Selecting materials color, texture and style is a challenging process but there are other items that can be considered.
At ENVI Construction, we strive to incorporate building methods that improve energy efficiency and indoor air quality.
We are also interested in what impact our purchasing choices have for our personal health and possible influences on our communities.
Japanese Printmaker Koichi Yamamoto of Tennessee states:
"Surface only provides record from recent event.
Making critical judgement requires understanding of what lies underneath".
In terms of selecting materials, with a concern for sustainability, understanding what lies "underneath" requires examining the relationship of many factors.
If clients are interested in this we will ask that they become a partner in making decisions in terms of environmental & personal health and the community.
The best tool I have seen to cut ease the confusion is Pharos Lens. Although not fully launched for consumers, the chart shown can be helpful for making decisions when selecting products.
Pharos Lens
List compiled from Pharos Lens
*Health and Pollution*
IAQ and User Exposure
High Hazard Toxics
Global Warming
Air Quality
Water Quality
*Environment and Resources*
Renewable Energy
Embodied Water
Solid Waste
Renewable Materials Use
Habitat
Embodied Energy
*Social and Community*
Occupational Heath and Safety
Consumer Health and Safety
Fairness and Equity
Community Relations
Corporate Leadership
When purchasing materials. Which of the elements would be the most important factor in selecting a sustainable product? Of course all of them but most products do not include improvement in all areas.
Understanding the gray areas of green building are can be one of the most daunting tasks a designer, builder or homeowner can tackle. Luckily if this is of interest to a client, there is plenty of available information that is being shared to assist with choices that are important to them.
12/17/08
12/12/08
Job Scheduling - Where is the Crew?
A majority of potential clients are concerned about safety and understand the importance of permits. They also want to understand how scheduling is handled with regard to when workers will be in their home.
Back in the old days when many carpenters didn’t care about permits or inspections they could start a job and work on that job every day until it was completed.
Since they didn’t acquire permits, they didn’t seem to need licensed tradespeople. The carpenter would install all the plumbing, electrics, tile, sheetrock and paint. This could save the carpenter a lot of time by not worrying about scheduling trade subcontractors or meeting code standards.
Some of the problems the one man shop caused were quality & safety issues.
The lack of a permit eliminated the need to pause work for the 2 or 3 inspection milestones that would need to happen before continuing. Now when a permit is pulled on a professional job, we are normally not allowed to install insulation while waiting around for the inspector because this would cover some of the work they are looking at.
We need to schedule in lag time which is breathing room for each trade. One potential disaster is a job not being ready for a particular trade on the day we say we are. If we attempt to schedule all the trades back to back with not enough time in between for small surprises, then we will be scheduled to the back of the line, thus causing further delays on the project.
What does all this mean to the client? This means that there will be days that no one is working in your home.
Do not despair!
Usually something is still happening behind the scenes with the tremendous amount of support from our trade partners and the ENVI office.
The value of increased safety and planning are worth the extra time needed to properly complete a quality job.
Back in the old days when many carpenters didn’t care about permits or inspections they could start a job and work on that job every day until it was completed.
Since they didn’t acquire permits, they didn’t seem to need licensed tradespeople. The carpenter would install all the plumbing, electrics, tile, sheetrock and paint. This could save the carpenter a lot of time by not worrying about scheduling trade subcontractors or meeting code standards.
Some of the problems the one man shop caused were quality & safety issues.
The lack of a permit eliminated the need to pause work for the 2 or 3 inspection milestones that would need to happen before continuing. Now when a permit is pulled on a professional job, we are normally not allowed to install insulation while waiting around for the inspector because this would cover some of the work they are looking at.
We need to schedule in lag time which is breathing room for each trade. One potential disaster is a job not being ready for a particular trade on the day we say we are. If we attempt to schedule all the trades back to back with not enough time in between for small surprises, then we will be scheduled to the back of the line, thus causing further delays on the project.
What does all this mean to the client? This means that there will be days that no one is working in your home.
Do not despair!
Usually something is still happening behind the scenes with the tremendous amount of support from our trade partners and the ENVI office.
The value of increased safety and planning are worth the extra time needed to properly complete a quality job.
12/8/08
Final Inspection Tips
Often times a client will already have their own painter or paint a room themselves . This can cause a minor delay for the final inspections.
Here are some tips for the final inspection. The smallest details are important.
1. All switch plate and outlet covers for the home should be installed. Many times the homeowners or painters will remove these for painting and fail the inspection.
