5 Things to know before starting a new home or remodel
This article is part of The Second Studio Podcast hosted by FAME Architecture & Design.
Clear Oak by Woods Dangaran - Photography ©JoeFletcher
This week David and Marina discuss 5 things clients should know before starting a new home or remodel project: 1. Understanding the process of a project, 2. Hiring the right team, 3. Expecting the unexpected, 4. Asking questions along the way, 5. Not aligning construction completion with life events. Enjoy!
#1
Understanding the process of a project
DL: The first thing that I think clients should know and understand before embarking on creating a new house or even a remodel, is that it is a process and that process can feel long at times. I would describe it as being a marathon and not a sprint. So be prepared for a marathon.
I think a lot of times people approach creating a house more in a transactional sense. “Let me just hire an architect. Tell me what it is. Okay, boom, let's build, let's go!”. But when you're creating a residence for somebody, it takes a lot more time in almost all the phases. I'll give an analogy that was told to me by a contractor, which I think was great. He said that “Building a house is not like just buying an iPhone that exists on a shelf, which is very, very transactional and very quick. It's more like commissioning a whole group of professionals of different types to try and design and fabricate the first iPhone”. It's to say that every house that we embark on is always going to be new and is always going to be different even though certain things are carried over from one project to the next. Therefore it is a process. It's a journey you go on with the team, with the architects, the designer, and the contractor.
MB: The project timeline could be very lengthy and for people who've never gone through one, it's typically broken down into several phases. You probably have heard of conceptual design, schematic design, design development, construction documents, and construction administration. Those are the big chapters, the big milestones along the way. It's spread that way not just to put fancy words on the project process, but to keep it organized, so you can move forward and make progress at every step. It gets more and more detailed as you move toward building the real thing than it is at the very beginning.
DL: Some of those phases can go quicker than others. But I'll give a good example of why it's important to take time at certain phases. The construction document phase is one segment that's important because, during the construction documents phase (those are the drawings the architect produces and the contractor builds from more or less), clients often will want to push through as fast as possible because they're not really involved in construction documents. Construction documents are very technical. So the architect/designer is the one who's producing it and the client often thinks, "Okay, well produce it faster for me”. The thing with CDs (construction documents) is that we are basically problem-solving building construction issues before they happen in the field. It's always faster and also much cheaper to solve construction issues in a drawing than it is with actual material. So that's a good example of one phase you don't necessarily want to rush through.
The design phase needs a certain amount of time. Often time clients are very excited, and just want to be moving forward quickly. “I need a kitchen. I need the bathroom. We don't need to reinvent the wheel, therefore what does it take so long to design it?” And the answer is that it's not that every single corner needs to be designed and detailed in a very complicated way. I think it's much more that, design is like a stew. You need to cook it slowly for a little while so it tastes good in the end. If you rush it, you are going to miss things. If you design a kitchen, you have to make sure that the door can open without hitting the handle of the door next to it. Small things like that are not just about the aesthetic, but about the functionality, and foreseeing potential issues that could be triggered in the next phases.
“Design is like a stew. You need to cook it slowly so it tastes good in the end”
There's a certain pace that projects have and that pace, that rhythm, is something that we can feel and sense and we know what it should be. First-time clients, in particular, have no idea though. Every day is a new day for them. But you want to hit a good stride, like a marathon. You don't want to burn out. Think about it this way, to do a ground-up home, it takes somewhere between 18 months, at the low end if it's simple, to three years if it's complex, and beyond that, if you're doing something large or really complicated. So 18 months is a really long time, and so is three years. If you take the sprint mentality and you try to keep that for three years, there's no way it's going to work. It's going to be first of all, super stressful for the client. But going back to the pace and the kind of rhythm, you want to be in that flow.
I think for clients, when they push the design phase too quickly, one of the things that can happen is they make decisions too quickly. Then a week later they're like, “Ah, actually I don't know. Let me go back and change my mind”. That's a very good example of what you want to avoid because that ends up taking more time in the end. It's better to just have taken that full week or two weeks to think about it and make a decision you're sure of, and then move forward. The worst thing that can happen is if you make progress 10 steps ahead and then go back and undo the first decision because all that needs to be redone and it undoes the foundation that was built up.
