Home Renovation Part 15: Lessons Learnt

The previous Blog entries list the obvious things you should do (pick a good architect and a capable general contractor, work with the recommended suppliers and subcontractors, avoid surprises, etc). I would like to mention the non-obvious lessons here.

• Treat the home renovation as your temporary part-time job if you want the project to end quickly. In my experience, you and your spouse may spend about two days a week for the entire duration of the project to ensure that it is done right and on time.
• If you and your spouse plan to keep working full time during the project, it is essential that your architect will supervise the work a few times a week. The architect should also verify that you got the correct items you ordered before they are installed (tiles, wallpaper, carpets, etc). You will pay more to avoid many problems down the road.
  
• Never template a cabinet that is not fully installed. Otherwise the countertop may not match the installed cabinet or the overhang will be incorrect.
• If a supplier promises that something will be done by a certain day of the week (like "next Monday"), ask him to confirm the calendar date ("So it is going to be ready by September 8th?"). In this way the supplier cannot claim that you did not understand him when it is not ready by Monday.
• You should verify that all of the items that you ordered for the house (tiles, carpets, wallpaper, borders, sinks, faucets, accessories, light fixtures, etc.) are correct as early as possible, and definitely before they are installed. If you find a discrepancy, you should replace the items promptly so they will not cause a delay.
  
• Read about my experience with forwarding mail before you consider it.
• If you order pre-assembled furniture, you must always ask for delivery to the room where it will stay. Some companies will deliver furniture across your threshold, but will not carry it across any steps. Some pre-assembled pieces of furniture are extremely heavy (200 lbs).
  
• Always support a heavy sink from below in addition to the clips that hold it to the countertop above.

Home Renovation Part 14: Surprises

We encountered many surprises during the project. I listed the major ones below.

1. Once we started fixing known water damage in the bathrooms, we found much more water damage in the external walls. The bottom edge of the external walls had to be replaced, as well as whole sections of exterior siding.
   
2. The Corian people templated the bathroom vanity before it was completely installed. They planned for a 3/4" overhang of the Corian countertop in front of the drawers. The reason why the vanity was not full installed at the templating time was that the tile work was not complete in that bathroom. The vanity was later installed with a little spacer in the back, which eliminated the overhang. This is unfortunately hard to fix. You should never template any cabinet if it is not fully installed.
3. We ordered certain bullnose tiles, which should have been in stock. After we got the wrong items from the warehouse two times in a row, the salesperson visited the warehouse, where she found that the wrong items were placed on the shelf. We had to order the tiles from Europe, which should have added 6-8 weeks to the order. It was too late, so we did without them.
4. The stone yard manager probably forgot to work on our order after we picked the granite slabs and the templates were made. He verbally promised a certain delivery date. When that date passed, he claimed that we misunderstood him. His delay caused a cascade of other delays, including the backsplash tiles and installing the top kitchen cabinets.
5. We ordered custom kitchen cabinets from a medium-sized cabinet maker. This factory has sales people, but because we had a specific requirements for our order, so we dealt with the owner instead. Every change to the order or scheduling the installation took extra time, which could have been avoided by dealing with a sales person instead. The owner confessed that he is a good carpenter but not a good manager (his words).
6. The plumber installed the wrong shower valve in one of the bathrooms (a shower valve that he bought), instead of the shower valve that I ordered for that bathroom. The problem was that his shower valve required a round cutout, whereas my valve required an oblong cutout. The result was that the acrylic shower enclosure had a large hole above the shower valve. The plumber did not replace the shower enclosure, but instead patched the hole. Since it was late in the project, I agreed to this shortcut.
7. I paid with checks drawn on my money market account. When my account was frozen, I had to call the suppliers that got checks that bounced.
8. I ordered a refrigerator that I saw in the store, but I ordered a freezer based on its data sheet without seeing it first. The freezer was fine, except that its front door was curved instead of flat. I never knew that freezer doors could be curved. The curved door is hidden by the kitchen cabinets, so it is not a big deal. You should see every major item you order before placing the order.
   
