All right, today we’re going to be talking about remodeling timelines and what to expect when you’re expecting the unexpected, a remodel.

 

So I think it depends number one, how intensive your remodel is.

 

Are you reconfiguring things that are going to require engineering?

 

And then big question, are you going to permit your remodel based upon how intensive that project is?

 

The path to doing your project unpermitted is very different than doing it permitted.

 

And so at Kingdom & Co., obviously, we’re always going to advocate to do it permitted.

 

And because obviously that’s just going to help you down in the future when you get ready to sell that home.

 

You know, that’s going to have to be disclosed on your real property disclosures.

 

Right.

 

Timelines to me are tricky because I just had a client, we were in the Ridges the other day with a client, and he’s getting ready to purchase this house.

 

He’s not sure what he wants to do yet because he’s not sure if he wants to do a full remodel or just the downstairs.

 

And so he had a question like, well, how long is it going to take?

 

And then always the answer is, well, depends.

 

Like, okay.

 

And it’s easy, Scott, like, okay, if you’re just doing the downstairs portion, the kitchen, the family room or living room, and a couple other, flooring and throughout the whole bottom floor or whatever, there’s a little bit more of that.

 

But it was like, yeah, we can design that in a month.

 

You can.

 

That’s not hard to do.

 

Just surfaces.

 

Just surfaces.

 

Yeah.

 

Selecting materials, doing the surfaces, creating the plan set.

 

No permits because nothing really requires permits that we’re not relocating bathrooms or anything like that.

 

So, or kitchens.

 

My answer to him was, well, we can get the design done in a month depending on how decisive you are.

 

If you’re indecisive, and everybody’s always goes into this, why I’m decisive?

 

Because nobody wants to admit that they’re indecisive.

 

Well, then they deal with their wife or their husband, and they go back and forth.

 

And so, yeah, we can get this thing designed in a month.

 

We can get this thing done in three months, renovated in three months.

 

But it all just depends on how decisive you are, and are you willing to answer your phones and emails?

 

Yeah.

 

How available you are for collaborative meetings.

 

Because we have some of our clients are high-end.

 

Some of these guys are gone for two, three weeks on business trips, and we don’t hear from them for two, three weeks.

 

And that’s normal.

 

But yeah, we can get your design done in a month if you’re not answering your phone.

 

I think it helps also big decisions like flooring, countertops, cabinets, and then paint colors.

 

I mean, if you can kind of get over the big hurdle of big decision items, and then all the little stuff like knobs and handles, and I think getting over the hurdle of what flooring, what countertop, what cabinetry set design am I going with, those are big hurdles.

 

That’s why they talk about the slow down to speed up.

 

That’s our concept here at Kingdom is because there are so many people and so many projects that go on that if we do not get the details right at the beginning, it really slows down the timelines.

 

And not only that, the change orders, and we were talking to a client just last week about this.

 

I was like, our competitors, most of them are going to give you a quicker timeline, and then what’s going to happen is they’re going to give you a cheaper price.

 

You’re going to rush into everything.

 

Your timeline, I promise, will end up being way longer than anticipated, way more expensive because of all the change orders, and you’re going to have a terrible experience.

 

And so for us, it’s slow down, get the details right, get the bids correct, slow down to speed up, and that will really improve your timelines.

 

I was just with a commercial client the other day, and she had the same question.

 

How long is this going to take?

 

With commercial work, especially when you’re really touching anything, it triggers fire sprinklers.

 

So I told her, look, there’s no way to cut a corner here.

 

You’ve got to still go through your design phase, you’ve got to still go through your engineering phase, and you’ve got to go through your permitting phase.

 

And on those projects where it’s a full scale remodel, where engineering and permitting are required, yeah, you need to plan on a good five, six months at least in doing all that preliminary work.

 

And that’s assuming you don’t have major delays, whether if you’re doing variances or if you’re doing weird stuff, trying to get the county or city or whoever to give you some sort of special consideration for something.

 

Right.

 

And that’s what makes Kingdom & Co. so special, in my opinion, is because we have the relationships with the architects, we have the relationships with the cities, with the engineers, and so they will prioritize us as a company because of how much volume we do.

 

And because of that, we were able to expedite these experiences.

 

Even though they still take weeks, it’s not months.

 

Yeah, and we’re doing it so often that we know what to include.

 

I think Austin, he’s probably submitting probably two or three permit requests a week.

 

Right.

 

He’s constantly submitting stuff, constantly dealing with their redline requests, and constantly dealing with their issuances as well.

 

When they issue the permit, then there’s a whole exchange of information as well.

 

So that process we’re familiar with, and we do it all the time.

 

And that’s, whoever you select to do your remodel, selecting a team that’s really familiar with that process and not somebody who’s like, well, I think it’s this way and I think it’s that way.

 

Somebody who has a very sharp edge when it comes to, hey, I’m constantly in contact with the county anyway.

 

I’m constantly in contact with the city of Las Vegas anyway.

 

That’s an important factor.

 

Right.

 

It can really help your project.

 

And that’s the power of design build.

 

Design build is we take the responsibility and take the ownership of all of those responsibilities and we take it by the horns and we get it done.

