is. If the contractor insists on all of the money up front, find a different contractor.

And always, always, verify that the contractor’s license is up to date by visiting the Web site for the Louisiana State Licensing Board for

Contractors (www.lslbc.louisiana.gov) or by calling the agency at 800-256-1392.

QUICK RECAP:

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A written price quote should detail what’s included in the job—and

what’s not.

A contractor’s price quote that sounds too good to be true always

is. Get all quotes in writing and always ask for an explanation of exactly

what the price covers.

Three bids aren’t necessary if you hire a trustworthy contractor

who comes highly recommended.

Don’t trust a contractor who gives you a quote off the top of his or

her head. An accurate quote takes into account the price of the appliances,

flooring and countertop materials you choose, among other things. A

contractor needs time to research and calculate a project price.

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CHAPTER 7

REMODELING GOLD

Ask your contractor if he’s qualified to do more

Did it ever occur to you to ask the contractor who renovated your kitchen if he also has the right kind of experience and know-how to build your patio as well? Have you checked with the designer whose drawings will transform your master bathroom from drab to delightful to find out whether he or she also is in the business of doing the construction work involved with bringing that plan to life?

Some contractors specialize in just one thing: designing bathrooms, remodeling kitchens, building houses or installing decks, for instance. But lots of us have a great breadth of experience and expertise, and could help you out with projects you might not have considered us for.

For example, my company, JEB Design/Build, is, as the name says, a remodeling firm that can both design your project and build it. We have architecturally trained designers on our team, and we also have construction guys. Plus, we have long-time relationships with plumbers, electricians, roofers and other home-improvement specialists.

Sure, we work on a lot of kitchens, bathrooms and room additions. But we also install cabinets and windows, and we build patios—and more.

That’s not to say every remodeler does all of that. In fact, most don’t do any design work. But chances are, if your contractor’s company name includes the words “design” and “build,” he does both.

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The reason I’m pointing this out is that you usually can save a few bucks if you assign multiple home-improvement jobs to the same company. It could be less expensive—and certainly more convenient for you—to hire a design/build contractor to both design your kitchen and do the tearing out and building back. And if, while that contactor’s team is at your house, he can also upgrade your windows, build your outdoor kitchen, replace your siding and add a sunroom, you won’t have to pay for so many trips, start over with a new contractor for each job, or wait as long for the work to begin.

Before you embrace your contractor as a jack-of-all trades, however, you’ll need to ask a lot of questions. For example:

Has your contractor ever taken on a job like the one you’d like to do? Trust me: You don’t want to be his first.

Does the contractor have the appropriate state licenses for the multiple jobs you have for him? It’s truly unwise, for example, to hire anybody to do electrical or plumbing work at your house who is not trained and licensed to do that work. In fact, it can be downright dangerous, as improperly done electrical word can cause a fire. Plus, did you know that if your home was built before 1978 when lead was banned, federal laws requires your contractor to be EPA certified? This applies to carpenters, plumbers, heating and air conditioning technicians, window installers and others.

Will the contractor show you photos of past projects like yours that he completed for other homeowners? It’s always a good idea to get a sense of the contractor’s style and taste before hiring.

Is the contractor willing to give you the phone numbers of several of his past clients for whom he has done similar work? And are you willing to call those clients to ask them to speak about the contractor’s professionalism, prices, reliability and skill?

What are the contractor’s design credentials? Some projects require an architect or an interior designer—who has different training from an interior decorator. Beware of relying on construction-oriented contractors who do not have design credentials or at least work with a design professional. Some remodelers truly are just one or the other—design or build.

Will the contractor expect you to find the subcontractors for the work that he isn’t qualified to do, or will he find them? Best bet: Hire someone who has licensed home-improvement specialists either on staff or on call.


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Spending a little bit of time now “vetting” your contractor for your multiple home projects could save you time and money later if you find someone who is qualified, experienced and licensed to do all of them for you.

‘Bundle’ remodeling projects to save money

Just as you can save on phone, Internet and TV services by “bundling” them together and buying them all from the same company, you can stretch your remodeling dollar further if you have your contractor do several jobs for you at once.

Plus, it’s simply easier for you to call a single phone number to reach your contractor or discuss a warranty issue than to have to keep up with five or six different numbers for different kinds of contractors.

Say you want to overhaul your kitchen, for example. Your remodeler most likely will bring in a plumber, an electrician a painter and a carpenter to help with the various parts of the job. So it makes sense to have these tradesmen repair, replace and restore other areas of your house while they’re already there.

One reason: You pay a “trip charge” every time a repair technician comes to your home, whether it’s to fix a leaky faucet, patch a hole in the roof or install a ceiling fan. If the tech takes care of more than one project during a single trip, you still pay only one trip charge.

If, on the other hand, you have that ceiling fan hung and then call the electrician back the following month to figure out why your electrical circuit trips every time you turn on your hair dryer, you’ll wind up paying two trip fees.

Likewise, any general contractor, like JEB Design/Build, charges you to set up your home as a construction site with items like a portable restroom, tarps or plastic draping to keep dust to a minimum and dirt off of the carpet, and a Dumpster for trash to be hauled away when the job is finished.

Whether the contractor remodels your kitchen and then pulls down the plastic and tows away the trash, or whether he does the kitchen plus a couple of bathrooms before he tears down his gear, you pay only once for that part of the job.

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So think about more than the project you’re ready to start—before you ask a contractor for a price quote. Think about what’s next on your remodeling to-do list and ask whether the efficiency of “bundling” your projects can save you a few bucks.

Consider these strategies to get the most out of your remodeling budget by combining jobs:

Even if you don’t plan to renovate more than one room, it’s a useful exercise to walk around the house—indoors and out—and make a list of everything that’s wrong, even the small stuff. If a painter and a carpenter will be working in your kitchen anyway, they might as well repair the rotten overhang on the porch. If you’ve been meaning to replace your high-maintenance wooden front door with a more weather-friendly fiberglass model, do it while you’ve got a crew on site.