9. We got a different border for one of the rooms then the one we ordered. It had the correct design but the wrong color. The catalog number in the order was different by one digit than the correct catalog number in the book. Fortunately, our architect was at the house just before the painter was about to hang the border. The paint store replaced the border promptly without any problem. Just another good reason to work with a local supplier and have someone check everything that is delivered to the house.
10. We got an incorrect tiles for the master bathroom floor. Fortunately, the job manager realized that the floor tiles do not match the walls and asked the architect. The tiles we got simply did not match the order. The tiles store replaced them without a problem.
    
11. The electrician run the wires of the new phone jacks to the phone company's wiring block in the electrical panel, but he did not connect the new phone jacks. I had to call Verizon on the day we moved to the house to connect the phones. Fortunately, the phone technician arrived the next business day. If your phone is being forwarded to a rented apartment, and your home phone does not work, you can ask your phone company to forward your home phone to your cell phone.
12. The new coax jack in the living room did not work when we moved in. Of all coax jacks, it was the only one that we actually needed to watch TV. The electrician routed the coax cable of the new jack to the electrical panel instead of to the coax splitter.
13. The painters did not know how to remove the LED light bulbs from the ceiling cans. They pulled them straight down instead of twisting then pulling. The result was that the spring retaining clips were permanently bent out of shape. I had to buy replacement bulbs at $92 a piece. Being a trailblazer is not cheap.
14. The plumber threw away the instructions for setting and maintaining the Hansgrohe shower valves and the special tool for removing the shower handle. Fortunately, he did not have the correct cartridge for the last shower valve, so I had an opportunity to save the last remaining manual and tool. He threw away the other two.
15. I ordered a nice-looking solid wood TV stand from the importer instead from a furniture shop. I thought that I was smart to take advantage of the monthly special $350 discount this way. The problem was that the importer offered only threshold delivery (deliver across the threshold of your home but do not carry it across any steps). The result was that I had to pay the painters who worked at my home to carry it inside. They removed a small package containing the TV stand's hardware and placed on a shelf in the garage and promptly forgot about it. The result was that I could not assemble the TV stand, so I had to call the importer. This was a major hassle. In retrospect, it would have been best to order it from a furniture shop and pay for "white glove" delivery to the ultimate room.
16. The kitchen counter was not perfectly square. We found out that the range was not completely straight when pushed all the way in. It is noticeable when you compared the distance of the range's back panel from the wall. The granite overhang on one side of the range was slightly larger than the other side. The granite people showed me that the kitchen wall was curved and not straight, so they had to do the best to accommodate this situation. Since this wall was torn down and rebuilt by the contractor, there is no excuse for building a wall that is not straight.
17. The kitchen countertop developed two cracks on both sides of the sink, which extend from the sink to the backsplash. There were the result of hanging the heavy sink below the countertop without additional support. The problem was solved by asking the cabinet people to add support below the sink (for a nominal charge) and asking the granite people to fill the cracks in the countertop (no charge). This problem should have been avoided at the kitchen design time. Always support a heavy sink from below in addition to the clips that hold it to the countertop above.
18. We used cheap Ikea office chairs with hard plastic wheels (not rubber wheels) in the dining room area and in the new office/sun room. These chairs made deep scratches in the office's hard oak floor, whereas they made only minor scratches on the existing hard oak floor in the dining room. Using these chairs was our mistake, but the office's floor should have been as hard as old dining room floor, and it was not. The contractor said that the hardwood today is softer than the hardwood 20 years ago. In any case he asked the flooring person to refinish the office floor free of charge. You should always use chairs with thick rubber feet or thick rubber wheels on wood floors. 
19. A positive surprise for a change: in the first really hot day of May 2009 the outside temperature was 110 Fahrenheit and the inside was a comfortable 70 Fahrenheit. Hurray to the central air condition people!

There are a few precautions you can take to avoid turning minor surprises to major ones:

• Always follow up promptly if something is not done by the date it was promised.
• If a subcontractor does not return your calls after you paid him half of money, it is a very bad sign. Ask your general contractor to intervene if it is a person he recommended. If you found the subcontractor by yourself, prepare for a lot of trouble.
• Before signing on any order containing catalog numbers, verify that the catalog number matches the sample you used to make the order. This is most applicable to wallpaper, borders, tiles, and carpet orders.
  
