If you’re about to embark on a remodel, you’re probably thinking of hiring a general contractor. But what should you expect of a great general contractor?

A great general contractor will do three important things for you:

   1) Provide a clear, detailed, accurate estimate for your project.

   2) Manage your project well.

   3) Build your home beautifully.

Sadly, too often, they really don’t deliver on any of these things. 😩

Sometimes that’s because you hired a bad contractor, but more often it’s because the contractor has a lack of experience or poor communication and business skills, and the client just didn’t know what to watch out for when they were interviewing and choosing their GC. More than one beautiful kitchen has been tainted by a terrible remodel experience!

Being a good builder doesn’t make someone a good business person or good project manager. And building a home well is only one aspect of being a good contractor.

Let’s make sure you have the knowledge you need to get a better, more accurate estimate and have an easier, more successful remodel!

Great contractors provide clear, detailed, accurate estimates

My favorite contractors are amazing project managers. Long before demolition they provide a clear, detailed list of all the decisions they’ll need from the homeowner with specific dates by which they’ll need those decisions. This makes communication clearer, and avoids the stress and costs that come with project overruns.

One of my favorite contractors who gets an A+ for project management is Palmer Residential. They have a beautifully organized 3-ring binder for each of their clients containing all timelines, contracts, and plans. And they hold regular meetings with their clients throughout the remodel process.

How do you know if you have a gem like that on your hands? Look for clues in your initial meeting and estimate:

– Did they confirm your meeting a few days before they showed up?

– Did they show up on time to provide you with an estimate?

– Did they provide you with a detailed estimate? (Or, just as good – did they say they *couldn’t* give you an estimate yet because they don’t have a clear enough remodel plan from you?)

– Did they send you that estimate in whatever timeframe they promised? (Doing a proper, detailed estimate can take 2-4 hours (or more!) to put together, so it’s appropriate for a busy contractor to need at least a week to send one your way).

If they are terrible communicators from the start, they aren’t likely to get any better during the project. So pay attention and watch for any yellow or red flags!

What should an estimate include?

Well, if your estimate just says “$40,000 to remodel bathroom” – RUN! This is the kind of bid that doubles in size over time.

That’s just not enough information! Does that cost cover materials and fixtures, or just labor? What level of finishes does that include? (For example, a perfectly smooth drywall finish is much more costly than an orange peel finish – which one do they have in mind for your project)?

On the hand, while it should include a clear breakdown of costs, you shouldn’t expect it to layout contractor profit and mark-ups (although some contractors do disclose that). But just like you don’t buy a blouse and ask the salesperson how much the store marked it up from wholesale, or what commission the salesperson might take home, you shouldn’t expect a contractor to tell you that level of behind-the-scenes information. If you feel anxious about your contractor’s business practices, don’t hire them. It’s *very* important that you’re at least starting out with a high level of mutual trust and respect!

What you *should* get is a clear list of labor tasks, materials allowances, and a contingency amount (for those “surprises” like rot or termite damage). Ideally those three elements will be spelled out clearly enough that you can compare one contractor to another. Three contractors may be suggesting very similar labor costs, but one might allow for more expensive materials, and another may not include materials in their bid at all. If you don’t know how that $175,000 bottom line breaks down, it’s hard to compare bids.

Below is a generic version of a line-by-line estimate. And if you’d like to see a real-life (and really detailed) version, the folks at Palmer Residential were kind enough to share a recent contract they put together for a client.

Remember, it is just as important to identify the work *not* being done as the work that *is* being done.  This level of communication keeps trust levels high, everyone on the same page, and avoids nasty surprise bills later.

It’s totally appropriate to have high expectations of your contractor, but you have a part to play, too.

To make the most of your estimate meeting, come prepared with a well-developed scope of work. Most contractors only do one meeting and one budget estimate for free (remember, it takes hours for them to put together an estimate). So if you want them to be able to give you an accurate time and cost estimate for your project then provide them with a well-developed, thorough design plan.

Travis Spikes of Woodcrafters Construction (another contractor who gets an A+ in my book) says:

“I ask for three documents in order to do a detailed estimate: 1) a set of plans with as many annotations as possible, 2) a fixture and material schedule with allowances for decisions still to-be-determined, and 3) a scope of work narrative that helps to explain the project details that are not on the plans.”

No one can estimate a project without a defined scope of work!

It’s useless to ask a contractor to give you a bid on your kitchen remodel without a clear scope of work and an idea of the materials and appliances you have in mind. There is a big difference between a project that just replaces some counters and a project where you gut and remodel the whole room, move the plumbing, add recessed lighting, and install new gas lines and venting. There is a big difference between slapping some tile on the wall and a craftsman-level install. There is a big difference between installing a $3,000 KitchenAid fridge and a $11,000 SubZero fridge. They need those details from you in order to give you that detailed and accurate bid!

You want a good relationship with the contractor from day one, so come to the meeting as prepared as possible. If all you’re trying to do is explore the idea of a remodel and your cost options, consider hiring a contractor as a (paid) consultant for a few hours. It could be a fantastic investment that pays dividends when it’s time to actually hire a GC.

Great contractors run a great job site

If your contractor provided you with a clear and detailed estimate, odds are good that they’ll effectively communicate throughout the project. They’ll expertly manage their subs (like the electrician or plumber) so everyone shows up when planned and the project stays on time. And they’ll provide the homeowner with the tools they need to be a great partner in the project, like a list of decisions they’ll need from you and deadlines by which they’ll need those decisions.

