Home Remodeling Guide for Northern Colorado

Home remodeling can be an exciting yet challenging endeavor, especially in a vibrant and growing area like Northern Colorado. Whether you’re looking to update a single room or overhaul your entire house, proper planning and the right team are essential for a successful project. Jacques Family Construction is a trusted local contractor providing quality home remodeling services in Fort Collins and the surrounding area. Based on our years of experience, here is a guide to get you started building the space of your dreams.

Choosing the Right Contractor

Selecting a reliable contractor is critical for the success of your construction project, no matter how big or small it is. For most remodeling and building projects, you’ll want to work with a general contractor rather than try to hire all the subcontractors yourself. Look for someone who is well-reviewed, has experience in the area, emphasizes communication, and values your input in the process. If you think you may have found a contractor, be sure to meet them in person before agreeing to anything. You can learn a lot about them by observing their mannerisms and body language to see if they’re genuine and truly have your best interests at heart.

It is worth taking the time to properly vet all general contracting candidates, as choosing the wrong one will hamstring the entire process from the beginning and could see you overpaying for a project that doesn’t come out exactly how you want it. You should even go so far as to find and contact their past customers, if possible, and discuss how their experience went. It is critical to get this step right, so you really cannot be too careful here.

Budgeting for Your Remodel

 One of the most important aspects of any remodeling project is setting a budget. Home remodeling costs can vary significantly depending on the scope of work, materials used, and unforeseen issues that may arise. Detailed financial planning and adding room for a contingency fund in your budget helps prevent unexpected expenses, giving you peace of mind throughout the project.

Item	Estimated Cost Range
Kitchen Remodel	$10,000 – $30,000
Bathroom Remodel	$5,000 – $20,000
Living Room Update	$3,000 – $15,000
New Room Addition	$20,000 – $50,000
Flooring Replacement	$2,000 – $10,000
Painting	$1,000 – $5,000

In addition to listing these major expense categories, you should also have lists of the individual costs for the materials, labor, and other expenses under each; so, if you’re doing a home remodel, you should have comprehensive cost estimates for each room. Be sure to include a contingency budget for each space.

By outlining these potential costs, you can better understand where your money will go and make informed decisions about where to allocate each part of your budget. This proactive approach to budgeting can help prevent financial surprises and ensure a smoother remodeling process.

Prepare Whole Home for Renovation

You’d be surprised how many people do not realize that, for example, remodeling a kitchen and dining area means that those rooms will be off-limits to the household. Plan ahead by moving any appliances, outfitting an existing kitchenette space, moving food to smaller refrigerators in basements or garages, creating a small dining area in a den or other room, and making any other necessary arrangements. Communicate with your household and make sure all members have a plan for this process, which could include loud noises, dust, and safety hazards, so they can go about their daily routines with minimal disruption.

Designing Your Space

The design phase is where your vision starts to take shape. Whether you’re remodeling one room or designing a whole-home makeover, professional architectural designs make sure every inch of the space is accounted for. Seeing exactly how all of the elements of the remodel will be laid out also allows you to go back and adjust your budget, if need be. Again, if your general contractor is up to snuff, they will offer this service as part of their process. The more work that’s being done, the more a professional design becomes necessary.

The design phase is also the time to make sure the project adheres to all local ordinances, zoning laws, and building codes. Your general contractor should be aware of and submitting these well ahead of the construction phase.

Timeline

A well-planned timeline is essential for minimizing disruptions and ensuring the project runs smoothly. Construction projects almost never strictly follow these timelines, but that is a feature of the construction business, not a bug. Especially in larger remodels, there is simply no way to predict how every variable will turn out, but including additional time in the timeline and additional money in the budget is a sure-fire way to make those challenges easier to stomach.

Be sure both you and your contractor agree on a realistic timeline that has plenty of leeway so unplanned delays don’t wreck the whole project. Experienced contractors understand this and won’t let you set unrealistic timelines, so be wary of any that seem to offer miraculous completion times.

Construction

This is where the hammer hits the nail and your vision comes to life. Quality remodeling is all about materials, craftsmanship, and attention to detail. It is where you will find what the subcontractors are made of, from plumbing to tile installation and electrical work. If the crew is anything like who we use at Jacques Family Construction, every angle will be straight, paint will be even and crisp (with no splatter or bleeding over sections) cabinet doors will close plumb and neatly, hardware will be uniform and snug, and countertops will be level and gleaming. 

Again, the right team makes all the difference here. Even if you haven’t selected top-end materials for your project, the right contractor crew will make everything come together in a  breathtaking turnaround for your space. 

Ready to Transform Your Home?

Home remodeling in Northern Colorado can be a rewarding experience with the right planning and team in place. At Jacques Family Construction, we focus everything about our business around you. We pride ourselves on building great relationships with our remodeling clients, with reliable communication, high-quality subcontractors, and an unwavering commitment to service and attention to detail that you simply won’t find in many similar contractors.

If you’re ready to transform your home with the right crew, give JFC a call today. Let’s build something wonderful together!