If you’re about to start a commercial renovation project, there are a lot of things to consider. Schedules, budgets, design selections, and so much more. Nobody wants to overpay for any type of service, including construction. Here are a few of our tips on how to save money during your renovation.
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Does your contractor care about your project as much as you do? They should!
Here at Souder Brothers, the success of a project and the happiness of our clients is our top priority. Good enough is not good enough for us. What’s the difference between us and the other guy? Let us tell you:
Continue reading The Souder Brothers Difference: How We Deliver Success →
Are you proud of your business?
We don’t mean your employees or what you and they have accomplished. We mean the building itself. Are you happy with what you see when you walk in each day, or is time for a change?
Here are six signs it might be time to invest in some commercial building remodeling.
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The fluorescent light that spends all day flickering on and off.
The conference room that’s always too hot, or always too cold.
The desk chair that never seems to be the right height.
Where we work can have a profound effect on how we work. It’s why smart managers take pains to make sure their offices are designed with efficiency in mind.
If you’re looking for a way to make your workspace a better place to work, you might want to consider incorporating a few of these office design ideas the next time you begin an office renovation.
Continue reading 5 Ways to Make Your Office Design More Efficient →
The pre-construction phase of your project is an important phase that’s often overlooked. Why is it important, and what’s involved? Do I need pre-construction services? Let’s talk about it!
Not all projects are going to require pre-construction services, but they can be invaluable for complex and complicated commercial construction projects. Getting a general contractor involved early on in the process to work with the architect and engineers can help achieve a better overall project. Contractors are able to offer insight into the actual construction of a project, rather than it just being evaluated from generic calculations and code standpoints.
Continue reading Important Pre-Construction Items for your Commercial Renovation Project →
When business owners or managers are faced with heading up a construction project they may feel overwhelmed if it’s a new experience for them. You might be thinking ‘where do I start?’ If you’re in the planning phase of your project you’ve come to the right place.
Continue reading Commercial Construction: Get Answers to Clients’ Frequently Asked Questions →
Are you considering a major construction project, but not sure if it fits into your budget? How can you protect yourself from going too far down a path only to find out that you can’t afford it? Too often we hear about owners getting unrealistic budget numbers (or not even getting a preliminary budget cost), spending a significant amount of money on architects, engineers, and construction documents, and finding out after they’ve already invested thousands that their plan is over their budget. Let us help you make sure this doesn’t happen to you!
For large (and small) construction projects, a good starting point is to get a realistic budget from an industry expert. A good general contractor will be able to provide ballpark line item costs for your project based on their knowledge and experience from past projects. Many contractors do charge a fee for these services. In an ideal world, we like to get involved with a construction project as early as possible during the planning phase and work with the architect to provide our clients with the best experience and service possible.
Why should you pay for budget pricing up front? Think about it this way: you can either a) pay a minimal fee up front to a contractor to get a realistic budget for your project and adjust your plans as necessary or b) make a significantly larger investment to get full-blown design drawings and risk finding out that your project is over budget before it even starts.
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In our last blog we talked about the responsibilities of a project manager. Another essential member of your construction team is the superintendent or field supervisor. This person will be on site every day for the duration of your project. Your superintendent will report to the project manager and is responsible for managing the day to day activities of construction on the job site, including coordinating with any specialty contractors that will be working on the project.
At Souder Brothers our superintendents are always working superintendents. What does this mean to you? We don’t have supervisors who stand around all day and ‘supervise’. Our field supervisors are working with their hands contributing to the progress of the project while simultaneously supervising our other carpenters on site as well as the other trades. They’ll keep track of the schedule to make sure tasks are being completed in the proper order to keep the project moving forward.
Continue reading Your Construction Team: What is My Superintendent Responsible For? →
Knowing the roles of each member of your construction team is important. When you are interviewing general contractors for your project, make sure you know who will be part of your team. Some companies hand off responsibilities between the estimating and actual construction stages of the project, so the person you meet up front may no longer be involved when the project gets underway. It would be in your best interest to meet the whole team before deciding to move forward to make sure that you have a good feeling about your future project manager and everyone else involved. You’ll be working closely with them through the rest of your project. At Souder Brothers you will have the same team dedicated to your project from start to finish. Our goal is to build strong, lasting relationships with our clients.
Continue reading Your Construction Team: What is My Project Manager Responsible For? →
When a contractor/customer relationship doesn’t work out, there seems to be a lot of finger pointing about who did what, and how the project went so wrong. We’ve heard horror stories from our customers about previous bad experiences they’ve had with other general contractors. It’s a sad realization that more unfortunately than not this seems to be the norm. It’s always our goal to make sure that our customers are thrilled with not only the end result, but also the entire construction process. We’ve touched on this subject before, and hope that sharing these tips will help keep you from finding yourself in a similar situation.
Continue reading How to Navigate the General Contractor Selection Process →
