Jones says that although she sees herself as “type-A,” she felt she was “floundering a lot of the time when making decisions.” She knew a few things she really wanted — a stone fireplace, stainless steel appliances, and a big master suite with a master bath and walk-in closet — but she ended up procrastinating because she wasn’t sure how one thing would look with another. “And I have to like it for a long time. That was the part I couldn’t nail down. Am I really going to like something this much for so long that I should be spending all this money on it?” she asked herself.
Also, Jones felt frustrated because many of the stores she might have visited were closed after work hours. “They roll up the sidewalks at 5 o’clock,” in Naples, she says. “They cater to retirees.” And often, specialty shops are only open for limited hours on weekends.
Brechel tried to help Jones focus. Levy created checklists and work sheets, and, at one point, set her up with an interior designer. Still, this didn’t stop Jones from changing her mind on several major issues. Brechel began grouping change orders, or what he calls “confirmations of instruction.” At first, there were to be windows, all single hung. That changed to casements, sliding glass, and French doors. Ceramic tile throughout became 2,200 square feet of hardwoods. (This turned out to eat up several weeks and many dollars: After gluing down 300 square feet, BIG realized the entire shipment was defective. They had to reorder, take up, and reinstall the floor.)
Then Jones decided that she wanted a gas starter for the fireplace. “That snowballed,” Levy says. “If we did the fireplace, she wanted a gas pool heater. We decided to do an external LP gas tank for the fireplace and pool heater. While we were doing that —‘Could I do a gas cook top and hot water heater?’ This turned into an underground tank and at the last minute getting someone to get the gas piping in the walls” the day before they were to drywall. The framing and insulation were already in.
Levy explained the impact of the changes to Jones, letting her know how they would affect the schedule and how much more it would cost. She approved everything. She didn’t want to have to remodel again later on.
“Most of the trepidation I had,” Jones says, “was my own because I couldn’t foresee what this would look like. I need to see a finished product. Maybe a 3-D plan would have helped.”
The project, which began with demolition Nov. 1, 2004, was completed April 1, 2005, about four weeks behind schedule and about $50,000 over the original estimated budget.
Learning Curve Both Levy and Jones learned a lot during this project. Levy now works harder to qualify clients beforehand, really getting to know their personalities. With a personality like Jones’, he uses a lot of checklists and sign-off forms. He’s holding firm to his “no work will be started until the selections are complete” rule and has been working on a better complement “between a super’s personality and a client’s personality.”
He’s also thinking hard about how best to address change orders. He wonders if he simply should not allow changes of the magnitude experienced in the Jones project. “There are too many things that can affect the schedule, and it makes your relationship with the client look bad,” he says of the lost time that’s out of his control. “At the same time, you don’t want clients to feel they’re not getting what they want,” he adds.
Levy says he has begun “addressing the impact of a change to a client financially as well as what it means for our schedule and [beyond] to the trade contractors. From the schedule there’s a chain reaction.” On confirmations of instruction Levy now makes sure clients understand how these will “impact the schedule by X number of days.”
From Jones’ perspective, the house is wonderful. She particularly loves the fireplace and the kitchen. When she’s not working she spends a lot of time at home with her two dogs. She feels she learned a great deal during this process and doesn’t think there was anything she could have done differently because of the way the project “evolved” due to the mold. Her only wish is that she could have waited longer to do the remodel. “That was my initial plan. Get the lay of the land, find out what I liked in the house and what I didn’t.” She’ll have that opportunity, now, though. Her parents, who lived in Minnesota, have moved into the guest room. Another master suite and bathroom at the opposite side of the house from Jones’ room remain unfinished, awaiting phase two.