Major remodeling of your home can be disruptive of your life. Your haven can easily become a hard environment to find comfort and peace. Several of our clients have come up with a smart solution to minimize stress – they go south for the brutal winter months and leave the whole remodeling to Sensory Six.
These are people who love their homes, but want updates to create the space of their dreams as their requirements change due to age, needs and desires. This often requires a major overhaul such as adding a first floor master bedroom, renovating the kitchen or creating new areas for health, hobbies and entertainment.
Some of our clients are retired, and others have mobile businesses or offices in other parts of the country. Some have second homes, which can easily become their primary home during winter months. Others want to explore what a life as a “snowbird” may be like in the future.
Here are some of the best practices they are using to make the leave-home-while-you-remodel solution work:
Plan, plan, plan. High quality craftspeople, builders, architects and designers are busy year-round although winter months do slow down and can offer pricing advantages. However, to set a winter remodel plan in motion, you need to start now.
Have clear expectations. You need a button-downed estimate of how long the remodel will take and how much it will cost. This starts with tight specifications on the work you want done, when you plan on leaving and when you need to return. Changing your schedule can cause havoc in coordinating all the tradespeople needed to complete a project successfully.
Make good use of technology. Videoconferencing, cloud storage for large files and a host of collaboration software will facilitate communications and decision-making. Sophisticated visualization applications let you see placement of furniture and furnishings, paint colors and even structural changes to rooms.
Trust a professional project manager. When you select a firm to use, make sure they have a project manager who will pull it all together for you. Trying to coordinate multiple players long-distance is extremely stressful and time consuming. And relying on friends or family can be equally problematic. You need a professional on-site who can keep you updated on progress.
