Mixing Do-It-Yourself With Help by Pros

We have religiously read every Remodeler’s Diary. In each story, we empathized with the harried (and sometimes satisfied) homeowner because we had done our share of remodeling and upgrading to our 1950s tract house.

Our last project, however, was completed out of necessity rather than desire. A fire had destroyed a good part of our very dated kitchen. And so, I thought, the trials and tribulations of home remodeling just got intensified. What would ordinarily be a well thought-out project became an emotionally chaotic experience.

In our past projects, except the complete replumb of the house, we had always hired general contractors. Each time we said “never again” and yet proceeded to do it again and be sorry. The key to hiring a general is to assure that he is in turn hiring licensed subcontractors instead of the one-step-above-day-laborer handyman who can’t quite do anything correctly.

This time, even with the kitchen a burned-out disaster, we decided we would do the contracting ourselves. It was the best decision we could have made, for now we have a plumber, an electrician, a cabinetmaker and a handyman, all of whom will certainly be working for us again.

First, we needed to deal with the insurance company. You must recognize that their only concern is to “restore” and not “remodel” (even if you have replacement coverage). So when your kitchen consists of cheap birch cabinetry and 40-year-old tile, that is their base to work with. They have no obligation to replace your cabinets with top-of-the-line oak.

But you, as the policyholder, should be satisfied that you are being fairly compensated. They will send over one of their contractors; you should look for your own. So while you are trying to comparison shop for the best oak cabinetry and European tile, you are also looking for contractors to give you backup bids for the “restoration.”

As it turned out, the insurance company did send out a reasonable contractor who fairly judged our damage and provided the insurance company a dollar value we could live with. The insurance company would also send out a cleaning crew, but I negotiated with them to do the cleaning myself and saved my deductible ($500 more to me).

Don’t forget that the kitchen is the heart of the home. For every day the insurance company delayed in getting the check to me, I added on food costs, which in the end totaled close to another $500.

Then there’s the mortgage holder. The insurance company makes the check payable to you and your mortgage holder(s). The mortgage holder will not sign the check over to you until they are satisfied the work has been done. At that point you could be in the hole for several thousand dollars. Negotiate with them. We had already made several improvements to our property and it had appreciated sufficiently that they agreed to sign the check over to us.

So, with money in hand, the decisions began. At that point, I started to judge workmen by their ability to show up on time. While that characteristic may seem petty, it is critical when you expect some reasonable time commitment to be kept for starting and completing the work.

While the floor had been slightly damaged in the fire, it was salvageable (and less than one year old) and Peter, the handyman, carefully worked to avoid further damage when he ripped out the old cabinetry and tile.

No one supported my idea to keep the floor, but with some real elbow grease I was able to save what would have been $1,500 for a new one.

I compared Peter’s charge for demolishing the old kitchen to that of the general contractor who removed a set of windows in our living room, and Peter’s charge was a fraction of the cost. And, if you are at all handy, do it yourself and save that charge altogether.

After looking at manufactured cabinets and poring over every library book, we ended up hiring Ed to custom-build our cabinets. I had gotten plenty of referrals, but we found Ed through a weekly newspaper.

His ad caught my eye as someone organized and meticulous. Given that I had not seen his work, this became a prerequisite. Talking to former customers and seeing the work is extremely meaningful.

Ed and I hit it off, and he could do plastering, electrical, plumbing, cabinetry and tile. But given our past experience with general contractors, I turned down his “one-man-does-it-all” idea and had him concentrate on the cabinetry. Together we came up with a creative design to generate the most cabinet space possible. A corner cabinet in lieu of a standard square box gave the kitchen some “personality.”

Ed’s custom cabinetry ended up costing slightly more than the top-of-the-line manufactured ones, but it was well worth it. He is an artist. He spent a tremendous amount of time upfront measuring and drawing, making sure that every detail was captured on paper.

Our electrician, Bill, was equally responsible. His bid was slightly higher than the competition, but he had good ideas about lighting and was responsive to our need to get the project moving quickly. He worked evenings and weekends and stroked my ego by telling me I was a great foreman.

I learned the importance of asking questions, reading anything I could get my hands on and evaluating the day’s work every day. A small error can turn into a major disaster if not caught in time. The dry-wall installer accidentally dry-walled over the wiring for the new dishwasher. I noticed it and immediately called him over to “find it.” Human errors happen, but it’s your house, so you need to find them.

Ed did convince me that he should do the tile job, but if I had it to do over again, I would have stuck to my plan of hiring a tile installer. He did a good job, but clearly cabinetry is Ed’s specialty, not tile.

And finally, the plumber hooked up all of our appliances and applauded my taste in sinks. Once you know exactly what appliances you want, consult with the plumber. He may be able to get them at a better price, even if you are shopping at discount stores. White appliances and sinks are the cheapest of all colors, but spend the money on the style you want.

The Kohler executive chef sink is not a necessity for everyone, but if your 3-year-old still likes to take a bath in the kitchen sink, it is deep enough to accommodate her.