PLAN FOR REMODELING
Five key questions to demystify home renewal
-- from personal vision to budgeting and beyond

By Joe DeCredico

It has been said that marriage and moving are the two most stressful events in life. Rank remodeling your home right up there as well. Unknown issues and conditions, gaps in information, and misconceptions about costs and schedules can all lead to an exasperating experience.

Identifying what to be concerned about, what type of professionals to hire, and how to evaluate costs and schedule are all vital to creating a successful project and limiting the stress.

Everyone involved in the process -- homeowners, design and building professionals, neighbors, and city staff -- has their own set of questions to ask each other and themselves along the way to ensure a successful project.

Based on our 20 years of remodeling homes throughout Northern California, we offer some vital questions of our own to help demystify the renewal process for homeowners -- and minimize those feelings of exasperation. As you approach your next remodeling project, your answers to these and other basic planning questions hopefully will help to steer you successfully from beginning to end.

1. What community restrictions will have an effect on my home renewal project?

Before beginning any project, it is important to understand your constraints. Does your community have design restrictions regulating what you can build, or the materials and colors you can use? What are the required front, side, and rear yard setback requirements for your property? What is the maximum area of your site that can be built upon?

The answers to these questions will define the physical limits of a project. In extreme instances, variances are sometimes granted to exceed the limitations, but these cases are rare, and often costly. If a homeowners or community association has enforceable codes, covenants, or restrictions (CC&R's), they are documented and available through the association. Be aware that CC&R's are sometimes open to interpretation, and as a result, communication with the association approving body should be an early priority.

A city or county zoning ordinance will also define size, setback, and height limitations. A simple sketch of the property boundaries, the location of the existing house, and the improvements you are contemplating can be presented at an informal meeting with a local planning and zoning office. These meetings can yield a wealth of valuable information and represent a critical first step in understanding your project's constraints.

2. What is it I want to achieve with my project?

Are you looking for more space, better finishes, a different layout? What is your vision? This very important consideration will provide the basis for ensuring that you start your project off on the right foot with a process for allocating your budget, hiring the right professionals, and defining your opportunities and constraints.

If better or different finishes are the goal, you will undertake a very different process than if you want more space or a different home interior layout. A project that involves only finishes may not require any neighborhood or city approvals, and may require a specialized professional, such as a lighting designer, kitchen consultant, interior designer, or none at all.

If your goal is more space or a reconfigured space, chances are you will need an architect, and perhaps even a structural engineer. In this case, your process will begin with a program, budget, vision, and an understanding of the site and community constraints. Once a direction is determined, drawings will need to be prepared for community and/or city approvals, and for estimating and construction.

3. Do I need an architect or a contractor, or both?

Simply said, architects and related designers (kitchen, lighting, and interior) are hired to design the scope of changes and specify materials. General contractors and subcontractors are hired to source and purchase materials, construct the improvements, and manage the construction process. There are many variations to this division of roles, but as a starting point for knowing whom to contact for your project, understanding these traditional breakdowns is helpful.

If you need community design approval or a building permit, want to look at different options of space layouts or finishes, or have ideas that you want to test with professional feedback, consult an architect or design professional. If you have a clear vision already in place, and need someone to implement your ideas, or if you are merely doing repairs, replacement, or upgrades, you will likely be better served by going directly to a contractor.

Sometimes you will find design/build firms that do both processes competently, but they are rare. In any case, it is advisable to have both the architect and contractor for a project communicating with the owner as early as possible in the project.

4. What is my budget?

How much money am I prepared to spend? What should I budget for cost increases and time delays throughout the life of the project?

When preparing a budget for a project, keep in mind that there are both costs for the construction (called hard costs), and costs for design, city approvals, testing, and supervision (soft costs). A good rule of thumb is to allocate approximately 25 to 30 percent of the budget to soft costs and the remainder to hard costs for those projects that include design and city approvals.

Another important factor is to have an understanding of the cost of construction in today's market. Prices for all materials and systems that use petroleum in their process skyrocketed recently. The biggest increases we have seen are in concrete, steel, aluminum windows, and anything made of plastic.

Currently custom remodels in Northern California are routinely being estimated between $350 and $500 per square foot. You may be able to bring down this price, but you may also be sacrificing the quality you desire in the process. In any case, no one wants to be surprised by the contractors' estimate, so understanding the high side of your budget early is important when starting a project.

While avoiding unplanned costs and unforeseen time delays are two primary concerns, nearly every project has both. Such surprises can come when your contractor opens a wall to find dry rot; when you discover that in the two months following the original bid, the price of concrete rose 25 percent; or when you change your mind about a design aspect during the project, etc.

In larger projects, it is wise to build a five to ten percent budget contingency into the budget. This is not money you should expect to get back if everything goes well; expect to spend it during the life of the project. Competent design and contracting professionals routinely build in contingencies for both cost increases and time delays. Owners should also be prepared.

5. Why avoid the temptation to add on to my project?

Once the vision and budget are set for a project, and the architect, designer, or contractor is hired, the process begins for design, and selecting and sourcing of materials. A competent professional will be able to design to your budget, and will inform you when you have ideas and desires that exceed the budget.

Two common areas where projects exceed budgets are when an overzealous design or contracting professional suggests ideas or materials that are outside the budget, and when an owner adds new ideas and changes to the project after the initial design has been priced out.

The simple act of adding a window to a project has the potential to increase a homeowner's costs beyond the mere price of the window. Structural framing and finish materials, as well as possible redrawing and revised Title 24 energy calculations, are costs that can accompany such a seemingly simple change.

A successful remodel project requires both discipline and open communication from everyone involved to stay on budget.

Photos: David Toerge

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