Pre-demo pictures are a must

A critical part of work before any renovation is to photograph the spaces before any work begins. We did not know this, but will explain some reasons why below. Fortunately, we took pictures as avid amateur photographers and emerging bloggers. Today, it saved us a bunch of money.

We are nearing the end of the first phase of our home renovation, which means the contractor is eager to tie up loose ends—as of course are we. One big “end” is making sure that the new exterior of the house is safe via correct drainage. However, four months after the addition was built, the contractor hadn’t done anything with the back yard to prevent damage to the building and weeds were starting to grow (ominously) under the addition. I pointed this out to our project manager—who we trust quite a bit—but he suggested that the big pile of dirt in the yard behind the house was there before the demo began, so it was our responsibility to fix the drainage issue. His proof was that the pile was covered with weeds which, in our yard, are our nemesis because they grow so prolifically.

Now before you express any outrage, it’s important to consider that a Project Manger’s job is equally twofold: meet the requirements of the contract for the customer and at the lowest possible cost. Sure, customer Y would just like you to rewire this nearby room, but doing that to please the customer would mean you (in this case, severely) cut into the profits of your employer by exceeding the agreed-upon work. Because both Dan and I have been IT project managers (similar enough to construction) we understand this. If we ask for something new (unless it’s truly tiny), we pay for it. At the same time, we share tools and cleanups and food (again truly tiny) so that these tiny benefits pay off while the contract is still in force.

Here’s where pictures matter. The space in question included, by now, a big huge pile of dirt that had calmly and diligently grown a crown of weeds during our summer of neglect because we were waiting for the contractor to finish the job and ensure that the rest of the back yard was an open work space for crews. Here’s an example of what it looked like right after the crews dug up the fill dirt from the old yard under the new addition:

After the original excavation, the crew took a bunch of the new dirt away, but, importantly, not all of it. We did not worry about that much until heavy rains soaked our back yard with new mud. And then we could see how a lack of drainage was threatening our new addition foundation. We alerted and reminded our workers and project manager. This was, of course, not a huge priority as the team tried to finish the actual rooms. Until another few storms happened as we neared closing this phase of the project. I put it on the “punch list” of things that had to be completed to fulfill the contract on our end. Our Project manager balked, suggesting that the still existing (if less large) soil was original, so it was our responsibility to fix the problem. I remind you again, he is doing his job, not trying to screw us over. He proposed a solution. I proposed another (removing the extra dirt). We agreed to try his solution.

Today, two team members worked all morning and asked if we had a place to store extra dirt because there was too much for the space. I promise that I did not smirk! I explained that the extra dirt was from the huge fill-dirt pile (above) that had not been removed and that our project manager hadn’t been sure that I was right that the excavation caused our dirt extras. I could point to clues as to the original height of dirt, but they asked if we could show, you guessed it, pictures.

Now this space, now between the addition and the fence, was not a great space in our yard. Previous owners tried raised beds and we found that they failed, so we removed them and the dirt. Even then, the weeds beat everything, including our patience. We were waiting to recreate the landscape after the addition. Hence, we have no pix of a space we hated!

And yet! On the day we started construction, we took pictures that day! (I have erased their faces and logos, messily, to protect their identity.)

This photo, taken totally by chance, helped us show that the contractor had more work to do to make the space functional. They had no responsibility at all to make it pretty, just to drain the water away from the addition.

So my strong recommendation to anyone doing a renovation is to take a ton of “before” pictures to defend (or lose) your commitment to a contract. This photo meant we did not have to hire a landscape contractor to help us save our house.

We still have a TON of work to do to landscape the space, but that’s our job, not the home renovator’s. The crew worked very hard all day—and it was a long day—to make it functional, and we appreciate that quite a bit. Saoirse was not so happy about it, being trapped inside later in the day. So we let her out as soon as we could, but …

The crew had left the back gate (which we can’t see) open to test the water flow. Saoirse took the opportunity to run to see the neighbor dogs while we freaked out!

So two lessons: take “before” photos AND always check to make sure newer crews close all the gates!