Project Perfection: How to start that major project and get it finished on time and on budget

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[00:00:33] Eric Goranson: And it's a great example. My little brother lives on the Eastern side of the U S I'm of course out here in the Portland, Oregon area. And we were talking and building code in my area says that as a certain size shed, I can build that and put it around my property. As long as it's three feet off a property line and there's other rules and regulations and stuff like that, but it's something I don't need a permit for to put a shed on well in my brother's township [00:01:00] over there on the East coast.

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[00:02:05] Eric Goranson: Thanks for joining me. And we're going to talk a lot about some projects coming up here, but first. I want to make sure that you know how to get ahold of us head over to around the house online. com, or you can give us a call here in the studio at 833 239 4144. That number again is 833 239 4144. Now, if you don't want to come on the show, that's okay.

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[00:02:46] Eric Goranson: And we've got that link over there at around the house online. com. So we've got so many things there from interviews to test it's where we test out cheap products on Amazon. To of course, those big projects and show you how to tackle it from start to [00:03:00] finish. Well, talking about tackling projects today, we're going to talk about how to tackle major projects from planning to finishing touches.

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[00:03:31] Eric Goranson: And this is going to help you on a lot of things. One, it's going to help you create a budget. It's going to help you answer the material questions of what you need and all of that, including following up on some other stuff. And we'll get into that here. So what I want you to do is create, start from the finished product project of it.

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[00:04:09] Eric Goranson: And this doesn't matter here, guys, if this is going to be. A DIY project, or if you're hiring a contractor, the same rules apply. So create your own Pinterest is easy because it's free. You can go over there, create your account, create a, a folder or an album, jump in there and start grabbing those pictures of what you like.

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[00:04:43] Eric Goranson: And that's really the way to start doing this. Now, if you're having a contractor, it's not so much about the steps. Then you're going to want to go figure out what these material costs are going to be. So you can get an idea to see if it's even in the budget before you call that contractor, because here's the [00:05:00] thing you might go, oh my gosh, I've got to have this toilet.

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[00:05:27] Eric Goranson: Instead of going through a month of questions and answers with a contractor and them getting you the numbers and you going, oh, wow, I over got on my skis on this. I don't want to do this. So that's where that really helps out. So by figuring that out as an overview, as part of this plan, this is what you need to figure out.

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[00:06:00] Eric Goranson: And what are you going to be forced to upgrade along the way? And what I mean by that is you think, Oh, it's no big deal. I'm going to be replacing my kitchen cabinets and putting a new sink in and new countertops and just doing this. Technically at that point, you need to pull a building permit because if you need a vent hood in that kitchen, many homes that were built before code changed, they have a recycling vent hood or not even one at all.

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[00:06:43] Eric Goranson: And then those lights need to be on a separate circuit. So by the time you go in and fix the dedicated circuit, so your refrigerator, your dishwasher, your garbage disposal, your microwave, all these things need to be on separate circuits, you can add 3, 4, 5 circuits to a kitchen. [00:07:00] And so that's part of that remodel costs that you need to take into account.

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[00:07:20] Eric Goranson: And then of course, can it be done? Hey, I want to do a, I want to build a deck out the back and you're like, Oh, wow. I can't do it like this because building code won't let me do it that way. Or, Oh, wow. I've got an ease, but right here, I can't put the deck over there, or I got a septic tank. Can you actually do what you're going to do now?

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[00:07:54] Eric Goranson: That's going to cause other issues. But that's one of those things that you can really take a look and figure out [00:08:00] on your own. But this is all part of that planning process, what you can do, what you can't do. And then of course your budget and your schedule. Do you have a hard date that you're trying to have this done?

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[00:08:28] Eric Goranson: So that outdoor kitchen project is on pause until I get that knocked out. Cause I want to get through the party and not have that completely under construction. Is it prep for it? Sure. But is it going to be a construction zone while I'm cooking pizzas in the pizza oven? No, it's not just because I don't want to have that whole thing tore up for a big party.

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[00:09:07] Eric Goranson: That could be a problem It might need to be freestanding. So these are all things I want you to take a look at Because this is where these things can really go sideways. You start going and somebody goes, Hey, by the way, you can't do that. Oh, and in most cases, when you get over 30 inches high, you've got to have a permit pulled for that.

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[00:09:41] Eric Goranson: We'll be right back.

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[00:10:13] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to around the house show. The next generation of home improvement. Hey, if you want to find out more about us, head over to around the house, online. com. You can find out so much over there. And if you're listening to us here. In, uh, June and early July here on this radio show or podcast is father's day weekend.