• Verify that you got the correct wallpaper, borders, tiles, and carpets before they are installed.

Home Renovation Part 13: Your Time

My experience is that a large renovation project that ends in time requires at least two days a week of your time, which can be split between you and your spouse. You need to spend this time for the entire duration of the project, from the time you picked your architect until the project is done. Much of the time you spend will be on regular weekdays (not weekends). You need to pick myriad items, meet with your architect and contractor, meet with subcontractors, and supervise specific important tasks (like installing counter tops).

You can do some of the work on weekends, but often you need to decide or pick an item with a close deadline, which require weekday work. The alternative is that the project will be delayed, or you pick a default item that is not exactly what you want.

You should visit your home at least weekly to verify that the work is done as you expected. You need to pay attention to all details, even if they were written explicitly in the contract. For example, the electrician installed the correct number of recessed ceiling light fixtures in our kitchen's ceiling, but the Sheetrock people forgot to cut openings for all of the recessed lights. The problem was solved easily, but it could have gone undetected.

Home Renovation Part 12: Beware of Unwanted Help

You should be ready to receive unsolicited help offers from people you interact with. For example, the sales person in the tile store may volunteer to redesign your living room. They will try to convince you that your idea of the project is faulty, and they could produce a much nicer result that what you had in mind.

If you work with an architect, you probably have a pretty good idea of the final result. The problem with this unsolicited help is that it may be quite expensive. The people who volunteer to help you may present a bill for $100 or so per hour of work, and they may claim that they worked more than 10 hours after getting your verbal approval.

Before accepting any designer help, ask for his/her hourly fee and an estimate for the amount of work. Please also ask your new designer to get your explicit approval if he/she work more than a set number of hours that you agreed upon ahead of time. Also beware of an interior designer doing an architect's job (they are not allowed to do so). NJ law requires a signed contract for every project costing more than $350 (I did not verify this threshold).

Home Renovation Part 11: Style

You need to decide what will be the style of your home after the renovation. You may have something in mind (contemporary, traditional, country, etc). The style should match the parts of your home that you do not renovate. All new items in your house should match your select style. For example, the kitchen cabinets, the lighting fixtures, the faucets, and the ceiling fans should all match your style.

Knowing your style saves you much time during the process, because you can limit your choices to a subset of the wide variety of components that are available to you, and the result will also look nicer. The first question of most salespeople in many stores is "what is your style"? You need to answer this question before they could help you.

Home Renovation Part 10: Lights

We have a high sloped ceiling in the living room. It was always difficult to replace burnt light bulbs there. I wanted to have a light source that I will never (well, not frequently) have to replace. I also wanted to have an efficient light source, because the living room lights may be turned on for a long period of time even when nobody is sitting in the living room.

I found that Cree is making LED light bulbs with an expected life of 50,000 hours (about 20 years of normal home use), they are at least twice as efficient as CFL, last 4 to 8 times as long, turn on instantly, can be dimmed, have a high color rendering index (CRI), and contain no mercury. You can find the specification here. Based on this information, I picked the Cree LLF LR6 light bulbs for all new recessed ceiling light fixtures in my home (living room, kitchen, office, master bedroom). These light bulbs fit most 6" standard recessed cans. You can find the list of compatible cans here. I used an eyeball trim for the ceiling lights in the living room to compensate for the sloped ceiling. I picked the 3500K light temperature, because the 2700K light is too yellow for my taste (and my wife liked it better as well). The Cree LLF LR6 light bulb has an integrated white trim.

Note that the Cree LLF LR6 requires compatible dimmers, because its current consumption is lower than what many dimmers need to operate. I picked the Leviton IllumaTech model IPI06-1LX dimmer for my home. It looks good and it works well. However, it can dim the LR6 lights only to about 25% of the maximum based on visual observation. It cannot dim it lower. My architect called Cree, and they told her that they recommend a different dimmer, Leviton 6683-A. I have no experience with it.

