There are other tips of managing your working relationship with renovation contractors. Some of them I learned from experience, others simply by trial and error.
Be firm with contractors
I echo with the advice in Margaret Heffernan’s The Naked Truth: A Working Woman’s Manifesto on Business and What Really Matters,
Once you’ve hired a contractor and negotiated a budget, my best advice for you is to be tough on them. If you’re not, they’ll think you’re soft and a pushover.
(Contractors) will try to get away with as much as they possibly can. If you call them on it, they’ll shape up.
Even if your contractor is a good friend or your close relative, don’t confuse trust with relationship.
Similarly, having a friendly relationship doesn’t automatically mean that you can trust a person. When evaluating whether a contractor can get the job done, differentiate between sociability and capabilities.
About budget and timelines
Be clear and upfront about timing and the inflexibility of your budget. If you need the job finished by a certain time, hold the contractors to that date. If you keep an eye on their work and act as knowledgeable as possible, you increase the chances that the contractors will respect you and get something done.
Get at least three quotations from different companies. Compare quotes item-by-item. Before you get back to the selected one, draft your own listing of work items with full descriptions. For each item, add in what you think are the reasonable prices. If there is an obvious price gap of a work item between two contractors, negotiate to see whether your selected contractor can match the price.
Draft your own payment terms, for example, 10 percent deposit after signing the contract, 30 percent of the fee payable when job commences, and another 50 percent after job completion. Always leave 5 to 10 percent to be paid after fixing all defects.
Allow flexibility for delay in completion. However, do add a penalty clause for delay at the end of the contract.
In every subsequent meeting with the contractor, put everything in writing and take detailed notes. The notes can serve as both a proof and a reminder for both parties. It will also come in handy next time when there is any argument on what have been agreed.
Good and bad times
When times are good, contractors are very busy. It is more difficult to bargain on prices. Give a reasonable timeframe for completion but stick to the major deadlines.
When times are bad, don’t be too happy if you get too good a bargain. Contractors tend to cut corners to get your business.
Be careful of commissioning a project when the market is recovering. Costs of raw materials and manpower will be on their way up when your place is work-in-progress. To make ends meet, the contractor may ask you to top up the difference so that they can afford to pay their suppliers and finish your job. Worse still, some contractors may go bust because of their underquotes in too many projects.
Now it’s your turn to share with me your experience with renovation contractors.
Being fresh from renovating my current house, here are some pointers to share:
1.) Carpentry is the most demanding on skills, the renovation contractor might have several groups of carpenters, so make sure they get the best group for your job. If possible, go to see an on-going job of the group of carpenters being selected.
2.) Be there to supervise the work as much as possible, and feedback as soon as possible. Most alterations/ modifications can be done with minimal cost or free if done earlier.
3.) Do not rely on the contractor to select the lamination/ tiles entirely. It might look beautiful but totally impractical, example, glossy lamination for desks/ cabinets which will have hand prints/ scratches all over in just a few days of use.
4.) You can actually engage the plumber/ electrician directly if you know any good ones around. The renovation contractor is usually fine with such arrangement. This might save you some money as well, but would require greater involvement in coordination from you.
5.) When dealing with carpentry work, one might quote higher, but before jumping to cheaper alternatives, check what is being offered. The lamination choice from the cheaper source might be limited to a few cheap ones that look very ugly/ outdated. Also, the more expensive one might have included anti-slam stopper in every cabinet doors, ABS trimming, more choices for inside lamination (instead of just plain white lamination for internals of cabinets), and a wider choice of wardrobe configuration such as pull out stainless steel baskets, and etc.
Being fresh from renovating my current house, here are some pointers to share:
1.) Carpentry is the most demanding on skills, the renovation contractor might have several groups of carpenters, so make sure they get the best group for your job. If possible, go to see an on-going job of the group of carpenters being selected.
2.) Be there to supervise the work as much as possible, and feedback as soon as possible. Most alterations/ modifications can be done with minimal cost or free if done earlier.
3.) Do not rely on the contractor to select the lamination/ tiles entirely. It might look beautiful but totally impractical, example, glossy lamination for desks/ cabinets which will have hand prints/ scratches all over in just a few days of use.
4.) You can actually engage the plumber/ electrician directly if you know any good ones around. The renovation contractor is usually fine with such arrangement. This might save you some money as well, but would require greater involvement in coordination from you.
5.) When dealing with carpentry work, one might quote higher, but before jumping to cheaper alternatives, check what is being offered. The lamination choice from the cheaper source might be limited to a few cheap ones that look very ugly/ outdated. Also, the more expensive one might have included anti-slam stopper in every cabinet doors, ABS trimming, more choices for inside lamination (instead of just plain white lamination for internals of cabinets), and a wider choice of wardrobe configuration such as pull out stainless steel baskets, and etc.
Your comments are very useful. Thanks for the input.
I had done revamping kitchen cabinets three times before. What you say are very true.
We just upgraded the cabinets in our wet kitchen last quarter. The service of our carpenter is very good and the price is also quite reasonable.
But I forgot to ask him to install the slow closing hinges in the cabinets of my dry kitchen. He was too busy to make another trip. At last, we bought the hinges from a supplier and installed them ourselves. It is a simple task and I am happy to learn something new!
Your comments are very useful. Thanks for the input.
I had done revamping kitchen cabinets three times before. What you say are very true.
We just upgraded the cabinets in our wet kitchen last quarter. The service of our carpenter is very good and the price is also quite reasonable.
But I forgot to ask him to install the slow closing hinges in the cabinets of my dry kitchen. He was too busy to make another trip. At last, we bought the hinges from a supplier and installed them ourselves. It is a simple task and I am happy to learn something new!
I love carpentry work in the house. In all my home renovations, bulk of the work goes to carpentry even for private condominium where most wardrobes/ cabinets are already done up. I even design my own TV console and display cabinet cum partition in my previous home, thus have to work with the carpenter very closely. Learned a lot from them through the process. 🙂
I love carpentry work in the house. In all my home renovations, bulk of the work goes to carpentry even for private condominium where most wardrobes/ cabinets are already done up. I even design my own TV console and display cabinet cum partition in my previous home, thus have to work with the carpenter very closely. Learned a lot from them through the process. 🙂
I am the lazy type. I like to buy second hand places with built-in cabinets and other carpentry work already done by the previous owners.
I am the lazy type. I like to buy second hand places with built-in cabinets and other carpentry work already done by the previous owners.