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[00:10:47] Eric Goranson: Now here's the thing. If you want to give us a call in the studio, 8 3 3 2 3 9 41 44. And that number again is 8 3 3 2 3 9 41 44. If you're listening on the radio, that's awesome. We do have our podcast, which [00:11:00] has more content during the week than what you're going to hear on the radio and just look for around the house.

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[00:11:19] Eric Goranson: And it'll be for members only that you can hear. And that has some other benefits as well, as far as me helping you with projects. As far as consulting and that kind of thing, if you're trying to tackle those projects. So check out our premium membership and around the house online. com. We've been talking today about how to tackle major projects from plannishing planning to finishing those projects.

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[00:12:00] Eric Goranson: There's a ton of different easements where they say, Hey, you own this land. You can't build in this area. And it's a great example. My little brother lives on the Eastern side of the U S I'm of course out here in the Portland, Oregon area. And we were talking and building code in my area says that as a certain size shed.

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[00:12:36] Eric Goranson: He needs to have a zoning thing, basically a zoning permit for him to put that shed on his property. And then of course he just figured out that he had about a 30 foot utility easement across the back of his property. So of course he couldn't put it on that, which was going to put his shed in the middle of his backyard, which was not something that he was too excited about.

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[00:13:12] Eric Goranson: But it completely changed his shed location. And even though he was going to put it right next to his neighbor's shed that was grandfathered in, he of course, didn't have that opportunity. So these are those things that you need to figure out just because your neighbor could do it. Doesn't mean that you can do it.

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[00:13:44] Eric Goranson: I was that way, but then I figured out when I talked to the city because I lived on a little more busy road, I could put a six foot fence in, but I had to stay 10 feet back from the property line, no permit needed. And that's exactly what I did. I just made sure I knew where the pins were and measured back and it worked out [00:14:00] really well.

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[00:14:16] Eric Goranson: Make sure that early on, if you've got a plan, you got something drawn out and you have to have engineering, get that done early. So you understand what the scope is because that's going to drive the price. They might come back and say, Whoa, you've got to change this and this. You need to know this before you hire that contractor or before you get into that budget cycle of you trying to figure out how to do it, that engineering is going to be key.

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[00:14:52] Eric Goranson: I get where you're coming from there. But the problem is that I've seen way too many people come back and red tag because they didn't do the right permits on [00:15:00] that stuff. And they can get you on decks from satellites. They can get I'm not allowing them in my backyard. Guess what? They can jump on a satellite and take a picture and see what your house looked like four years ago and see what you did now and see that you added on this big, huge, massive thing out back.

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[00:15:30] Eric Goranson: All right, here's where I want to get into some of the bigger details. Does it make sense to even tackle the project? Now, sometimes you'll go, Hey, I want to do this. But I want you to take a holistic look at the project and say, do I need to get my money back on this? Are you doing this for you? And this is going to be the house that you're going to die in.

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[00:16:08] Eric Goranson: Kitchens and bathrooms can be deceiving like, Oh yeah, I'm going to get all this money back. If you don't do it right, you might only get 30 or 40 percent of that money back. If you do it right, you could get a lot more. And really the only projects that are pretty good at giving you all your money back pretty quickly.

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[00:16:47] Eric Goranson: But many times that a hundred thousand dollar bill for doing some new windows and sighting. And maybe starting on a roof project, you might not get all that back. So these are things that I want you to take a look at [00:17:00] with that. And then the next one on this, is it going to add the value where you want it to?

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[00:17:30] Eric Goranson: So if you're doing it for you, God, love it. Go enjoy it. Do what you want to do. Let your kids figure it out. When you're off and gone, let them put the house up for sale or whoever does and enjoy it. But these are things I really want you to think about when you're tackling these kinds of projects. Does it make sense to do this?

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[00:18:01] Eric Goranson: So that's a big one. Now we come back, we're going to talk about some of these different types of projects and where they make sense and where they don't, and where maybe you need to start over. Sometimes that can be a hard pill to swallow, but it can help you in the long term. If you wanna find out more about me, head over to around the house online.com.

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[00:19:12] Eric Goranson: to the around the house. Show the next generation of home improvement. Want to thank you all catching us on the national radio show and talk media network, Aaron, across the country. I think we're in five time zones now. I appreciate all of you tuning in. If you want to find out more about us, or if you've got questions that you think we haven't covered, I always like suggestions head over to around the house, online.

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[00:19:49] Eric Goranson: Today, we've been talking about how to tackle those major projects from planning to finishing touches. The whole thing from start to finish. And I hope this is going to be something that really helps you tackle that summer project that you're getting, [00:20:00] whether it's inside or outside, or if it's a small one or just a major remodel, hope this helps you get along the way.

