In fact, it’s true that most of the stories you hear about home renovations are filled with stories about cost overruns, poor workmanship, delays, and even lawsuits. This is pretty typical and there are actually a number of good reasons why problems occur.
Most homeowners have little or no construction experience and even less experience dealing with contractors.
Unfortunately, a high percentage of residential renovation contractors are underqualified, underfunded, and have questionable work ethics. Many of these people literally operate out of the back of their truck while faking a real business operation. Despite this, some of them end up doing a decent, if not good, job when all is said and done.
The biggest and most consistent problem in this scenario is, frankly, the owner’s desire to trust verbal descriptions of the project as he sees it and the contractor’s promises to get him what he wants for a mutually agreeable price. There is typically little project documentation beyond a standard form agreement that is typically created and submitted by the contractor. The landlord knows that a lawyer will charge a good fee to review the document and will probably add a lot of legal jargon to justify his fee, which will complicate the situation. Again, the homeowner honestly wants to trust that the contractor is honest and competent and will perform as agreed, so he ends up signing the agreement in writing assuming all will be well. Little does he know that this contract, created by or for the contractor, is not only extremely vague regarding the project at hand, but also heavily biases in favor of the contractor in virtually any potential disagreement or conflict. Often, a lack of sufficient verbiage offers the implication or inference that the contractor is the professional in this situation, so the contractor’s interpretation of almost anything related to the project will be the correct one. If you’re a homeowner planning a home renovation, this should make you very nervous (and cautious).
So how can you, the homeowner, at least minimize your exposure and maximize your control over the outcome of the project? In a nutshell, the answer is “define your project”. This is something you should do well in advance of your first meeting with a contractor. Essentially, the process is to describe what you want your project to include or be in as much detail as possible. Obviously, different people will have different ways of describing things. While a drawing or set of drawings is probably the best and most reliable method of describing your project, not all homeowners are equipped to create meaningful drawings of this nature. You can hire an architect, engineer, or even an expert draftsman to do it for you, but the cost of doing it right can be prohibitive depending on your budget and the size of your proposed project. The alternative is, of course, a verbal description of what you imagine. This obviously needs to be done in writing, although you can use a portable tape recorder to get started. Essentially, you would start in one of the areas to be renovated and describe, in as much detail as possible, what you expect. This would include removing walls, doors, windows, etc., possibly raising roofs, moving electrical devices, cabinets, etc., etc. At the same time, you would describe the finished product you envision. It is important to keep demolition items (removal items) and new construction items or descriptions separate to avoid confusion. As you walk through the area to be renovated doing this, make sure you are reasonably methodical and consistent in your approach.
When this procedure is complete, it’s often best to step away from it for a day or two and then return to looking at the overview. At this point it is important that you step back as objectively and critically as possible and try to make sure that your description is clear and concise and that the path of what you described as you walk through the “project area” is logical.
Then, if you really want to be sure you did what you think you did, ask your spouse or a friend who has never seen the description to look it over and see if they can follow the description and understand what you’re looking for. It is important to ask them to be very objective and to tell you anything in the description that might be unclear, ambiguous or just plain ‘dumb’. An objective review by an uninvolved and unbiased party is an excellent check.
This process could save you untold amounts of money in cost overruns and a lot of hassle related to what you intended and what the contractor says you agreed to do.
Having generated, tested and validated your project description, you are now ready to meet with a contractor. The description you generated along with any mutually agreed upon modifications should ultimately be attached to your contract or written agreement with the contractor as an official “exhibit document.”