I bought the Cree LR6 light bulbs and the eyeball trim from www.lightingonthenet.com. I do not think that these lights are currently (summer 2008) cost effective yet for homes, because your savings are spread over 20 years, and you pay a higher purchase cost today. They are likely to be cost effective for businesses that need 24-hour light, which means that they will reap the savings over a much shorter period of time.

Note that this was the first time that my contractor and his electrician installed LED lights ever. I had to specify the cans and dimmers specifically. I also had to purchase the LED lights myself, because most electrical suppliers do not carry these lights yet, or they charge a much more than I can find on the Internet.

The LED lights proved challenging to the painters. In one instance, the painter pulled one of the bulbs straight down instead of twisting then pulling to release the retaining clips. The result was that the spring retaining clips were bent out of shape, and the bulb fell from the can. In another instance the painter just pushed the LED light up into the can instead of pushing then twisting. This light fell off the can when someone dropped a heavy package in the 2nd floor. It was quite spectacular.

2012-07-15 updates:

Four years later, none of the LR6 lights went bad. This is significant, because we have about 30 of these light bulbs, and if there were flaky, at least one of them would have been gone bad by now.

Two serious reason and one not-so-serious to install LED lights:

1. If your light is hard to reach, replace it with a 20-years lifetime bulb.
2. The kitchen is the hottest place in your home. Adding a 1000W of heat from incandescent lights does not make sense.
3. LED lights make a fascinating conversation piece.

Regarding the economics of LED lights: please do your own math. You must pick a high-quality LED light with a long lifetime and good output to make it worthwhile.

Home Renovation Part 9: Accounting

You need a good grasp of the actual project expenses. I recommend that you keep your project spreadsheet up-to-date, so you will not have a nasty surprise. In addition, I recommend that you pay for the entire project by checks drawn on a separate account that you set up for this purpose. You should start by transferring the projected cost to this account (or piecemeal during the project). You can then pay for all big items with checks (the contractor, cabinets, counter tops, etc). I paid for all on-line purchases with my regular credit card, and I paid off these credit-card charges by checks drawn on this account. The separate account simplifies summing up the total expenses accrued so far.

Home Renovation Part 8: Tools

I used 3 tools to help manage the project: a hanging folder, a spreadsheet, and a Google docs document.

I filed all written material that we collected from show rooms, quotations, versions of contracts, purchase orders, specifications, bills, and receipts. By the end of the project I filled 3 hanging folders.

I kept an up-to-date spreadsheet with the expected cost of the renovation. I started with rough estimates of all items, and I changed the estimate to the actual cost as the project progressed. I calculated the initial rough estimates with the architect at the time that we picked the contractor. Once I picked the contractor, I asked him to validate the rough estimates we had for the items that are not included in the contract.

I shared a Google docs document containing the project notes with my wife and with my architect. The document contains the list of items to purchase, ordered items that were not received yet, to do list, and archive of past decisions. In essence, it represents my entire short-term memory regarding the project.

I prepared for the meetings with the architect and contractor by reading this document. If the architect or contractor answered any of these questions or raised new issues, I would write them down in this document. I also updated this document between the meetings and after visiting my home during the week. I will write down every question that I have for the architect or the contractor in this document.

This document is essential to avoid losing track of the myriad issues and decisions related to the project. It allowed me to take a relaxing summer vacation during the project without worrying that I will forget something important while I was away.

Home Renovation Part 7: Do Not Forward

We rented a nearby apartment during the project. We had several options for handling our mail during the renovation:

1. Ask the post office to forward our mail to our temporary address.
2. Ask the post office to keep our mail.
3. Pick the mail regularly from our home.
4. File change-of-address forms with every institute we deal with to our temporary address, and change the address again after we return home.

Clearly option (4) is too much hassle for a relatively short (4 months) period. Option (2) is not feasible, because the post office will keep the mail for up to one month at a time. Option (3) seemed like a lot of hassle, because we visit our home one or twice a week during the renovation. So my wife and I picked option (1).

