5 Things to Consider When Remodeling Grand Rapids Homes - Part 1

If you're anxious to start your remodeling project in your greater Grand Rapids area home, these 5 tips will help you get off to a good start. Here's Part 1 in our 5 Part series... Happy Remodeling Grand Rapids!

You’ve picked out the paint colors or wall paper… You’ve measured 15 different ways... You’ve considered which lighting options will give your finished space just the right appeal… Oh, the fun of planning a remodeling project! It can bring an exciting and fresh dimension to a familiar space, giving you a renewed appreciation for your Grand Rapids area home. It can also transform a room that once seemed inefficient to your living style or dull into a place you love to spend time.

Often however, without proper planning and the assistance of a licensed Grand Rapids remodeling professional, the project can seem overwhelming, last for months, and lead to countless frustrations. Many people have excitedly ventured into a kitchen or bathroom remodeling project only to grow tired of the undertaking when things unforeseen or troublesome crop up and increase the cost or time involved to complete the project.

So, before we jump right in and start remodeling Grand Rapids, there are several important things to consider before embarking on any remodeling job in your home. We’ll spend some time highlighting them here on our Remodeling Grand Rapids Blog. Here in Part 1 we’ll cover a much over looked aspect to the planning stage before moving into some other things to consider that can lead to a very enjoyable and satisfying experience.

To begin, anyone contemplating a remodeling project in their home needs to be ready for the inconvenience and length of time the project will take to achieve the desired outcome. To some this may seem like an odd place to start when there are so many other things to be considered like the colors, the flooring, the lighting, etc. All of these other details seem so much more important when contemplating your project.

While these things are important to creating the desired makeover in your home, experience has taught us that most people don’t give enough thought to the duration of the disruption to their normal routines and way of life until somewhere in the middle of the project. Quite often it’s then that they realize it isn’t going to be a quick thing.

While most contractors make every effort to plan and complete your project in the shortest amount of time possible there are often multiple contractors involved and schedules don’t always mesh perfectly. Add to that the possibility of unforeseen delivery issues with materials due to something being out of stock or custom ordered and you can see how multiple things can stack up causing a project to take longer than originally anticipated.

We'll give you an example of what can take place. Say you've begun your project and have your kitchen remodeling Grand Rapids contractors lined up. Stan, the flooring contractor is scheduled to install the floor tile in your kitchen on Friday, September 20. It’s important that your kitchen cabinet installation be complete before he starts. He’s finishing a couple of larger projects Tuesday thru Thursday of that week and has it scheduled to squeeze your small project in on Friday before going on vacation. He also has another large project booked for the Monday after his return from vacation that will take him a week. Typically, except for this example, you probably wouldn’t be aware of these other details in his schedule. You would just know that he’s scheduled to do your install on the 20th.

The kitchen cabinets you selected were custom ordered from the factory and due to arrive on Monday, September 16. Bill, the cabinet installer, was scheduled for the 17th and 18th. On Friday, September 13 you get word from the cabinet supplier that your order has been delayed at the factory; delivery has been pushed back a week and is now set for Monday, September 23.

Due to previous commitments Bill can’t get in there to install the cabinets now until mid day on Friday the 27th, making his projected date of completion Tuesday, November 1. As stated, Stan, the flooring installer, is scheduled to start a large project at another job site on Monday, September 30. That job is scheduled all week and the earliest he can possibly get to you is Friday, November 4, but most likely Monday the 7th.

There you have it; due to a factory delay of materials, further compounded by scheduling constraints, the duration of your Grand Rapids remodeling project in this scenario increased by seventeen days or two and a half weeks. A similar scenario could be painted in a bathroom remodeling project in your Grand Rapids area home. Say the fixtures you ordered in the color “Fawn Beige” actually arrived in the color “Bone.” Getting the correct color fixtures could take several days to several weeks creating a necessity for scheduling adjustments much like our kitchen example.

In light of these possible scenarios you can see the importance of preparing yourself mentally with realistic expectations for the length of the project and not being thrown off balance if an unexpected delay crops up. Giving proper healthy thought to this aspect of remodeling your Grand Rapids area home can literally make the difference between a pleasurable task with a beautiful outcome and an overwhelmingly stressful experience.

One final thought to reduce the stress of your Grand Rapids remodeling project is to hire a competent licensed contractor that is registered with the local Home Builder’s Association. The years of experience performing and managing all sorts of remodeling projects in and around the Grand Rapids area have equipped the American Pride Design & Construction team to handle the nuances of your remodeling project with the utmost in professionalism, courtesy, and quality satisfaction. Give them a call today at 800.669.6365 and let’s get Remodeling Grand Rapids!