Even little leaks, drips and air conditioner problems are worth mentioning to your contractor so he can solve them while he’s there.

If you’re adding a room onto your house, you’ll be getting new windows, siding and roofing. Take a look at those items on the rest of the house and decide if they could use some updating so they’ll look as nice as the new stuff.

If you would like to remodel multiple rooms but can only afford to do one at a time, that’s worth mentioning to the contractor. The electrician who is upgrading your electrical panel to accommodate your new kitchen appliances can go ahead and add some extra juice for the future master bath while he’s got the wall open. That will save you some money on the bathroom remodel next time.

It’s less expensive to take out a single loan to pay for all of your remodeling projects than to go back to the bank for each one. You can take advantage of today’s low interest rates if you borrow money while it’s cheap and do the work now.

Spend your remodeling dollars wisely

The economy is improving a little bit every year. But that doesn’t mean you don’t feel at least somewhat cautious about spending money on remodeling. So spend it wisely.

If you’re wading one toe at a time into a remodeling project, consider Jeb Design/Build’s list of 10 common-sense trends to make every dollar count:


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1. The kitchen is king. Spend the bulk of your renovation budget fixing up this hub of family activity. A third of all homeowners see the kitchen as a place for socializing, gathering the family and managing the household.

Bigger, newer appliances that can handle the loads brought on by an renewed focus on home-prepared family meals are selling: large dishwashers, double ovens, roomy refrigerators.

Catering to the kitchen could pay off in the long run: Remodeling magazine estimates that even minor improvements to the kitchen—like refacing the cabinets and replacing a scratched-up sink—can pay off better than a major remodel when you sell your home.

2. Function trumps frills. You don’t waste money when you spend it on something you need. If your family has outgrown your space, paying for a room addition is warranted. If your kitchen is so old that you’re embarrassed to let neighbors into your house, an upgrade might be a wise investment.

3. What’s outside is ‘in.’ Replacing exterior products like windows, roofs and siding is becoming as important as fixing up the kitchen. Newer products have impressive thermal properties that offer immediate and long-term energy savings, can upgrade a home’s curb appeal and add resale value.

4. Aging in place. More bathroom remodels include “comfort-height” toilets, curbless showers, stylish grab bars and wider doorways as homeowners stay in their homes longer and renovate with an eye toward their golden years. Using universal design principles, remodeling-minded homeowners are creating first-floor bedrooms and easier-to-navigate kitchens and bathrooms. A tip: If you compare the cost of remodeling so you can live at home longer with the cost of moving into a long-term care facility, remodeling rings up way cheaper.

5. Going green. Some homeowners are going all-out with recycled construction materials and super-efficient appliances. Others are embracing “green” one step at a time by switching to LED lighting, choosing tankless or solar water heaters, or trading their inefficient, single-pane windows for double-pane models. Products like bamboo floors, made from renewable materials, are becoming favorites.

6. Durability sells. Investing in a few, high-quality materials can save you from having to pay to replace them so often. Cheap floors, countertops and even paint can wear out quicker, show more scrapes and dings, or even fade or fall apart sooner than a sturdy tile or stone surface that costs more because it’s made well.

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7. Luxury in the lavatory. Because most bathrooms are so small, you can dress them up with higher-end sinks, countertops, tile and fixtures--without breaking your budget. In many homes, the bathroom is the most relaxing space. Even a small bathroom can feel like a spa if the shower has multiple shower heads, steam attachments, seats and body sprays. Dual sinks have become a staple in the master bath.

8. Smaller homes, bigger rooms. Even if you’re making do with the space you have, your rooms can grow bigger. Open floor plans in smaller homes mean fewer, bigger rooms. Removing a non-load-bearing interior wall can turn a small kitchen and dining room into a huge eat-in kitchen, or an unused formal dining room and nearby living room into a Great Room where the family can gather.

9. You’ve earned a bonus. Put a little-used nook or room to good use by converting it into a “bonus” room for sewing, crafts or yoga. Home offices, mini-theaters and “man caves” are taking over seldom-used guest rooms or unneeded formal dining rooms. Or, you could use the extra room for storing the large lots of discounted canned food and paper products you buy at big-box retailers—or for your stuff, so it won’t get “cooked” in the attic.

10. Home sweet high-tech home. When you plan your renovation, look beyond what’s beautiful—and to the inside of your walls. Your huge, flat-screen TV, video game console, computers, stereo equipment, treadmill and home security system use a lot of juice that your home’s electrical wiring might not be able to handle.

Include an electricity upgrade—or at least an inspection by a licensed electrician—that will ensure your expensive equipment will operate without overloading your circuits. And protect your expensive electronic equipment by adding a whole-house surge protector.

Choose remodeling projects that add value to your home

A sure sign that things are looking up for the economy is an uptick in the number of homeowners who are signing up for home renovations.

Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies estimates that spending by homeowners on improvement projects growing every year.


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That’s a change for lots of homeowners, including many clients of JEB Design/Build, who have put off adding onto their homes, updating their kitchens or remodeling their bathrooms during the recent lean years because of worries over job and income security.

If you’re one of them, consider how the money you spend on home improvement now that you’re breathing easier will do you and your home the greatest good.

Whether you’re planning to sell your home or stay in it for as long as possible, consider the following remodeling projects as an investment in the value of your home—for resale or for your long-term comfort and safety:

1. Upgrades that will allow you to age in place. Just a decade ago, just one-third of American homeowners were older than 55, the Joint Center estimates. Today, that number hovers at around 45 percent. If you’re part of that age group—or getting there—and would like the home you live in to be the one where you retire, consider retrofitting bathrooms, the kitchen, hallways and doorways so they will accommodate rather than contribute to your growing aches and pains.

