Revealed ... The #1 Insider Strategy to Ensure You Do Get What You Want On Your Home Makeover Projects

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Thomas Edison is one of the most famous American inventors with more than 1,000 patents to his name. That's an average of more than 16 patents every year across 66 of his 84 years ... that’s assuming he didn't register too many before he turned 18. Extraordinary !!  Most of us know of him particularly through his association with the development of the light bulb, commercial electricity and even the phonograph and motion picture camera.

 

A well-known quotation that I'm sure you’re familiar with and which is ascribed to Edison is "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration". Edison recognised the significance of “sweat”.

 

And he's not the only stand out public figure who has identified this key ingredient of success in life. In Episode 9, I shared the two ingredients which Jeff Bezos emphasised in his final letter to shareholders, released earlier this year. Spoiler alert ... one of them was ... yes, you guessed it, "sweat". If you don't know what the other ingredient was, then pop over to thediypm.com/podcast and follow the link to Episode 9. You'll discover what Jeff Bezos has described as being fundamental to his success with Amazon and how that will help you on your Home Makeover Projects.

 

Now, I know it can get boring when someone keeps repeating themselves ... but for today's deep dive, it's a risk worth taking and so I'm going to expand on a topic I've already mentioned a few times in past episodes.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again ... on Home Makeover Projects, we MUST sweat the small stuff.

 

And I'm not alone in this core belief ... “Stormin Norman” Schwarzkopf - a General in the US Military who served as the commander of United States Central Command, leading all coalition forces in the Gulf War in 1991, once said this : "The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war". I suspect he would've had no idea just how apt that statement is in the context of Home Makeover Projects. Although I’m not suggesting Home Makeover Projects should make us bleed.

 

In a few moments, I'm going to reveal this Home Makeover insider secret strategy in even more detail. And as I explain why it's such an important part of Home Makeover success, I'll be highlighting three stages of every Home Makeover project where the details you sweat will pay off.

 

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.

 

Time to get stuck into the details.

 

At the core of today's insider secret strategy, is the fact that to get what you want or need from your Home Makeover Project, you have to know what that is. In detail. No contractor, no matter how experienced they are, no matter how good they are, can guess what you need, want or like.

 

Of course, with the right contractor, you may feel comfortable relying on their experience and judgment to tell you what you should need or want - and that's Okay. Particularly when it comes to technical aspects of the project. Relying on their expertise can be a very sensible strategy, especially for those Homeowners who are less experienced or less concerned about those details.

 

And so, a bit later, I'll also share a strategy that’ll ensure you still get "the right thing" even when you don't select something specific.

 

But first, in case anyone is confused why details matter so much, let me explain using a simple example.

 

Let’s consider a finished project - let's use a shower room. And let's imagine this room has a toilet, a wash hand basin and, of course, a shower. The walls and floor are tiled. There are faucets or mixer taps on the wash hand basin. Now what I'm going to share applies exactly the same to every component in the room, from the door and door handles as you walk in, to the toilet seat and to the heated towel rail.

 

Remember, the primary goal of your project, is to successfully deliver the Home Makeover to your complete satisfaction at the end, whatever that would mean for you - in this case, it's our imaginary shower room.

 

I'm going to randomly pick just one component in the room ... let's say it's the toilet itself.

 

In order to complete the room, your contractor - or plumber if you're appointing the sub-contractor yourself, would’ve had to purchase the toilet from a manufacturer or supplier, have it delivered to site, then install it, connecting it to water supplies and drainage pipework and finally, to turn on the water supply to make sure it functions as it should.

 

So how does the contractor or plumber know what toilet to supply and install. Well, someone - either you or your architect or interior designer (with your approval) - needs to have selected that toilet. This means providing the product name and model as well as any other relevant details - like size, if there are different sizes within a particular range and so on.

 

Note that even when you appoint an architect or interior designer to guide you and support you, you still ultimately make the final decisions. Even when they make recommendations for particular products, they should defer to you to approve those product selections.

 

The reason you need to provide this level of detail is because of what happens when you don't - and that is likely to be bad for you. In this example, if you just say "provide and install one toilet", you will most likely get the cheapest toilet the contractor can find or, at best, the easiest one he can get his hands on. He’ll do that as the basis for winning the job by having the lowest overall cost. And that might be fine if you would have chosen that particular product yourself. But, in reality, it almost never is.

 

And the way this goes down, is you select the cheapest contractor based on their bid. Then the day comes when the contractor installs the new toilet in the shower room. You arrive on site, later that day and discover to your surprise and probably horror, a pink, plastic toilet.

 

"Wait, what ? What the heck ? I just wanted a plain white toilet. Porcelain at the very least and what on earth is that thing ? The cistern ? No, no, no, this has to have a concealed cistern. I don't want all that on show. That's not the aesthetic we're looking for."

 

Ooooff ... perhaps you should have told them that stuff when you invited them to bid. Then you wouldn't be in this position, staring in disgust at this trashy, pink, monstrosity.

