Avoid Common Mistakes When Doing A Renovation

Avoid Common Mistakes

How professional remodelers avoid some of the most common construction mistakes.

Most homeowners judge a quality remodeling project by the obvious: a design that’s a joy to live in, a streetscape that wows passers-by, great natural lighting, and lots of storage. The list goes on.
But some less obvious details have as great an impact on the homeowners’ satisfaction over time. While the homeowners have little control over these details, a professional remodeler with a sustainable business will make sure they get done right.

The possibilities for bad work are too many to list. A few examples should make the point.
Poor moisture control

Mistakes here can potentially raise the chance of mold, mildew, and rot. Steve Easley, a California-based building consultant who investigates moisture problems, sees the same errors again and again.

Three common ones:

• Horizontal valleys. Such valleys include where a roof slopes into a chimney or wall. The detailing here needs to be close to perfect to keep water out.

• Lack of overhangs. In a Canadian study, 80 percent of examined homes with moisture in the walls had no roof overhang, making it easy for water to flow down the siding and into the wall.

• Improper housewrap. When water gets behind the siding, flashing and housewrap should direct it back out before it can get into the structure. Mistakes here are rampant. Take the example of a piece of flashing that laps over the one above it. Anyone with a basic grasp of gravity will understand that if water dripping down the wall hits this intersection, it will flow into the structure rather than out. Shockingly, building science experts say that it’s one of the most common errors they see in the field.

Under-performing mechanicals

Modern heating and cooling equipment is very efficient, but efficiency doesn’t guarantee comfort. Equipment must be well sized and ducts properly sealed. Sadly, these aren’t always properly done.
Some HVAC contractors still use rule-of-thumb calculations to size furnaces and air conditioners. That may have worked for old, drafty structures but with today’s tighter homes the result is often oversized equipment that costs more to buy and operate, and leaves the home less comfortable than it could be. Smart remodelers work with HVAC companies that carefully calculate the home’s heating load and precisely matches the system to that load.

Another rampant problem is leaky ductwork. If the leak is outside the main living area, such as in a basement, living and sleeping spaces won’t get the air they need. There will be resulting comfort issues, and the equipment will have to run longer to satisfy the thermostat. If ducts run through a totally unconditioned space—for example, a hot attic in summer—leaks will create a slight vacuum that pulls unwanted outside air into the house through leaks in the floors, walls, and ceilings.

Sloppy insulation

When insulation is installed without enough attention to detail, the home can end up with hot and cold spots and uncomfortable drafts.

John Tooley, a nationally known building science consultant and energy expert, says that the most common problem areas he sees are attic kneewalls and vaulted ceilings. In the former the insulation usually gets installed without backing and so falls away from the wall; in the latter it’s stuffed into the ceiling cavity, leaving heat-sucking voids. “Insulation has to touch the surface of the drywall to do its job,” he points out. “That’s obviously not happening in a lot of cases.”

The thread running through these situations is that the remodeler lacked a quality system and process to make sure insulation was installed right, mechanicals properly sized, ducts sealed, and the home protected against moisture. And if those tasks escaped scrutiny, chances are others did as well.

Warm Regards,

Doug Abbott
Village Builders

This is an excerpt from a newsletter that is distributed to all former, current and future clients of Village Builders Inc.  If you would like to receive this newsletter feel free to email me at www.robabbott@villagebuilders.ca

Rob Abbott
Operations Manager
Village Builders Inc

The role of your renovater

The Role of the Remodeler

A lot of people don’t understand the sheer complexity of the remodeling contractor’s job, and the systems required to make a big project go smoothly.

Many analogies have been used to describe the professional remodeler: the conductor of an orchestra, the captain of a ship, even a general executing a military campaign. The point is that the remodeler is the one who must coordinate the innumerable players and products needed to transform the homeowners’ wishes and vision into a real-life addition, kitchen, or bath.

The remodeler has to make sure that everything happens just when it’s supposed to, and that the end result is exactly what the clients expected.

This process should begin before the plans have been drawn. Ideally, the remodeler will work with the architect or designer to detail the project so that it can be completed in the most efficient and cost-effective manner, and with the least disruption to the homeowners’ lives. Such collaboration can yield significant cost savings, as well as reducing headaches for everyone.

Once the plans are complete, the remodeler works with local zoning and code authorities to secure the proper permits. Professional remodelers have a thorough understanding of building codes, as well as good working relationships with local authorities. This is another big plus to hiring a pro: the building department will scrutinize more closely a permit application submitted by a homeowner, or even by a small contractor, than one submitted by an established company with a reputation for solid management and quality work.

Professional remodelers also have close relationships with quality subcontractors. And because the remodeler is a source of ongoing work for those contractors, prices offered will likely be less than prices offered to anyone else.

Once the project is under way, the professional remodeler’s management skills really make a difference.

These skills include:

• Keeping the job on schedule by ensuring that all workers and materials show up at exactly the right time. Timetables often change, with causes that range from bad weather, to late deliveries, to unexpected structural problems uncovered during demolition. The time and organization required to constantly adjust everyone’s schedules is something homeowners seldom see.

• Overseeing the job to guarantee that all trades deliver quality work and to ensure that the homeowners’ assets are protected. For example, if the weather forecast makes it risky to tear off the roof, the remodeler will have the authority to put it on hold even if the roofer wants to move ahead.

• Solving and preventing problems. A major renovation is an extremely complex undertaking with a million things that can go wrong—and that will go wrong without a skilled and experienced person in the lead. Having a pro in charge of solving problems takes a lot of stress off the homeowners.

• Completing the punch list at the end of the project. Everyone has heard horror stories of unprofessional contractors who left a job with a list of small things undone. The pro will make sure that everything is complete before the last worker leaves the job.

Finally, from start to finish the professional remodeler protects the homeowner by carrying the needed licenses and insurance policies and confirming that everyone else on the job is similarly covered.

A major remodel is not a seat-of-the pants endeavor: a successful project is the result of well-honed management systems. These systems are an important part of the professional remodeler’s value.
Warm Regards,

Doug Abbott
Village Builders

This is an excerpt from a newsletter that is distributed to all former, current and future clients of Village Builders Inc.  If you would like to receive this newsletter feel free to email me at www.robabbott@villagebuilders.ca

Rob Abbott
Operations Manager
Village Builders Inc