Perhaps you are thinking of having your home remodeled.

Maybe you are tired of bumping into one another during the morning rush as bathroom time is portioned out. Possibly the clutter on the kitchen counters and in the cabinets is just getting to be so bad that working in the kitchen is impossible.

Could it be that the kids are growing and you need a quiet place to retreat to or they need a sound-proofed place to be in? Is the exterior of your home is in such bad shape that you know it won't last through another El Nino winter?

You have little or no experience with having remodeling work done for you. All you know are all the horror stories. Whatever happens, you do not want to end up being the subject of one of those stories!

If you are like many of the people we have interacted with you have several fears about undertaking any remodeling work. Let's look at some of the typical concerns you might have and what you might do to address them.

Is everything included? You don't know anything about remodeling but you know that a particular problem needs to be dealt with and you have a finite amount of money in your budget.

How can you be sure that everything is included and you won't be trying to find money you don't have in the middle of the project?

Work with a remodeler who has experience doing the work you need done. You will get the benefit of all the mistakes the remodeler has made working for other people doing the same work you need done. Those mistakes are the education of a remodeling contractor. Generally, the longer a remodeler has been in business the more he has learned.

Ask lots of questions. Before you sign the contract make sure that you have read and understood the scope of work. If you do not understand the scope of work ask the remodeler to explain it so that you do understand it. If the remodeler is "too busy" to take the time to do this to your satisfaction do not hire him. It will only get worse for you when the job starts.

Who exactly is going to do the work? All you know is that you want to know the person who is actually going to be working in your home. After all, he or she will be a part of your life for the next several months! How does it work? Isn't the person who is signing the contract with you the actual carpenter?

All remodeling companies are different. Some remodelers actually handle all of the aspects of running their business personally. You might only talk with one person from the initial meeting to closing out the job.

A company like ours has a salesperson who prepares the scope of work and secures the signature of the client on the contract. After that part of the process is completed the project is handed to the production manager who is responsible for getting the work done right and on time.

That process of transferring responsibility occurs in the presence of the client before the project starts. It is very reassuring to have this occur in a deliberate way that allows for the client to develop a relationship with the leader of the people they will be interacting with for months.

What happens if something goes wrong? You are very concerned that something is not going to go right. What are you going to do when that happens? Something is going to go wrong. That is part of doing a complex project with a group of people who do not do the same thing everyday in the same place.

A reasonable expectation for you to have of your remodeler is that he will not just bring problems to your attention, he will bring solutions. Expect the solution to be carefully considered and have any cost ramifications connected to it thoroughly addressed.

A good remodeler is also going to be doing a better job of checking the quality of his work than you are capable of doing. However, he also wants you to be looking at the work carefully so that the finished project is that much more likely to be done correctly.

Will it get done on time? All you have ever heard of are the projects that went on and on. You can't deal with that. Even if the work is not done perfectly you need to be sure that you will get your house back sooner than later.

Make sure that you and your remodeler have a clear idea of what the completion date is. Sometimes people talk to one another about something without reaching a common understanding. The completion date should be in the contract. A good remodeling contractor will bring up the completion date in the weekly meetings with you. However, please realize if you change the scope of work then the completion date will probably change. So keep changes to a minimum once the work is underway.

When it is all done will it have been worth it? This is a really tough question to answer. Generally the more you understand why you are doing the project the more likely you will think it was worth it at the end.

In the middle of the project you are quite likely to regret having started the work. Everything is torn up and it seems like the work is taking forever! Feeling this way at some point is very normal. After the work is done and you live in the changed space how do you feel? If you feel that the quality of your life has been enhanced because of the risk you took doing the project than it was all worth it.

Fears. They are powerful feelings that sometimes prevent us from doing things we might really want to. I hope I have helped you address some of the fears that you might have regarding having someone work on your home.

The best way to get beyond the fears is to find a good remodeling contractor and bring up your concerns to them. Let me know if you need help in finding one!

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