Some examples: Making toilets higher and countertops and sinks lower will save you from bending so far in the kitchen and bathroom. Adding more light to stairways, the foyer, the kitchen and every bathroom will help you see better—at any age, really. And widening doorways and hallways means they’ll be ready for anyone in your family who eventually may rely on a walker or wheelchair to get around in the house.

2. Extra space for parents and grandkids. You’re not the only one who’s getting older by the day, for course. Consider whether you might want an older parent to eventually move in with you. Is there room at your house for several generations of your family to co-exist comfortably and with adequate privacy? Before you spend your remodeling dollars on cosmetic improvements to your home, think about adding some rooms for live-in parents; for adult children who might need to move home temporarily after college; and for grandchildren whom you will want to visit you as often as possible.

3. Repairs and replacements that you’ve been putting off. It’s more fun to devote your remodeling dollars to granite countertops and state-of-the-art appliances than to a new roof or wood to replace rotting or malfunctioning products on the outside of the home. But if the recession prevented you from keeping up with routine maintenance and repairs, you’ll get more bang for your buck if you spend it tending to disasters-waiting-to-happen.

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Ask a contractor or a home inspector to evaluate your home, inside and out, for problems that need solving—from the roof to the foundation. Replace shingles, windows, siding, columns, your central air conditioner or any other building materials that are deteriorating—before they cause a bigger problem for you, like a structural weakness or mold.

4. Energy-efficiency upgrades. Even if your old windows aren’t rotting, they could be causing your a/c bills to skyrocket, especially if they’re made with single-pane glass. Two more benefits I’ve seen after upgrading energy-inefficient windows with double-pane models: 1. Double-pane windows keep the noise out better; and 2. They do a better job keep the dust out of your home, so your vents and HVAC filters don’t clog so easily.

A water heater, refrigerator or a/c unit that’s a decade or more old is so much less energy-efficient than the new models on the market today that it’s worth considering replacements. Too little or poorly installed attic insulation can allow your expensive, air-conditioned air escape right through the attic.

An idea: Ask an energy performance expert or “auditor” to evaluate your home’s energy efficiency. You’ll learn where the house is “leaking” conditioned air and where it makes the most sense to invest money to prevent those leaks.

The Joint Center reports that about a quarter of households undertaking home improvement projects are doing it to improve their energy efficiency.

5. Updates in the kitchen and bathrooms. Whether you’re staying put or moving, upgrading the kitchen and bathrooms is a high-value strategy. Most families congregate in the kitchen, so enlarging it, redesigning it so it allows your cooking and cleaning work to flow more easily, or replacing appliances with more reliable and efficient models will make the most popular room in your house more of a pleasure to spend time in. If you’re ready to sell, those same improvements are the ones that appeal to shoppers.

Ditto for bathrooms: They’re the most-used rooms in a house, so renovations there make the rooms more comfortable to your family and more attractive to would-be buyers.

QUICK RECAP:

Using the same remodeling contractor for multiple jobs could save

you some money.


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Prioritize your remodeling wish list. The best projects to tackle first

are the ones that add value to your home.

Before you make cosmetic changes to your home, invest in

necessary repairs and safety upgrades.

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CHAPTER 8

WHY REMODEL?

Move or remodel? Compare needs of new place to yours

I’ve been working with the nicest young couple: They have three kids and live in a picture-perfect, middle-class neighborhood on a cul-de-sac. The kids have loads of friends on the block, and all of the parents there feel it’s a safe place for their youngsters to ride their bikes and play outdoors all they want.

But the couple has long wanted a bigger house. They needed another bedroom and an extra bathroom, and their kitchen and breakfast room are sorely in need of a facelift. So they’ve been shopping for a bigger place for about a year.

They’ve found lots of properties in their price range; it’s a pretty good time to buy a house, after all. But they’re finding the best prices on larger homes come in neighborhoods a little farther from town than they want to live. And most of the closer-in homes are smaller than the one they already have. Plus, they all have smaller yards than they would like, given the ages of their kids.

Plus, they want to live in an established neighborhood, so they’re looking at existing homes rather than in brand-new subdivisions. As it turns out, many of those older homes need just as much updating and enlarging as the one they live in now.

So they have decided not to move. Instead, they’re going to remodel.


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Initially, they thought it would be cheaper to move than to remodel. But after consulting with JEB Design/Build, they discovered that they probably would have to do at least as much work on the next place if they traded the 10-year-old house they live in for another 10-year-old house somewhere else.

Plus, they would give up the clean, safe neighborhood where their friends and their kids’ friends live and where they already feel at home.

If you’re in the same boat, consider remodeling rather than relocating.

The upgrades you make to your home will pay off if you stay in your home for five to seven years, according to remodeling industry estimates. And the changes you make—adding on or designing your dream kitchen, for instance—just might convince you to stay put for many years beyond that.

But house size and the quality of the neighborhood shouldn’t be your only motivation for staying home. If you’re going to keep the property you already own for the long term, it’s a good idea to make non-cosmetic improvements as well so you don’t wind up with an expensive structural problem that will make you wish you had moved long ago.

Here are three important areas that homeowners often overlook when they start remodeling:

1. The foundation. Does yours need “leveling?” The only way to know is to ask a foundation specialist to evaluate its condition. If you see deep cracks around windows and doors inside or outside—deep enough to stick the point of a pencil into—that could be a sign of a foundation problem.

2. The roof. In Louisiana, you need a good roof to keep the rain out. If yours is in disrepair, consider tending to it before you remodel your kitchen; you need a sturdy roof more than you need new countertops, after all.

