The carpenter’s adage is to measure twice, cut once.
Adapt that philosophy to renovations generally and you get a Design Build process that works to create the home you’ll love, on budget and on time.
“As people stay closer to home, it’s a great time to invest in creating your own oasis that you’ll love coming home to,” explains Ed McDonald, owner of MAC Renovations.
While an initial project overview can provide a high-level estimate, for accurate evaluation of time and costs, you need to go a little deeper, McDonald says. “No two homes are the same, and no two projects are the same.”
Because of its complexity, the process is fee-based but provides peace of mind homeowners appreciate.
“For us, it’s all about planning. It takes time to plan properly, but if you do, you’ll have a successful project,” he says.
Here’s how the Design Build process works:
- Feasibility work: Following the initial consultation, your renovation professional starts work on a feasibility study – looking at any restrictions such as municipal setbacks, rights of way, or building restrictions.
- Home assessment: With that information in hand, it’s time to start looking at the design goals and undertake an assessment of the existing home for anything that may affect the project timeline or cost. For example, is there asbestos that must be mitigated before construction? Are there mould issues that need addressing? “That will impact the budget, so we’ll want to know that up front,” McDonald explains.
- Down to the design: The design phase follows, when the homeowners will work with the design team to create the kitchen or bathroom floorplan, for example, select flooring, countertops and other details.
- Site meeting: With all of these essentials established, MAC brings all the trades together for a site meeting, to look for any potential hiccups in the plan and see how they can best undertake the work.”Our teams have all worked together for many, many years, so you’ll have the painters walking around the site with the drywallers, taking about the project,” MacDonald says.
- Price & timelines: Bringing all this information together, the Project Manager will determine pricing and timelines. “Customers aren’t committed to moving forward with us once the process is complete, but 99 per cent of them do because the trust has been established,” McDonald says.
With the project underway, everyone involved with the project, including the homeowners, can follow step-by-step through the online BuilderTrend system, and because of all the information the team has gathered up front, fewer surprises arise down the road.
Learn more about MAC Renovations’ Design Build process at macreno.com or call today at
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