I asked the post office to forward my mail from my home to my rented apartment during the renovation. The clerk in the post office explained that mail forwarding incurs a delay of a week in the delivery because all forwarded mail must be sent to a central location where they affix the the new address label and mail it again. This seemed odd, because both old and new addresses are a few blocks apart in the same town. However, the clerk said that this is the procedure, so I agreed.

Everything was well until Vanguard decided to send me a checkbook for my money market account automatically. They probably wrote "do not forward" on the envelope, which the post office obeyed. The result was that Vanguard became concerned that they cannot reach me, so they froze all of my accounts. Since I pay for the renovation with money from my Vanguard MM account, some of my checks bounced, even when I had sufficient money. This was not fun. Since all regular mail from Vanguard was forwarded to me without a problem, I did not expect it.

Finally, after my kids did not get the beginning of the year paperwork from their schools in time, I decided to stop forwarding my mail and pick it up daily from my home.

My wife and I thought that we solved the mail problems for good, until 3 friends told us that mail they sent to us was returned to them with "unable to deliver" or "unable to forward" stickers. My wife spoke to the postmaster, who explained that once you stop forwarding your mail, new mail is sent directly to your home. However, the mail that it is in transit from the originating post office to the forwarding center is returned to the sender because the forwarding people do not have any forwarding instructions. Moreover, this is the normal way that the system works. He was not surprised at all.

As a technical person I think that this system is broken, can be easily fixed, but it is not.

First conclusion: when you decide to forward your mail, do not trust the smiling people on the brochure. There are many unintended consequences.

Second conclusion: in retrospect, we could have avoided the problem with Vanguard by changing the address just with them. The Vanguard checkbook actually contains a note saying that the post office will not forward these checkbooks, so you must update your address with Vanguard if you move. I should have paid attention to it when I asked the post office to forward my mail, but who could pay attention to everything that all of the institutes you deal with say in their printed material?

2012-07-15 update:
If you decide to keep your mail delivery to your home, you must install a high-security large-volume mailbox, because you will not be around to pick the mail every day. I installed a Mail Boss mailbox. It must be attached to a sturdy surface on the outside of your home. You can order it from multiple merchants.

Home Renovation Part 6: Rent or Stay at Home

You may live at home during the renovation, or you may live in a rented place during the project. There are pros and cons for each alternative.

Benefits of staying at home:

• You do not pay rent.
• You can easily supervise the work.
• It is easier to handle your pets.

Disadvantages of staying at home:

• Renovation is a loud and dirty process. Dust is everywhere.
• You will not be able to use much of your home during the project. For example, you will live in your basement, and you will need to use a substitute kitchen.
• You may not be able to host any guests or have playdates for your kids during the project.
  
• The project will take longer, because the contractor cannot work in all rooms at the same time.
• The project may cost more, because the contractor's people need to come multiple times to finish their jobs because some rooms are not available at any given time.
• You may need to move furniture from one room to another during the project at a short notice.
• If any member of your family suffers from allergies or migraines, they are likely to be triggered by the fumes of the glue and paint.
• The contractor need much space in your garage for storing materials (at least the space of one car).

Benefits of staying at a rented place during the project:

• You can keep living sanely away from the noise and dust.
• You will have a full size kitchen.
  
• You can host guests and have playdates for your kids.
  
• You avoid any health problems related to the renovation (like allergies and migraines).
• You have a strong incentive to finish the project on time.
  

Disadvantages of staying at rented place:

• You pay rent.
• If you rent an apartment, it is usually smaller than your home. Your family may need to share a single bathroom. If you rent a house, there is no such problem.
• Many landlords do not offer rentals for a few months.
• You need to visit your home a few times every week to supervise the work.
  

Home Renovation Part 5: Suppliers and Subcontractors

The general contractor will hire the painter, plumber, electrician, and A/C person for you. You do not have to deal with them directly.

The general contractor will recommend other suppliers or subcontractors, like the glass person, a stone yard, bath & kitchen accessories shop, tile shop, paint & wallpaper shop, carpet shop, and other trades people.