3. Heating, cooling, electricity and plumbing. If your home is 50-plus years old and it’s never been remodeled, there’s a good chance that those systems are out of date, ill-equipped to handle all of the appliances and electronics your family uses, and on the brink of a breakdown. A tip: Bring your house up to today’s building codes so your systems will continue to operate safely and reliably.

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When most of us think about remodeling, we envision how beautiful our redesigned rooms will look. But it’s a mistake to start adding rooms or gutting the kitchen and bathrooms before you look inside the walls. You might install your new appliances, add new light fixtures, buy a state-of-the-art coffee maker or tuck a new treadmill into a corner of the breakfast room—and then find out your home’s aging electrical system can’t handle the load.

Once you have taken care of what you can’t see, you can feel confident that the time and money you spend remodeling what you can will leave you with a place where your family will be comfortable and proud to live for many, many years.

In a hurry? Remodel some time-savers into your home

The old adage about spending a little to save a lot is never truer than when you invest in a remodeling project that will save you some time or spare you some hassle.

Here is JEB Design/Build’s list of nine home renovations that could make every day a little bit easier at your house:

1. Make room for more kitchen cabinets and closets. High on the list of every cook’s gripes is that there’s never enough room to hide away all of the gadgets and specialty items that make cooking quicker, easier and more fun. So the bread machine, the coffee maker, the food processor, the juicer and other small appliances either compete for space on the countertop or squeeze into already-stuffed cabinets. And either your countertops or your cabinets are a mess. Take your pick.

Solution: Work with your contractor’s design team to find unused or poorly used space in the kitchen, where you can add a cabinet or two, a pantry closet or more shelving. Or, if your kitchen is next to a little-used dining room, consider removing the wall that separates them so you’ll have an extra-large eat-in kitchen with plenty of room for all of the storage space you need.

Tip: Ask for at least one extra-deep cabinet or pantry shelf that’s big enough to hold a wok, fry pan, gumbo pot or whatever oversized cooking equipment you own.


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2. Create a work triangle. If people keep getting in your way while you’re trying to cook dinner or clean up afterward, chances are, your stove, refrigerator and sink are not logically organized into a work triangle that makes it easy to go from one to the other in very few steps. Ask your designer to show you how you could rearrange your kitchen work space so it “flows” better. It will save you steps, frustration and possibly a few bruises!

3. Keep the noise down. When one spouse turns in or wakes up way earlier than the other, the sleeping partner will appreciate few things more than a bathroom/closet/dressing area that’s far enough away from the bed to mute any noise that the early riser/night owl makes in the wee hours.

Solution: Add a second door to the master bathroom—one that opens into the hallway instead of into the bedroom—so the person using the room doesn’t have to walk through a bedroom to get to it.

And consider enlarging the bathroom by combining it with the closet, so someone can get ready for the day without ever returning to the master bedroom.

No room to expand? Is there a seldom-used bedroom next to the master bedroom? Removing a couple of walls will let you combine your master bedroom, a smaller bedroom and the master bath into a suite that allows for more closet space and a bigger bathroom.

4. Don’t share the sink. Tame the morning rush to get dressed and out of the house on time by adding a second sink to your master bathroom. His-and-hers sinks give each partner a separate mirror and a bit of counter space to spread out on, with no need to take turns. Even better, it allows each of you your own “side,” where you can keep your makeup or shaving kit so you don’t have to take the time to put it away so it won’t be in your partner’s way.

5. Give the kids their own bathroom. When parents and kids share the same bathroom, nobody gets out of the house on time.

Solution: If you don’t have a second bathroom on the bedroom level of your house, put it at the top of your remodeling to-do list. Your morning routine will be 100 percent calmer once the adults stake out a child-free bathroom for themselves.

6. Enlarge your porch. If placing a couple of rocking chairs on your porch or patio makes it look overcrowded, enlarge that space. Building a big porch or patio is like adding a room onto your home. You can put a nice grill outdoors and plenty of seating so you can host family dinners and football Saturdays there instead of squeezing everyone into your house.

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Tip: Add a roof or some kind of sun-blocking cover so you can enjoy your outdoor room nearly year-round.

7. Relocate your washer and dryer. Your family generates most of its dirty laundry in bedrooms and bathrooms, not in the kitchen or in the foyer near the back door, where your washer and dryer are probably located.

Solution: Move the laundry room upstairs, or add a small, stackable washer/dryer combo unit to a spare bedroom or utility closet near the bedrooms. You’ll save so many trips to the laundry room that you probably won’t even mind washing clothes.

8. Add a closet/cubby near the home’s back entrance. People spend more time hunting for keys and shoes—usually when they’re rushing out the door—than almost anything else.

Solution: Build a place where everyone in your family deposits backpacks, jackets, shoes, keys and purses—no matter what. That way, you’ll always know where they are when you need them.

Many years ago, my wife, Robin, established a rule in our house: All shoes get stored near the back door in a cubby hole inside a small closet. It kept the house cleaner and better organized, and it made everyone’s morning routine faster, too.

A tip: Have your contractor put in some electrical outlets so you can plug in phone and tablet chargers there. They’ll be charged and ready to go when you are.

9. Work in some work space. Every household has some kind of files for kids’ school records, bills, insurance policies and other important paperwork. Designate a space for that.

Solution: If you have a spare bedroom, build in some filing cabinets, shelves and drawers, where you can organize your papers without cluttering the kitchen or family room with them.

A tip: A friend of mine converted half of his utility room into a small office. The room also can double as a sewing room or craft room, and you can keep the door closed and off-limits so you can leave your half-finished projects out in the open without worry about anyone seeing the mess.

The best time to remodel? Right now


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This is a really good time to remodel your home.

OK, I'm a remodeler, so that sounds like a sales pitch. But the fact is that the circumstances of the construction and real estate markets have created the opportunity for homeowners to buy home-improvement products and remodeling services for a pretty good price.

