Remodeling in Belmont MA is expensive! As a design build contractor in the Belmont area I visit many clients and potential clients that want to remodel their home and have begun the process of looking for a general contractor or a design build company or an architect, but are soon discouraged when they find out just how much money it costs to undertake a renovation of any kind. Their next thought is whether or not to just sell and buy something bigger or better suited for their family’s lifestyle. That dream soon becomes shattered when they see that the home that they want will be far beyond their budget as well.
As they end up back to square one and face the facts and count all the reasons they moved to Belmont in the first place (Good schools, proximity to Boston, awesome shops and restaurants and an overall awesome New England small town vibe) and they simply don’t want to leave. The problem still remains. Kitchen is outdated and mom needs a space for a home office so they simply have to figure out a way to get it done.
Option 1- DIY. The most cost effective option and one that I would recommend if you have the nerve and a patient spouse to pull it off. Do as much of the work yourself and hire all the subs for the work you can’t do and you will save thousands.
Option 2- Hire a general contractor who knows and understands working and completing projects similar to yours. Jensen Hus (formerly Dishington Construction) is a design build contractor that has been working in the Belmont area for many years and completed multiple, complex design build additions, remodels, kitchens and bathrooms.
Why design build?
Design build contracting evolved from the practice of failed design bid projects that has been practiced for years and still continues to this day. This is the process of homeowners securing the services of architectural firms to design addition or remodeling projects that homeowners fall in love with but soon become broken hearted once the project goes out to bid and the cost proves to be too high. In many cases the homeowners have to pay the architect additional fees to redesign it to a much smaller scale and then re bid. They are then faced with the second difficult lesson that the project still lacks a clearly defined scope. Prices and bids start to come in from various contractors that are not congruent with one another. One bid has this and another doesn’t have that and they are left to sift and extrapolate what is what and are never able to get true “apples to apples” pricing.
After going through this design and bid process, many homeowners decide to cut their losses and abandon the project. The cost being the fees paid to the architect and the tremendous amount of time lost for a project that will never be built.
Design build contracting was born out of the flaws of the scenario just described. The design build contractor acts as the architect and designs the project to MATCH a predetermined budget for the project so that it can actually be built.
Jensen Hus will create an agreed upon scope of work and a budget range that the client is comfortable with and then go about crafting a design and a plan that fits within this criteria. When your builder is also the designer, you get a superior product, period.