I recommend that you will work with the recommended suppliers, even if their prices may be higher than what you may find in the Internet. There are several reasons to pick the recommended suppliers:

• The contractor has a working relationship with the recommended suppliers, and he/she was happy with the quality of their work.
• The recommended suppliers will pass the contractor's discount to you. If in doubt, ask for it.
• The contractor and recommended suppliers can communicate directly with each other, so you do not have to coordinate them yourself.
• The recommended suppliers will try to keep you happy, because they do not want to jeopardize their relationship with the general contractor. Many thing may get wrong, and you want the supplier to correct them quickly without any argument. For example, it is likely that you will get cracked or wrong tiles, a defective carpet, or the plumber will install the wrong shower valve.
• The recommended suppliers will exchange defective merchandise readily.
• If you have an argument with the supplier, or the supplier did not provide the service in a satisfactory way, you can ask the general contractor to help you.
• If you have an allowance for something in your contract, it is easiest to use it with one of the recommended suppliers.
• You do not have to look for suppliers on your own.

It does not hurt at all to find competing quotations on the Internet to drive down the cost of the recommended suppliers a little.

The general contractor will ask you to purchase certain items on your own. I recommend the following suppliers in central New Jersey:

• Appliances: get information and quotations from AJ Madison (http://www.ajmadison.com/). Either order from them or order from a local appliances store. Stay away from big merchants like Sears and Home Depot. Their prices are not as good, and their technicians are not of the highest quality.
• Lighting fixtures: Visit Capitol Lighting (http://www.1800lighting.com/). They have several stores in NJ and Florida. Their on-line store is extensive, and the service is good. You may return uninstalled fixtures without restocking fee.
• Kitchen and bath plumbing supplies: Visit one of the Bath Connection (http://www.thebathconnection.com/) stores in central New Jersey.
• Shelving system: The Container Store offers a full line of Elfa shelving components with free in-store design. The designer was knowledgable, and the resulting system can accomodate growing kids easily by relocating components.

Home Renovation Part 4: Tasks List

The magic word that you need to know is "lead time". It is the time from the placement of the order until it is delivered. The lead time may be a few months for custom kitchen cabinets, and a few days for off-the-shelf items. There are always unexpected surprises. The architect could tell you about the expected lead time of various items. You should assume that the typical lead time is about 1 month, even for so called "off the shelf" items.

I marked which item is typically included in the contract with the general contractor. You should ask ahead what is included in the contract and what is not. In general, all standard materials (lumber, Sheetrock, electrical wires, paint, electrical panel & switches) is included in the contract. Everything else is extra.

Here is a rough list of tasks before and during the project:

1. Pick an architect.
   
2. Pick a style for the renovation. Typical choices are contemporary, traditional, and country. Once you pick the style, all of the items should match it (faucets, light fixtures, kitchen cabinets, etc).
3. Decide about the scope of the project and prepare detailed plans.
4. Pick a general contractor, which includes a rough estimate of the entire project cost. The general contractor will prepare an estimate for all carpentry, masonry, plumbing, painting, and electrical work. The A/C system will typically have a separate estimate. Get a firm date for the beginning of the job.
5. Pick and order kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities. The cost of the cabinets and vanities is normally not included in the contract. The contract may include installation. I asked the cabinet maker to install the kitchen cabinets, because this is a major job and it should be done right.
6. Decide which appliances will stay in the kitchen and which appliance will be replaced. Pick the new appliances but do not order them yet. Supply the external dimensions of the appliances and the necessary clearance around them to the cabinet maker.
7. Arrange for moving your belonging to storage during the project (if you decide to stay in a rented place during the project).
8. Pick plumbing supplies: kitchen faucet, bathroom faucets, bathtub, medicine cabinets, toilets, sinks, bathroom accessories. The contract usually covers the installation of the above, but you have to pay for them.
9. Pick tiles (kitchen back splash, bathrooms walls & floors, other rooms). This takes a lot of time. The contract usually covers laying the tiles in a rectangular pattern, but you have to pay for them.
10. Ask a glass person about your ideas of the shower and bathtub doors. You may need to change the design of the tiles or shower basin to fit the glass door(s).
11. Pick the kitchen and vanities counter top material (granite, engineered stone, Corian, etc) and color. This is normally not included in the contract.
12. Relocate to a rented place, and move your belongings to storage.
13. Project starts. Meet with the contractor and architect weekly until project ends.
14. Examine your home at least weekly before meeting with the contractor and note all problems. Look out especially for hidden water damage that is exposed by the work. This is the right time to fix it!
    
