This article appeared in the Fall 2022 issue of This Old House Magazine.单击此处学习如何订阅。
We’re used to breaking work into a series of steps. First, we scrape, then we prime, then we paint. Lather, rinse, repeat. Wipe on, wipe off.
Hiring a Renovation Team
But when it comes to the complex task of home renovation, I recommend that homeowners consider a less linear approach from the start. Traditionally, an architect or designer is hired, a plan finalized and put out to bid, and a contractor chosen.
Later, a lighting specialist, an interior designer, or a landscape person might come on board. Call it the choo-choo train method, one player brought in at a time, perhaps in an effort to keep the payroll under control, perhaps out of a mistaken belief that you can cross that bridge when you get there.
但是,这种方法的成本主要是在失去的机会和相对混乱中,这可以在很大程度上可以通过所谓的并行处理方法(而不是另一种方法)来避免。它坚持从设计才能开始的传统,但尽快带来了其他专家。
提示1:聘请建筑师
假设该项目足够复杂,需要建筑师或建筑设计师。根据我的经验,一份工作要升至该水平并不需要太多。这些人在研究生院花费时间的结果是:他们学会了如何设计东西。而且,由于不可避免的价格比您预期的要高,因此最好为建造正确的东西而bob体育app苹果下载不是错误的费用付费,而这需要专业的设计。
When it comes to architects, local is good, as you want someone familiar with the zoning and building codes in your town and the officials in charge of enforcing them. After that, choosing one requires liking the work (see it in the flesh if possible), doing some vetting (ask for names of the last three clients— because you’re only as good as your latest work—and contact those folks for a read on how those projects went), and connecting well. And ask if your potential design partner agrees with the approach I’m outlining here before making the hire.
提示2:确定您想要多少专业管理
Then start the design work. Paper’s cheap, as they say, so look at several schemes before going too deep into the details. When you’re liking where it’s going, STOP. Now is the time to decide what kind of project you’re going to conduct—and yes, as the homeowner, you are ultimately the conductor.
基本的选择是您想要多少专业管理。在规模的一端,唯一的老板或小规模的建筑商拿起建筑师的施工图并完成了该项目。另一方面,一个人工良好的总承包商与建筑师和分包商合作,并分配项目经理。该人在工作现场保留订单,购买材料,安排潜艇,并在提问时与建筑师联系。
鉴于商业模式,较小的服装价格很可能低于较大的公司。风险是时间表可以更轻松地出现问题,因此预算;bob体育app苹果下载人们最终站在四处走动或需要再回来(前提是他们可以在日历中找到一个新插槽)。提供管理专业知识的公司减轻了这种风险。是的,您将付费。马萨诸塞州贝尔蒙特市S+H Construction的所有者莎拉·劳森(Sarah Lawson)估计,专业管理人员的最初价格增加了10%至20%。
提示3:询问您的建筑师输入
在索要名字之后,从建筑师那里获得了您的建筑师的决定的输入。选择您的管理水平(和随之而来的风险)后,会与少数候选人会面,讨论范围并获得球场估算,然后将您选择的建筑商带到餐桌上。
Hopefully (because a bond will develop), your builder will remain there, contributing experience-based input to every step of the remaining design process, becoming a fully invested and respected team member, involving subcontractors at key moments, and putting specific numbers to the design as it comes together, so you’ll know what costs are looking like and can make decisions accordingly.
但是,你说,“投标工作呢?这是traditional, too, and I don’t want to get screwed!” Again, in my experience, there’s less to this than you might think. Cambridge, MA, architect Maggie Booz, who has been putting together projects for over 30 years, explains it this way: “The financial part of the bidding process is likely secondary to what the initial meeting and estimating phase actually yields: the getting-to-know-you between prospective builder and owner. Who showed up on time, who brought pertinent subs along, who did you just simply like? And then you get to bring that person on and listen to more good advice!”
Lawson concurs that, among comparable contracting businesses, there’s less pricing variation than you might imagine. “Contractors who do manage high-quality projects will have similar margins,” she says. “And since subcontractors and materials make up 60 to 70 percent of a job, the ultimate cost of your project is likely to be similar among equal-quality competitors.”
提示4:带其他优点,如果需要
And if your project calls for them, bring in those other disciplines early, too—interiors, lighting, landscaping Having them on board early won’t cost you much extra, if anything at all, since the same amount of work will get done, though over a longer period of time, and the forethought and planning (as opposed to course-changing and backtracking) that can accrue will almost certainly pay off in the end.