Does a Stress-Free Home Renovation Exist?
Let’s just rip the Band-aid off shall we: the short answer is, no. A stress-free home renovation most likely just doesn’t exist. BUT, that being said, there are ways that can help to reduce and manage your stress during a renovation. Top of the list? Hiring the right designer, of course. But as someone who has personally been through multiple renovation projects, not to mention standing alongside our clients through all of their own projects, I have collected plenty of experience and observations over the years that I am happy to share.
Acceptance
Before you even get started, just accept that something will not go to plan. Sometimes that’s a big something and sometimes it’s a small something … but there is always something.
Here are a few of the unique challenges we’ve worked through over the years:
A lighting order, which had already been backordered, being on a truck that ended up in an accident en route to Canada, which then delayed the lighting arrival by another 6 weeks.
Opening up the concrete floor in a basement to add a footing for a new beam, only to find standing water below the basement (!) resulting in several weeks’ delay to the project, a second sump pump being added to the home, and a visit from a geotechnical engineer.
A key tradesperson passing away unexpectedly the day before he was scheduled to start work on our project.
Asbestos. Nothing delays a project or eats up your contingency quite like it.
Plumbing rough-in being installed incorrectly and not caught until after the tile was installed, which meant ripping out the tile and waterproofing, ordering more of the special order tile, and redoing a lot of work after the mistake was resolved.
A countertop manufacturer having an issue with the equipment that creates the quartz option we’d chosen, so we had to pivot and install a temporary laminate countertop and sink as we waited several months to get the new one, delaying final sink and tile installations.
A contractor shutting down their business with essentially no notice, leaving the project in limbo mid-renovation and our team using all of our contacts and goodwill to help get the project back on track.
Finding improperly installed (and live) electrical in a wall and needing to open more of the walls to re-run the electrical that wasn’t planned for.
With a little luck, your unplanned surprises will be far less dramatic than some of these examples, but when it comes to home renovations, that old adage really is true: it’s best to expect the unexpected.
Good Planning & Hiring Professionals
First and foremost, the right planning can go a long way to avoiding surprises, minimizing stress and ensuring that you’re aware of the areas where there is more risk for a surprise to occur. This means having a comprehensive design plan, all of your fixtures and finishes chosen, detailed drawings, lead times, construction timelines, dependencies and more.
Whether you’re a DIYer or a hire it out kind of person, we highly recommend working with a design team to prepare the foundations of your plan with you. Our area of expertise is the layout, flow and function of a space along with ensuring a cohesive look and feel throughout the home. We keep up to date on what products are available in the marketplace, design standards, new technology and more. We have an extensive network within the industry which can come in handy when those stressful situations pop up and since problem solving is one of our strengths - we’re great to keep around during implementation too. You’ll want to consult with a structural engineer for any structural changes or questions. A general contractor can be great at organizing and managing the implementation of your project. And of course, there are all of our amazing trades who are experts in their fields - from electricians and plumbers to wallpaper installers, tile setters and finish carpenters.
In my ideal situation, clients work with our team first to create the design plan and finalize selections (you can read more on this here). If you’re doing the work yourself, you’ll then have a comprehensive roadmap to work from. If you’re hiring the work out, this ensures that the scope is clear and the contractor / trades know what level of finishes to expect, so they can provide an accurate quote. In our experience, starting from the other side, where a contractor quotes you first on a general scope and a general level of finishing, can lead to a lot of stress. While we’ll always try to work within the budget the contractor has provided for the project, we’ve yet to have a project that started with contractor quotes where what our client wanted actually fit within the budget. Psychologically, I find it’s easier to know how much the exact thing you want costs, and then look for alternatives to lower the price if needed, rather than working with a ballpark, overall price for the renovation and then possibly (probably) finding out you need to increase the budget to get what you actually want.
