Bold Mold Surprises are rarely welcomed during any remodeling project, and discovery of mold may be one of the least-welcome surprises of all. Odds are you have, or soon will have, encountered mold during your remodeling projects. When you do, have a restoration vendor you trust review the problem.
< p>When Katherine Jones decided to embark on a few small-budget changes, she began in the bathroom, where she discovered mold behind the shower walls. She was alarmed, and wondered about mold-related health issues, the cost of removing the mold, and whether she should stay in the house. She called Ken Smith from ServPro of Collier County and South Ft. Myers, Fla., to help plan a course of action. After inspecting the home, Smith found mold in the family room walls, adjacent to the original leak. He also found mold in a guest bathroom and a guest bedroom. Because of the amount of mold found, ServPro recommended an industrial hygienist to take air samples from the home to ensure that the full scope of the problem was known, as well as to determine areas of the home that were safe.
The air samples revealed the guest wing of the home contained Stachybotrys, a mold that can be especially harmful to the very young, the elderly, and to those with chronic lung conditions. The samples also revealed that the master bedroom, the living room, and the kitchen were mold-free.
ServPro built temporary partitions to allow Jones to continue living in her home while the guest wing was remediated. By then she had already contacted Builders Integrity Group to embark on remodeling. Because of the home’s age and the significant amount of tear-out left to perform, all those involved decided that ServPro should complete the removal of cabinets, dry-wall, and bath fixtures originally planned for demolition.
Jones was satisfied and BIG was able to pick up the project without subjecting its business to additional liability.
Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes Almost all jobs have change orders,” says Linda Case, consultant and co-owner of Remodelers Advantage. “I don’t know of any way you can say to a client, ‘You can’t make the changes you want.’ Remodeling is a customer fit, one-of-a-kind project meant to satisfy a particular client’s needs, wants, and desires.”
But too many change orders “use up opportunity time,” Case says. “If you look at the schedule in a macro way you’ve probably lost some capacity to do additional work.” Change orders “create havoc in your systems,” and you’ll probably have unhappy clients.
Case stresses the importance of letting clients know “the rules of the game and the impact their late decisions will have on schedule and budget. Let them know that change orders don’t work to their advantage. You need to educate clients about how to work within your system. Many clients feel they can make all the changes they want and still have the same completion date. They don’t see the impact.”
Although some remodelers don’t mind change orders — they charge a lot for them — most try to discourage the behavior. “Many charge a flat administration fee,” says Case. “Some give two change orders free of charge without an administration fee and then charge a $50 to $250 administration fee.”
In a perfect world, all decisions are made before construction. A client having a difficult time making decisions is a red flag. The job may not be right for your company.