On larger projects, a great contractor will prepare a calendar with a timeline that both you and the subs can access. For example, Woodcrafters uses Builder Trend. This streamlines the material selection and ordering process and makes for more effective project management (including scheduling, document storage, messaging, and tracking/implementing change orders).

If they don’t give you a list and calendar like that don’t assume it isn’t needed – take charge and do that work yourself. Put together a spreadsheet that lists the finishes and fixtures you need to select. Have a meeting with the contractor (ideally before demolition) and go over it line by line to create a timeline. Then make all those decisions well before your deadlines so that the project stays on course!

Fun fact! If you work with a design team (like us 😉) then you’ll already have made all those decisions – from counter edge profile to grout color, pendant lights to cabinet handles…. here’s a snapshot of portion of a materials list we created for a client:

The more design decisions you make pre-demo (or pre-estimate) the easier and more efficient your remodel will be. Bear in mind that you *will* have mid-project decisions (like, “ma’am, we opened the wall and discovered a plumbing stack right where you wanted your shower niche – how would you like to handle that”), not to mention the stress that comes with potential weather delays and scheduling/rescheduling subcontractors. Make those fixture and finish decisions early and it will dramatically reduce the stress (and cost) of the project! (Change orders are surefire budget-and-schedule killers!)

A great contractor will build your home beautifully

Of course, this is the goal, right? Even if you have a horror-story remodel that goes over-budget and over-time, and even if you hate the contractor so much you’ll never speak to them again, you hope that you’ll at least end up with a beautiful and functional space. Whether the GC completes the work themself or hires subs to do the framing, electrical, plumbing, sheetrock, painting, and finish work, the final product should be lovely.

This means you *do* need to hire a crew that actually knows how to remodel to your standards. Establish early on what level of quality you expect. Start paying attention to your friend’s homes or hotels you visit, and consider going to open houses in your neighborhood to learn what good installation does (or does not) look like. Take pictures so you can have an educated conversation with your contractor from the start). Some folks would be okay with a out-of-alignment tile or two if it saves them a few bucks. Others would consider the whole project a waste of time and money if it’s not handcrafted to perfection. What finish level do *you* need and expect from your builder (and does it align with the cost of that grade of work)?

And it’s not just about the actual construction.

It’s also about the day-to-day experience you’ll have during construction. In addition to asking the contractor good questions during the consult (check out this blog for a great list of questions to ask) call references and ask questions like:

• Did the contractor finish your project on time and on budget?
• What hours did they keep? Did they show up every day when they said they would?
• Did they keep a neat and tidy work environment? Was the bathroom trashed every day you’d come home?
• Were they good about locking up the house each evening, and keeping pets secure and safe? (This is the homeowner’s job, too.)
• Were you happy with the quality of their installations?
• Think about your personal pet-peeves. Hate loud music? It’s okay to ask the referral if the contractor tended to use earbuds or play from a boom box onsite. This is *your* house – you don’t want to dread coming home each day!
• What would you do differently if you were doing it again with this contractor? (Note I didn’t say *is* there anything you’d do differently because I guarantee every project has *something* that could have gone more smoothly.)
• Is there anything else I should know about working with this contractor? (I love open-ended questions like this!)

Good homeowner etiquette: what’s YOUR job?

Remember, this is a partnership. You’re going to bank role a $20,000, $200,000, or $2 million project, but your job is bigger than just handing off the money.

– Be honest with your budget, and be direct and specific about your design needs, quality expectations, and timeline. If you don’t trust the contractor, then don’t hire them. But don’t lie to them from the start – you need an honest, clear working relationship with this person.

– Be prepared. Try not to ask a contractor what your kitchen remodel will cost if you haven’t done any design planning yet. Yes, they can give you a sense of what projects will cost in general (or you can check out this blog post) but they can’t give you an accurate estimate if they don’t know if you’ll be moving a wall or not, moving plumbing or not, or installing Taj-Mahal-level tile or a simple subway backsplash.

– Don’t ask for a bunch of revisions to the estimate until *after* you hire them. It’s a-okay to ask for a detailed bid while you are still comparing two or three contractors, but please don’t waste their time with lots of changes to the scope until you’ve made that hiring decision. In order to make that hiring decision, all you need are apples-to-apples estimates from about three folks. That means asking for a quote on the *same* scope of project, not changing it from contractor to contractor as you get more ideas from each one. It’s normal to change or tighten up the scope once you’ve compared your contractors and decided who you’ll hire.

You’ve got this!

Remember, you are a smart and capable person, so go into this with confidence. Just because you don’t know a thing about contracting or building doesn’t mean you don’t have good instincts. Listen to your gut, check business licenses and call references, and ask questions. Never assume that the contractor knows what you want – use drawings and pictures to make sure you’re all on the same visual page, and put everything in writing.

Yes, hiring a great contractor (the kind that that puts the time into good project management) will cost more up front. But if you can afford it, I promise it will be a well-spent investment and *may even save you money* if it avoids delays and other cost-overruns.

If you have questions on getting an estimate or hiring a good general contractor, we’d be happy to give you our very best advice during a Design Helpline over Zoom! Sometimes just talking through your ideas is enough to eliminate obstacles and give you the courage to move forward!

May your home (& your remodel experience) always be happy! 

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