Planning her first major home renovation in the summer of 2009, Tina Davies felt like she was awaiting her first baby: excited, nervous and not sure what to expect.
The project would plunge the Toronto makeup artist’s household into chaos for five months, but once it was done, her family of three would have a new kitchen and bathrooms, updated plumbing and electrical systems and upgrades to the entire interior, from new floors to freshly plastered ceilings.
With $350,000 on the line, however, Ms. Davies wasn’t impressed by the vague quotes and sparse details being offered by the first three contractors she approached, whose contracts were so unprofessional, they looked as though they’d been drawn up “on paper napkins.”
Was this normal? She wasn’t sure. She’d never done this before.
“As a homeowner, you’re just really at the mercy of these contractors and you don’t know their language or what is the proper way to have something done,” Ms. Davies said. “You’re so overwhelmed and confused and you want to make sure you don’t do the wrong thing.”
She figured she needed help from someone knowledgeable and impartial, who understood how the industry worked. Then she heard about reno coaching, a relatively new service where, for $75-$100 an hour, a project manager would come to her house and help her draw up a budget and advise her whether her project was practical and affordable – think Mike Holmes meets Gail Vaz-Oxlade, but with the aim of preventing expensive mistakes.
The reno adviser she hired, Jay Charendoff of House Calls Project Management, “was really good about advising us about what to do before you get into it,” said Ms. Davies, adding that once she found a reputable contractor, he went through the contract line by line and highlighted problem areas.
“It’s just nice to know that there’s somebody on your side,” she said.
Mr. Charendoff, who has a degree in architecture and is a LEED-affiliated professional, launched his business four years ago and is among a handful of professionals offering reno advice in Canada.
It’s a service that is starting to catch on due to a new consumer awareness about the financial risks of renovating, says Carl Mascarenhas, president of eRenovate Inc. With the housing market cooling, he says, it’s no longer a given that property values will rise and homeowners will recoup their costs; they are more cautious now.
As with any new industry, Mr. Mascarenhas says it’s buyer beware when hiring a renovation adviser. As demand for the service increases, opportunists will emerge, he says. “There’s still a bit of caution for consumers to really weigh out the role the professional is playing and that they have the right credentials or experience to do so.”
Home renovations are big business in Canada. According to a survey by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., Canadians spent $25.8-billion on home renovations in 2009, with the average project costing about $12,100. Of those 2.1 million households, 35 per cent said they went over budget.
“People don’t really know how much things are going to cost,” Mr. Charendoff says. “People sometimes have a general idea of what they want to do, but in this business, it’s really about the details.”
In addition to budgeting advice, Mr. Charendoff also looks at housing market conditions and gives homeowners straight talk if he thinks they are not making a good investment.
Such was the case for Karen Weinthall, who asked for advice while planning a major kitchen renovation on her 1920s Toronto home. After inspecting the property, Mr. Charendoff told Ms. Weinthall that her house, which was built on top of a steep hill, was slowly sinking into the ground.