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[00:20:23] Eric Goranson: Working on an old home, as long as it's structurally sound, you're gonna Tackle that project. And it's really not that big a deal, but where it gets interesting is when you get before the 1980 on manufactured housing, because before you get into the, probably in the early nineties is when you started to see manufactured housing companies across the U S start to standardize things and really change over from what you would see in RVs into Materials that were typically used in building regular homes.

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[00:21:12] Eric Goranson: If you've got. Now there are exceptions to that. There are plenty of exceptions that if you've got a view property and it's grandfathered in as a manufactured home and you can't replace it, totally get it. There are exceptions to this, but generally speaking, if you've got that nine seventies single wide and you want to go drop 60, 000 into it, you might not get that back.

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[00:21:53] Eric Goranson: So this is where that kind of stuff makes sense. You might be better if you can get rid of that, [00:22:00] move in a brand new manufactured home for a couple hundred thousand dollars. And have something that's put on a foundation and all of a sudden that home these days can be treated like a regular prefabricated home that goes on your site.

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[00:22:37] Eric Goranson: Might be time to save up and do that and swap those two out. And it can be done pretty quickly in many cases. You're only a week or two out there. I've seen where they come in, you move out of the place, they disconnect everything, drag it out, come in. Or what I've seen them do too, is they'll put it right next to it, but they'll put a foundation right there.

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[00:23:12] Eric Goranson: It could be. More cost effective and give you a better investment down the road and get that thing going down the road. Because a lot of times when you've got those extra thin walls, the metal roof and the metal walls on the outside, it's like dealing with an old RV and it's just not cost effective to spend a ton of money on it.

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[00:23:48] Eric Goranson: So for this, if you're going to be hiring contractor, and let's say it's a kitchen project, for instance, if you're going to be remodeling a kitchen here, this is where I would want to have already gone through, designed my [00:24:00] kitchen, met with the Kitchen designer, a certified kitchen and bath designer, a certified kitchen designer, NKBA certified is who I recommend for kitchen and bath design.

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[00:24:22] Eric Goranson: Cause that could be really hit and miss and it's really tough. So unless you're going to be financing those cabinets through the home center on their credit card, you're probably going to be better off going to a kitchen about dealer. You'll get a similar price and you're going to have somebody that's probably more.

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[00:25:04] Eric Goranson: So having that design done and working with a designer, That can get that done for you is a key. And so that designer also has to work with that contractor. So you can talk to both teams and say, okay, can you guys work together? Many times the contractor has a few designers that they work with that have a great relationship and vice versa.

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[00:25:41] Eric Goranson: And then a couple of other places I would do for exterior project, like decks and stuff, go down and talk to your favorite lumberyard. Talk to the guys there and ladies, of course, talk to all those people, see who they recommend, because you know something, when things go sideways, they know about it. And so.

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[00:26:13] Eric Goranson: If you're hiring somebody out there, make sure they're licensed, bonded, and insured. And I don't care if your area says we don't do contractor license. There are a few places left in the country that are still this way. So if they're not licensed, they don't have to be in their area. Make sure they have that insurance and that bond.

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[00:26:58] Eric Goranson: They went down and put it way [00:27:00] down into the flat. The flashings were horrible. They didn't know what they were doing. They did a hot mess. That whole thing's going to probably have to get ripped off and redone. Otherwise the flashing job up against the side of the house, look like it was done by children.

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[00:27:33] Eric Goranson: Many times roofing, for instance, they have their own certifications or training for roofers. And I think the manufacturer's websites are a great place to find it because That means that they've been through some level of training and they know the product. And I think that's a key right there, especially with some of these more technical trades.

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[00:28:09] Eric Goranson: But anyway, take a look at that. Make sure you've got the right people showing up. Same thing with the HVAC. You want these people to be certified in the system they're installing. So any of these products that are really heavily leaning on an installer that knows what they're doing, do your research, talk to the company and make sure that they've got the knowledge to be taking on that project.

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[00:28:45] Eric Goranson: Don't change that dial.[00:29:00]

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[00:29:26] Eric Goranson: com and don't forget to subscribe to the podcast out there. Cause we have a, each and every week. Transcribed We have two episodes that air on the weekend, and of course a midweek that we do on Wednesdays that come out, and that is our weekday update. It's about a 10 minute on average weekday update, so make sure you grab that.

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[00:30:03] Eric Goranson: And of course, I want to see a detailed estimate that is tied in. And so make sure that puts down all the materials on the list. If they're building a deck, I want to see the color. I want to see the type of decking. I want to see the materials for the framing, the brackets used. I want to see all that stuff, including all the permits and inspections listed down there.

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[00:30:45] Eric Goranson: Maybe it's something that you have to do, but I really like my contractor. If I'm paying for them to handle the permits. And to get it taken care of, because many times if that contractor has problems or has had problems with that permit office, they don't want to go anywhere [00:31:00] near it, and that can be a red flag.