15. Pick and order all bathroom accessories (grab bars, shower baskets, toilet paper holders, spare paper holders, towel bars, etc). They should match the style of the shower/batch plumbing. Decide where you want to mount each and every one of them. If you rebuild the bathrooms from the studs up, the contractor should place wood backing behind the drywall, so these accessories will remain attached to the wall for many years. This is especially important for grab bars. Remember to order towel bars and other accessories for sinks outside the shower/bathtub areas.
16. Pick and order lighting fixtures and ceiling fans. The contract usually includes installing light fixtures, but you have to pay for them.
17. Pick and order front door. You may get an allowance for the front door in the contract.
18. Pick paint colors and wallpaper. Painting and the cost of the paint is normally included in the contract. The wallpaper may not be covered in the contract, but the hanging the wallpaper may be included.
19. Call the windows person to fix existing windows or replace them. You may need to dismantle and re-assemble some windows. You need to fix the windows before painting starts.
    
20. Pick and order glass doors and mirrors. This is normally not included in the contract. The glass items are installed after tile work has been completed.
    
21. Design and order shelves for closets. Pick a shelving system that can accomodate future changes. For example, your kids will grow, so you will need a taller hanging space for their clothes. The shelves should be installed after painting is completed.
22. Pick carpets. You may get an allowance for the carpets. The carpets should be installed after painting is completed.
23. Arrange for the stone yard person to template the base kitchen cabinets after they are installed.
    
24. Order the new kitchen appliances and have them installed after the base kitchen cabinets and the counter top are installed.
25. Near the end of the project: perform walk-through with the contractor and architect and note all incomplete/incorrect tasks.
26. Near the end of the project: find if you can donate your old plumbing supplies and appliances. Otherwise, you need to throw them away. Call Habitat for Humanity.
27. Order new blinds and have them installed.
28. Optional: order new furniture, like night stands, living room furniture, etc.
    
29. Before moving back: ask Verizon or you local phone company to connect all new phone jacks and verify that the old phone jacks work. The electrician will run the new phone wires to the phone wiring block, but he/she will not connect your new phone jacks. It makes sense to have "inside wire maintenance" with Verizon a few months before you ask Verizon to connect the new phone jacks. They may charge 100+ dollars per new phone jacks.
    
30. Project ends.
31. Rekey your locks.
    
32. Move your belongings from storage back home.
    
33. Go over remaining tasks with your contractor after you moved home. Hopefully this list will be short.
34. Celebrate. You deserve it.

Home Renovation Part 3: The Contractor

You should consider only reputable contractors with solid specific referrals. You should ask the referrals at least the following questions:

• What did you like and dislike about the contractor?
• Are there any problems with the quality of the work after a few years? Did the contractor fix those problems? Did the contractor charge money to fix the problems?
• Did the contractor finish the job on time?
• How did the contractor handle changes to the project?
• What else could you tell me about the contractor?

I found that there are two types of general contractors: the contractors who give you a fixed-price estimate of the project, and the contractors who charge you as you go for the time & materials, and add a surcharge on top of the materials. The contractors of the first kind will add charges for extra or unforeseen work.

Another distinction between the contractors is the number of people they employ. Some contractors employ a large number of workers and only a few subcontractors, so they can assign many more people to work on your project and finish it in less time. Others employ fewer permanent workers and many more subcontractors. The second kind of contractors typically cannot complete the project as quickly as the first kind.

The first kind of contractors may employ an interior designer or a member of their team who can help you choose the myriad items that are needed for the project (faucets, tiles, medicine cabinets, etc). If you trust your contractor and you have less time to take care of the details, you may ask the contractor to pick something nice for many of the needed items. One of our neighbors did just this. The result was nice but not spectacular. Their bathrooms came out a little bland but nice overall.

