Chapter 1
Relationship Building
LOVE THE MAGAZINE DESIGNS – LOOKING FOR THE PERFECT CONTRACTOR
GET THE 411 ON Not Only HOW TO GET THROUGH IT but How to Begin it - the remodel that is!
Remodeling is about relationships. Are you ready for a long-term relationship? (hereafter known as an LTR)
In the pre-dating phase of the relationship, it’s all about you! Even before calling for pricing, you must decide if this project is really something you want to do. Whether it’s a cosmetic makeover of a small bathroom or a whole house makeover, you really must look at the relationship aspect of someone working in your home. The only thing that is different about either of these projects is the length of time the contractor will be there. It really doesn’t matter in the end if it’s two weeks or eighteen months. If you wouldn’t be comfortable with someone in your home for two weeks, how would you handle the “emotionology”* of an eighteen month project?
As for remodeling, if the project is longer than two weeks, it is an LTR. It’s imperative to give thought to the length of time this relationship is really going to last and how everyone is going to get along. Remember, what’s involved here is the ‘emotionology’ of the money and mess a remodeling project costs and creates. A contractor is coming into your personal space, getting it dirty and charging a good deal of money to do so.
FINDING MR. OR MS. RIGHT – Choosing the Right Contractor
If you’re ready to start “dating”, start thinking about what you want in a relationship even before you make that first phone call. How do you want someone to act in your home, treat your kids, what kind of follow-up do you expect, what are your perceptions of clean-up at the end of each day? These are all things you’d think about if you were going to move in with someone because essentially several some ones are moving in with you. They may not be spending the night but they’re going to be there all day, in most cases, without your supervision. You want to be able to trust them to show up, do the work planned for that day and lock up when they leave. So when you pull all of your researched information – yes, there is research involved – together to schedule two or three contractors to give you bids, you must have a list so you can compare apples to apples when it comes to the interviewing process.