MB: There are different levels of decisions that need to be made. There are the more ‘big-picture’ ones that I think are very important. Then there are the more detailed ones, which maybe could be made a little bit more quickly. I think rushing on the big picture decisions… to me, it’s like how many houses are you gonna do in your life? If that's the only one, then maybe take an extra week.
The other thing I would want to say is that it's a long process and I feel like oftentimes clients feel like when construction starts, things take forever, it’s not moving fast enough. I want to warn clients who are about to embark on a construction journey that probably the first third or first half of the construction phase is going to feel like nothing's happening, and that's typical to any single project. It's hard for people to see all of the prep work of the site that needs to happen, the excavation, the pouring of the foundation, all of that. That base layer needs to be set properly in order to build up from there. So don't be alarmed. It's going to feel slow up until maybe halfway through.
DL: I think that rule applies to even the design phases. What happens probably from a client's perspective is that there are swaths of time where nothing's happening and then all of a sudden a lot's happening at once. In construction, it's a bunch of prep work and whatnot, and then all of a sudden you have concrete foundations, and then nothing's happening. Framing, for example, happens super quickly. All of a sudden you have framing and then there's a gap from framing to finishing out which is huge. You get to the site and nothing's happening. It's because the builders are doing a lot of things behind the scenes. That phrase applies also to design. There are a lot of things we do behind the scenes to problem-solve the things you mentioned that clients don't necessarily see. It's a bit of an odd thing for them. I think it comes back to just trusting what the professionals say. This leads to the second thing you should know before starting a project is that you have to have to hire the right team. That is a must.
#2
Hiring the right team
MB: What do you mean by the right team?
DL: Well, there are the big key players. There's the architect/ designer, and there's the contractor, and then the engineer. The engineer, you would rely on the contractor or the architect to find a good one if you don't know any. So really, it's the architect and the contractor. Those are the people you need to trust. There are many reasons why you'd want to have the right team. There's quality, there's trust, there are all of these things. But one of them that I think is underrated is the idea that design and construction is a team effort. It's a team project. It's a group effort. All of us have been part of group projects, in high school and college, in the profession, whatever. Imagine you're on a team with people and it requires close collaboration, there's a lot of money at stake, and you're going be with that team for let's say two years. You would be like, “I'm going to be very specific with who I'm working with for the next two years because I have to be”. When you're going to find your contractor, your architect, your etcetera, and you're the client, find people you trust, but also find people who are going to work well together.
“Find people who are going to work well together”
MB: That goes back to “do your homework”. We meet oftentimes clients who have hired the first person that was recommended to them. Either because some of their friends had a great contractor or they had the best architect and they recommended them to the client. It always comes from referrals. Most of the time I would say, still do your homework. Go and interview these people. Go and see projects that they've done, ask for references, or just go get coffee and have a casual conversation to see if actually you have anything in common. I think it's super important because as you said, it’s a long relationship and you want to feel comfortable.
DL: You had mentioned clients who have a friend of a friend who's a contractor, or their neighbor use this person and they ask, “Can't we just use them?” I have to say that most often when a client says, “I have a contractor who's a friend, I'm gonna use them” like 85% of the time, they're not the right person for the job. The thing is, and this gets to contractor selection, which is not the topic, there's a whole wide array of different expertise when it comes to builders and architects. You have this sea of options and it's about finding the right 10% of those people that are the right fit for your specific projects. The chances that your neighbor's friend is the perfect person are really not very high. I would say talk to your architect about it.
MB: The other thing to ask, I think when you are trying to decide who to hire, is make sure you understand their process. A lot of times we've come across people who hired what they thought was an architect/ design-builder and they actually didn't really know the journey they were going to go through because it was never explained by the other side. Maybe you could ask them, “How do you typically work? What do you provide as services?” I think people have assumptions about what an architect, design-builder, or contractor can provide and there is a huge variety of possibilities out there. So I think understanding who you are hiring and what you're hiring them for is very important.
