Be flexible

With home renovations, it's of course desirable for your crews to be there when the customer is not. Frequently, the occupants work during the day, which makes it convenient for both of you. Try to coordinate your schedules as closely as possible. If the homeowner doesn't leave for work until 8:00 a.m. and the crew normally starts work at 7:30, they would get in each other's way. Better to push back the starting time.

But what if the customer works a night shift or odd hours? It could be pretty hard to persuade your crews to do likewise. On the other hand, a company with flexible work schedules has a competitive edge. In many cases, this would be worth a premium labor rate to many customers.

Commercial renovations present even bigger headaches. Not only do you have the owners to worry about, their patrons may be milling about. And those customers may not be all that cognizant about the dangers of bumping into ladders and scaffolds. (Tip: Try to avoid scaffolding in business areas. Rent a man-lift or cherry-picker instead. They can be moved when not in use.)

Safety is the primary issue to be concerned about when working light commercial projects. Both your workers and customers of the business can be at risk from motorized equipment, sharp tools, falling objects, etc. Congestion is inevitable at the job site and only makes matters worse.

Even if you take extra care to minimize safety hazards, business owners don't like it at all when noise and debris drive away their customers. We all know you can't obtain a silent and pristine job site. So, the only other solution is to do the work outside of the client's business hours. Off-hours work may require bribing your crews with premium pay. Give the client an option. He may choose for you to work regular hours at base pay, or an off-hours schedule at a higher price for overtime labor.

Level with the inspector

I've heard more stories than I can count of unreasonable or unknowledgeable inspectors. Yet, I suspect that in many cases at least part of the blame lay with that old bugaboo-failure to communicate.

Contractors are wise to anticipate and inform inspectors of predictable issues. If you foresee any problems with the job, let the inspector know ahead of time instead of trying to talk your way into a variance after the work gets done. They'll be more likely to bend the rules in your favor if you invite them to help solve a problem. This is only human nature.

It's also a matter of professional courtesy. Inspectors have a job to do just like you and your crews do. The vast majority have trade experience and are well qualified for their jobs. Even so, everyone makes mistakes. When it happens, more can get accomplished trying to correct the mistake than stomping around in a hostile fit complaining about some "know nothing" inspector.

Minimize dust

A recent survey of homeowners, which I'll report on in a subsequent column, turned up these biggest pet peeves about the contractors who did the work:

• Not cleaning up after the work

is finished

• The mess and the dust

• The invasion of "personal space"

This brings up unpleasant memories of the first renovation job I ever contracted for in a home that I owned. It was a combined kitchen expansion and bathroom addition, and a nightmare. Dust invaded every nook and cranny of our house. While our kitchen was being revamped, we had to store all the dinnerware on our dining room table in the adjacent room. This meant that not only did we have to wash dishes (in the bathtub or lavatory) after eating, we also had to do it prior to meals. The crews sometimes strung up a drop cloth in the doorway leading to the work areas, but at other times neglected to do so. Even when they did, they failed to seal the edges, so plenty of plaster and wood dust seeped through.

Do all you can to minimize dust both in homes and businesses, especially when working around salesable merchandise. If it's a long project, block off work areas with plywood walls, and consider painting the walls to make them more attractive. Gaps between panels and walls or ceiling should be sealed with strong plastic tape. Also, seal gaps between panels, even small ones, with tape or plastic.

Minimize noise

This is especially an issue with light commercial projects. Use power tools as far away from customer traffic as possible. Maybe you can schedule the noisiest work for after hours or at least when business traffic is slowest.

Radios and boom boxes are good for crew morale. I don't see any point in prohibiting them, but instruct your people to keep the volume at a reasonable level.

Minimize debris

Another expensive renovation project by my family was a re-siding and window replacement job seven or eight years ago. That contractor got several other jobs as a result, because I recommended him to everyone I knew. He was a consummate professional from the first measurements all the way through the job and even beyond-he stopped by a few months after completion just to ask if we were happy and everything was in good condition. I'd never before known a contractor to do that. Most wouldn't have the guts.

One of the things that impressed me about this company's operations was that every day his crews made sure to clean all debris out of our driveway by the time we came home at night. And there was plenty of it, as I found out on a couple of occasions when I happened to get home early.

Some of you will read this and think, "Of course we clean up debris after work." It should go without saying. Alas, I feel a need to say it, because so many times it does not get done, or gets done in only a perfunctory way.

Oh, and I've heard tales about people finding soft drink cans, food wrappers and even more disgusting debris behind walls, in ductwork and stashed in other household nooks and crannies where the occupants won't find it for years down the road.

Watch your tongue

Salty language can be shrugged off on a new construction job site but not where people congregate. Crews need to be read the riot act about this.

Crews also need a little instruction about how to speak with citizens likely to be encountered on a renovation job site. This includes owners, neighbors, business customers, inspectors, other trade workers and so on. You don't need to send them all to Dale Carnegie classes but at least be sure they understand the need to exercise "please, thank you, excuse me" in their vocabularies.

Make sure you have a way to communicate job site rules and regulations to any non-English speakers in your work force. The siding contractor whose praises I've just sung had an all Spanish-speaking work crew, some of whom spoke no English. But there was always a translator around, and every one of his workers exhibited exemplary behavior on the job, because they were taught to do so. Communications gaps are lame excuses.

Safety counts

Keeping job sites clear of tools and debris after hours isn't just a matter of aesthetics. It's for safety reasons. It's bad enough when your crews step on and trip over objects. You don't want customers doing it-or their kids.