Construction Supervision: Peek at a Project
PEEK AT A PROJECT
Construction Supervision: That mysterious part of a remodel or new construction project that homeowners don’t fully understand unless they’ve done it before. What goes on in this absolutely necessary phase of a project? Well, I’m glad you asked. Let’s demystify it, shall we? Read on!
We are in the Construction Supervision phase of a new construction home in Linden Hills. This blog will show you what we’ve been up to.
Checking for Accurate Execution of the Design
Part of Construction Supervision is checking that all work has been executed according to the design and written specifications. As installations occurred, LiLu visited the site to check wall and cabinetry paint colors.
We did discover a room had been painted the wrong color! Luckily it was just one coat. The specifications were correct, someone on the painting crew just made a small mistake. No harm, no foul here. Since it was caught early, no one had to worry over lost labor costs.
We also visited the site to check on the electrical wiring after that was complete. We discovered a ceiling soffit we didn’t know about which caused us to need to change our ceiling mounted light fixture choice.
Dealing with last-minute, on-site changes
After seeing their bedroom in the framing phase, our clients decided they wanted to vault the bedroom ceiling. They communicated this change to their contractor, but the drawings did not reflect this modification. After the dry walling phase, we checked out the vaulted ceiling. We were able to recognize immediately that there was a conflict between the ceiling vault and the ceiling fixture we had selected before this change was made. The problem was easily fixable- the contractor needed to add a drywall box at the center of the vault so the fixture had a flat surface to mount to. And we avoided any additional costs for repainting because the issue was caught right away.
Easing client anxiety
We made a couple site visits to check on things just because the client wanted reassurance that they were correct as specified. Let’s face it, there is always some level of stress associated with this type of project. Clients have a lot of time and money invested in the success of the project.
Want to see a few of our new construction and remodel projects? Check them out here:
St. Paul Home Remodel
Contemporary Bathroom Remodel
New Construction Cabin
New Construction Vacation Home
14 November, 2020 at 6:22 am
Thank goodness you have a part of your process that includes *Construction Supervision*! Imagine those people who try to DIY themselves, not realizing all the things that can go wrong (and do go wrong ) and cost them so much extra money and time and aggravation – all things that could be saved by simply hiring a pro like yourself, from the beginning.
Your clients are all fortunate to have such an experienced pro on their team, to catch all of these things like you did, thereby saving them money and lost time. Time that allows them to now get into their homes and enjoy their newly remodeled spaces as soon as possible, vs. having to wait even longer because they didn’t catch something like you did, ahead of time.
14 November, 2020 at 11:14 am
Oh my gosh YES! Staying on top of the remodeling progress and checking that everything is installed as designed is SO important! Even with the best of intentions, mistakes or changes are bound to crop up and catching them while it is easy to fix or pivot saves so much time and money.
14 November, 2020 at 1:45 pm
Great tips and insight into the construction process Lisa!
15 November, 2020 at 4:02 pm
Great post and tips to help folks really understand what happens behind the scenes and why it is important for your designer to spend time keeping track of the project and taking care of anything that comes up.
17 November, 2020 at 7:16 am
This is one of the most relevant posts that any homeowner should read! You “nailed” it Lisa how little is known ir even understood on this the essential step of any project is supervision. In my experiences of really large projects, like quarter million or so, without supervision on our part, there is not enough space to relay all the issues that occured, some by pure mistake but others by subs who liked to do it their own way. I might add that they were not asked to be part of any of our future projects!
I cheer BTW, the common sense and safe bathroom tub.
19 November, 2020 at 9:36 am
This is such an integral part of the building/renovating process and I’m glad you wrote about it. Everything you talk about is bang on. I use the term ‘Project Management’ but Construction Supervision is a term I need to add as it’s a bit different than PM.
Walkthroughs, at specific times of a build/renovation, are so important! I’m sure your clients are more than thrilled that you caught the little things that could have become larger issues down the road.