2. Bathroom ceiling fan cover needs to be in place.
3. The permit card needs to be available.
4. The permit drawings need to be available.
5. All new outlets need to be accessible and not covered by furniture.
6. All light fixtures need to be completely installed.
7. And most importantly: All bedrooms need to have (correctly placed – not above a doorway) smoke detectors. In addition every floor needs to have a smoke detector installed. All detectors need to be 10 year rated.
Here are some tips for the final inspection. The smallest details are important.
1. All switch plate and outlet covers for the home should be installed. Many times the homeowners or painters will remove these for painting and fail the inspection.
2. Bathroom ceiling fan cover needs to be in place.
3. The permit card needs to be available.
4. The permit drawings need to be available.
5. All new outlets need to be accessible and not covered by furniture.
6. All light fixtures need to be completely installed.
7. And most importantly: All bedrooms need to have (correctly placed – not above a doorway) smoke detectors. In addition every floor needs to have a smoke detector installed. All detectors need to be 10 year rated.
11/15/08
Basecamp-Online Project Management Tool
With all the advancing technologies out there, it can be a daunting task to choose a new program. However, it is vital that contractors keep up to date and meet the demands of the fast pace. Contractors often need to access information from the job sites, collaborate with busy clients, designers, architects and subcontractors. With so much information to organize every job needs it's own project manager.
At ENVI Construction, we have found an online resource that has made a positive impact in the way we run our company. One of the most useful and amazingly affordable programs our company uses is Basecamp by 37 Signals. Basecamp is a web based tool that is designed for collaborating with groups, it is our project management tool.
Our company provides every client with their own website to help manage the selections and production. What this does is enable the clients to review on their jobs 24/7 without necessarily calling the contractor. Many of our clients are very busy during the business day, this way they can review information in the evenings and weekends.
We will post schedules, to do tasks, send messages, and organize files & photos for every job using this format. On larger complicated jobs, we have invited the architects, designers, plumbers, electricians and other trade partners to check in and ask questions of each other or post files. This also enables our trade partners or designers to monitor progress and scheduling. This way it is easier to keep everybody in the loop.
"I personally don't have a lot of patience for searching through my email to locate the last word on a subject or a specification." says Tim Cook, Owner of ENVI Construction. "Basecamp allows our company to have one location online that holds all the files, photographs and comments for each job. It allows me to research information on demand from the job site or when I'm home watching the kids."
Check out their Free Trial
At ENVI Construction, we have found an online resource that has made a positive impact in the way we run our company. One of the most useful and amazingly affordable programs our company uses is Basecamp by 37 Signals. Basecamp is a web based tool that is designed for collaborating with groups, it is our project management tool.
Our company provides every client with their own website to help manage the selections and production. What this does is enable the clients to review on their jobs 24/7 without necessarily calling the contractor. Many of our clients are very busy during the business day, this way they can review information in the evenings and weekends.
We will post schedules, to do tasks, send messages, and organize files & photos for every job using this format. On larger complicated jobs, we have invited the architects, designers, plumbers, electricians and other trade partners to check in and ask questions of each other or post files. This also enables our trade partners or designers to monitor progress and scheduling. This way it is easier to keep everybody in the loop.
"I personally don't have a lot of patience for searching through my email to locate the last word on a subject or a specification." says Tim Cook, Owner of ENVI Construction. "Basecamp allows our company to have one location online that holds all the files, photographs and comments for each job. It allows me to research information on demand from the job site or when I'm home watching the kids."
Check out their Free Trial
10/28/08
F.I.R. Program to ease the permiting and inspection process
ENVI Construction was accepted into City of Portland Field Issuance Remodel “F.I.R.” Program. Great news for clients working with ENVI Construction! Several months ago we were accepted into the City of Portland Field Issuance Remodel Program. ENVI Construction has been on the waiting list for over a year to be accepted into this award winning program.
ENVI is one of the few remodeling companies selected to work directly with inspectors who become part of our team for problem solving. The FIR Program allows us to work with the same inspector throughout the project to eliminate surprises at the final inspection. Permit fees are not charged up front. The inspections are billed hourly for consultations. The time between permitting and starting construction may be greatly reduced by solving potential problems ahead of time. This may also eliminate surprises during the construction process. Permits can be issued on the spot during the on site pre-construction meeting with the inspector. ENVI Construction carpenters have the direct phone line for the inspectors to consult with. The inspection process is collaborative and streamlined. Everyone saves costs by not paying the contractor to wait 1/2 day for an inspection, as with the old system. The old system would typically require 3 inspection visits and 3 four hour windows of non productive time.
