Just about every new client I speak to asks me, “Who do I interview and hire first? The contractor or the designer?” My answer is 99% of the time the Designer, and not just because I am one, but because if you don’t, what the heck is the GC (contractor) giving you an estimate for?
The reason the Designer comes first is just this, you meet and interview a designer that you think will work with you how you envision (and yes it is always an interview process, you are interviewing them and they are doing the same-but that’s for another blog post) and come up with a design you love. Once you finalize the design, then you can bid out the exact same design to numerous contractors. They can see what you are looking for instead of playing the guessing game. They can take notes on the drawings for anything they need to bid the job accordingly. You can have a meeting with the GC’s and the designer, that way there is a clear vision as well as what is expected of them.
For instance, if you are doing a full kitchen overhaul, you don’t typically want to interview someone who hasn’t had experience doing kitchens before. You also want to make it very clear what you want them to include in their bid, ie: installing appliances, who is supplying the lighting fixtures, where will you be getting the cabinetry from and is it stock or custom?
If you know this ahead of time with the designer, it is easier for them to give you a realistic bid as opposed to getting into the process to find out no one had included installing all of your appliances. Then you could be hit with a change order later on, which is never good. Designers also typically have a handful of GC’s they are used to working with. That’s always good because they typically both know how each other works, the type of communication needed and expected, as well as the quality of work.
I have often been asked “do you work with any GC?” The long and short of it is always, yes, however if I haven’t worked with them before, we are both walking into the project a little blind sided. It’s best practice to work with someone that has either been referred to you or that you have been recommended using by someone in the trade. There are many people out there that can swing a hammer and make things look good, but the last thing you want and need is a lazy GC that put something in out of convenience to them, vs out of the design intent. This may sounds like nothing, but I once worked with a GC (in my previous job) who decided to build a wall instead of using a Lolli column like spec’d out and it changed the ENTIRE custom cabinetry layout. It may not sounds like a ton, but this little thing that could have been easily communicated was done out “ease” for the him and it then changed all of the cabinetry that surrounded this are, which then pushed back the countertop template and installation, which then pushed back the plumbing, electrical, etc. You get the point, right?
At the end of the day (at least as I sit here in January 2021) anyone in this business that is good at what they do are back up and busy! Our industry has never seen such renovation work since everyone is in their homes looking at the numerous projects they have put off, until now!! So, make sure you interview everyone working on your project. You need a good team or the project just doesn’t have the same outcome.
So like the memes out there that say: Eat the donut, buy the dress…. I am going to say : Hire the designer, interview the GC and have fun with your project and your team of builders and craftsman! Because the fun of the renovation is the end result, and you want it to be just what you envisioned.
Here is an image of a bathroom project that was completely thought out as far as location of any and everything. Photo credit: Linda McManus Photography