Are You Doing Home Renovations This Year?

Early adoption of new technology helps drive this family run home renovation business to award winning success and double digit growth

Quality tools are essential for quality work in the Construction and Renovation business. That has always been an axiom. Today, those tools extend beyond wood chisels, utility knifes, and speciality power tools. If you are OakWood, Ottawa’s largest and most experienced renovation business, your “tool box” now includes cloud computing, tablet PCs, iPads, and construction specific customer relationship management (CRM) software that drives exceptional project management and attentive, high-contact customer service.

Technology drives superior project management

John Liptak, President and CEO, Oakwood attributes much of his company’s recent success to an unrelenting commitment to embrace new technology for home renovations and construction techniques. “We have always been an early adopter and are quick to embrace technology as a way to achieve new efficiencies, higher quality standards, and a competitive advantage,” says Liptak.

Technology underpins all of OakWood’s processes and helps drive the best planning and project management capabilities in the city. “Project management, and managing a project successfully from start to finish, is an area where I believe we really excel,” comments Liptak. “We have a full-time scheduler who helps manage all of our trades and suppliers and we have dedicated project managers who maintain constant communication with our clients.”

RhonaLahey, one of OakWood’s many satisfied customers comments on OakWood’s proven project management expertise. “OakWood actually completed our renovation a week ahead of schedule!” she confirms. “When I told friends about that, many of whom had also gone through a renovation, they were absolutely amazed. But their reactions to our new space were even better – ‘fabulous’, ‘amazing’, ‘unbelievable’,” she quickly adds.

Sub-contractors and customers benefit from state-of-the-art systems

Again, technology is the grist that makes the OakWood, an Ottawa Home Renovation Company, machine really hum. Each step in the OakWood Design + Build approach is supported by specialized processes, expertise, and computerized systems. Sub- contractors and customers alike benefit from the marriage of technology and the OakWoodhome renovation process. To punctuate this, a sophisticated CRM project management system supports all renovations with project schedules being updated every day.

“We liked the idea that they make use of project management tools and that the project schedule was updated weekly,” reports Dan Wayner, an OakWood customer. “We had no real surprises and all change orders but one were initiated by us so we ultimately had control of expenditures. Overall, ourhome renovation was much less stressful than we anticipated,” he adds.

Schedules can be accessed instantly, in real-time, by OakWood’s Production Managers in the field, who are equipped with state-of-the-art tablet PCs that are connected to the office’s CRM system. Similarly, OakWood Customer Service Representatives carry snazzy new iPads which are used to quickly show customers beautiful images of relevant renovations during the initial concept development stage of the design process. Do you want to see a super close-up image of what that Silestone® kitchen counter or specialty faucet looks like? No problem. With the touch of a finger, presto you are instantly looking at a close-up of the details you want to see.

Renovation Design Ideas

Ideas and inspiration

In about half-an-hour, a certified OakWood Renovation Design Consultant will work with customers – usually homeowners just starting out on their renovation journey. They’ll brainstorm, plan, and provide three cost options based on material decisions and the size of their renovation. Expect lots of ideas to get the creative juices going.

“For a homeowner who is planning any kind of renovation this is an amazing opportunity to jumpstart their thinking,” says Patricia Liptak-Satov, General Manager of OakWood.  “They’ll get a free 3D renovation drawing of one room, a complete floor plan for the renovation, and estimates that use our QuickQuote™ system which are accurate to within 2% to 4% of our final quoted price for completing the renovation,” she says. 

Once OakWood provides a final price for a renovation, a homeowner knows unconditionally what they will pay to the penny. “We never charge extras,” comments Liptak. “We plan everything right down to the number of electrical outlets in a room. The customer pays exactly what we quote. And they get their renovation plans on schedule when we promise it,” he says.

See what your renovation design will look like

The preliminary 3D-drawing of one room may well be the highpoint of the renovation consultation and one of the most valuable deliverables that a customer gets.  “The advantage of our rendering service is that it helps customers see what their renovation will look like before we begin any construction or start a tear down,” says Liptak. “This reduces their risks and helps avoid any surprises – we build exactly what they have already seen,” he says.

Bring rough measurements of the room you want to renovate and a design professional will quickly use OakWood’s proprietary CAD software to show you what your renovation could look like. In real-time, while you chat, OakWood’s renovation designer will expertly add different material finishes and products to give you a quick idea for the overall look – and narrow down the many design possibilities.