Those circumstances won't last forever. Even though the housing market in our neck of the woods doesn't seem to climb or slump as drastically as it does most everywhere else, it's still getting easier to sell a home, and the prices of those homes are inching upward.

As that trend continues, everything associated with housing and construction will inevitably get more expensive—from interest rates to construction materials to labor.

Right now, though, it's still affordable to do those home repairs you put off all through the recession, to upgrade the outdated kitchen you've been living with until the economy started feeling more stable, and to add the new room you've needed forever but haven't been willing to spend the money on until now.

Plus, construction loans are beginning to get easier to come by.

If you're not planning to sell your house any time soon, you'll enjoy living in it more if it's designed how you want it, if it’s as big as you need it, and if it’s fixed and functional.

If you're weighing the pros and cons of remodeling now versus waiting a while longer, consider this:

1. The housing market has stabilized. You can stop worrying that you'll never be able to sell your house or that its value will keep dropping indefinitely. One way we in the housing industry know this: The market for second homes has started to take off. Once that happens, it's a good sign that the market for primary homes is in a good place. Fixing up your home when the market is good makes sense, whether you're planning to sell it or hang on to it for a few more years.

2. For the first time in years, homeowners can expect a pretty high return on investment on home improvements, according to the past couple of years’ worth of Cost vs. Value Reports published by Remodeling magazine. The annual research report says that if you were to renovate your kitchen and then put your home on the market, you could recoup nearly 70 percent of what you spent on it. A bathroom remodel would reap almost 60 percent at resale. Replacing worn-out entry doors, siding, garage doors and windows could pay off if you sell your home, as could adding an outdoor deck or an attic bedroom, the reports suggests.

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3. Interest rates are still low. I work with lots of families that are taking advantage of the low rates on home-equity lines of credit to pay for home improvements. That way, they get the money inexpensively, and they might even be able to deduct the interest from their income taxes. Interest rates are starting to sneak back up, though, so don't wait too long to make your move.

4. Same goes for the price of lumber, appliances, granite and other remodeling materials. Their prices are still affordable, and the products are still mostly available. But as the market for new homes continues to grow, those materials will cost more and be harder to get your hands on. The sooner you start your project, the less the materials are likely to cost you.

5. Likewise, it's still fairly easy to hire a qualified, licensed remodeler for your project without having to wait months and months to start the job because the contractor is overbooked. But the waiting lines are starting to form.

As you start crossing projects off of your remodeling wish list, consider whether you're hoping to sell your home in the next year or if you're going to continue living in it indefinitely.

If you're moving soon, stick to basics like freshening the paint, repairing the roof and updating your electrical and plumbing systems. Upgrades to your home's "curb appeal"—that is, visible improvements to the outside of the house—will will get you the highest return on investment, the Remodeling report notes.

If you're not going anywhere any time soon, though, a kitchen or whole-house remodel, a bigger master bedroom suite or an extra bedroom will allow you to enjoy a more beautiful or more spacious home while you live in it, and then up your selling price when you're ready to move later on.

Remodeling can increase your home’s resale value

Any remodeling project is worth the money if it makes your home more comfortable and your family happier. But some renovations are more worth it than others if you compare how much they cost to complete with how much of that money you can recoup when you sell your house.


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This “cost-to-value” ratio—“cost” is how much you pay for the job; “value” is what percentage of that cost you could recoup at resale—was pretty low from 2006 to 2012 because housing prices were off. But for the past couple of years, the value of remodeling is up in all of the 35 categories measured by Remodeling magazine, which publishes an annual Cost vs. Value Report.

The home improvements that reap the most at resale: replacing the front door (homeowners get back an average of 96.6 percent of the sales price); adding a wood deck (87.4 percent) or composite deck (74.3 percent); putting a bedroom in the attic (84.3 percent); getting a new garage door (83.7 percent).

Other good values: upscale roof replacement (72.5 percent); foyer renovations (70.7 percent); bathroom makeover (72.5 percent); and back-up power generators (65.7 percent).

The higher the selling price of an existing home, the higher the payback on the owner’s investment in remodeling, the report notes. And average home resale values rose by 11.5 percent since 2012, Remodeling reports, so it’s a good bet you’ll get much of your money back from your upgrades if you put your house on the market while home prices are healthy.

The report also reveals large remodeling projects saw greater year-over-year gains in resale value since 2012 than piecemeal changes—although the most expensive projects are not necessarily bringing in the highest resale prices. And replacing doors, windows and siding seem to be a good investment before selling a home.

A kitchen remodel—even a high-end one—the report notes, will help inch the selling price of your home up more than a bathroom renovation.

That’s not to say, of course, that someone who is dying to live in a house with a fabulous master bathroom won’t pay top dollar for the one you just had remodeled, or that a new home office won’t be the deciding factor for a buyer who is looking for a house with just such a room.

In fact, among JEB Design/Build’s clients, kitchen and bathroom remodels are the most popular both for homeowners who intend to stay put for many years and for those who hope to sell their homes in the next year.

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Plus, the Remodeling report notes, homeowners who take on large remodeling projects and home additions often use the opportunity to upgrade the house’s energy efficiency by replacing inefficient kitchen appliances, lighting and air conditioning systems. Upgrading your home’s energy efficiency is likely to improve your home’s value and its desirability to buyers.

Still, resale value isn’t the only consideration—or even the most important one—when you remodel, especially if you’re not planning to move any time soon. What’s most important is the livability of your home for your family, for as long as you live in it.

Listen to your heart when you choose remodeling projects

Sometimes, the reasons that lead homeowners to remodel are emotional. And from my standpoint, it’s not such a bad idea to follow your heart when choosing your projects.

Here are six very personal—and quite valid—reasons why you might want to start to renovate, expand, upgrade, update or retrofit your home.

