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Here is the Million Dollar Question

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What if There Was a Way to Combine DIY and Professional Construction?

The question is probably more like a billion dollar one. The DIY industry is booming. It’s everywhere we look, TV commercials, internet ads, home improvement programs and online videos. There’s simply a level of pride that goes with doing things ourselves.

Why is the DIY industry so popular and prevalent?

That would be because the construction industry has let too many people down through a whole list of things. These problems certainly are good reasons to consider a DIY project. Here are a few other reasons you might think about doing your own construction project.

Price – is the number one reason for doing your own projects or being your own general contractor. Construction is expensive and the cost of professionals and general contractor’s markups are dollars saved.  

The important thing to consider is…

What are the dollars saved costing you?

As a professional I have witnessed too many DIY projects that have gone badly. The experience factor goes a long way to avoid problems. Depending on where you’re located, some construction actions require licensed professionals to do them. You probably wouldn’t stitch up your own gaping wound or represent yourself in court. Not that both haven’t been done, but they come with a risk. The cost of your time spent doing this rather than that, doing things over, unsolved problems or project disasters can be expensive.

The value of a professional often exceeds the cost.

Control – is another important issue that customers face. The construction industry has one of the worst satisfaction ratings. The only one ranked worse is the used car business. In too many cases customers have felt out of control. This makes it understandable why you would prefer to not deal with contractors. There is a comfort that comes from being in control of the project even with little or no experience.

Sense of accomplishment – is one of the best feelings that we experience. This feeling is especially connected with seeing a physical achievement. Stepping back and looking at something we built is satisfying. These are legitimate reasons you might consider doing your own construction project.

What if there was a way to do your own project while having access to professional experience, knowledge, and connections?

Wouldn’t this be great. This would be a win – win. If there was such a plan out there. What would something like this even look like? What would it include?

You might say, “There’s already services out there for connecting me with construction services. I can contact Angie’s List or Home Advisor.” The problem with these services is, the list of companies and individuals they provide to you, pays to be on the list. I know because they’re calling me regularly wanting me to pay dues and join. This isn’t the most reliable resource.

I’m considering something that would be more detailed and customizable. A service that would fit your individual needs. A mix of educating, advising, consulting. Something that would allow you to have your questions for your project answered.

This would allow you to “do it yourself” with the benefit of professional guidance.

As we research this service, we need your help. Give us your thoughts by taking this short survey or leaving comments below.

How To Price A Construction Project Proposal

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Now It’s Time to Give the Project A Dollar Amount

 

The next step in the “Blueprint for Building a Better Proposal” is to determine the price for the project. We’ve talked a lot about the importance of communication to provide a clear description of the work to be performed. Now we’ll go through the process of determining consistent and accurate prices.


Poor communication will cause heartache, poor pricing will cost you money.


We’ve gathered the necessary information and prepared the Scope of Work so let’s put some numbers to the project.


 

Here we’ll combine the next two steps in the process; determining what pricing is needed for each specific construction tasks to be performed and quantities pertaining to each.

 

 

STEP 3 – PRICING THE PROJECT


This process uses two different Excel spreadsheets:


The Worksheet –
An Excel spreadsheet with all the construction sections and tasks listed out with optional overhead and profit markup formulas inserted in the appropriate locations.

The Data Base –
An Excel spreadsheet with prices for material and labor for a wide variety of specific construction tasks.


Based on the descriptions on the Bid Sheet, content from the Data Base will be copied and pasted into the correlating cells on the Worksheet.

EXAMPLE PROJECT:


Using Jane Smith’s Scope of Work for her laundry/sewing room addition we’ll determine the right information that needs to be copied from the Data Base and pasted to the Worksheet. Reference the Smith, Scope of Work here. 


Questions need to be answered like:


Which tasks need to be inserted into the Worksheet? Many of the tasks have options; which to use, will depend on the specifics of the project.


For example; How is the excavation, trenching and landscaping going to be done…with a skid loader, mini excavator, by hand or a combination?

Smith, Addition – Scope of Work, Sitework Section:

 

Data Base:
Copy pertinent cells to be pasted to the worksheet. (highlighted cells)

 

Smith Addition – Worksheet, Sitework Section:
Paste copied cells in worksheet template. (highlighted cells)

 


More questions that need to be answered:
Is the footing going to be formed with wood or poured in the ditch without any forms?