The City of Portland is one of the only jurisdictions to follow this type inspection process that is based on the commercial permit process.
Just one more great reason to live in Portland and work with ENVI Construction.
ENVI is one of the few remodeling companies selected to work directly with inspectors who become part of our team for problem solving. The FIR Program allows us to work with the same inspector throughout the project to eliminate surprises at the final inspection. Permit fees are not charged up front. The inspections are billed hourly for consultations. The time between permitting and starting construction may be greatly reduced by solving potential problems ahead of time. This may also eliminate surprises during the construction process. Permits can be issued on the spot during the on site pre-construction meeting with the inspector. ENVI Construction carpenters have the direct phone line for the inspectors to consult with. The inspection process is collaborative and streamlined. Everyone saves costs by not paying the contractor to wait 1/2 day for an inspection, as with the old system. The old system would typically require 3 inspection visits and 3 four hour windows of non productive time.
The City of Portland is one of the only jurisdictions to follow this type inspection process that is based on the commercial permit process.
Just one more great reason to live in Portland and work with ENVI Construction.
10/17/08
How do contractors price the work?
In this day of getting information quickly, a client often hopes that contractors will immediately know what the price of the project will be in a two hour meeting.
If a quick budget is needed for reference, then we would recommend reviewing the Cost vs Value report. Many people have found the Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report very helpful for making decisions for remodeling. It provides average national and regional costs plus expected resale value for remodeling. Please review the Report. ENVI's work most often falls in between mid-range and upscale averages.
To arrive at a complete bid, professional remodelers will ask that at least 95% of the selections are completed. Yes, we can provide a preliminary budget that is based upon past experience. However, many factors like final engineering code requirements, and client selections can throw off that number by a large percentage.
We have found one of the most difficult components of the bidding process for many clients are making the material selections.
The following are very simple examples of what could create the large gap in prices for client selections:
1) Canlights are not selected
Standard canlights could cost roughly between $120 - $150 ea to install, parts and labor included per location. Lets say, later someone decides to use a canlight that is $1,000 ea just for the materials. The job may need 20 or 30 canlights total. Yes, this seems insane but these things happen.
Now the Electrician and General Contractor are responsible for handling 20K-30k in lighting materials, plus additional dimming switches, remote dimming modules, transformers, and dimming chokes another $5,000 - $8,000 on top of that. Now we start to see a wide range of pricing that began as a Kia and transformed into a Rolls Royce.
2) Lighting plan is not complete
Again, Professional contractors will need to know how many lights are going to be on the circuit. This will help us determine if a remote dimming module is necessary. Will the existing panel handle the additional load. Are we selecting Line voltage, Low voltage or Line voltage lights with internal transformers? This will help us determine if we'll need Magnetic dimmers or not. A Maestro 600w Single-pole Multi-location Low-volt Electronic Dimmer is approximately $126.00 ea compared to a standard toggle switch at $1.90ea.
3) Shut off valve
Lets examine something as simple as a stop valve to shut off the water for the toilet. The basic chrome stop valves usually cost around $8.00, depending on the price of gas that quarter. Later a client or designer decides they would like Satin Nickel instead of chrome for the bathroom. This changes the price of the stop valve that shuts off the water for the toilet is increased to approximately $85.00++. Each basic bathroom usually needs 3 stop valves, so now we have added $231 per bathroom for 3 small items that fit in the palm of a hand. Now that we know we are using satin nickel stops, we'll need satin nickel supply tubes if the stops are exposed, which is increasingly more common. The decision was made to keep the old tub to save money, now we'll need to also replace the waste and overflow to satin nickel as well to match the new shower handle.
Right now most folks will plead "Wait time out! your driving me crazy with all this lingo & technical slang! My job is not going to be this high end and I don't need any of this stuff. We just want a basic bid." Remember, the examples above are only 3 of the possibly hundreds of items that needs to be determined for a professional remodeler to quantify the final cost. Beware of contractors that appear confident what the price is when they have not completed the research.
Here's a secret - If you want the best pricing on your job, you'll want to help us eliminate as many surprises as possible.
These are only a few small examples of how complicated pricing a job can be. It is important for a successful contractor to know what the specifications are and complete the bid in a timely manner. We do not repetitively start and stop an estimate, it should be completed in a short time period if possible. This will help ensure accuracy and eliminate costly change orders.
