Transcript

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Shock Revelation ... The ONE Fruit That Appears On ALL Home Makeover Projects ... AND Discover Why !!

On our Home Makeover Project journey so far, we've visited Africa a couple of times, we've been to the Circus, we've stopped very briefly in Egypt at the time of the construction of the Pyramids and even at Windsor Castle in merry old England. That seems like a lot of ground covered in a short space of time.

We've even got up close and personal with elephants, hand-feeding them, even eating them ... I know, what the heck was that all about ? ... well, you can find out if you check out Episode 5.

And we've had cameo appearances from Mosquitos and Hippos.

On our elephant theme, a couple of weeks ago, we discussed the ingredients for an elephant feast and now today, I'm afraid, my language is gonna get fruity ... no, no, relax, not bad language fruity ... I mean I'm going to be talking about fruit.

Wait, what does fruit have to do with Home Makeovers you ask ?

Well, good question ... because there's one particular fruit that appears on every Home Makeover project. Yes, for real.

It's a fruit I'd be very surprised if you haven't heard of and you've almost certainly encountered if you've ever done any kind of Home Makeover before ... BUT, I bet you haven't ever thought about it in quite the way we'll be doing today.

Have you ever heard the phrase "Keeping up with the Jones'" ? Basically, it refers to the social comparisons between neighbours, who find themselves in a tit-for-tat struggle to keep up with or hopefully outdo their neighbours as they social climb, strive to live happier, wealthier, more extravagant, ostentatious lives.

There are at least five competing stories I've found which offer explanations about where the phrase originated, including as you'd expect wealthy neighbours named Jones and even a comic strip creator in 1913. All of them suggest it originated more than 100 years ago.

Truth is, we, neighbouring Homeowners, have been struggling to keep up with each other probably since we first built "houses" or pitched tents or occupied caves in the mountains. But for at least the last hundred years, we've been "keeping up with the Jones' " !!

Social media today has made "keeping up" an art form. From Facebook to Instagram and from Tik-Tok to a myriad of other Apps, Websites and TV Shows. And thinking about it, it wouldn't surprise me to discover that a large percentage of Home Makeover projects have their roots in needing to keep up with friends, family, neighbours or someone we aspire to be like. Are you feeling any pressure from those nasty Jones' next door ?! I hope not.

Anyway, what do the Jones' and a particular fruit have to do with Home Makeovers ? Well, I'm glad you asked ...

I'm not quite ready to pull back the curtains yet, but let me give you a hint ...

Our main focus of the past few episodes has been on project costs - we started with a bird's-eye view; then we got gritty and granular.

Today, as we continue our expose of Home Makeover Project costs, I'm going to teach you an invaluable skill, that will be massively useful on any Home Makeover Project you attempt - any project, any size, anywhere in the world.

And in just a moment, all will be revealed ...

Hello and Welcome to Home Makeover Project Secrets, the show that equips Home Owners with the skills and understanding to execute successful home projects, that goes behind the scenes of Home Build Projects to unlock the secrets and share insider tips and strategies to save money and time on any and every home project. What you learn will give you the confidence to embark boldly on your next project and you’ll know what to do so your story has the happy, dream home ending you deserve.

I’m your host, Andrew Philips …

When I talk about "Home Makeovers", I include renovation, remodelling, alterations, additions, going up into attics and down into basements, redevelopments and even ground-up new builds. Any and every project where you're going to be appointing professionals, designing something, buying materials, carrying out construction work, employing contractors and sub-contractors, suppliers and manufacturers and even if you're doing some or all of the work yourself. All things home build.

I'm delighted you've joined me today.

Because we're dealing with what might be quite complicated information, especially if you are unfamiliar with some of the terminology and processes, the show notes and transcript will be uploaded to our website www.thediypm.com so you can easily revisit any episode and refer to the key information shared each week. And of course, if you prefer to watch or read an episode, rather than listening, you'll find links on the website as well. We also include any links to resources, free gifts and other useful information mentioned during episodes.

And now, let's get back to those fruitcakes, the Jones' ...

Keeping up with the Jones' is about comparisons. And when we consider anything and everything on Home Makeover Projects, "comparing" is an activity, a process, that happens over and over again. It's impossible to avoid and it's integral with achieving Home Makeover Project success. So we clearly need to know how to do it and do it effectively.

One of my most important personal goals, for Home Makeover Project Secrets, is to save you money and, of course, time. Today we're focusing on money and in future episodes we'll turn our focus to time.

So, let's follow the money. The only way you know if you're saving money is by comparing different things and what they cost. Every time you buy something on a Home Makeover project, you are likely to compare that item and what it costs, that service, that professional fee, whatever it is. You'll be comparing costs, fees, charges, bids, tenders and so on.

