The Benafel Project: Aesthetics Meet Functionality
When Chris and Linda Benafel wanted to do a bathroom remodel in their home, they knew that it had to be both aesthetically beautiful and ADA accessible. This can be a difficult balance to find, but after talking with us and seeing some of our initial ideas, they knew we had the in-house design expertise and build experience to pull it off.
On top of that, we’d already designed and built out a breakfast nook for them on a previous project, so they were repeat customers. They knew what they wanted, and they had confidence we’d deliver.
“We wanted a bathroom that was functional but also attractive. And that's what we got.” - Linda Benafel
Click on the pictures below to view them in detail, and then read more about the time tested process we used to get there.
All our projects follow a process that begins with listening and ends with delivering quality. Here’s the process:
Discovery
The Discovery Phase starts with listening to your needs: What you want, what your expectations are, and what you want to bring into reality. We ask lots of questions, and dig into all the answers.
Evaluate Building Performance and Condition. This evaluation — which includes inspections of unconditioned spaces, exterior shell, appliances and mechanical systems, insulative capacity, air leakage and any areas that may be affected by your design goals — is used to generate a full report on the condition of your home. It helps our designers be more effective in their work with you.
Conduct research regarding your property or other special restrictions or conditions that may affect design. This could include location or permit considerations, ways to utilize innovative materials, or ideas on how to implement special client requests.
Client Website. We will create a custom website for your project. This is used for all project communications, product selections, specialty trades, project scheduling, project documentation, and daily logs during construction. You’re in the know, all the time.
Conceptual Design
We deliver two concepts that meet both budget and design intent. We want this to happen as soon as possible — ideally within 2-4 weeks. Once complete, we’ll meet with you to review and refine. As soon as we have a concept everyone feels comfortable with, we’ll meet with our estimating team to generate a Good Faith Estimate (GFE). This estimate/budget will drive all future design.
Design Development
Next we begin generating detailed construction drawings, hire an engineer if necessary, and decide on every single component of your project.
Estimating
When all drawings, selections and details are complete, your project is handed over to our estimating team to develop a final cost calculation, along with a construction proposal and schedule. This is the first time we have real numbers.
At this point we can generate a very accurate proposal price based on real choices and up-to-date pricing from our sub-trades and vendors. As a point of reference, as of September 2023 the average cost per square foot of all of our projects was $600.
Sidenote: Anyone who tells you they can accurately bid the project before this comprehensive Estimate Phase should trigger a red flag. These are the projects that inevitably have cost and schedule overruns.
Construction/Schedule
We’ll mobilize our crew, let your neighbors know what’s going on, and get started. Our goal is to minimize disruption to your lives and get you up and running in your new home as soon as possible.
A1 schedules are reliable, because we’ve worked closely with you up to this point to develop the design, specify how to build it and decide on all the details that make it yours. You can check progress and verify the construction schedule or other details on your project website. We monitor progress continuously, communicating with you to keep things tracking.
It just works.
Construction Support
While building is underway, your designer will make regular site visits, meet with sub-trades to go over every detail, and verify information and answer any questions that may arise during construction - all ultimately leading to the successful completion of the project.
Yep, we get it. It all sounds complex and long. But if you want it done right the first time, and not pay for overages and schedule overruns, it’s this attention to detail that’s the difference.
“We're very happy with the end product. We recommend A1 and will do another project with them in a heartbeat.”