Archives for January 2017

Why It’s Easier for Professionals To Finish Projects

Why It’s Easier for Professionals To Finish ProjectsThere are many reasons why DIY can turn into a nightmare.  Your builder is prepared to deal with all kinds of bad situations. He has so many advantages it seems unfair, but that’s what you pay him for. What sort of advantages does a builder have over everyone else?

Knowledge

When you hire an experienced construction company, you know the work will be up to code and done correctly. He doesn’t have to keep checking the internet to see if he’s doing it right.

Experience

Your builder has likely seen a lot of strange problems come up over the years. Hiring an experienced builder means that your kitchen or bath renovation won’t cause any surprises he hasn’t seen before. It’s good to check on the qualifications of anyone before you hire them. A builder with a lot of experience is the safest choice.

Tools

The construction crew has the right tools for the job.  That includes tools that they think they might need in case something comes up. Most homeowners start a project with some tools but find they might not be up to the challenge. Construction companies have better quality tools and more of them.

People

Some jobs require more hands. Trying to do them yourself could get you injured. A construction crew is qualified to do the work and do it safely. Even if you get people to help you do the work, it’s much more helpful to have people that know what they’re doing.

Connections

How many people do you know in the construction related industry in Bryan-College Station?  If your builder has been working here for 20 years, he knows a lot of people. So, he can get the best professionals in Brazos Valley working on your kitchen remodel.

What kind of projects can I hire a construction company for?

Builders work on many types of home projects.  Kitchen and bath renovations are very common, but they do full home renovations, too.  They build decks, arbors, screened porches or sunrooms, and install new windows.

They can even work on smaller handyman projects.

Even if you only want to paint your home and not remodel it, you can still hire a construction company. The point of hiring a construction company is that the crew can do the work correctly and you don’t have to do it yourself.

There’s a reason why jobs done by construction companies look so professional and clean. They’re also safe and up to code.  When you want a job done correctly, hire the people with the tools and skills to the job correctly.

If you have a home project in the Bryan-College Station area that needs to get done and you aren’t sure you can handle it on your own, contact an experienced builder in College Station.  Leave the back-breaking work to a crew of professionals and spare yourself the doctor bills. The work will have a professional finish and you’ll know it was done right. You’ll rest easier knowing that experienced professionals are working on your project and it will add lasting value to your home.

Can You Build It Up To Code?

Can You Build It Up To Code?Imagine a friend can’t complete a renovation project so they give you a bunch of leftover 2x4s. You decide you can build that deck you’ve always wanted. You know you’ll need some bigger pieces of wood for posts but a deck seems like an easy enough thing to make. You’ve seen pictures of them, right?  It should be ok.

You look at a couple of articles online, you learn not to walk on a couple of the iffier areas and it’s an ok deck. Then you want to sell your house. An inspector comes. He finds that your deck is not up to code. The whole thing needs to come down. Where did you go wrong?

Using unused wood from another project is fine. It’s environmentally friendly. Going into a DIY job unaware of ordinances and city codes is not ok. In some cases, you need to get a building permit.

What if you don’t get a permit when you need one?

Let’s say a young couple just watched a remodeling show on TV and feel inspired. They take down a wall with an electrical outlet in it without checking to see if it’s a load-bearing wall. Lucky them, it’s not. Still, they have that outlet.  So, they buy a couple of little plastic things they saw someone on TV use (they can’t name the plastic things because they don’t know what they are) and use them to cover the ends of the wires. Then they just shove all of that nasty ugly wiring under the new floor they’re putting in.

Well, they didn’t cap the ends off properly and there is an electrical fire. They have insurance, but the insurance won’t pay because they did remodeling work without a permit. Maybe the fire wasn’t their fault. But the lack of a permit is enough for the denial of coverage.

Permits aren’t a scam

While permits are annoying to homeowners that want to do their own work, they do create a paper trail of blame. If something that could cause a lot of damage is done, they want to know who did it. Say you have a builder that gets a permit and does work on your kitchen and it is inspected and up to code. Now you know it’s done right and your insurance will pay if there were to be some sort of accidental grease fire.

Having work done up to code by a professional is good for the value of your home, your safety, and for insurance reasons.

Trouble finishing a remodel up to code

There are projects you can do yourself.  You can even take on big projects and get the permits yourself. If you ever get in too deep, it’s never too late to call in a little help. In fact, if you already have your kitchen torn up, that’s less work for your builder.

Located in the Bryan-College Station area, Windham Construction can help you with more than kitchen and bath remodels. If you have an unfinished remodel or if you’re afraid your remodel isn’t going to be up to code, give us a call and we can help you out. We are a full-service home company. We help from building to painting to handyman jobs.