Fourteen Steps to a Successful Renovation
By Christopher L. Martin

1. Are you renovating to sell the house or do you plan to live in it for the next five years?

2. Is the renovation necessary (because of, e.g., leaking roof, broken appliances, some safety issue, etc.) or is it cosmetic? If the latter, maybe painting or minor repair is all you need.

3. If you’re renovating before selling, figure out the following (with the help of a realtor who really knows real estate values in your area):

a. How much can you get for the house now?

b. How much will the renovation cost (don’t forget to calculate contingency costs that always invariably add to your expected costs)?

c. How much can you get for the house after renovation? (Normally, only bath and kitchen renovations will give you a dollar for dollar return. New bedrooms, basements, sunrooms, painting, wallpapering, and new carpeting normally cost more than they will add to the sale price.)

d. If “c” is great than “a” plus “b,” renovate. If not, sell as is.

4. If you’re going to be living in the house for the next five to ten years, continue.

5. Prioritize parts of the house needing expansion or renovation and make a five-year development plan.

6. Before you decide to expand, consider realigning space. You may be able to give up a bedroom or dining room and, by removing walls, realign the space to add a bathroom or make a larger kitchen.

7. Prepare a budget. Even a simple kitchen “re-do” can cost from $20,000 to $100,000 or more, depending on the quality of cabinets, flooring, and appliances. Granite or silestone counters are highly recommended but expensive. Corean and other synthetic materials are cheaper but in many cases not as practical because of the risk of scorching or staining. An inexpensive alternative is to have the contractor install a plywood-shaped countertop and you can then install 4”x4” ceramic tiles yourself.

8. Bathrooms can cost $10,000 to $50,000, once again depending upon the cost of cabinets, hardware, and appliances.

9. There are some things you may be able to do yourself like tiling. Get yourself some “how to” magazines at Home Depot (Time-Life books are good). Do not, try, however, to do electrical or plumbing yourself unless you’re trained in those areas.

10. Get an architect and give him your budget requirements. Architectural fees vary from 7% to 10% of the construction cost. Get involved in the design process with your architect, from material selection to kitchen cabinet layout and selection. This is where costs add up. Be clear with the architect about your lifestyle and what you want. Don’t let the architect intimidate you. You know best what you want and you’re smarter than you think.

11. Decide if you’re going to be your own general contractor. If you are, continue. If not, find a general contractor in your area and get “lump sum” bids from at least three contractors. (Make sure you have a written list that includes all the requirements and specifications of your project so you are sure they are all bidding on the same thing.) Check references and sign on with the lowest responsible bidder with whom you feel comfortable.

12. Look for subcontractors in each of the trades – carpenters, plumbers, electricians, painters, tillers, etc. Get at least two bids for each trade. Once again, make sure they are all bidding on the same thing. For example, some flooring contractors might charge extra for baseboards and others might not. Some contractors may charge extra for getting any necessary building permits, or may expect you to get them. In order to accurately compare one bid to another, you need to be sure each bid includes all “hidden” costs.

13. Once you’ve selected each contractor with whom you feel comfortable, get them all together in a meeting, work out a schedule, and sign contracts with each one. Make sure you know how all building permits will be obtained. Most states have consumer protection laws that require contractors to include several things in their contracts, such as total price, completion date, guarantees, etc. Each state’s laws are different, however, so you’ll have to check those in your state. Your local librarian can help you do this. Don’t sign up with any contractor whose contract fails to include any of the items required by your state’s consumer protection laws, even if you are told this is the “standard” contract.

14. Hold periodic meetings with subcontractors and pay progress payments only when you are satisfied that the work has been satisfactorily completed. Always hold back enough of a “retainer” to allow you to have someone else complete unfinished work if your general contractor or your subs renege on their contract.

Happy Building.

Christopher L. Martin has over 40 years experience in Civil/Structural Engineering and Project Management for both Allied-Signal (now Honeywell) in New Jersey and the federal government. In these positions, Chris has managed, planned and implemented numerous multi-million-dollar residential, industrial and commercial construction projects.

Ways to Reduce Oil Consumption
By Anthony A. Martin, P.E.

About 25 years ago, out of local and national interests, a Virginia school superintendent passionately challenged his schools to conserve energy. The results were dramatic. Schools voluntarily turned down their thermostats in the winter, turned them up in the summer, dressed appropriately, and kept lights off whenever plausible. However, this fervor was hard to maintain, and less than two years later utility consumption was back to previous levels.

Then, the school system implemented an energy budget program that monitored utility consumption, fed the results back to the schools, and financially rewarded every school that achieved or maintained reductions. Under this program, system wide reductions were maintained or subsequently exceeded, year after year.

The obvious principles at work here are that people will enthusiastically support leadership ideas that are for the greater good, and financial incentives really work. Why not similarly apply these principles to a national conservation incentive program for Industrial, Commercial, Institutional, and Residential entities.

A Residential program could function as follows –
• The homeowner is solicited by and joins the utility company’s Government sponsored “energy budget program” and supplies a password (encrypted) for his/her subsequent access to private information.
• The utility company assigns a unique code number to the homeowner’s account, and only forwards it, the homeowners encrypted password, and monthly cost and consumption figures to a Government maintained database.
• The Government’s program “crunches” all the submitted data to establish baselines, to “normalize” subsequent monthly performances, to compare them to the baselines, and to finally establish dollar awards (if any) based on favorable comparisons with the baselines.
• The results are then posted and made Web accessible to the homeowner via his/her unique account code and password.
• The results are simultaneously sent to the utility company who credits the homeowner’s account with the award money (if any).
• Then, the Government reimburses the utility company for the award amount (if any).
• The utility company is also compensated with the larger of two amounts, an established minimum amount to cover administrative costs, or a percentage of the savings to encourage their pro-active participation in the program.

Thus, a scenario like the following could occur –
1. Harry Homeowner has a programmable thermostat installed through the utility company, and his typical $100 monthly utility cost is reduced by $30.
2. The utility company applies a $15 time payment for the programmable thermostat, and the utility bill is reduced to $85.
3. Through the utility company, the Government awards the homeowner $10 for such a performance, further reducing the final utility bill to $75.
4. The Government then pays the utility company $5 instead of the administrative minimum of $2, for use by the homeowner of the programmable thermostat that was acquired through them in the first place.
5. Consumption revenue so lost by the utility company is offset by reduced capital expenditures, the result of slower or eliminated growth in capacity demands.

With such a national energy budget program, the homeowner could reduce his/her utility bill at no out-of-pocket cost. A more pro-active conservation industry could be created. Reduced pollution would result from reduced consumption. The nation would be on a path to energy independence. And all this could be done for a fraction of each energy dollar spent.