 

Smith, Addition – Scope of Work, Foundation Section:

 

Data Base:
Copy pertinent cells to be pasted to the worksheet. (highlighted cells)

 

Smith Addition – Worksheet, Foundation Section:

Paste copied cells in worksheet template. (highlighted cells)

 

 

After the pertinent information from the Data Base has been placed on the Worksheet it’s time to fill in the specific quantities. This will then provide the prices for the work to be done.

 


STEP 4 – QUANTITIES

On the Worksheet you will fill in the quantity needed to do the work on that line item. This may be lineal feet, square feet, square yards, cubic feet, cubic yards or numbers of pieces. Once this is completed you will now have prices for the Proposal.

 

Notice the highlighted cells in this spreadsheet. These are adjustments made due to the attributes of specific tasks on specific projects. In the case of this project the small size and location of the work in the back yard require some additional work and therefore additional cost.


I know this is a lot of content and information but it’s not as scary as it appears at first glance. The question that you need to ask yourself…


Do I want to be intentional at serving the customer’s needs at a profit or just guess and take a chance?

 


The next step is to bring all the pieces together in a thorough and accurate proposal that will give the customer a clear picture of what they’re getting and how much it’s going to cost. Check back next week for this part of the process.

 

 

How To Price A Construction Project Proposal

by

Now It’s Time to Give the Project A Dollar Amount

 

The next step in the “Blueprint for Building a Better Proposal” is to determine the price for the project. We’ve talked a lot about the importance of communication to provide a clear description of the work to be performed. Now we’ll go through the process of determining consistent and accurate prices.


Poor communication will cause heartache, poor pricing will cost you money.


We’ve gathered the necessary information and prepared the Scope of Work so let’s put some numbers to the project.


Best Price

 

Here we’ll combine the next two steps in the process; determining what pricing is needed for each specific construction tasks to be performed and quantities pertaining to each.

 

 

STEP 3 – PRICING THE PROJECT


This process uses two different Excel spreadsheets:


The Worksheet –
An Excel spreadsheet with all the construction sections and tasks listed out with optional overhead and profit markup formulas inserted in the appropriate locations.

The Data Base –
An Excel spreadsheet with prices for material and labor for a wide variety of specific construction tasks.


Based on the descriptions on the Bid Sheet, content from the Data Base will be copied and pasted into the correlating cells on the Worksheet.

EXAMPLE PROJECT:


Using Jane Smith’s Scope of Work for her laundry/sewing room addition we’ll determine the right information that needs to be copied from the Data Base and pasted to the Worksheet. Reference the Smith, Scope of Work here. 


Questions need to be answered like:


Which tasks need to be inserted into the Worksheet? Many of the tasks have options; which to use, will depend on the specifics of the project.


For example; How is the excavation, trenching and landscaping going to be done…with a skid loader, mini excavator, by hand or a combination?

Smith, Addition – Scope of Work, Sitework Section:

 

Data Base:
Copy pertinent cells to be pasted to the worksheet. (highlighted cells)

 

Smith Addition – Worksheet, Sitework Section:
Paste copied cells in worksheet template. (highlighted cells)

 


More questions that need to be answered:
Is the footing going to be formed with wood or poured in the ditch without any forms?

 

Smith, Addition – Scope of Work, Foundation Section:

 

Data Base:
Copy pertinent cells to be pasted to the worksheet. (highlighted cells)

 

Smith Addition – Worksheet, Foundation Section:

Paste copied cells in worksheet template. (highlighted cells)

 

 

After the pertinent information from the Data Base has been placed on the Worksheet it’s time to fill in the specific quantities. This will then provide the prices for the work to be done.

 


STEP 4 – QUANTITIES

On the Worksheet you will fill in the quantity needed to do the work on that line item. This may be lineal feet, square feet, square yards, cubic feet, cubic yards or numbers of pieces. Once this is completed you will now have prices for the Proposal.

 

Notice the highlighted cells in this spreadsheet. These are adjustments made due to the attributes of specific tasks on specific projects. In the case of this project the small size and location of the work in the back yard require some additional work and therefore additional cost.


I know this is a lot of content and information but it’s not as scary as it appears at first glance. The question that you need to ask yourself…


Do I want to be intentional at serving the customer’s needs at a profit or just guess and take a chance?

 


The next step is to bring all the pieces together in a thorough and accurate proposal that will give the customer a clear picture of what they’re getting and how much it’s going to cost. Check back next week for this part of the process.

 

 

An Overview of the “Blueprint for Building A Better Proposal”

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An Explanation of How That System Works

 

This is the third post in the Blueprint for Building A Better Proposal series. The first focused on the importance of communication between contractor and customer and the problems that can happen without it. The second listed the foundational pieces of the proposal system. 

