Editorial
Front Page - Friday, December 31, 2010
Successful projects rely on contractor, designer, products
Erica Tuggle
Randall Soules, founder of Ardis & Soules home design, says the three most important things to keep in mind when planning a remodeling job are to hire a good contractor, hire a good designer and choose quality products. Soules says if these things are kept in mind, the job (no matter its size) should be “smooth sailing.”
- Erica Tuggle
The first clear indicator of Randall Soules’ competency and experience with design is the numerous Web sites he has built, writes for and maintains alongside his business, Ardis & Soules, which does residential planning and design.
The first Web page is www.designthenbuild.com, which is the Ardis & Soules Web site that helps people understand why they should design, tells them about the work Soules does and includes a photo gallery of design work. People should seriously consider design because it affects a home sale in a big way, Soules says.
Design and preparation go hand in hand, and by setting up a design plan with a client, they are prepared for the project and the type of design that will fit the project.
“When we do a design, you want it to fit the home style,” he says. “If it’s an addition, you don’t want it to stick out like a sore thumb – that’s what we call ‘remuddling.’ We want to know what the objectives are of the client and then we want really good quality on everything we do inside.”
Soules says the product selection of the design process is a big deal, because in picking products that aren’t going to fail, they are ensuring that there will not be a call back on these products and everyone will be happy. Soules says he pushes more expensive products because they last longer, thereby making sure the projects come out a lot nicer. Although most of his client base is over the age of 50 and those with a little more cash to do quality projects, his company tries to make everything as maintenance free as possible for all client ages.
Another Web site Soules has designed and writes for is www.remodelerbiz.com. This is a national Web site for remodelers that offers business advice, coaching articles, education and tips on remodeling processes and systems.
“The objective [here] is [to tell them] how to have a better business and a better lifestyle, because so many remodelers are great carpenters and craftsmen but bad business people, and so they don’t get paid what they should,” he says.
Soules himself began in carpentry with Range Brothers. He went through a four-year apprenticeship with them and won the best apprentice in Chattanooga award and then the best apprentice in the state award. When the country entered a slow economic period in 1978, Soules went into business for himself with Soules Construction. After seven years, he teamed up to begin Ardis & Soules in 1985 and extended his reach to design.
Ardis & Soules is both a design and building company, but Soules says they always push design first because a realistic price estimate is impossible without design factored in. Even for small bathroom projects, they do a design, and this is how everyone remains happy with the process, he says.
“They know what they are going to get, we have selected the products and how they are going to go in there, and we have given them drawings with a lot of 3D so they can really see this thing,” he says. “Within the design is the estimate, and if they accept that, we sign a contract, start product selection and then we are ready to go.”
This brings us to Soules’ third Web site, www.Chattanoogaremodeler.com where he can showcase his preferred group of sub-contractors, trades, vendors, design professionals and custom home builders he has worked with over the years. This Web site is free, and Soules says that if clients use the companies on this page, they will be satisfied.
Soules say even though Chattanooga Remodeler started about seven months ago, it is picking up speed and is already closing in on 4,000 hits. This number isn’t a lot of some Web sites, but when you consider that these are all people who are searching for a remodeler with the intent of providing them business – especially in this slow economy – this number is impressive.
Soules says he markets Chattanooga Remodeler and Ardis & Soules through the articles he writes on these Web sites as well as using Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, and he even has a free E-book on designing your own bathroom.
“There is a lot of information and resources there, and over time, it will become a good resource for anyone who is looking to remodel,” he says.
The final Web site Soules writes for is www.pausethatrenews.com, a blog of “pauses” about Chattanooga, events and travel opportunities that Soules observes. Soules says he likes to walk a lot, bicycle, play guitar and travel on cruises and overseas, and it is these things and other events he encounters that he brings to his personal blog.
But getting back to business after that brief pause, Soules says his message to people would be to hire a good designer that knows his stuff, and to find someone good at remodeling design specifically. He says they must know the innards of homes or what custom homes are all about if they are in that area.
“It may seem like a lot to pay $2,000, $3,000, or $6,000 for design, but it is well worth it. If you don’t plan well, you don’t get a good job,” he says. “A man once was asked on an estimate visit how much an addition was going to cost. He said, ‘I can do it for $1,500 or for $150,000. For $1,500 you get a doghouse; for $150,000, you get a nice addition. I will build it for any price you want.’”
Soules says that this illustrates how people can push contractors to a low price and get it, but the downside is that they won’t get the best product because of the limits they have imposed on materials and design standards.
“It’s really important that they hire a good contractor, hire a good designer and choose
quality products. If they do that, it should be smooth sailing,”
he says.
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