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[00:31:18] Eric Goranson: And as long as they're taking that off the project price at the end, Hey, we'll get, we'll charge you 300 bucks to do it. And if you go with us, we'll give you that money back. That's the cost of doing business. And I'm okay with that. That way you can get that detailed bid. And then the day you're going to sign that bid call and make sure that their license and their bond and insurance is valid that day you signed.

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[00:31:57] Eric Goranson: And. I want to be able to build this schedule out [00:32:00] for milestones along the way. So if you're building a deck, you're going to go lay it out, get it all dialed in, and you're going to pour concrete. You've got everything mapped out. Everything's ready to go. Materials are showed up the job site. Kind of your first milestone is concrete's in ledger boards and everything's flashed correctly.

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[00:32:44] Eric Goranson: And footings are done. I've got everything ready to go. Did I clean up around the job site? Did I get things dialed in? Is all the grading done around there correctly? Finish each benchmark to a hundred percent completion before you go to the next one. So [00:33:00] that way you don't have this big punch list at the end.

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[00:33:19] Eric Goranson: So get each step at a hundred percent before you go to the next one and get that punch list there and get it dialed in. So make sure you got that. And to go back a little bit here, this also will help you with budgets because one little trick that I do when I'm figuring out budgets. Is I am mentally install.

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[00:33:53] Eric Goranson: Okay. I'm going to have to tear it all down. Cool. I'm gonna need some saw blades. I'm gonna need a dumpster. I'm gonna have to haul it off. I'm gonna get all that stuff out of [00:34:00] here. What do I have to deal with there? Clean up. Oh, I need a poor new concrete footing. So I'm gonna have to plan for that. I need my lumber.

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[00:34:22] Eric Goranson: And so, you need to make sure and then start going through and planning out what's the process. Okay, are you getting things ready? After you've framed that deck, are you putting a kitchen on it, for instance? Okay, do I need to have power or natural gas or ventilation? What am I doing out there? Lighting? I gotta run stuff over that because you don't want to be covering it up with decking.

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[00:34:56] Eric Goranson: Cap it off. Be ready. Can I have electrical out there? Run the [00:35:00] electrical out there. If you're doing that kitchen. Kitchen remodel. Is there something upstairs? Is there a project upstairs? If you got a kitchen, you got a bathroom up above and you're gonna do the bathroom next year, do you need to bring a new water line up there?

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[00:35:30] Eric Goranson: Okay. And so there's less projects as you go. Cause many times you go, oh man, I got to do this. I'm going to remodel on that next year, but it's okay. If I run a wire through there, or it's okay. If I have to tear something up there, you're not doing that project twice. And that's what this whole schedule thing and planning ahead thing is making sure that you don't have to do work twice.

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[00:36:08] Eric Goranson: And this is where your spouse, significant other friend can come over and go, man, Hey, how does this look? Somebody that's got an equal experience. What am I forgetting? Hey, you might want to put a couple more fasteners here. Hey, you might want to block between these joints before you put that up. Or, hey, did you flash this correctly?

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[00:36:45] Eric Goranson: We'll have different things, a framing inspection, a rough framing inspection. Maybe it's a rough electrical or rough plumbing inspection. Maybe it's a drywall inspection or a ventilation inspection or an insulation inspection. I have [00:37:00] seen them all. I've seen them where they want to check out the screws on the drywall to make sure you put enough in.

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[00:37:22] Eric Goranson: And I know you want this thing to be done right at the end, so you can just get on, move on, and have a great time enjoying the place. So really, working through that schedule, and then having the flexibility when something goes wrong. And then adjusting your schedule if things go sideways. Maybe you're working outside and it's a dumping rain, you got a high wind, and it's not safe to be out there working.

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[00:38:01] Eric Goranson: That's where you can run into problems. So don't start the project and to get the materials, especially when you're talking kitchens and bathrooms and things like that, where many things are made to order. And I can't tell you how many times in my 30 years of kitchen and bath, Designing. Have I had husbands go in and say, my wife's out of town.

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[00:38:34] Eric Goranson: And this is where those problems arise. So just understanding those lead times, getting all the materials there, starting the project and understanding it can make for that successful project. All right, guys. Hey, I want to make sure that you follow us over on social media around the house show. Make sure that you're catching my around the house, Northwest television show that airs on great television, and you can head over to the around the house online and catch it over there.

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[00:39:18] Eric Goranson: And then you can watch all the episodes you'd like right there and stream it away, no matter where you're at in the country. All right. I'm Eric G and you've been listening to around the house. I hope that helps you with your next project.