When considering the undertaking of a home remodeling project, especially one that touches multiple rooms in the home, we at Merrick Design and Build believe it is vital to the success of the project that you engage in a design investigation and project feasibility period with your contractor. But what is “design investigation” or “project feasibility”? And why do we believe it is so vital? Let’s discuss further.
What is the project feasibility portion of a remodeling project?
Design investigation, conceptual design, and project feasibility are three distinctly separate tasks that are part of the Merrick Design and Build home remodeling process. As a design-build firm, we emphasize the importance of the pre-construction phase, which we will call Phase 1 or the Design Agreement. We will use both terms interchangeably throughout this blog post. (Learn more about design investigation in this post, and more about conceptual design here.)
Feasibility Determination
With Conceptual Design completed, we move into the third and final portion of Phase 1: Feasibility Determination.
Trade Walk
Once a conceptual design is approved, we host a Trade Walk at your home. This meeting is attended by the team at Merrick as well as representatives from the specialty contractors (plumbers, electricians, etc.) that we will partner with to construct your project.
Construction Budget
We will develop a construction budget based on the conceptual design, trade partner bids & recommendations, and a construction schedule. This budget is subject to change during Phase 2 as the final construction plans are drawn and final products are selected.
Feasibility Evaluation
The final determination of feasibility is your decision as you evaluate all the information provided in the preceding steps. Our goal is to deliver:
- Plans that meet your design goals.
- A construction budget that is affordable for your family.
Why is it so important to the overall process of a remodel?
Feasibility Determination
Trade Walk
During the Trade Walk, we will ask our trade partners to evaluate your existing home and systems, to make recommendations for upgrades required by building code, energy efficiency, ascetics, or convenience.
The first goal of this meeting is to collect fixed prices from our trade partners so we can begin to set your construction budget. The second is to thoroughly investigate your existing systems to identify any potential shortcomings ahead of time to avoid surprise costs once construction is underway.
Construction Budget
Developing this construction budget allows us to determine if we will be able to meet your budget goals, which we created during Design Investigation. If we cannot meet your budget goals, we will need to work together to determine how we will move forward.
Feasibility Evaluation
Not all projects are always FEASIBLE. It is possible that the results of our investigation will determine the project you would like to do is just not practical or beyond the budget you have set.
We can conclude Design Phase 1 in any of three ways:
- Restart Phase 1 with a new agreement. This is a rare occurrence and only happens if we rush through goal setting.
- Part ways. 90% of our design clients move forward to construction. Those who choose not to proceed typically do so for life reasons rather than budgetary ones.
- Enter Design Phase 2 and begin detail construction planning.
When we work together to nail the details of your design we know that we have an exciting build coming our way. Before getting carried away we move into the final details in Design Phase 2. This phase is both fun and tedious as we work through the structural and design details.
Let’s talk about your home remodeling project.
If you are appreciating the detail that goes into the Phase 1 Design Agreement we use here at Merrick Design and Build, we would love to talk to you about your next home remodeling project. You can schedule a complimentary consultation by calling us at (301) 946-2356, or by filling out our contact form. We look forward to speaking with you.
To learn more about our design-build remodeling process, from the Phase 1 Design Agreement, all the way through to the final walkthrough of the completed remodel, check out our process page.
