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Health & Fitness

A (good) General Contractor is Like a (good) Wedding Planner {Make Room In The Budget}

A (good)* general contractor is like a (good) wedding planner.  

Sure, you could technically do it yourself, but will it come out the way you always dreamed it would?  How your Pinterest board suggests it should look?  Do you have 8 hours a day to devote to it?  Do you know the ins and outs of the industry?  Have you planned one of these shindigs before?  Do you have it in your budget to hire someone to diffuse the headaches, shoulder the responsibility, and solve the inevitable issues that will crop up?

For many, the deciding factor of hiring a (good) general contractor lies in the answer to the last question.  The question really shouldn't be, "Do you have the money to invest in someone?"  It should be "Do you have the money NOT to invest in someone?"  A (good) general contractor, like a (good) wedding planner, will ensure a smooth process, a website-worthy finished product, and stand by their work for years to come.  Without one, you may end up spending major moolah on the back end correcting problems you didn't (couldn't) foresee, misjudgments in design, or paying out of pocket for warrantee issues that a (good) general contractor would (should) cover free of charge.

This is where the metaphor will end, since I think most would agree that your investment in your home's renovation is significantly more important/expensive/life changing than your investment in your wedding (choosing your partner, aside, of course).  

Silly as it sounds to those who have smartly invested in a (good) general contractor, many think they can take on this process on their own.  I blame the glut of DIY shows on HGTV and "super simple" project before and afters on Pinterest.  These projects rarely turn out the way they were intended.  They rarely come in even near to their budget.  And they almost never finish on time.  

So it comes down to this: is your time, your satisfaction, your confidence in your final project, and your peace of mind worth it?  I (obviously, hello...) say yes.  Continue saving for that extra year.  Compromise on an item here or there to make room in the budget for a consummate professional in who you trust and like.

After all, you are more likely to want to continue to show off your (good, ahem, well) finished home long after you've stopped flaunting your (feathered bang?) wedding photos.

*- do I really need to clarify why I have stressed the value of a GOOD contractor here?  There is a reason contractors (general and otherwise) get a bad name.  Unlike a doctor, a lawyer, or a teacher, it seems it only takes one bad one to mar an individual's opinion of all those who follow.  Do your research.  Call references.  Check their work.  A GOOD general contractor will make the process something worth bragging about.  A BAD general contractor will make you rather crawl into the hole that should have long ago been your finished basement, than discuss the process with your friends. 

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Ellie Mroz is the C.A.O. and Design Specialist for Michael Robert Construction, a Westfield-based Design/Build General Contractor. http://www.MichaelRobertConstruction.com

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She can be reached at Ellie@MichaelRobertConstruction.com.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Michael Robert Construction, its affiliates, or its employees.

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