Tool and Tie

The journey behind home renovations is a fun one and I always look forward to the end result. However, the work in between can sometimes be a drag. Today we’re going to cover off some important elements when build a renovation plan. We’ll cover off the phases of a plan and some of the intricate details in each phase. Whether the renovation be big or small, these phases have typically worked well for me.

If you would like a copy of the excel based plan that I created to manage all my renovations then here is the link to download the plan. My plan includes my true cost versus what the contractors told us.

 

[Note in my podcast I misquoted our savings, we actually saved even more for a total savings of $18,811.67].

If you would like a free copy of my excel based plan, just enter your email below and I’ll be sure to get a copy out to you in no time

 

Now lets get into the phases of any renovation that we found useful include:

1) Planning – Plan space, materials, resources, and orders

2) Demolition – Save what you can and demo the rest. Don’t outsource demo. Its fun and free!

3) Adjustments and Repairs – Make repairs and adjustments to items that may have been damaged in the demo phase

4) Installation – install floors, cabinets, appliances, counter tops

5) Refine – fine tune your renovation

6) Cleanup – do a post construction clean

If you listen to the podcast, Poonam and I walk you through each of the phases. Its important to understand each phase carefully and ensure you give it the required time to make your renovation a success.

I am also working on publishing my ebook very shortly on kitchen renovations targeted for beginners where I go into a lot more detail about the phases of renovations and give you some bonus items as well. To get on my preview list, send me an email at [email protected] and i’ll be sure to give you add you to my already growing list of interested readers. You’ll get first dibs at the book before its official launch for a discounted price. Send me a note and i’ll give you the details.

For illustration purposes i’m going to walk you through my kitchen demo and show you some before and after images to give you an understanding of what we had to experience. So lets get started. This is what my kitchen looked like before the renovation:

 

 

Here is an image after I removed the appliances:

Some more images

and now its gutted

 

here is an image of my wife diligently putting the floors in and she did a wonderful job. Listen to hear tips on installing hardwood floors in the podcast. Some great tips for any homeowner looking to change up their existing floors. She really did a great job!

 

Now you can see the kitchen coming together. The kitchen company have installed the cabinets, and i’ve started to do some of the electrical work and plumbing at this point. I’ve started to install the under cabinet lights and puck lights for the glass doors.

In this episode I am joined by my wife Poonam who had a large hand in making these renovations a success. We walk you through the first few moments when we walked in the house, initial reactions and I speak to that tipping point about whether to break apart those first hardwood floors or not. In this podcast I provide you some tips. Here are the coles notes version of the podcast (although I suggest you listen to it as well)

Research

Finding the inner confidence to do so can sometimes prove to be a challenge, but it all starts with the proper research. As long as you have researched what you’re doing, you can anticipate things that are expected and have some idea of how to deal with the unexpected. Whether you’re taking apart tile, removing flooring or taking down cabinets, be sure to research it. There are various ways to research this including some online research, speaking to hardware stores and professionals or get a hold of people that are an authority in this space. Feel free to shoot me an email or send me a voicemail on my “Ask Sats” page.

The Tipping Point

If you’re at the tipping point as to whether you should do the reno or not, you really need to ask yourself if you can commit to it. Renovation projects are not for everybody so you need to be honest with yourself. My philosophy is that if you’ve done the research, you should be in a position to take on the challenge. That however is for you to decide.

Don’t Outsource the Demo

Even if you decide to outsource some of the work, the demolition is something you shouldn’t outsource. Why? because when else do you get the chance to smash things around and not have to worry about putting it back together. Having said that if you are looking to do the demo on the own, be sure to stay clear of electrical and plumbing lines. If you are working near electrical and plumbing lines be sure to document where the outlets, pipes etc are located. This would have been documented in the Understand phase from episode 2.

Work Smarter

When you are having fun with your demo, be sure to equip yourself with some power tools. I tried to take apart our kitchen floor tiles with a chisel, crowbar and hammer. While I made some progress, I was moving at a snails pace. I eventually purchased a hammer drill with a chisel bit that allowed me to quadruple my productivity. Making that investment is well worth it. I used the Bosch Bulldog SDS Hammer drill and a chisel bit set.