In this post we’ll take an overview of the process and how the different pieces fit together.

STEP 1 – Gathering Information

Once you’ve been contacted by a potential customer schedule a meeting to discuss the customer’s dreams and find out what they hope to get from this project. At this initial meeting you will gather information –

  • Measurements and dimensions, existing and new

  • Building materials, existing and new

  • Pictures of pertinent areas and existing construction

  • Customer’s design ideas and finishes

The information gathered in this meeting can be recorded in a variety of ways. The important thing in this step is to gather any and all information needed to prepare an accurate proposal. It can be handwritten on a printed out Bid Sheet. It can be typed in an electronic Bid Sheet on a tablet, smart phone or laptop. The purpose for using the Bid Sheet is that all the areas of a construction project are listed out, this minimizes overlooking things.

STEP 2 – Preparing the Scope of Work

After the preliminary information has been gathered it’s time to clarify the scope of the project by writing out the description of each specific task in terminology that both the customer and the contractor understand. It needs to include enough specifics to be thorough without being too technical. It doesn’t help communication if it’s confusing for the customer. This written description on the Bid Sheet gets transferred to the Proposal and serves as a written scope of work to be performed and materials to be provided.

STEP 3 – Pricing the Project

Next is putting prices to the project. This process involves two different Excel spreadsheets, the Worksheet and the Data Base. Based on the descriptions written on the Bid Sheet, content from the Data Base will be copied and pasted into the correlating cells on the Worksheet. After the pertinent information from the Data Base has been placed on the Worksheet it’s time to fill in the specific quantities.

STEP 4 – Quantities

On the Worksheet you will fill in the quantity needed to do the work on that line item. This may be lineal feet, square feet, square yards, cubic feet, cubic yards or numbers of pieces. Once this is completed you will now have prices for the Proposal. 

STEP 5 – Preparing the Proposal

Now you have everything you need to prepare the Proposal. You will use the description from the Bid Sheet and the prices from the Worksheet and put them both on the Proposal. Now you have a description for each specific task to be provided and the price for each. After filling out the customer’s information, the total project price, how payments are to be made and the duration of time to do the project, the Proposal is ready to present to the customer.

Next week I’ll go into the details of Gathering Information.

How to Solve A Difficult Building Problem?

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With Out of The Box Solutions, That’s How

I have been presented with another building project puzzle. What do you know, it’s from another family member and reminiscent of last week’s post. Do you think they have it in for me…or maybe they just know that I’m good at finding solutions? In reality every construction project deals with these or similar questions.

My sister Ann owns and operates Prairie Paws Lodging, a pet retreat. Her service is in such demand that she has been considering expanding. Timber Creek Construction built her existing building three years ago and we’ve been discussing options for expansion over the last year. After some consideration we’ve decided to build separate private pet cottages rather than adding on to the existing building.

Prairie Paws Lodging

A few days ago, she called and asked if I could have one of these cottages built and ready in three weeks. After a gasp, I said, let me give it some thought. At this point we haven’t determined a floor plan, dimensions, materials, construction method, etc. (Why would I agree to even consider this when I’m already so busy? Because I love finding solutions and helping people with their dreams, that’s why.) It’s not like we weren’t already working on plans to enlarge the outdoor run and converting it to a dog playground. (More on this in a future post.)

Since we talked, this project and its questions have been bouncing around in my head.

The main questions that need answered?

  • What is the floor plan/design going to be?
  • What is the size/dimensions?
  • What building materials? (it needs to be water & dog urine resistant)
  • Price, what’s it going to cost?
  • How is it going to be heated and cooled (a requirement by the state)
  • Where will it be located, in relation to the rest of the facility? Will this have any bearing on the construction, size, etc.?

I called Ann and asked her to send me pictures, links to websites or any other ideas that she had. I got on line and began researching different building materials that would serve our needs. And the solution building process began.

What is the floor plan/design going to be?

  • We started with a couple of design ideas that she found on web sites. This gave me a good visual idea of what she wants. The first was Dog Kennels built by Lone Star Structures. The second was EZ-Fit Dog Kennel from Pinecraft. Both of these structures are nice looking and would work great in someone’s back yard for their own pet. Not so much in an application where different dogs will be using them, and a clean environment is important. Both have exposed wood framing and would not work well for regular cleaning. Beyond that the basic design is what we’re after.

What is the size/dimensions?