Want to make a change or move something around? No problem. The designer can do that in a jiffy. Best of all, any changes are immediately incorporated into an accurate cost estimate. “The beauty of our custom, in-house 3D software is that it is completely integrated with the entire renovation process. If you make a change on the design or add a different product – such as a window blind system – all changes are automatically updated and reflected in the cost estimate,” confirms Liptak-Satov.

Bring rough measurements of the room you want to renovate and a renovations design professional will quickly use OakWood’s proprietary CAD software to show you what your renovation could look like. In real-time, while you chat, OakWood’s designer will expertly add different material finishes and products to give you a quick idea for the overall look – and narrow down the many design possibilities.

A Few Kitchen Makeover Tips for Every DIY Enthusiast

Have you ever noticed how friends and family members always end up in the kitchen? The rest of your home could be a gem, but somehow the kitchen is a people magnate at any gathering. That’s why you want to get your kitchen makeover  right. Here are five easy ways to ensure a brilliant kitchen renovation that will be the envy of your neighbours!

Guide 1: Start with your needs

How will your family use the kitchen? Do you eat at all hours of the day? Do you have young children? Do you prefer a casual or more formal dining environment? If you are more casual about eating, benches or island bars may be the ticket. If you have young children, you may want to create a less formal look and use textured colours to hide stains and marks. Maybe you need to expand the size to create a bigger seating area and more space for kitchen supplies? Beyond simply “updating your kitchen”, you need to be specific about your needs and how you want to use your new kitchen. 

Guide 2: Do some research

Take a look at samples of different kitchen renovation styles to see what appeals to you. Visit kitchen renovation showrooms. Look at magazines. Get inspired. OakWood has an extensive online gallery to whet your appetite and jumpstart the concept design stage of your kitchen renovation. Pay attention to materials and finishes because this will affect cost. Key elements include cabinets, countertops, and flooring.

Guide 3: Kitchen Layout and design

Now that you know what you like it’s time to bring these ideas and elements together in a design. This is a creative process that blends many elements with the goal of creating something unique. Our concept design process always includes brainstorming on different options and “what if” scenarios. We take your ideas and add to them based on your needs and preferences. We can also create 3D kitchen concept designs to help our customers visualize their end solution before we start to build. 

Guide 4: Get a detailed plan

Once you have a concept design, you need a roadmap for making this a reality. A good plan links the design and what you want, to your budget. If you make a change to any design element, it will affect your plan. That is why any plan that’s worth its salt includes a detailed proposal, right down to the number of electrical outlets. 

Guide 5: Hire a “design-and-build” renovator

Unless you are a talented handyman, you’ll be hiring a renovator to do the work for you. Make sure they are a qualified “Design and Build” renovator. That’s because over 50% of kitchen design projects that start with a designer or architect never get built. The design drives the plan and budget. A design and build renovator will ensure these two phases are completely integrated and that nothing falls between the cracks from your concept to final construction. (See our free report on how to choose a qualified renovator).

Architecture 3D Concept Design Service

OakWood customers see their renovation before construction starts!

To ensure seamless integration between production and design OakWood has made a significant investment in a unique 3Dconcept design service. Driven by powerful Design software, OakWood can create 3D models of a project before any work is started.

The large investment in the OakWood Design Division has proven to be well worth while because it drives a very cost efficient yet highly engaging design phase from the customer’s perspective.  

“Our concept design service is part of a brainstorming phase that expertly blends ideas from our design team and the customer,” says Patricia Liptak, General Manager, OakWood. “We use it [Concept Design] to help customers quickly visualize their options while establishing an accurate scope of work document and budget based on final decisions.”  

The Concept Design process is led by an experienced Architectural Technologist, and helped by Interior Designers, who ensures nothing is lost between the design, the final plan, and the final build.  OakWood’s in-house Design Team will expertly blend the ideas and vision that a customer has for their Renovation with a design that works for the space being renovated. The process generally starts with drawing up the existing home or space and then showing the customer the concept renovation design in vivid 3D. These renderings can also be viewed by the customer on their home computer so that they can “wear” the idea before committing to a final solution.

The customer eventually receives a striking rendering that enables them to easily visualize their finished renovation project. This service is an important part of OakWood’s process for confirming exactly what the client wants in a final design while ensuring a high quality renovation that is completed on-time and on-budget.