The level of detail in general that goes into a renovation project also needs to be properly managed. We utilize specific software to document every single finish, fixture and furnishing for a project. It’s live online, and available for clients and trades to view. We can include installation instructions, pricing, SKUs, links and more, to ensure that the right item gets ordered and its specifications are accounted for during construction. We create detailed drawings to ensure the design intent is maintained, and we stick around during implementation so that we can answer any questions that may come up, or to problem solve any of those surprises we mentioned earlier. We also find that projects run smoother with contractors that also use great software to track progress, share invoices, maintain a live schedule and more.
Communication
We’re big fans of communication over here. Lack of communication is extremely stressful for the homeowners and is one of the most frequent complaints we hear about in the industry — and to be honest, it’s the one we harp on about the most with our contractors and trades. Good communication is easy and it goes a long way, but sadly isn’t always the norm in our industry. So it’s important to ensure that the team you’re working with has clear, set standards for communications. Some of our favourite standards are:
Weekly updates, including what has been completed, what’s on the schedule for the following week, any risks or issues to be aware of, and if there are any decisions that need to be made.
All discussions are documented and shared with the appropriate parties. This might mean using email or another written communication platform exclusively, and/or ensuring that all in-person discussions and phone calls are summarized and emailed to ensure everyone is on the same page.
Regularly updated project timeline and timely change requests.
Open and transparent quoting and pricing (if you’re getting a quote for your renovation project that isn’t broken down into at least summary line items with costs or doesn’t have a very detailed scope of what’s included and what’s not included, that’s not okay).
Timely notification of changes, issues or delays, AND a commitment to come to the table with alternatives or other resolution options as soon as possible.
And if you’re still living on-site during the renovation, ensuring you know when trades will be on-site and setting crystal clear boundaries for work hours. Your home is your home, first and foremost.
Trust
Look for designers, contractors and trades that are transparent and open in their processes. On our side, we are there to design for our clients and to always keep their best interests at heart - first and foremost. We incorporate your needs and desires into the design for your home - ensuring it functions the way you want it to and looks its best too. We want to ensure that our clients know our recommendations are made for them, and not based on any other factors. This means we’re selecting the brand for your plumbing fixtures based on the function and look you ultimately want, and not based on trends or our own biases or motives. And you should feel as confident in the motives and trustworthiness of every other person involved in your home renovation project. This is also why we recommend working with an independent designer than say, an in-house designer at a kitchen supplier who may also have the needs of their employer, commissions and sales targets to consider. An independent designer, should ensure you’re seen and heard within your truly customized design, and that you have an unbiased expert to talk you through where to splurge and where to save. Plus we work with a variety of suppliers, and can help you select one that best suits your needs and the design.
How you feel about your home is foundational to how you feel in so many areas of your life. It’s worth the extra time and consideration to really be sure that your partners in this process can be trusted with your home and your money.
Perspective
We’ve already talked about the fact that there will be surprises during your renovation, and one of the ways I help our clients move through these challenges (and the design process in general) is to discuss perspective. When an issue comes up that could impact budget, or that might mean sacrificing a few nice-to-have items, I always have my clients think about how they’ll feel about the decision in five years’ time. (I also wrote a whole blog post on this here.) While a $3000 increase to your budget may feel like a lot now, is downgrading your fixture quality to offset that increase going to feel like the right decision in five years? Or are you going to regret not getting the fixtures you love because that $3000 will be negligible for future you? Only you’ll know the answer to that; the point is that providing yourself with some big-picture context can often help separate your thoughts from the immediate stressor, and allow you to make a more confident decision.
In Conclusion
So while, yes, your next home renovation is almost certainly going to involve some amount of stress, we hope these recommendations can help you to feel more secure and confident in your ability to weather the storm. Our team is always here to provide this kind of personal perspective and guidance through the entire process, from step one.
If you’re ready to embark on a home renovation adventure of your own, we are ready and waiting to guide you through that experience. Get in touch to discuss everything we can do for you during a complimentary 20 min Discovery Call on Zoom!