Support is your Secret Ingredient

If you decide to take on any renovation project, having the necessary support through family and friends is absolutely critical. When times are difficult you need to have somebody to turn to who can help motivate you to move forward. For me, I would generally not take on any renovation unless my wife supported it, and when things go down she is one of the first to help pick me up. It’s a sensational feeling!

Helpful Links

Bosch Bulldog SDS Hammer drill

Chisel bit set

As always feel free to send me a note at [email protected]

 

In this episode I speak about a few basics. The first part of creating a vision is to set a budget. The budget is used to ensure you stay within your means. Setting up a budget goes beyond having a number in mind. The last thing you would want to do is set a number, then be disappointed because what you’re looking for goes beyond the budget. To help create an end to end vision, there are three things to consider:

1) Identify and Prioritize

2) Establishing a reasonable budget by understanding the true cost

3) “MUST” it

4) Finalize the Vision

Identify and Prioritize

To start your vision, you will need to identify what you really need versus what you would like to have. You need to be really critical in helping to separate your needs and wants because often homeowners will want to “slide in” things as a need. You have to ask yourself, do you really “need” those upgraded tiles? Is this strictly cosmetic or does it have a functional requirement? Once you have created that list, you will need to then look to set up a realistic budget.

Setting Up a Realistic Budget

You want to establish a baseline for your home renovations. The best way to do this is to get a couple of contractors to come in and give you a free quote. You may want to get 4-5 contractors come in. Although this seems like a lot, it really helps with establishing a baseline. Naturally you will have some contractors that are too high and others too low. You want to eliminate the high and low bid (assuming the scope of the work is the same for all) and the remaining three will give you an indication of what this will cost. Ensure any contractor you bring in is licensed and insured where applicable. You want to ensure there is some kind of recourse in case anything goes wrong. Pull out your “needs list” that you created earlier and use that as a guide for your estimates. Be sure to stick to your needs. You can ask the contractor to price out the wants separately. This will be a nice list to have in case your project comes in under budget. When setting any budget be sure to use 5%-10% as a contingency fund. Assuming nothing goes wrong, your contingency fund will help fund your “wants” list. Now if you are planning on doing some of this as a DIY project, then its still great to benchmark what a contractor would charge vs. how much you can do it for yourself. There are some components you can outsource and others you can do on your own. This should be documented in your plan. We’ll cover that off in a future episode.

“MUST” It

Over the years I’ve learned a valuable lesson about visualizing a space. There were many properties that I overlooked because I couldn’t get past how unattractive they looked. I was so fixated on what was there that I wasn’t looking to look beyond that point. So I’ve taught myself to view properties in a way that others may not see it which works in my advantage. I always MUST any new property that I look at whether it be an investment or something for a client.

1) Measure It: You need to be thorough with your measurements and not rely too much on rough measurements. Sometimes 1/4 of an inch can make the difference between a successful project to one that will need a lot of re-work which will end up costing you. To avoid any mistakes I use a distance laser measurer to ensure I get accurate measurements. I use the Bosch DLR130K  (affiliate link) to take my measurements. It gives me measurements that are fairly accurate and I don’t have to worry about fumbling with a measuring tape. Once I get my core measurements in place I’m ready to move to the next step.

Hi Everybody,

Welcome to the tool and tie podcast. I want to personally thank each and every one of you for tuning on to my podcast. The last 2 years have been a great learning experience for myself and my wife. We were home renovation newbies with little direction or guidance. In our journey you’ll get to see tips and tricks, new trends and hear from experts. My wife will co-host with me on occasion to give you her perspective through this bumpy yet fun ride. If I had to do it all over again, I would in a heart beat. Today i’m still a corporate exec but there isn’t a home reno challenge that I shy away from. I’ve started to offer my services as a design and home improvement consultant and the results that my clients have seen are spectacular. So jump on the train as we navigate you through our journey so you can learn what to do and more importantly what not to do. Please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] for you questions. I will do my best to get back to you as soon as possible and/or have your question aired on the show