Cheap, Good or Fast Remodeling? You Decide

Cheap, Good or Fast Remodeling? You Decide

I recently read an editor's note in the July 2012 issue of "Real Simple" with a great little story about the editor's friend, Jeremy, who is a event planner.  When planning an event, Jeremy offers his clients the choice of two of the following: cheap, good or fast. The client can choose only 2 of those 3.  For example they can have cheap and good or fast and cheap or maybe fast and good but they cannot have all three. Being in Interior Design and working at Dragonfly Design and Construction, I smile to myself. 

This is a very simple way of stating a complex problem. Wouldn't it be great if we could have it good, cheap and fast? Every client would have it this way if they could. But alas, it continues to be the holy grail of business.  If you have all the time and money, you can just about have anything you want. There's lots of shows on TV illustrating amazing homes that cost a fortune and took a long time to build! 


With time and money we are only held back by our imaginations! If you don't have an unlimited supply of time and money then you might be able to get it cheap and good if you are willing to spend a lot of time on it. 


Some 'do it youselfers' can really save money and do a darn good job. We can do it fast and good, but it's going to take money. Often people want it fast and cheap which reminds me of a quote my friend Margaret, an engineer, uses; "If you want it really bad, then that's how you'll get it". My company focuses instead, on staying within your budget and getting it done in the time we said. 


As a homeowner, we are constantly faced with choosing between these three. Often when talking to people about projects they have done in their home, they will comment, "we should have done that!"  They have forgotten that at the time the choice made was likely driven by time and money. 


For example, when building our pool, we elected not to put stamped concrete around the pool. It would have meant replacing the existing concrete patio and the estimate was $10,000 and another 2 weeks in addition to the original estimate. We wanted to use the pool for summer, so we went with regular concrete that matched the existing patio. Yeah I would have liked to have a pool fit for a five star hotel, but we are so happy with the results and had many a pool party. By the way, no one has ever mentioned the party would have been better with stamped concrete! 

Another way to think about these choices... we want it as good as it can be done with the time and money we currently can invest. When you take the time to plan a project within a set budget, you are more likely to be happy with the results! 


This applies to life in general. I recently bought a car and after careful consideration I am happy with my decision. Yes, I still think I would be happy in a Maserati, but I don't cry when I make the car payment.  The truth is my dog and my kids and the bikes and all the stuff wouldn't fit in a Maserati.


The bottom line - don't despair because you don't have an infinite supply of time and money. With the help of a good designer and contractor, armed with a realistic budget and time constraints you can make wise decisions that you will be happy with for a long time.

Laurie