 

We used to do it back in the day, we’d say, okay, client, hey, get your own plans, get your own design done, get all your stuff done, and it’d come back to us and it’d be just an absolute disaster.

 

This doesn’t match up to this, your design doesn’t match up to the architectural plans, the engineering doesn’t match up to the, and you’re like, this is a disaster.

 

And then what ends up happening is, we used to bid it really quick and then it was like, okay, then we’re going to start your project.

 

And then you’d go, yeah, this doesn’t match up, so we’re going to have to change order you.

 

This doesn’t match up, so we’re going to have to change order you.

 

And then all of a sudden it’s like, what is happening?

 

This product that was supposed to be $200,000 is now $400,000.

 

It’s such a frustrating experience because even as a well-intentioned, somewhat well-informed homeowner, you could have done everything right.

 

Now you’ve spent all this time and money getting that permit, which is a significant accomplishment, and you bring it to somebody to build and they can’t build off of it.

 

Right.

 

I mean, I can imagine how excruciatingly painful that would be.

 

And it took you five months to get that, or six months to get that, maybe even longer.

 

I mean, it’s challenging.

 

So just to emphasize it, design-build is the way to go in this situation.

 

And let me clarify that.

 

Okay, they can build off of it, but they’re going to have questions at every junction point.

 

Right.

 

And it’s like, hey, dude, no, I spent all this money for what?

 

I don’t want to have to babysit the project.

 

And then they’re hiring a general contractor.

 

They’re still having to babysit it because there’s so many requests for additional information that the plans are lacking.

 

Well, imagine you’re an estimator, but we have our own in-house estimators, and you’re looking at these plans that don’t match up.

 

How are you supposed to even estimate it?

 

And then you ask a bunch of questions, and it goes back to all these departments that don’t answer their phone for a week.

 

And all of a sudden, like I said, weeks turn into months, and that’s how you really destroy your timelines.

 

Yeah, you destroy your timelines by oversimplifying the process and not getting your details right.

 

Okay, so how do you know if you need a permit?

 

I mean, some municipalities require you to pull a permit if you change out a water heater.

 

Do people do it?

 

No, not really.

 

But, I mean, the city is generally going to require a permit for structural items that you’re modifying.

 

If you’re moving, when it comes to your plumbing, your drains, and your faucets, if you’re adding or subtracting permit.

 

If you’re relocating permit for an add-on, of course, you’re going to need a permit.

 

Anytime you’re changing particularly the envelope of the home, the exterior walls, if you’re touching really anything there, that’s generally triggering a permit.

 

Wall-bearing walls, things like that.

 

But if it’s just surfaces, that’s the only time I’d say you don’t need to pull a permit.

 

But it’s very rare that it’s just surfaces.

 

Usually there’s some sort of modification of the structure.

 

Like a slider door.

 

We do a lot of slider doors, and those require sometimes footings, or sometimes a beam, or whatever it may be.

 

Yeah.

 

It’s going to cost…

 

I imagine you have a window, and it’s four feet across and three feet tall, and now you’re taking that whole thing out.

 

Well, there’s a lot of structural components in that, and you’re taking that out.

 

You’re doing a big beam across.

 

Now you’re transferring the loads on where that roof presses down on the structure.

 

And so, yeah, you’re doing sometimes massive footings to support those load points of where the structure hits the slab.

 

Right.

 

And if you decide not to pull permits, the challenging part is if you ever go to sell your house, if there’s any issues…

 

Yeah, you’re supposed to disclose that.

 

You end up getting in trouble, and it burns you at the end.

 

Well, yeah, and it can sabotage your sale event.

 

You can have a buyer that backs out, doesn’t want that liability because they don’t know if it was done right.

 

Or safety issues.

 

Yeah.

 

You have safety issues, settling issues.

 

So yeah, there’s all sorts of reasons why, while it is a pain and it can take longer, there are benefits to having that certification of the permit.

 

Again, Kingdom & Co., we offer those services.

 

We offer everything before we start the project so that you can just rock and roll.

 

You can just talk to your project director and your designer, here’s what I want, and then we’ll take care of the rest.

 

That’s really…

 

That’s very convenient.

 

And people are like, well, that sounds really expensive.

 

Well, if you do it yourself, you might save some money, but when it comes to time and our connections, we’re able to get discounts because of the volume that we do to bring those costs down.

 

So at the end of the day, it’s a wash.

 

And people don’t really understand that, and it’s more than a wash because it takes away a lot of the headache and time and energy and focus and mistakes that they don’t even see because they don’t do this every day.

 

So we’ve had some clients in the past who just have trust issues in general, question everything that you do, and because of that, it can cause delays because if you don’t allow the artist to perform the artwork, then you really sabotage the entire experience because that person is just trying to guess what you want rather than knowing what you want and being able to…

 

Let me show you the entire design.

 

So lots of times when we see clients who are very indecisive and very untrusting, it can cause delays in the project.

 

Yeah, and it’s usually coming from a place where they’ve been burned before.

 

They’ve done this before where they didn’t have good boundaries and a good process set with their contractor, and it was a horrible experience, and they don’t want to be burned again.