 

And now it's beginning to dawn on you why this contractor was so much cheaper than the other bidders. And that there may be a few other, nasty surprises still to come ... like in the floor tiles you didn't specify when you thought just saying "stone effect" or "grey" would be enough.

 

And the problem can only be solved in one of two ways ... either you pay for the contractor or plumber to replace the offending toilet with what you do want ... by doing what you should have done at the beginning and selecting a particular product or you accept that you'll be living with a pink, plastic toilet for the foreseeable future. In either outcome, you won't be happy - you either waste money and probably time or you have to use a shower room that makes you feel ill every time you ... well, you know what I mean.

 

I mentioned that there are three stages when having made the effort to get into the detail up-front, at the beginning of the project, really pays off.

 

One of the biggest problems all Homeowners face, when embarking on a Home Makeover adventure, is uncertainty or unpredictability. Everyone knows how Home Makeovers often go wrong, go bad, run over budget and take much longer than planned. And that's why most Homeowners say that uncertainty and unpredictability are their greatest fear. It's often what stops them from even attempting a Home Makeover project.

 

And one of the root causes of that uncertainty and unpredictability, is a failure to engage with getting the details locked down right at the beginning of the project ... or, being realistic, as many details as possible.

 

So, the first stage of the project, when sweating the detail matters, is during the design phase. Before the contractors get involved.

 

If you sweat the details during the design phase, you set yourself up for success throughout the project. You’ll contribute to certainty of future outcomes during the next two stages of the project.

 

And so stage two is during the procurement stage - when you're bidding or negotiating with contractors or sub-contractors. In Episodes 8 and 9, I explained the importance of those details to be able to adequately compare different bids from competing contractors. The key point is that if your bid documentation - whether on the drawings and plans or in a detailed bid or tender analysis, has all the right details then, when you get bids and quotes from any contractor, sub-contractor or supplier, you’ll know that they have all based their prices on the same products and components.

 

Knowing this significantly reduces the risk of appointing the contractor with the lowest cost. Yes, there ARE other considerations when selecting your contractor - which I'll be sharing in a future Episode - but having sufficient detail in the bid documents is the one that can cause the most impact. Especially a negative impact when you do not have enough details.

 

The third and most critical stage of the project, when sweating the details upfront pays off, is during the on-site, build phase. If you choose, select and specify as many components and products as possible, then there are two ways you benefit.

 

The first is that there will be no nasty surprises. "Pink plastic, seriously ? Are you for real ?" and the horrible war of words that follows just won't happen ... at least not over product choices. And that's where General Schwarzkopf's statement rings true ... the details you "sweat in peace", the time before the project kicks off, "the less you bleed in war", when you and your contractor go head to head.

 

Having a reliable, clear, detailed, contract sum analysis that spells out those details means that if your contractor does install a pink, plastic monstrosity, you will have no problem pointing out the error, noting what should have been done and instructing them to fix the problem ... at their cost and in their own time.

 

I said there were two ways you benefit - so if the first is no nasty surprises and no "wars" - the second is time. When you have to solve product and component related problems because they supplied and installed something not acceptable (whether it's down to you or to them), it's almost 100% certain you will lose time. It will take time for you to find the right product - even if it's only a few hours. It takes time to order the correct product – that could be another couple of hours. Then it takes time for the product to be delivered. And more often than not, having lost at least a couple of days, when the correct components arrive on site, the plumber isn't there to install them. No, the plumber has moved on to another project or two and can only get back to site a week later. Boooom – you’ve just lost a week !!

 

You can see how quickly, just a couple of instances like this, can add up to significant delays.

 

Earlier, I did say that there can be times when you can't or don't want to provide the details, select the products and components. That typically applies to either generic materials - like wallboard or plasterboard, or even to more complex technical elements - like a central heating or an air conditioning system.

 

In instances like this, there is a way to still get what you want or need without actually choosing a specific product. And the way to do that is to provide a "performance specification" for that component. This tells the contractor what the functional and performance requirements of the system or component needs to be. In the case of wallboard, you may just choose to identify when the wallboard needs to have a fire-resistance rating - that way the contractor can purchase any wallboard so long as it provides the required level of fire resistance.

 

Of course, it goes without saying … but I’ll say it anyway … you still need to provide those performance “details”. You can’t escape the details, just get over it and get on with it. Get sweating.

 

If you're wondering "But Andrew, what about those more complex, composite systems ... how do we know what the performance specification should be ?" then I have great news because I have a FREE Bonus Training Video - available to Listeners and Viewers by visiting https://makecomplexsimple.thediypm.com ... you'll find the link in the show notes. This superpower strategy is easy to follow, works effectively and anyone can start using it immediately. Just drop over to www.thediypm.com/podcast and click the link for this episode.

 

I really can't stress enough the importance of taking time and making an effort to get to grips with the details of the products and components you need or want on your home makeover projects. But it really is the only way to make sure you actually do get the successful end result you deserve.

 

And that wraps up today's episode.

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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 on 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. 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