Moor House by Woods Dangaran - Photography ©JoeFletcher
#3
Expecting the unexpected
DL: The third thing you should know before embarking on a home is to expect the unexpected. Which, honestly, is basically a nice way of saying that things are not going to go according to plan. At some point—during construction, in particular—there are going to be bumps in the road, something will happen and everyone will have to adjust and problem-solve this new thing. In terms of construction, quite often there's a site condition that no one could have seen, and now we have this thing we have to deal with, or sometimes there's a mistake in the field, or there's a material shortage, or something, something, something, something.
This also goes back to the idea that it's a marathon. In a duration of a marathon, there are going to be bumps and bruises along the way. A big part of having a successful project is having the right mentality so that when things don't go right, you don't freak out. You say, “I was told upfront because I heard it on this show that something wasn't going to go right. This is one of those moments. Okay, how are we going to deal with it”.
MB: It's great to warn people before they start that things are going to go wrong. So just be prepared that one day you're going to get an email from somebody saying something's going wrong. Don't be surprised. It happens all the time. I think having the right emotional response to that is very important. As you said, you don't want to find a solution based on a fear reaction or an impulse. First, you want to stay very positive. There is a solution to every problem.
“You want to stay very positive. There is a solution to every problem. ”
DL: The emotional aspect that you brought up is super important because it is stressful, especially during construction because that's when all of the money's being spent. There's a lot at stake. Houses are tough because if you're 50% or 60% through construction, and let's say it all stops, it doesn't matter, the house needs to be done in order for it to be worth anything. So it is a very stressful time, and we acknowledge that, but it's really critical to maintain composure throughout. Clients do have responsibilities. Actually, a contractor was telling me this as well, when he meets a new client he tells them, "Your responsibility is to show up to meetings on time. Don't miss meetings. Don't just not show up. It's rude. Be kind to the people you're working with. That includes the people on the site that you might not talk to directly, the fabricators, the workers, and the laborers. Be kind to people and make decisions you're sure of”.
Expecting the unexpected also means that you have to have extra money set aside for contingencies. Typically it's around 10% of the construction cost. That varies greatly depending on things but around that number. You should have extra money put aside just in case because you're going to have to pull from it at some point.
MB: I would say extra money and have some flex room in your schedule as well.
#4
Asking questions along the way
DL: The fourth point is to ask questions along the way. I think this is really important because we assume that if you're a client you don't know how to build a home. You don't know how to design a home, and maybe you've done it a few times in the past, but still, you're probably not the expert.
MB: You don't have to pretend that you are. We get that sometimes where clients would throw in some technical words that they've heard on HGTV or something, and they absolutely have no idea what it means. You don't need to do that. It's okay. The professionals that you hire for the project are not assuming that you know everything there is to know about what we're doing.
DL: It's not necessary. I don't assume to know anything about financial investing, the stock market, or whatever else that my clients do for a living, so you don't need to do that. I think asking questions is important for the relationship side of things. It is a relationship that you're going to have with these people for two or three years. Like any good relationship, its foundation is based on good communication. If you're one half of that relationship, and you're the client, and you're unsure of something or you have a problem, you have to talk to your designer/architect and say, “Hey, this came up. I'm not sure how I feel about this. Can we talk it out?”. The worst thing you can do, like in a marriage, is just hold onto it and not say anything for an extended period of time and then let it blow up and become a huge thing.
MB: It could also just be you just don't understand a drawing or a detail or how things are going to come together. Rather than wait for it to be built, I would say if you don't get it, just ask your designer. There are other ways that things could be communicated to be clear if people can't understand plans for example or section drawings. It’s your one shot at getting the understanding of why the thing is being created, because once again, once it's done, it's done. There is no going back unless you are doing a remodel of what you just built.