  • These two buildings varied in their dimensions. Ann and I discussed what she needed and what size would fill those needs best. She wants these cottages to be larger than the size of her existing pens. After some discussion we decided on an 8’ x 6’ enclosed portion and an 8’ x 8’ open covered area. This was determined by a combination of things; sized to meet minimum needs and be most functional, material dimensions (least amount of waste), price (bigger costs more), appearance (needs to be well constructed and look nice).

What building materials?

  • This is where things begin to get more difficult, because there are a lot of options. We know wood isn’t the best choice for wet conditions. What are the options other than wood? What can we do to protect wood if it is used? One thing we are looking at is a polypropylene slat flooring made by Double L Group. We are settling on a combination of products to keep construction from becoming complicated, meet the budget and provide the look we’re after. We’ll go into more detail in a later post.

Price, what’s it going to cost?

  • This is always a question, as it should be. The real question that should be asked, what’s it worth? Is this expense going to generate enough revenue to be justified? If it’s more than my budget, where can we reduce the cost? We’re early enough in the process that we don’t have this question fully answered yet, but we will keep thinking outside the box to get to the budget number.

How is it going to be heated and cooled?

  • HVAC is typically an expensive part of construction projects. In this case though, we are dealing with a small space, less than 400 cubic feet. They make some inexpensive single room units that look like a window AC and can be mounted in a window or through the wall. In this project the through the wall application would probably be the best option. It would let us mount it higher which would get it further from the dogs.

Where will the building be located, in relation to the rest of the facility? Will this have any bearing on the construction, size, etc.?

  • At this point we have a pretty good idea of where it will be located. For this to be determined we will need to consider how the new building will connect with the existing pens as well as new ones? What will the daily routine be when it’s being used? If more cottages are built in the future where would they go?

This is a lot to be considered for such a small project, but for the most part the considerations are the same regardless of the size. The fact that it’s small and what it’s going to be used for, does create some special considerations.

The one thing that we haven’t discussed yet, and maybe the most important, is if I have the time needed to do this project. This question can’t be answered by anyone but me. This question is one of the hardest questions that people in the construction business ever answer. Most of the people in this business that I know want to help people build their dreams. (This is a topic for another post.)

I will finish compiling figures, working on design specifics, determining the best options for material and if I have time to get the project completed on schedule over the next few days. If we’re going to be able to do this the questions need to be answered by the first of next week.

Keep watching for project updates in future posts.

What Will the Cost of the Trip Be?

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It’s Important to Know the Destination Before You Start Your Journey

Intentional goal setting, including writing them down, is directly connected to the successful outcome of goals. For years we have heard of how often New Year’s resolutions fail. Some statistics show that as much as 60 percent of people abandon them within the first six months. This is due to a lack of commitment.

Jesus’ goal was set from the very beginning. He knew the cost and the destination before He started, He never lost sight or veered from it. Even knowing the cost, He was willing to commit to it. He knew the goal was worth the ultimate cost. We see this in Luke 13:31-35 when He is unwilling to stop doing His work even when confronted by the enemy.

We need to determine where we want to go in this life and beyond and realize it is worth the cost.

Jesus uses the analogy of a hen gathering chicks under her wings in this Scripture. Pastor Lee told a story of a chicken house that was burned down. When looking through the ashes the farmer found a dead hen laying on the floor, her feathers burnt off her back. As he rolled her over chicks came running out, still alive. She put the chicks needs ahead of her own.

We are chicks having had the ultimate price paid for us. We need to repay that gift by being the hen and put other’s ahead of ourselves.

Often, we head off in a direction without thinking it through. We think we have it all figured out. Then when we run into a barricade, we continue bouncing off it, still thinking we know best. Many times, after we have either crashed through or given up, we find there was a better way.

A good example of this barricade banging is when a young boy was sick in the hospital. A doctor who specialized in his illness was called in. While driving to the hospital the doctor was confronted at a stoplight by a man with a gun. The doctor tried to explain the dire emergency, but the man didn’t care. He wanted the doctor’s car, so the doctor gave it to him.

After the doctor finally hailed a cab and caught a train, he made it to the hospital, but it was too late, the boy had died. The doctor was shown to the family in the waiting room. There stood the man who had stolen his car. It was the boy’s father. The father refused to listen to the man who could have saved his son. Too often this is the way we treat the One who can save us. We just keep banging into the barricades over and over and over. Jesus doesn’t want this for us.

The price for our eternal journey has been paid. We just need choose the destination.