When you compare the contract proposals, you should be aware that the contracts may cover different parts of the project, and you will need to pay the rest to individual subcontractors. For example, we got offers from two contractors. One excluded painting and carpets. Both excluded the A/C system, which was billed separately.

When you compare the contact proposals, you should compute the total project cost. You may find that the money you pay to your contractor is only a fraction of the total project cost. You have to add all of the extras that are not covered in the contract: the the kitchen cabinets and vanities, the A/C system, the counter tops, tiles, wallpaper, carpets, light fixtures, kitchen & bath plumbing supplies, bath accessories, glass doors for shower and bathtub, mirrors, dumpster disposal, and all extra work billed by time & material.

Home Renovation Part 2: The Architect

You need a good architect for a large renovation project. I found that the architect helped us in many ways that I did not anticipate. Here is what the architect did for us. Your architect may be do more or (likely) much less.

1. Defined the scope of the project and the style of the house (modern, traditional, country, etc). Converted our general ideas to concrete plans. Showed us various alternatives and helped us choose between them. Defining the scope of the project ahead of time prevented the common problem of enlarging the scope of the project midway. The architect prompted us to think about the alternatives ahead of time.
2. Helped us pick a general contractor.
3. Helped us write and review the general contractor's contract. Anything you miss in the contract will become extra work later, so it is better to be thorough here.
4. Converted our wishes to the technical terms that the contractor is using, and translated the contractor's speak to plain English.
5. Helped us estimate the cost of the project, which is often much more than what you pay to the general contractor. This was necessary to evaluate competing contractors, which often cover different parts of the same job.
6. Verified that the general contractor is doing his job right and did not cut corners.
7. Participated in the weekly meetings with the general contractor once the project started.
8. Helped us find vendors according to our specific needs. For example, my architect found cabinet makers that build low VOC (volatile organic compounds) cabinets.
9. Helped my wife pick tiles and paint to match our décor. She us saved much time here, because there are so many options. She also designed the pattern of the tiles in the bathrooms.
10. Paid attention to myriad small details during the job. For example, she told the tile person how to avoid water accumulation on the floor just outside the shower.
11. Noticed water damage in the outside walls during the project and showed me. Found additional water damage while fixing the first damage. The contractor and his people did not notice this water damage.
12. Designed custom furniture for us. For example, she prepared the plans for a custom computer desk, and she found the proper adjusting table legs for it.
13. Called some subcontractors and showed them the job.
14. Helped us evaluate the proposals of subcontractors and asked them to clarify important technical details that they omit in their proposals (and we did not know to ask).
    
15. Made many suggestions to replace or modify things that made our house look much more beautiful (like replacing light fixtures, modifying the living room area).

Before starting to work with my architect, I thought that she will help only in items 1-7, but she did all of the above. 

Architects are not cheap. I paid my architect hourly. Although I ended up paying her much more than I anticipated, I feel that it was money well spent. We could not have handled such a big project without her help, and she genuinely improved many aspects of the project.

Home Renovation Part 1: Our Project

My wife and I recently renovated our home in central New Jersey, USA. The project started in the spring of 2008. I tried to summarize my experience without giving any personal details. I hope that these Blog posts will help you in your project.

What did we do?

• Rebuild all bathrooms from the frame up to fix recurring leaks and mold problems.
• Replace kitchen cabinets.
• Open a door from the kitchen to the deck.
• Convert an office to a bedroom.
• Convert a sun room to an office and add a skylight.
• Install central A/C.
• Renovate fireplace area in the living room.
• Fix water damage to the exterior walls.
• Add an electrical subpanel.
• Renovate all closets.
  
• Replace all carpets.
  
• Paint all rooms.
• Remove built-in headboard in the master bedroom.
• Install high-efficiency LED lights and ceiling fans.
  
• Smaller odds and ends.

We did some work in every room of the house including the basement and the garage. Some rooms were completely rebuilt (bathrooms, kitchen, sunroom). The project kept the modern style of the house.