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Question:
I have noticed that when new home construction slows down in the winter, many builders take on remodeling jobs to fill in. Is there any difference between the two that I should be concerned about if
considering both a builder and a remodeler for my remodeling project?
Answer:
First of all I want to be careful not to insult any of our good builder friends - they do excellent work building homes. Having said
that, There are obviously many similarities between the new home construction and remodeling. Both use the same materials, the same sub-contractors, and the same suppliers to construct dwellings or additions and improvements to
dwellings in the residential market. I believe that many builders could perform remodeling, and most remodelers could build new homes if they really wanted to. So when it comes to the actual pounding of the nails on a project,
it would be hard to tell the difference between a builder and a remodeler. But that is where the similarities end.
Having constructed over 200 new homes before turning strictly remodeling in 1980, Custom Design has been
heavily involved in both industries over the past 40 years, and believe me, they are two completely different businesses. Simply put, building new homes is a construction business, and remodeling is a service business.
When a new home is built, you start with bare land, dig a hole and start building. A homeowner is involved, but they don't LIVE THERE! In remodeling, you are in that homeowners life from the minute you start until the final day
of completion - including weekends! In new construction it's a joy to visit the work site and check the progress daily and then return to your clean, quiet home or apartment. If it's pouring rain or you had a bad day, you
simply don't go that day. In remodeling, the owner doesn't have a choice, they live at the work site! In new construction, there are very few surprises (other than weather) since the job is built from scratch. In remodeling,
every day is a new experience in the unknown due to existing conditions and people problems.
When you are a builder, you don't have to worry about what your crews look like, smell like, if they show up every day, or if
they drive an oil leaking rust bucket. Who cares as long as they get the job done in a timely fashion. In remodeling, your crews are expected to be polite, friendly, conscientious, clean, drive nice vehicles, timely (don't even
think about leaving early) good listeners and part time marriage counselors. Sub-contractors for remodelers must set aside only hand picked employees who can handle the riggers of working in peoples' hip pockets all day long.
If not, off to the solitude of new construction they go.
In my opinion, some builders underestimate the differences between building and remodeling from a business management standpoint. Every year they may take on a
remodeling job or two, and proceed to shake their heads and pray for spring. That's because in remodeling, servicing the client must come first. New construction is not as service intensive because it is a completely different
business altogether. That's not to say that builders don't have problems, they do, but they are just different kinds of problems. I say let builders build and remodelers remodel. After all, you wouldn't ask your dentist to put
braces on your kids teeth would you?
Answered by: Patrick Benkowski, CR
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