1. Shame. Have you ever invited friends over and prayed they wouldn’t notice the hole that your bathroom doorknob poked into the wall or shoot each other a critical glance when they see your kitchen’s original linoleum countertop? Do you avoid having company at all because all of your friends seem to have beautiful stainless steel kitchen appliances, granite countertops, tile backsplashes and finished wood floors, while your home is still rocking a mismatched set of off-white appliances and 20-year-old, wall-to-wall carpet?

Many of our JEB Design/Build clients have thanked us for so nicely giving them our opinion about the state of their home, and then helping them to update what’s important to them.

At JEB Design/Build, we pride ourselves on putting you in a position to be proud of showing off your home. If the state of your space embarrasses you, makes you feel foolish or sets you up as the object of neighborhood gossip, do something about it. Freshen the look of your home by updating appliances, faucets, countertops, flooring and even the color of the walls.

2. Anger and resentment. Do you and your spouse or children fight over who gets to use the bathroom first every morning? Are you stumbling over each other in the kitchen while one person is cooking and another is trying to find enough space to chop veggies for tonight’s salad?


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An extra bathroom has saved a lot of marriages. My wife, Robin, and I have separate sinks, and we’ve been married for 37 years! Now, I’m not saying that’s the only reason why, but it sure helps, especially because she squeezes the toothpaste the wrong way. (She says I’m the one who does!)

A separate bathroom for the kids has saved a lot of families from running late every morning for school and work. Even an extra sink in the master suite can save a couple from blaming each other for misplaced items or for making a mess that the other one has to clean up when it’s his or her turn at the mirror.

Ease your household stress by creating enough space for each member of the family to have a little bit of privacy and elbow room. Adding a bathroom is the best way to start. Follow that by enlarging the kitchen.

3. Envy. Do your favorite neighbors have something in their home that you believe could solve a problem in yours or make you happier in general? Maybe you would like to entertain as much as they do, but you don’t have a patio that’s roomy enough for both a big grill and a dining area. Or perhaps you’d love to have a “man cave” like theirs so you can hang a giant TV there and isolate the noise and activity that’s inevitable when the guys get together to watch the LSU Tigers or your teenagers gather to play video games.

Turn those feelings of envy into a problem-solver. Think about how remodeling or adding a room to your home might solve a social, logistical or privacy problem. Observe how your friends and neighbors have overcome the same issues in their own houses, and ask your contractor to help you come up with something similar that will work for your family’s lifestyle.

4. Revenge. Ever heard the adage: “Living well is the best revenge?” What better way is there to “stick it” to people who predicted you would fail in your career or your life than to live in a home that makes them envious?

Show off your success by making your home a showpiece. You don’t have to spend millions on a new home; renovating your existing place is far less expensive but can result in something equally as opulent.

6. Fear. Looking forward to living in a nursing home some day? Let me tell you about my friend—she’s in her mid-70s—who tripped over a throw rug in her house, hit her head on the coffee table and spent two nights in the hospital. Her kids are pressuring her to move out of the family home where she raised them and into an “independent living” apartment building that has optional nursing care. In her mid-70s!

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She’s not about to move. So instead, she’s remodeling her home so she can live in it safely and comfortably during her golden years.

Even if you’re relatively young, remodeling is an opportunity to get your house ready for anything that might happen: a broken leg, a permanent disability that requires someone at home to use a wheelchair, the arrival of an aging parent whom you’ve invited to move in.

Again, start with the bathroom. At least one of yours should be large enough for someone in a wheelchair to roll into and turn around in. Its doorways should be extra-wide. The tub should be replaced with a curbless shower that has a built-in seat and grab bars—or at least reinforced walls that can support grab bars when the time comes. The vanity should have enough leg room underneath for someone to use it while seated.

Don’t fear the unknown; prepare for it.

Remodel for aesthetics, comfort—and energy savings

Whether the outdoor temperature is unbearably hot—as it so often is in Louisiana—or cold enough for us to turn the heat on inside, I’m reminded that one of the best reasons to remodel is often the last thing on a homeowner’s mind when it’s time to redesign, replace and redecorate: energy efficiency.

Whether you’re updating your kitchen, enlarging your bathroom, adding onto the back of the home or doing a whole-house overhaul to bring it into the 21st century, it’s a good idea to incorporate energy-saving features and products into the project.

You might as well. If you’re tearing into the walls anyway, why not bolster the insulation? If you’re replacing kitchen and laundry room appliances anyway, why not buy new ones that will cut your energy bills?

Here is JEB Design/Build’s list of 10 ways to make your remodeling project do double duty as an energy-efficiency effort:

1. Install LED fixtures wherever you need light: on ceilings, on walls, under kitchen counters and even along stairs. LEDs use up to 75 percent less energy than traditional light bulbs and last up to 25 times longer. As LED technology has caught on among homeowners, manufacturers have come out with an extensive array of attractive fixtures.


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2. Move your refrigerator away from the stove. As you remodel your kitchen, rearrange the placement of the appliances so anything that produces heat—like your oven or stovetop—is far away from the refrigerator. The more heat in the air around the fridge, the harder it has to work to keep your food cold. The harder it works, the more it costs you to operate it. A bonus: You’ll wind up creating better “traffic flow” so it’s easier to work in the kitchen.

3. Replace your air conditioning system. If yours is more than a decade old, a new one is just about guaranteed to be more energy efficient. Plus, too many homes have HVAC systems that are either too large or too small for the space and the family’s lifestyle. Replacing your old unit with an ultra-efficient, properly sized one is a huge money-saver, especially in Louisiana, where humidity is a big issue. An improperly sized unit can raise indoor humidity, which can lead to mold and deteriorate your home.

