Reno’s Three P's

Planning, preparation and patience are keys to a stress-free experience

BY WENDY HELFENBAUM

Once upon a time, two tired kitchens were overdue for a big change. One was treated to a cosmetic facelift; the other was given a total overhaul.

One family hired a high-end kitchen design company and worked with licensed professionals. The other found a friend-of-a-friend with good intentions but no overall plan.

Both projects began in the fall of 2008. One was completed in eight weeks. The other one? Well, it’s still not finished.

It’s the facelift kitchen that’s now equipped with still-not-painted cabinet doors, missing-in-action hardware and as-yet-uninstalled trim work. The jack-of-all-trades handyman hasn’t been seen in a year.

We are utterly dependent on our kitchens, where families gather to cook, do homework and connect. Last February, a survey by Lowe’s Canada and Angus Reid Strategies revealed that, despite the economic downturn, Canadians continue to upgrade their homes; nearly a third of those polled opted for sparkling new kitchens.

But when Ipsos Reid recently polled 4,000 Canadian homeowners, only three per cent reported headache-free renovations. Spiralling costs, hidden surprises and long delays are just a few of the things that arise once the work crew begins ripping out the old to make way for the new.

When Robin Levitt decided to redo her 13-by-21-foot kitchen, she consulted her aunt, interior decorator Shari Levitt who recommended the work of Sophie Dubreuil, a designer with Cuisines Denis Couture.

“Sophie assisted us with things I hadn’t thought about, like the height of the counters and how low to hang the light over my table,” Levitt says. “She had such an amazing way of understanding what my needs were. She was patient, very flexible, and reliable.”

Dubreuil was also upfront about the time frame. “I tell clients they’re not going to get a totally renovated kitchen in less than eight weeks,” she says.

General contractor Normand Gilbert, whose company, Créations NG Inc., specializes in kitchens and bathrooms, says clients are stunned to learn that it can take up to two weeks to demolish, take down walls and put up supporting beams in preparation for the new kitchen. “Changing the location of appliances means working on the ventilation and plumbing systems, ripping up and rebuilding the floors underneath, and redoing the drywall,” he says.

Homeowners also don’t realize how inconvenienced they’re likely to be as construction crews trample through the house for two months or more.

“Some people prefer to move out; they don’t want the stress,” Dubreuil says. “Other families, for budgetary or other reasons, decide to live in their home while the work is being done.”

Dubreuil suggests renovating during the summer, when you can cook and eat outside, or taking a vacation during construction.

Levitt preferred to stay home, and she set up a temporary kitchen. She hauled her kitchen table down to the basement and set up a microwave, toaster and camping cooktop. She stocked her freezer with precooked meals ready to be reheated. Gilbert says his crew helps alleviate some of the challenges homeowners face by installing refrigerators and dishwashers in a laundry room or garage.

After covering your furniture and paintings with drop cloths, it’s time to prepare your family to shift into camping mode. Levitt’s twin daughters treated the renovation like a big adventure. Her husband, Michael, not so much. “He wasn’t good with the disorder or the mess, and he didn’t like eating in the basement,” she says.

Renovating is a lot easier when you hire reputable professionals, Dubreuil says. “Homeowners who decide to go with the least expensive contractor, or one who agrees to be paid under the table, set themselves up for potential risks right from the beginning.”

Gilbert often tells clients: “What you don’t want is someone who sells you a dream and delivers you a nightmare. The worst ones put pressure on homeowners to pay a lot of cash upfront ‘for materials,’ but as soon as they pay him, he never comes back.”

Virginie, who asked that her last name not be published because of continuing issues with her contractor, learned that lesson the hard way. She says she would do everything differently if she could start over again, she says she let her husband hire an unlicensed handyman to spruce up their kitchen.

“We bought the materials and he said that when we came back after our holiday everything would be done,” says Virginie, whose sons were four and one. “We came back and everything was half-done: the floor wasn’t finished; he had only painted two kitchen cabinets; the new lighting wasn’t installed. Everything that was supposed to happen didn’t happen.”

And things that weren’t supposed to happen did. When the contractor finally got around to wiring the new pot lights in the attic, he was greeted by a family of mice.

It didn’t help that Virginie had caught a bad case of “While We’re At It” syndrome, adding several other renovating projects even though her contractor had yet to finish one job. She especially regrets renovating the main family bathroom at the same time as her kitchen. “He’d do one little thing in the kitchen, then one little thing in the bathroom. For three months, nothing got done.”

With no written budget, Virginie couldn’t track costs. One day, the handyman stopped showing up. “He hasn’t been paid yet and it’s so stressful, because I have no idea what he’s going to ask for and when.”

Last fall, Virginie moved everything back into her unfinished kitchen cabinets. “I don’t know when he’s coming back, and I’ve stopped asking,” she says. “I should just find someone else to do it, but I’ve just let it go.”