It’s still summertime, but fall is in sight!
Have you thought about a renovation you wanted to have done later in year, specifically in time for the holidays?
The bad news: you probably won’t get it done before the holidays. And you definitely don’t want the guts of your home showing during an event, or have key areas like the kitchen or bathroom less-than-operational when people come over!!
The good news: there are solutions.
Here’s what to know about that renovation you hoped to have done before the end of this year. It starts with a look at the high-end appliance market and ends with a solution you can count on…
The Timeline You Want…
It’s not even the end of summer, but you know that the holidays will come fast once the school year starts.
Maybe you’ll have guests staying with you, or maybe you’ll have a big holiday event…
(Home entertainers: have you seen the Entertainer’s Paradise?!)
If you’ve been thinking, or even just daydreaming, about a renovation you want to get done by the holidays, your planning is already behind.
There are two likely outcomes if you’re reading this now and haven’t already sent in orders for your selections…
- If you’re doing a facelift to any part of your home, you might well still have time to get that done before the holidays! Good for you.
- If you’re switching out appliances in a facelift or a full redo…or doing a bigger project that breaks down walls…you probably won’t get your project done before the holidays.
There are some “if, then” questions you can ask, though, to learn whether your dream renovation is possible before the holidays—and, if it isn’t, what your solutions are.
Speedbump Number One: High-End Appliances
Ask yourself: are you switching out the appliances in your renovation? ESPECIALLY your refrigerator or dishwasher?
If the answer is “yes,” and you have your eyes on high-end appliances, then your project probably won’t be finished before the holidays this year.
The highest-end appliances are on backorder for months…and months.
…Why?…
In 2020 and 2021, the remodel demand was HUGE. Money that some homeowners would have been spending on vacations was reinvested in their homes…biophilic designs came to life and new features were dreamed up for homes like living walls and indoor/outdoor areas. People spending more time at homes made their living spaces a paradise.
That demand put a lot of strain on the industry, and projects got pushed far into the future. Part of that was because there weren’t enough skilled carpenters…the bigger factor, though, was the pressure put on manufacturers. Backorders were set weeks, months, even more than a year in advance, and the luxury appliances that require the most care in construction haven’t caught all the way up yet.
The solution: We had a client whose dishwasher took MORE THAN A YEAR to be ready! That’s an extreme example, so don’t hyperventilate…but even if the delay for one of your selections is five or six months, does that derail your renovation?!
No.
We’re installing new appliances and uninstalling old ones all the time. So, for this client, we installed a dishwasher temporarily that we had just uninstalled from another home. Our client was able to enjoy the rest of her exquisite kitchen renovation and wait until her prima luxury dishwasher was ready.
Be prepared for solutions like this if you’re looking at high-end appliances.
TIP: Do NOT settle for lesser appliances just because you can get them faster. If you have your heart set on a specific make or model and it works in your overall design and budget, then you have a remodel priority you deserve to keep!!
Speedbump Number Two: Custom Cabinetry
Custom cabinetry has been on backorder, too, and the length of time depends on the maker.
There are other solutions for existing cabinets, of course, like repainting or refinishing…
However, the solution that makes better use of EVERY inch of space in your kitchen or bathroom and truly SUPPORTS your lifestyle generally needs to be designed from the ground up.
The solution: Work with a renovation firm that has at least a couple different manufacturer options for cabinets so you can decide where your priorities fall between time, quality, and customization.
Speedbump Number Three: Project Management and Installation
If you haven’t decided yet what company you’re hiring for your renovation, then you need to know what the implications are of each type of firm you could hire…
- If you hire a designer or architect for the design and plan on hiring a general contractor for the construction, then you are facing months of coordination across design, production, and subcontractors. That’s a MINIMUM.
- If you hire a contractor that does NOT have an on-staff project manager of any kind, then you will need to hire one independently to get your project done as quickly as possible. Some contractors don’t take project management on because it’s HARD. It requires full-time oversight of subcontractors, of orders, of deliveries…and if a contractor doesn’t have the staff and skill for that, it will be on
- If you hire a design-build renovation firm that DOES have an on-staff project manager, you are in the best possible shape to finish your renovation as fast as possible. The exact timeline will still depend on the backorders for your appliances, if you order any.
Signature Home Services is a full-service luxury renovation firm with an on-staff Production Manager and Production Assistant. We place ALL the orders for you, we track them, we piece them together in your production schedule…and we KNOW when to start breaking down walls while causing as little disruption a possible, because we constantly have a pulse on the status of each selection.
Because we’ve been in business for over 28 years, we also have VERY close relationships with the vendors we work with…meaning we get more realistic estimates of when your selections will be ready.
The One Solution That Drives You Safely to Your Goal
IF your goal is to get a renovation done before the holidays but it involves new appliances or any kind of construction work, then your best solution is to work with a full-service renovation firm.
Whether that’s our team or another one, validate the kind of contractor you want right now…and decide how important it is to you to have your project finished as soon as possible.
Where do you fall?
High-end appliances and larger “re-do” renovations are almost definitely not going to be finished this year. But with the right team and a creative solution, you can still get your remodel almost completely finished with a temporary “placeholder” solution that is still FUNCTIONAL for you to host guests and show off the work that has been done!!
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