4. Double up on window panes. Most older homes in our neck of the woods were built with single-pane windows, which do very little to keep out the heat in the summer and the cold in the winter. Double-pane windows can save you up to 18 percent on your summer cooling bills. It will take a lot of years for that savings to add up to the price of new windows, of course, but in the meantime, your family will be more comfortable. A bonus: Double-pane windows keep out noise and dust, so your home will be quieter and cleaner.

5. Add insulation. Whenever a contractor is poking around the inside of the walls or ceilings or attic of your home, have your insulation checked. The older your home is, the more likely that it was built with too little insulation or that the insulation has become detached from walls, ceilings and floors—and isn’t doing a good job of keeping the weather outdoors anymore. We have so many more options for insulation these days than when my father built houses 40 years ago.

6. Get a programmable thermostat. In most homes, it’s easy to swap out an older thermostat with one that you can program to turn the a/c up a bit just as everyone is leaving the house for the day—and then lower it to your comfort zone just before the family gets home in the evening. For every degree you crank up the a/c for at least eight hours, you can save 1 percent on your cooling bill. A programmable thermostat makes sure you never forget to crank it up.

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7. Run the ceiling fans. Don’t have any? Ask your contractor to install them in the kitchen, bedrooms, family room and porches. Choose the most efficient models among Energy Star-rated fans, as they’re more than five times more efficient than unrated ones. On days when it’s not too awfully hot outdoors, you can run the fans instead of the a/c, and fans cost less to operate. On days when you need the a/c, a fan will allow you to turn the thermostat up a notch because the circulating air will make your family feel cooler at a higher temperature.

8. Choose Energy Star appliances. I don’t know too many homeowners who don’t replace all of their appliances when they remodel the kitchen. As long as you’re buying new ones, choose a refrigerator, freezer and dishwasher with the Energy Star label, which guarantees they are among the most efficient appliances on the market.

9. Consider adding skylights. In rooms where your family hangs out the most during the day—the family room, kitchen and home office, for instance—a skylight invites natural daylight into the room, so you don’t have to turn the electric lights on as often.

I know skylights have a bad reputation for leaking, but the designs have vastly improved. Plus, we at JEB Design/Build have found that when we take the time to property “flash” the skylights (that’s contactor lingo for adding metal strips and sealing to keep the rain out) so they will never leak.

10. Shade the house on the sunny side. Strategically placed shade trees can reduce your home’s energy consumption by up to 30 percent. The LSU AgCenter recommends planting large, leafy trees on the south and west sides of your house to shade the roof and walls, and evergreens on the north to block cold winter winds.

QUICK RECAP:

Fixing up your existing home could make you happier than moving

to a new one.

A good design/build remodeler can find ways to add stylish storage

space to a home of any size.

Smart remodeling can increase the sales price of your home.

Remodeling has a way of making a homeowner proud.


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CHAPTER 9

WHY JEB?

It’s time to start remodeling

If you’ve read this far, you know I’m just as serious about planning and mutual trust as I am about design and construction.

And if you’ve read this far, I’m guessing you like what you’ve learned about me, my process, my philosophy and my team.

I’m hoping you’ve also read this far because you would like to partner with me on your upcoming home remodeling project.

But before you decide to do business with me, please verify my credentials. Here’s what I’ll share with you when you visit my showroom or call my office to set up an appointment:

I’ll give you a list of homeowners who have hired me to do the same kind of project you want me to do for you. You can call them and ask them about me if you want to.

My license number from the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors is 81963.

My firm has twice been recognized for excellence in customer service with the Guild Quality GuildMaster Award.

My company, JEB Design/Build, was proud to earn the coveted Angie’s List Super Service Award in 2012.

The Better Business Bureau of Central Louisiana and the Ark-La-Tex has given JEB Design/Build an A+ rating.

I’m a third-generation Shreveport builder. I took over my father’s company in 1983 after he passed away.

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I’d like to say you can trust me (because my clients tell me they do), but that’s something you have to determine for yourself. Let’s set up a meeting so we can check each other out!

Before we start, let’s get to know each other.

In fact, a bunch of people on my team would like to meet you. And we’d like you to meet us.

Our early meetings will give you the information and time you’ll need to figure out if we’re the right remodeling partner for you.

Here’s a quick rundown of what you can expect once you choose JEB Design/Build to help you build your new life:

Step 1: You’ll talk to someone who will really listen to you. Ask for Stacy when you call the office for the first time. Stacy loves to chat with homeowners about their vision and their plans, and she’ll address any concerns you have about schedules, timing and your budget. You can reach Stacy at (318) 865-4914.

Step 2. We’ll come to your house. This is where the fun starts. If you invite me or one of my award-winning designers to your home, we’ll talk more about your ideas and start taking measurements and photos.

Step 3. We’ll create a plan for your project and propose a “working” budget. It’s really not possible to predict, down to the penny, how much a renovation will cost, especially at this early stage of the process. So our estimator will give you a price range that includes a minimum charge and a maximum charge that could be several thousand dollars apart. That way, you’ll get a pretty good idea of how much it will cost to turn your vision into reality -- without locking you or your designers into a specific design too soon. A more specific quote will come later.

If you’re comfortable with the price range we propose, and you like what you’ve seen so far, we’ll ask you to sign a Partner Plan Agreement and pay a retainer fee of about 5 percent of the initial estimated project cost.

And if you’re not happy with us at this point, you can walk away and pay nothing.

This is getting exciting, right? And it’s making a lot of sense.

Taking some time to get to know each other builds trust on both sides—before you sign any agreements or write any checks.

This is time well spent. In fact, participating in this planning and design process could be the best investment you ever make in your home . . . and in your dream for your “new” life.


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Step 4. Your team will create a design for you. If you haven’t already met me by this time, you will during this phase. I’m a designer and builder with a degree in architecture plus an MBA. So I’ll be hands-on with your project. You’ll also meet with our very creative interior designer a few more times during this phase to pick out stuff like cabinets, faucets and tile.

