“You can’t let technology rule you,” the remodeler says. “The computer makes things look easy, which can sometimes send the wrong message.”
Callen Construction in Muskego, Wis., is in the process of making a large-screen monitor available in one of its conference rooms. “We’ll be able to tap into our personal computer and pull up whatever plans we’re working on,” says designer Jillaine Burton. “That allows the client to keep printouts of three-dimensional views. We’re a non-fee-based company, so this makes us a bit more approachable for the midlevel client, who gets the same level of service as our upscale customers. They can walk away with a sense of what something will look like, not just a piece of paper with a price and a little description.”
BELLS AND WHISTLES After a contract is signed is when electronic tools can really shine — especially Chief Architect, which has a nimbleness that designers appreciate.
“Chief Architect’s rendering tool is especially nice,” says Jon Vogel of New Outlooks Construction Group in Robbinsville, N.J. “With the click of a button you can get an instant model of the outside of the house, show how a deck or window and door styles would look. The way you can manipulate cabinetry is amazing. Being able to save different versions of changes is a huge advantage, too. It means you don’t have to keep reinventing the wheel.”
Brian Stone, a design consultant for The Alexander Group in Kensington, Md., is a fan of Chief Architect’s three-dimensional capabilities. “Once you get the 3-D model built, you can view the project from any angle, both inside and out,” he says. “Before, we were only able to do that by constructing perspectives by hand, but that’s very time consuming.”
Burton weighs the nature of a particular job before deciding on which computer tool to use. “If I’m doing a large kitchen program that involves a lot of reconstruction of the space, I’ll draw it in Chief Architect, get the approximate layout of the cabinets, and then go to 20-20 [Design] and do the main focus of the cabinet area, working out the exact measurements and cabinet choices,” she says. “If I’m doing an average-style kitchen where you’re reconfiguring the cabinet layout but not changing the footprint of the kitchen, then I would do it all in 20-20.”
CYBER SERVICE While design software has radically changed the way most upscale remodelers work, two other technologies have really shaken up the business: e-mail and the Internet.
“E-mail leaves very little to interpretation,” Vogel says. “[Microsoft] Outlook has been extremely beneficial, especially with PDAs.” Some clients still prefer to talk via phone or in person, but more and more are opting for cybercommunications. “It depends on the individual client, but, generally, e-mail is used tremendously,” Stone says. “It provides a nice record of conversations.”
As for the Internet, most remodelers have embraced the way it can help clients, especially in terms of researching materials.
“More and more, Web sites are part of the presentation,” Burton says. “Instead of scrambling for a particular piece of literature, we can just print pictures off a Web site to show a client what something looks like. We have links on our site to different cabinet companies that we represent, which can give clients some good ideas, too.”