Whether we are considering buying this door or that door, appointing this Architect or that Architect ... and on and on ... comparing is always at the forefront of the conversation.

And whenever we compare two or more things and what they cost, what is the one thing we have to make sure ? Yes, we need to make sure we are comparing similar things, things that have a similar performance or functionality, that have a similar quality, and so on. And the reason is because cost is driven by those factors.

When you buy eggs in a supermarket, if you pick up a $2 container or a $4 container, you'll  quickly realise they are not the same - look closer and you quickly realise one pack contains 6 eggs and the other 12 eggs. If the cost difference between the packs of eggs is closer, you might discover the reason is that one pack contains medium-sized eggs while the others are extra-large or one pack contains Organic eggs while the other does not.

Notice that we are comparing the items themselves for function, purpose, what they're made of, etc., etc. as well as their cost.

When we're just comparing two things - like packs of eggs - or a type of door, or a kind of faucet, it's fairly straightforward. But this principle also applies to comparing composite items.

"Whoa now, down boy !! What's a composite item ?" Well, a composite item is just a way to describe something that includes lots of items or parts or is made up of various components - like materials, labour and plant or machinery, just as we learned in Episode Six.

Here's an example that will make this easy to follow ... it's kind of like buying a car. So, imagine you're shopping around for a new car. Once we've selected a make and model that's in our price range we set out to find the best deal available to buy that car. If a Car Salesman in a Dealership offers you one of his motor vehicles, he'll quote the cost of the whole car - the body, the engine, the wheels, everything that makes it a car. The cost he quotes is a composite cost for a composite item. It includes all the bits that make up the car he is selling. Then if you go to another Car Dealer he might make a different offer for the same make and model of car. Which can be confusing.

So let's say the first salesperson quotes $ 20,000 and then the second salesperson quotes $15,000.

Well, that's a huge difference and seems like a no brainer. We're going to grab the cheaper offer, right ? Well, hang on, maybe not. Is it possible that two identical things could sell for such different prices. Well, maybe, but we better make sure those cars are actually identical. So the first thing you're going to do is you're going to check that the quotes they give you - those composite costs - are for the same make and model and that both vehicles have identical options and extras.

And that's probably when you discover that the second salesperson hasn't included the heated seats, the air conditioning, the heated windscreen and the leather upholstery. So you're going to make a careful comparison to make sure that before you buy, the cost you pay is for the car you actually want and all that it should consist of.

I suspect the penny may have dropped by now ... when we compare two items or composite items, how do we always describe what we're doing ?  And this is when the fruit I talked about at the beginning of today’s episode magically appears, just as it does sooner or later on every Home Makeover Project. That's right, we say we are comparing "apples-with-apples".

Are you familiar with that phrase ? If not, it simply means we're comparing two similar things.

BUT ...

Comparing apples-with-apples has a huge, hidden trap for anyone who doesn't know anything about apples.

Did you know there are around 7,500 apple varieties in the world - around 2,500 are grown in North America and a similar number in the United Kingdom. So even when we compare apples-with-apples, we're probably not actually comparing two identical things - rather they are just similar. If you believe "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" then you better know your apples.

You need to take into account, sweetness, crunchiness, flavour, juiciness. Then there's size and perhaps even when they are picked and available to buy in stores. Who knew buying an apple could be so complicated ?

The Home Makeover skill I want you to take home today is how to compare the things, the stuff, you have to buy for any and every Home Makeover project. Today, I only have time to provide a superficial overview - but it will be enough to make sure you at least know what to do when you buy anything and everything for your Home Makeover project.

A quick sidestep if I may ... I won't even try to get into "personal choice" ... obviously, when comparing things, there are both the objective "facts" and subjective "feelings" to consider. I'll be focusing on the facts not the feelings.

Returning to car buying for a moment ... I always seem to prefer practical cars. And whaddaya know, turns out practical cars are ugly. My wife favours form over function, so will always choose cars for their looks rather than their fuel consumption or the size of the trunk or the time between servicing. Many ugly car buying conflicts have taught me to stay away from subjectivity.

In Home Makeovers, you have to start with purpose, function, performance, size, materials, durability, guarantee period - all the objective, factual stuff. Once you've found two very similar or identical things, then you can decide if what they look like really matters or not. If you do choose the more beautiful and inevitably more expensive option, at least do so with your eyes open. If you don't save money on that item, at least you know why. And that's OK.