The best advice we can give clients is to get design help if you need it and don't wait too long. If it looks like it will take a long time to make these selections we will want to know if it is also going to be difficult to make decisions when the house is in the middle of construction.
Please refer to our Material Finish Summary list to know what you need to finalize selections for and check them off the list. Some designers will offer to meet you at showrooms to make this process easier and eliminate the millions of distractions one can find there.
A lack of timely decision making can be hazardous to a construction schedule and cost.
If you feel like you need additional assistance with the selection process, let the contractor know right away to ensure the bid is completed in a timely manner.
We will most likely recommend a designer that will be a good fit for the project and budget.
We are committed to assist in any way possible to make this process work for you.
If a quick budget is needed for reference, then we would recommend reviewing the Cost vs Value report. Many people have found the Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report very helpful for making decisions for remodeling. It provides average national and regional costs plus expected resale value for remodeling. Please review the Report. ENVI's work most often falls in between mid-range and upscale averages.
To arrive at a complete bid, professional remodelers will ask that at least 95% of the selections are completed. Yes, we can provide a preliminary budget that is based upon past experience. However, many factors like final engineering code requirements, and client selections can throw off that number by a large percentage.
We have found one of the most difficult components of the bidding process for many clients are making the material selections.
The following are very simple examples of what could create the large gap in prices for client selections:
1) Canlights are not selected
Standard canlights could cost roughly between $120 - $150 ea to install, parts and labor included per location. Lets say, later someone decides to use a canlight that is $1,000 ea just for the materials. The job may need 20 or 30 canlights total. Yes, this seems insane but these things happen.
Now the Electrician and General Contractor are responsible for handling 20K-30k in lighting materials, plus additional dimming switches, remote dimming modules, transformers, and dimming chokes another $5,000 - $8,000 on top of that. Now we start to see a wide range of pricing that began as a Kia and transformed into a Rolls Royce.
2) Lighting plan is not complete
Again, Professional contractors will need to know how many lights are going to be on the circuit. This will help us determine if a remote dimming module is necessary. Will the existing panel handle the additional load. Are we selecting Line voltage, Low voltage or Line voltage lights with internal transformers? This will help us determine if we'll need Magnetic dimmers or not. A Maestro 600w Single-pole Multi-location Low-volt Electronic Dimmer is approximately $126.00 ea compared to a standard toggle switch at $1.90ea.
3) Shut off valve
Lets examine something as simple as a stop valve to shut off the water for the toilet. The basic chrome stop valves usually cost around $8.00, depending on the price of gas that quarter. Later a client or designer decides they would like Satin Nickel instead of chrome for the bathroom. This changes the price of the stop valve that shuts off the water for the toilet is increased to approximately $85.00++. Each basic bathroom usually needs 3 stop valves, so now we have added $231 per bathroom for 3 small items that fit in the palm of a hand. Now that we know we are using satin nickel stops, we'll need satin nickel supply tubes if the stops are exposed, which is increasingly more common. The decision was made to keep the old tub to save money, now we'll need to also replace the waste and overflow to satin nickel as well to match the new shower handle.
Right now most folks will plead "Wait time out! your driving me crazy with all this lingo & technical slang! My job is not going to be this high end and I don't need any of this stuff. We just want a basic bid." Remember, the examples above are only 3 of the possibly hundreds of items that needs to be determined for a professional remodeler to quantify the final cost. Beware of contractors that appear confident what the price is when they have not completed the research.
Here's a secret - If you want the best pricing on your job, you'll want to help us eliminate as many surprises as possible.
These are only a few small examples of how complicated pricing a job can be. It is important for a successful contractor to know what the specifications are and complete the bid in a timely manner. We do not repetitively start and stop an estimate, it should be completed in a short time period if possible. This will help ensure accuracy and eliminate costly change orders.
The best advice we can give clients is to get design help if you need it and don't wait too long. If it looks like it will take a long time to make these selections we will want to know if it is also going to be difficult to make decisions when the house is in the middle of construction.
Please refer to our Material Finish Summary list to know what you need to finalize selections for and check them off the list. Some designers will offer to meet you at showrooms to make this process easier and eliminate the millions of distractions one can find there.
A lack of timely decision making can be hazardous to a construction schedule and cost.
If you feel like you need additional assistance with the selection process, let the contractor know right away to ensure the bid is completed in a timely manner.
We will most likely recommend a designer that will be a good fit for the project and budget.
We are committed to assist in any way possible to make this process work for you.
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