Step 5. You’ll approve the design and the budget. We know how hard it is to choose just one design after we’ve shown you so many tempting possibilities! But in this step, that’s what you will have to do!

Once you settle on a design that you love, your team will be able to give you a specific price quote and schedule, and you’ll sign a construction agreement and make another deposit.

Step 6. We’ll prepare to start working on your home. This is when all of the behind-the-scenes work happens. We’ll create a detailed schedule for our team, with your input, of course. We’ll order all of the materials -- from the carpet, paint and countertops that our interior designer helped you pick out, to the stuff that you’ll never see, like framing lumber and adhesives.

We’ll also hire any specialty subcontractors we need -- so you won’t have to bother trying to find a granite fabricator, plumber or anyone else to do any of the work on the side. We do everything for you.

Step 7. You’ll meet the team that will do the construction. A personal project leader will be assigned to supervise your job and will be at your house on a regular basis. He will be your point of contact for all questions, concerns and change orders.

And finally, construction can begin.

To get to this point takes anywhere from one month to five months, depending on how complicated the project is and how ready you are to get started.

In a rush? I might not be the right pro for you.

If you’ll indulge me just for a moment, I’ll brag just a little here. No other company can beat mine for on-time delivery. So while it might seem like my process will make the project take longer, it rarely does because my up-front planning means I don’t have to tack days and weeks onto the end of the job.

The fact is: We spend more time up front, but the payoff is a faster construction time with fewer errors. I found out a long time ago that if I delivered a project on time, when I promised I would, that my clients would respond by giving my firm top ratings on the GuildQuality survey of customer satisfaction.

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So the time this takes really isn’t as long as it seems. And I hope it’s pretty clear that Jeb Design/Build believes planning, communication and homeowner satisfaction are the most important parts of a remodeling project, isn’t it?

Step 8. We’ll start the construction. We’ll begin on the scheduled start date. Your personal project leader will give you a progress report at least once a week . . . or more often, if you want.

During construction, we’ll disrupt your family as little as possible. We promise to protect your belongings and clean up after ourselves.

Construction usually takes between four and eight weeks, depending how much work you’re having done.

I promise: It will be worth the wait!

Step 9. Your sparkling clean, beautifully designed new space is ready. Of course, it’s not ready until you say it’s ready.

It’s your home and your money. You have the final say.

Your Jeb Design/Build team is proud of its reputation as a remodeler that completes every job on time and on budget.

Once construction stops, your personal project manager will invite you to take a final walk through your renovated space with a list of items to check off as you inspect the work and deem it completed to your satisfaction.

If you see something that’s not right, we will make it right. That’s our promise. Our goal is your complete satisfaction. Only then will we accept your final payment.

I can offer you Shreveport’s best home remodeling value.

By now you know that I love both the designing and construction sides of my business; that planning and excellent customer service are my top priorities; and that the MBA I earned at LSU way back when taught me that the value you get for your remodeling dollars must be as important to me as it is to you.

The JEB Design/Build process isn’t rushed and it isn’t inexpensive. Instead, it’s thoughtful, careful, professional, reasonably priced and comprehensive.

I believe … and my clients tell me … that I offer the best home remodeling value in Shreveport.

I just have to share this amazing endorsement from John in Shreveport,


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who wrote to me after I remodeled his home:

“I think the highest compliment that can be paid to a contractor is that after the completion of the project, he and the customer are not only still friends and speaking, but are planning their next project together. We can definitely say that about our long-term relationship with you and your company.”

And another one, from Theresa, another Louisiana homeowner, who wrote this on Angie’s List:

“Some think Jeb is the most expensive in town, but when it comes down to it, he isn’t. You get top-quality work and no additional costs as you go along, and the schedule is firm.”

Thanks, John and Theresa, and all of my other homeowner-clients who have partnered with me over the years for a happy home remodeling experience—for them and for me.

If you don’t live in Louisiana, I hope the advice you’ve read in my book will help you find a remodeler like me in your community—someone who takes the time to get to know you, your concerns and your dreams for your home, and who respects your home, your time, your hard-earned money, your comfort and your feelings.

If you do, I hope you’ll call me right away. Here’s where you’ll find me:

JEB Design/Build

1220 Pierremont Road Shreveport, LA 71106

Tel: (318) 865-4914 Email: [email protected]

When you call, ask for a free copy of my very timely and special book, titled “Step-by-Step: A Guide to Designing, Building or Remodeling Your Dream Home.” You’ll find 80 more pages of detailed advice, hints and tips for how to turn your house into your dream home. It’s yours, absolutely free!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeb Breithaupt is the president of JEB Design/Build, a second-generation remodeling company in Shreveport, La., and of JEB Marketing, a consulting firm specializing in marketing and business coaching for home-improvement contractors.

Jeb took over the family remodeling business in 1983, after his father, Joe, who started the company in 1953, passed away. With a bachelor’s degree in architecture and an MBA, Jeb has combined his passion for design with his head for business to build on his father’s success and create a $2 million company with a solid reputation for design creativity, dependability and superior craftsmanship. The company has won dozens of prestigious awards, including an Angie’s List Super Service Award in 2012.

His success has led his peers in the building and remodeling industries to seek him out for advice about how to improve the profitability, efficiency and reputations of their own businesses. In response, Jeb founded JEB Marketing in 2013.

Jeb is often quoted in construction-industry trade publications, including BUILDER, Remodeler and EcoHome, and in his hometown newspaper, The Shreveport Times, which publishes his weekly column for homeowners on home-improvement topics. He also has been a columnist for Remodeling magazine and a blogger for BUILDER.

Jeb is well-known in the art world for his copper plate etchings depicting Louisiana and its culture, which he has sold in 45 states, Canada and overseas. He lives in Shreveport, where he and his wife, Robin, a family therapist, raised their three children.

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