Applying the powerful strategy of Aggregated Marginal Gains, which I discussed in Episode 7, means we need to focus  on the cost of every item. This will give us the opportunity to save the most money by repeatedly making carefully considered, cost-based choices. If we always favour cost over form, we'll probably save the most money but it's absolutely Okay to choose beauty when it matters over cost. But be wary and much more careful about sacrificing performance and function. And another warning ... buying cheap almost always works out as the more expensive option in the long run.

The top tip is to always buy the cheapest when comparing similar products and performance or functional differences are either minimal or don't matter. This is especially true when the item you're buying isn't visible or is not close to immediate contact. Examples of this would include choosing between two different wallboard manufacturers, insulation in roof spaces, electrical wiring and roof coverings.

So, how do we make great objective, factual comparisons.

There's a widely used phrase that says "Don't sweat the details !!". This is an expression of a "big picture" mindset. In the right circumstances, being able to focus on the big picture, can be a super-power. My job has driven me to being a very detail orientated person - if I tell a story, I always include all the details and it's only when my friends fall asleep mid-conversation that I realise I've gone a bit too deep.

On Home Makeovers, however, you need to get used to "sweating the details". It's the details that matter. It's by focusing on the details that we make good comparisons.

I can't count the number of times someone in my family has opened an Amazon parcel to react with either massive disappointment or shrieks of laughter when the thing they just bought turns out to be about 10% of the size anticipated. Or it's made of shiny, silver plastic and not the high quality polished stainless steel they thought they were buying when they just relied on the picture of the item. And that's because they didn't check the details of what they were buying.

The word that often describes the details that need to be checked is "specification" and also "performance specification". Usefully, most manufacturer's websites will list the important things about their products you need to be aware of. They do that because they know the questions experts always ask and so less experienced buyers can usually rely on the product specification containing the most important and relevant information.

Most Homeowners will be used to focusing on these kinds of details for things like motorbikes, cars and kitchen appliances - like checking the energy rating of a tumble dryer. There's no point buying a dryer that dries your clothing in five minutes flat but you can't afford the crazy amount of electricity it consumes. You just need to bring those skills you already have and apply them to your Home Makeover Project.

A few things to always check. I've already mentioned purpose, function, performance, size, materials, durability, guarantee period. I'll just highlight some of these and a few more less obvious ones.

Size - This may seem obvious but also don't forget thickness when the thickness of a material matters. This affects products like carpets, wood flooring, wall tiles and many more. Take a vinyl flooring product like floor tiles, for example. The larger the tile, the faster it will be to lay them over the area of a room because there will be fewer tiles to lay - so selecting a larger format tile can save labour costs on installation.

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But the thickness of the tile also matters because the thickness is likely to affect durability and lifespan. So when you're buying vinyl floor tiles, first decide what lifespan is sensible for your application and once you have found suitable ranges of floor tiles, then you can decide if you want to have patterned or textured or wood or stone effect.

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Next, Expected Lifespan. And sometimes this can be linked to the product guarantee. For example, two different roof materials, like aluminium or plastic roof sheeting, are likely to have dramatically different lifespans - often 5 to 10 years different. Be wary of falling in love with the wide colour range of the plastic alternative because you may have to replace the roof 50% sooner than the metal alternative.

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Then there's Performance. If you buy something mechanical, understanding the differences between the performance of items you are comparing is really significant. Take an air conditioning unit - the performance of the unit will determine the volume of air it can cool and also the temperature range it is capable of delivering. If you have a huge, high ceilinged great room in your home, you'll be left bitterly disappointed if the unit you select would be more appropriate for a much smaller bedroom space. It simply won't be able to adequately cope with the volume of air in the larger space. Or think about what external temperature ranges may exist - can the unit cope with extreme either hot and or cold. If your outside winter temperature regularly drops to below zero degrees Fahrenheit or 20 degrees Celsius below then to enjoy warm interior conditions you need a unit that is designed to heat in those conditions ... or you'll wind up chilly during winter months.

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Here's another. When comparing products, sometimes it's worth comparing the suppliers themselves - take something as easy to miss as delivery charges. Consider, for example, a heavy product that's difficult to handle - something like bricks or blocks. They're often delivered on a flatbed truck on pallets. But not always. Let's say you find two similar bricks you like and compare the cost. Supplier B is marginally cheaper than Supplier A. Since you like both products, they both have similar specifications, so it seems sensible to get the cheaper option.

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BUT ... what if the more expensive Supplier A has a delivery crew and a flatbed with a Hiab - you know the small cranes on the back of the truck. So, included in the cost of the delivery, they'll unload the pallets and turns out they also have a pallet truck to move the pallet onto the site where you can store them and the delivery crew are willing to do that for you. Compare that to the cheaper Supplier B who just sends just a driver, no crane on the truck, no means of shifting the pallets. So you either have to have your own lifting and shifting equipment or a bunch of labourers who will unload the delivery vehicle. No surprise, this turns out to be way more expensive. It's well worth checking the service you get when you add delivery to the total cost. The $450 charge from one supplier may work out much cheaper than the $ 200 charge from another.

