If you’re considering a remodeling project in your home, who will you turn to for help? Perhaps you’d consider a design/build firm, like the dedicated, experienced team at Barnes Custom Builders.
Being able to work on a project on your own, or with the help of a handyman, and a day at Home Depot might sound like an easy and cost-effective route to take but, as someone who isn’t a builder, you could run into unforeseen problems. According to Barnes Custom Builders’ owner/partner Dave Medeiros, those big box stores aren’t always the answer.
“I know a lot of people will go to Lowes or Home Depot and purchase cabinets and try to do renovations from there,” Medeiros said. “Pricewise, I think the big box stores seem very attractive to people. But if you look at a lot of the online reviews, I think people are generally unhappy with it, because I think it’s hard to understand what you’re going to get. They’re so big that it’s not a customized experienced for each individual client, like it is with firms such as mine and others like mine. I think that we give a lot more individual attention to our clients and we’re a one-stop shop; we’re not subbing everything out; we’re onsite so we have more control.”
If you’re beginning a large scale project, where do you start? Hiring an architect might sound like something that can make your vision a reality, but it isn’t always the case. It takes so much more than a good architect to bring a project to completion.
“Architects definitely draw beautiful designs and we collaborate with architects quite often,” said Medeiros. “I’d say the biggest downfall to that approach is that the information has to change hands multiple times. So it has to go from the client to the architect and from the architect to the builder. There might be several builders who are bidding in and then, when a builder is selected, that builder has to transfer the information to all their subcontractors and everybody else.” Architects, he added, tend to focus on bigger projects in general. So if you have a smaller project, it can be difficult to get an architect involved.
The perfect match may be to hire a design and build firm, like Barnes Custom Builders.
“We are a design and build firm,” he said. “We don’t need to transfer the information multiple times, and all the information is held in one company. The designers are here, the project managers are here and everyone is in the same building. Communication-wise, I think that helps quite a bit. And I think that we really have a step up in designing to a budget.”
At Barnes, one of the first questions they always have for the client is: ‘Do you want us to budget to a design or design to a budget?’
“A lot of people say they want to know how much it will cost to do everything on their wish list, and then that either fits in their budget or it doesn’t,” said Medeiros. “If it doesn’t, we can pare it down. Or they’ll say they really want to stay in a certain range, and ask us to let them know what we can do in that range.” There are always options.
“We’re primarily a remodeling company, so that’s the majority of the projects we do,” he said. “We also do new construction, which we enjoy, but what we focus most of our time on is remodeling. We do all types of remodels, from as small as a countertop to as large as a 4,500 square-foot house, and everything in between there. I think we have a lot of versatility that way, and we really love to bring the same dedication to all the projects. We love to challenge ourselves every day and give our clients the best experience that we can.
Medeiros said they advise people to focus on the “five Ps” when choosing a contractor – people, process, portfolio, past clients and price. At Barnes, each one is important.
“I really think we have the best people and a great team that cares about our clients and wants to take care of them,” Medeiros said.
He said they try to make the process of remodeling as simple as possible. “When you’re buying remodeling, you’re really buying a remodeling experience,” he said. “How is the whole experience going to go from beginning to end? Remodeling is a very stressful thing to do. Your house is ripped apart, there are a lot of decisions that have to be made, there’s a big financial impact, typically, and it can all become very stressful.” Barnes uses software and other resources to make the process seamless and transparent, and the client knows what to expect, when to expect it, and how everything is going to go.
The portfolio reflects the person’s capability to do a job. “You have to be experienced and have the wherewithal to know what you’re doing,” said Medeiros. “We’ve been in business over 12 years, and we typically do more than 30 projects a year. I think we have a pretty big wealth of experience.”
Past clients have enjoyed working with Barnes, have appreciated the quality of the work, and have been willing to put it out there to the world. You can find Barnes’ reviews online and browse their portfolio at www.barnescustom.com.
The final P is price. “There’s obviously going to be some differences in price,” he said. “It’s pretty difficult in this industry to compare apples to apples all the time. You really have to know what you’re looking at and make sure that you follow up with the people you’re talking to. You need to understand everything that’s truly included and everything that’s involved in a fixed cost vs. a variable cost. That’s very important to understand.”
If you’re thinking about starting a remodeling project and are not sure where to begin, Barnes offers seminars about once a month, touching on a variety of remodeling topics. Follow Barnes Custom Builders on Facebook to learn more about upcoming seminars and to see some of their most recent work.
Whether you’ve been picturing a project for years or you’re just starting to look for ideas and inspiration, Barnes can handle your needs, from initial design to completion. Give the Barnes Custom Builders team a call at 508-566-8911 today.
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