Planning a construction or renovation project is exciting and sometimes frustrating. When you're anxious to get your project moving it's tempting to skip the detailed work that goes into pre-construction planning. But, if you take the time to invest in planning, you ultimately will save both money and time. At Woodmeister, we call our unique approach to home building and the up front planning the Master Builder Process.In essence, it was born from our roots as cabinetmakers. The craftsmanship, precision planning and engineering of cabinetmakers, give us a unique inside-out mindset that has since evolved into our current more comprehensive Master Builder Process.The Master Builder Process approaches pre-construction and design as a collaboration with the architect and interior design professionals. Design and construction become integrated with the schedule, constructability reviews and estimating. With decades of experience in performing complex renovations and new home construction we have proven to ourselves repeatedly that when design and construction are integrated and properly managed, there will be overall cost savings and time saved.Our pre-construction and design support services are key elements of the Master Builder Process. Early collaboration with the design and construction teams starts the homeowners on the right path to a rewarding and successful construction project.In most construction projects there are three levels of design:Schematic-basically a sketch that shows the arrangement of rooms or elements within a room. The space planning and overall look is also decided. Design Development-a more detailed floor plan, showing for example, the location of where every window and door is in a room and shown by elevation drawings.Construction Documents-the most detailed plans, showing the exact thickness of every door and window, including the materials, etc...and all the information needed to build it. You probably know these as 'blueprints' that you would see on the job site.Getting to the level of specificity required by construction documents takes an investment of both time and money. There are thousands of decisions to make; it can be overwhelming. When clients ask why so much needs to be done beforehand, I typically tell them, "For every dollar you spend on design, you will save multiple dollars in the field because the crew will be so much more efficient."That's because if the design isn't complete-if you proceed with a schematic level of drawings, for example, instead of construction documents-there undoubtedly will be questions and missing information as the construction process proceeds. This often results in change orders and increased costs. More time is usually needed to properly finish the project.I like to compare the start of a construction project on site to deploying a small army. If the army has to stop marching at every intersection because of questions, it's going to be a long and expensive campaign.At Woodmeister, we prepare several estimates throughout the design process as budget checks. We also solicit bids from qualified subcontractors and obtain accurate materials pricing that are based on the final construction documents. This greater level of detail allows us to further refine the cost estimate. When clients understand the impact of design choices on the budget, it allows them to modify the design if needed. This means there will be no unpleasant surprises during or at the end of the project.In addition, during the pre-construction and design phases Woodmeister keeps track of the many project items requiring approval and provide mockups, product research, and samples when needed to assist in making those thousands of decisions. Checklist worksheets are available to help think through the design and help with your preferences when needed. If you ever have experienced a construction project that proceeded even though the pre-construction design phase was incomplete, you understand the need for detail in design. One of our clients learned the hard way. His former contractor worked off a schematic on a kitchen renovation. However, when the project was finished, the homeowner discovered the laundry room had been overlooked. A closet had to be ripped out to create space for an important feature of the renovation. It was a costly addition to the project and a mistake that could have been avoided if more time had been spent on design and planning.
