How can homeowners participate in their home remodeling or renovation project?

When we meet with clients in preparation for their home remodel they commonly ask how they can participate and help the project move forward. Sometimes they want to perform some of the work themselves to contribute to the finished product and/or they may want to save some on costs and out of pocket expenses. Regardless of the reason(s) there are many ways homeowners can assist with their remodel and/or new home construction.

One of the most important things that every homeowner must do is make product selections for the lighting, flooring, plumbing fixtures, tile, paint, appliances, counter tops, cabinets and trim elements. This can be an overwhelming task! Your builder and/or designer can provide samples and recommendations to aid in the process and narrow selections down to fit with your style and budget. Making the time to finalize these selections on schedule is critical to the timeliness and success of your project. Meeting regularly with your builder during the course of the home remodeling project to make product selections and review the project schedule should be every homeowner’s priority.

If you have additional time and/or desires you may consider taking on some of the remodeling work yourself. In general, we recommend that our clients work with us at either the beginning or end of the project. Demolition, painting, installing trim work and floor coverings are a few examples of areas where homeowners can contribute “sweat equity” to their project. Working closely with the builder minimizes conflicts with the project schedule and allows for more effective collaboration between the builder and the homeowner.

When evaluating whether to work on your project yourself, be sure to consider the price tag on your own time and expenses. How much work will be missed or personal time given up? With these considerations included it may be less expensive to let you builder provide all the work needed. Let your own interests and skills influence your decision.

We enjoy working with our clients and developing a mutually beneficial relationship throughout the course of their home construction and remodeling project(s). We appreciate the time and efforts they put into home and enjoy helping them make their dreams become a reality.

If you have any questions about building and/or remodeling your own home. Please feel free to contact us and discuss them via email, over the phone or in person.

Success,
Matthew Harper
President
Harper & Company Homes, LLC

1880's Home Restoration

We are starting a historic renovation project in Salt Lake City. The excavators are currently digging out the basement for new footings and foundation walls. I have set up a photo album of the project for interested parties to follow. The home was originally built n the 1880's.

Check out the photos on our Facebook Page: Harper & Company

Fall Project Incentives

Dear Friends & Clients,

The economic ebb has provided an opportunity for you to move forward with your new home, remodeling projects, or restoration in ways that were not available last fall. New home projects are now more cost efficient than they have been in the past several years. The price of materials have dropped (due to lower market volume needed) to more reasonable rates and decreased project volume has allowed us time to focus on each job more effectively and provide a more efficient crew to ensure that your project is completed within budget.

At Harper & Company we have taken the time to expand our resources and increase our capabilities to better serve our clients and their needs.

We have teamed up with suppliers who are committed to provide the best materials for the best prices on the market. Lumber prices have decreased by approximately 5% to 10% and other suppliers are providing incentives that we pass directly on to you, our client. Rocky Mountain Power and Questar Gas are providing significant rebates for improving your home’s energy efficiency that has completely offset the cost of insulation and a significant portion of the cost for windows in some of our recent remodeling projects. We can also help you secure the financial resources you need.

Add these factors together and this fall is one of the best times to build a new home, add an addition, remodel your kitchen, finish your basement, or restore that old brick bungalow you love.

We are also offering a fall project incentive to our clients. If we begin work on your project before October 15, 2010 we will provide a $400 project discount or a SONY 32” flat panel TV (on projects over $10,000).

We offer a free in-home consultation to discuss how we can make upcoming projects become a reality. Please call to schedule your consultation today.

801-472-1211

Marketing Skills: Selling Value

This is a good article not only for builders but for clients as well. We are all trying to find and deliver the best value for ourselves and our clients.

http://www.remodelersadvantage.com/blog/archives/129

Project Planning

Question: I know I want to build (or remodel) bubt I don't know where to start. Can you give me some direction about where to begin?

We have many clients and potential clients approach us with and idea in mind of what they want in their new home and/or remodel but aren't sure how to move forward with their idea. We recommend begining with conceptual designs (sketchs) and spending time looking at other homes or projects you like and don't like. You will learn as much or more about what you want in your home from the things you don't like as the things you do. This is a good time to meet with your builder and ask him for recommendations about where to go to look at design ideas and what works well and what doesn't. He should have access to design centers, recent projects you can look at, tickets to home shows, and suppliers who will provide samples for you. It may seem a little early in the process to be looking at material samples but knowing what type of materials you like and want now will help you focus in on the perfect design for you and your home. It will also help eliminate costly changes later on in the process.

Your builder will also be able to help you get a feel for what a given project may cost and ways to maximize its value.

After you have a conceptual plan put together you can begin to move forward with the final design process. Your builder should also be able to provide you with the professional design services you need. We will discuss the design process further in our next posting.

Please feel free to ask questions...

The barn is finished.. several months ago

We haven't been very good about keeping our barn blog updated. We completed the barn restoration several months ago and have posted photographs of teh entire project on our Facebok page. Check out Harper & Company on facebook.

Thanks