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Staying with deliveries - even more subtle can be delivery timescales. Before confirming the order make sure you know when the items will arrive and that the timing works for your construction crew. If the cheaper option takes ten days longer to arrive and your site team have nothing to do for a few days while they wait for the product to arrive, there can be all sorts of costly consequences. Make sure you take those into account as well.

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While mentioning delivery, I need to remind you about waste removal. Some products - furniture and kitchen appliances, things like TV's too, are like this - they come wrapped in a load of plastic and cardboard and in some countries, packaging materials like polystyrene. When you're ordering a lot of these items, the volume of waste packaging quickly adds up. Having the delivery crew remove the packaging after they unwrap the items they deliver will save you time and money - either from having to pay someone else to get rid of it for you or the time and cost of doing it yourself.

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And here's one more - Assembly. Lot's of suppliers - particularly in the furniture industry - sell products that are delivered flat-packed for self-assembly by the purchaser. Now that's Okay if you're buying one item. But if you are buying cupboards for three or four bedrooms and shelving and dressers and tables and so on, imagine the hours you will have to spend assembling them all, if they arrive flat-packed.

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We can all place a real value on our time - just think what else you could be doing that's more valuable. Assembling furniture may not be worth the time it will take. So when you compare a made-to-order, deliver-and-install service, although it may look much more expensive up-front than a flat-pack option, if you have to pay a crew to do the assembling and installing, the cost of those assembly and installation charges could easily bring the "cheaper" total up to par or worse, cost you more.

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And lastly, do consider country of origin. I remember a project where the Client ordered a load of light fittings direct from manufacturers in China. But no one had thought to check if they came wired for local use. Turns out they didn't and at the last minute, the Homeowner had to pay his electricians to swap the plugs on the electrical feed for each light fitting. That took a lot of time for skilled electricians and the Homeowner probably spent everything he had saved by opting to buy from an off-shore supplier. A local supplier at a slightly higher cost per item would have had to deliver appropriately wired fittings.

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In episode 4, I shared about five laws Homeowners need to comply with. One of those was related to design and manufacturing quality standards. On a recent project, the Architect specified a foreign-made light fitting. Unfortunately, when the fittings arrived, the electricians refused to fit them because they didn't comply with local electrical safety regulations. If the electrician had fitted them, they could lose their licence to trade. The outcome was painful - time was lost while the problem got sorted out. But the cost hurt even more - all of the unsuitable fittings had to be dumped. It was not the supplier's problem, it wasn't the electrician's problem. So the client had to pay to buy new fittings. Although I suspect there were some harsh words with the Architect !!

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So, when buying anything and everything for your Home Makeover project - compare, compare, compare. Start with specifications - use these as the basis for comparing the "facts" about each item and make sure you only select from similar items and do your comparing before you've fallen in love with a particular product. Subjective feelings too easily trump significant differences.

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Comparing costs follows on once you are sure you are comparing closely similar items, products, services and so on.

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Before I close I’d like to give you something … my secret strategy for comparing highly complex, composite items - for example, different types of windows or different types of underfloor heating systems. Items where there are so many factors to compare, it's just too confusing if you're not an expert. And it works for anything you buy, like cars even. Don't worry, this strategy is easy to follow even the first time you use it and you can start using it immediately - no skills needed. I'm making this available absolutely FREE to Podcast subscribers, so go to thediypm.com/make-complex-simple where you'll be able to watch my short, training video.

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I’ve been using this strategy even as a professional construction expert for years and years. And there’s no reason you can’t use it and benefit from it too.

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In the next Episode, I’ll be sharing another essential skill that will help you save money on your next or any Home Makeover Project – How to get the best prices from Contractors so you never pay over the odds. This is at the heart of Project Cost Management and is one you’ll kick yourself if you miss.

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To make sure you never miss an episode, why not subscribe to Home Makeover Project Secrets on our website at www.thediypm.com where you'll also find our blog posts and details about our upcoming Project Masterclasses and Training Courses.

If you have a question about a project you're planning or already running, please reach out and email me at faq@thediypm.com . If you have a challenge to overcome then I can just about guarantee others are also facing the same or similar challenges. We'll be answering listener questions in FAQ episodes every few weeks. It’s always reassuring to know you’re not the only one battling away …

It's been great to have you with me today and I look forward to having you back for the next Episode of Home Makeover Project Secrets.

All the best on your Home Makeover project adventures.

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Andrew Philips, Project Management Coach