“Everyone being informed throughout is supercritical”
DL: I think everyone being informed throughout is supercritical. If there was a way to mind-meld the architect, contractor, and owner together, then a lot of issues would be avoided in a long process. Everyone being on the same page is another way to think about it. Asking questions, being informed. We ask questions to our clients all the time to try and understand what they're thinking, and to predict which design outcomes are going to be more favorable. I also like the point you brought up of if you're just not sure of something because you don't get it, then ask. I think a lot of professionals are more than open and very willing and excited to explain why things are the way they are.
I would also say in architecture and design there's this idea that what we do is this great mystery and we're behind a curtain like the Wizard of Oz—we do our secretive thing and no one knows quite how we create our magic. A lot of offices operate that way and a lot of clients perceive architects and designers that way. There's some excitement to that. I get it. But I think that it's more fun and more interesting if everyone understands what's going on and why, and also frankly for a lot of clients, it's sort of an educational process. It’s cool for them to learn about, “Why should we put this line here? Why not shift it over by two inches?”. I can guarantee that a good architect will have lots to tell you as to why that line should be located precisely where it is.
#5
Not aligning construction completion with life events
MB: The last point is to not try and align a construction completion with a major life event. I would say that a major life event already comes with its own package of stress, excitement, pressure, and a deadline. I don't think you need to tack on another one of the same on top of that, I think that's just insane. Construction is always going to take more time than expected. I hate to say that because you know when clients ask how long is going to take to get built, contractors or architects give a range. It's a range because it's understood that this time is going to have to stretch most likely. If you try to time it with your getting married or you having a baby, you're just trying to make all of the stars in the universe align that same day, and that just never happens.
DL: This has been said many times before, there's quality, schedule, and budget. You cannot have all three, and that applies to any project—for architecture, design, creating a car, or anything. It's nearly impossible to have it all, something’s going to have to give in. We can go fast and have it be high quality, but it's going to cost more. We can have really high quality but it might take longer.
The other thing that we like to talk to clients about pretty early on is when push comes to shove when things don't go according to plan, out of those three things, what are you going to give up first? Some people will say schedule because it's more important to them that this project turns out of quality. Other folks might say that schedule is most important if they have a deadline and it needs to be done. I hate to sound so harsh about but that's the reality, that's the physics of a project and I think it's worthwhile for clients to tell their architects and their contractors which of those three things is the most important to them, even if they don't ask so you all are on the same page.
MB: At the end of the day, I think it's just going to add stress. Making decisions under stress is most likely going to lead to bad decision-making because you're not thinking rationally, you're thinking under the motive of something else.
“Making decisions under stress is going to lead to bad decision-making because you’re not thinking rationally”
DL: This last point I think is interesting. What I'm about to say applies to all of the points we’ve discussed: These are things that we've learned and realized on our own through projects, but they are also things agreed on when we're talking to all of our fellow architecture compadres and all the contractors who do really high-end work. They all say the same things. When clients try to align life events and construction schedules… that's a number one red flag for contractors.
MB: On a more positive reason, if you line up, let's say a remodel or the construction of a new home with a major life event, like a baby or a marriage or whatever, you are actually diminishing the amount of happiness, and satisfaction that you could get if you were splitting these two apart from each other. If they come at the same time, you wouldn't be able to have as much excitement for either of them as if they were happening in two different timelines. I would say, instead of trying to smash together birthdays and Christmas, just keep them separated!
DL: It's good to have deadlines, that’s fine. There are different categories of life events… maybe having a kid that's a really big deal. We've also seen projects where clients try to have it all lineup and when they get to a certain point they're like, “You know, let's just stop it. Let's just hit pause because this is not working”. Mostly because the client feels a massive amount of stress and can’t handle it. In an odd way, a lot of these things come back to an earlier point I said, which is establishing the right team, and that means trusting them. If they give you advice and you should really listen to this advice.
MB: It's not so much that they want to be right and have the final word, it's because it's not their first project and they've seen it, and they've done it, and they're just trying to help you out.
DL: I know that from a client's perspective, almost not all, clients come to a project thinking “I'm gonna figure out at least one way in this project to have a shortcut because I'm smart enough”. That's when you start to get into dangerous territory.