 

So I can totally get that.

 

Be careful of having too many cooks in the kitchen.

 

Let the artist do their work and bring it all together for you.

 

And I think it’s important to be clear, right?

 

You say something, oh, no, I absolutely hate that style of design.

 

Lots of times when we do design or anybody who does design, it becomes layer upon layer upon layer, and it all starts from somewhere and builds up.

 

It’s like judging an artist right when they’re in the middle of doing the stenciling of the project.

 

Let them finish the design and fix the imperfections, and once that’s done, then have that conversation.

 

But lots of times we’ll have clients who…

 

Not lots of times.

 

But now and then you have clients who aren’t decisive, untrusting, and who just can’t get out of their own way sometimes, and you feel sorry for them because you’re like, guys, because of this attitude, you’re literally prolonging this project two, three, four, five months.

 

Another thing we’ve done for clients that are doing really big projects, particularly a new build, is we’ll tell them to go attend a parade of homes, and the closest one’s up in Utah.

 

And they do them in, what, in February and in June?

 

I think they do one in August in Park City also.

 

Those are really good events because you get exposure to a lot of different designs in a compressed time frame.

 

So if you are really indecisive, I can’t encourage that enough because you’ll get a real feel for what you like and don’t like by walking through even six or seven homes that are three, four, five, sometimes $10 million homes, and you can get a real quick feel for, I love this concept, or I don’t like this concept.

 

This speaks to me, or I want this type of office, or these colors are my, like, it helps you to narrow down and be decisive, and that’s powerful.

 

Yes.

 

It can educate the customer and get them exposed to a lot of that really quickly.

 

If I was going to nail down, how can I be quicker on my timelines?

 

To me, it comes down to trusting the team, being decisive, and knowing what you like and what you don’t like, and being able to communicate that.

 

Don’t be hesitant on, I don’t want to step on their toes and let them know I don’t like this, and then they finish the design, and then you’re like, yeah, I don’t like this, and you’re like, we spent three weeks on this.

 

Make sure that you can communicate it, and like you said, go to the Parade of Homes, go to Instagram, go to Pinterest, find what speaks to you and why it speaks to you, and be able to communicate that to the design team, and that will make the process go a lot faster.

 

There are a lot of times where even I’ve scrolled through Pinterest or something, and I get really fixated on one sort of a type of finish, and I chew on it for a few days or a few weeks, and I find I don’t like it anymore.

 

Take your time, and then there’s other things that just keep coming up that I was like, I always like it, and so learning what it is that you really like is really crucial too.

 

It’s interesting, there’s a client that comes in particular who really cares about what her peers think, and I think we’ve discussed this before, but I want to emphasize it again.

 

When you just start designing and building things and thinking about other people, what they think about it can really kill your decision making, and it makes you overthink everything, and you like subconsciously are like, wait a minute, what would everybody else think about this?

 

And like, no, design what you love.

 

This is your family.

 

This is your home.

 

Review you and stop worrying about the masses of what they think it’s going to be.

 

What’s my friends going to say about this?

 

Is everybody else going to like this?

 

Who cares?

 

That’s a recipe for dissatisfaction.

 

And killing timelines.

 

Yeah.

 

And killing timelines.

 

So, yeah.

 

And I think you put it in the terms of- Yeah, that was bad language.

 

Just put it in the terms of our edge is sharp because we’re constantly submitting, you know, we know- Yeah, I want them to understand though, like for me, what speaks to a lot of these clients is like, and it’s the truth, like the fact that we do in-house cabinetry, it does bring them the cost.

 

The fact that we do in-house glass, it does bring out.

 

The fact that we do in-house permitting and develop these relationships, it really does, it brings down the price and speeds up the process.

 

Yeah, there’s a synergistic advantage to bringing all that stuff in-house.

 

So with the permitting, the advantage that we have is that we’re doing it day in and day out.

 

So we’re not getting stuck in a lot of the processing that somebody would get stuck in just because they don’t do it that often.

 

Right, but if I’m a person that’s like, well, I can do it cheaper, Zion, I’m going to go in there and I’m going to do it cheaper and then bring you guys the plans.

 

That’s not true.

 

Yeah.

 

You know, it could be true if you have the best contacts and they’re going to do you favors, that’s different.

 

I’m not saying that it can’t happen.

 

But if you’re going to go do it yourself, those guys are going to charge you premium pricing.

 

You’re going to be last on the total poll because they’re dealing with clients like us who give them multiple projects and you’re going to be in the back burner.

 

And then you’re going to not know things that you don’t even know what to ask.

 

And it’s just, it’s just going to cost you time and money.

 

It really does.

 

That’s something that we’ve learned throughout the years is we used to be that way.

 

I’ll DIY everything.

 

And the more you DIY stuff, the more it burns you at the end, especially in this industry.

 

If you’re going to nail it down and let’s say three things, Zion, like to speed up timelines and to make sure that things are going smoothly, how would you, in a design build industry, how would you define the three most important things?

 

The three things a customer can do to speed up their timeline is know what you like, trust your team, slow down to speed up.