Homeowner HQ

A Sneak Peek Into Private Consulting

Curious about private consulting? From planning to choices and decisions, we’re here to help you feel supported—no stress, just straightforward advice. Here's one story of clients getting the support they needed.

Homeowner HQ

A Sneak Peek Into Private Consulting

Curious about private consulting? From planning to choices and decisions, we’re here to help you feel supported—no stress, just straightforward advice. Here's one story of clients getting the support they needed.

Homeowner HQ

A Sneak Peek Into Private Consulting

Curious about private consulting? From planning to choices and decisions, we’re here to help you feel supported—no stress, just straightforward advice. Here's one story of clients getting the support they needed.

Apr 15, 2024

3

minutes

Curious what private consulting can do for you? Well, have you ever felt like you’re being brushed off when something doesn’t seem right with your project? That gut feeling that what you’ve received isn’t quite up to par?

Private consulting is just one of the ways we're here to back you up in those moments. Whether it’s helping you confidently address concerns with your contractor or guiding you through tough decisions, it’s like having an expert on speed dial who genuinely cares about getting you the results you deserve.

Here's a real story of how a quick call turned uncertainty into satisfaction.

Q - I’ve received a pretty expensive item and I wasn’t thrilled with the finished product. When I asked my contractor he seemed hesitant but then said it was fine. Am I crazy for thinking that it should be returned?

I’ve spoken with members and clients about this specific issue, and of course this includes being disappointed with both products and finishing. The truth is, it happens. And I’ll give you an example for each.

I had a client call me extremely upset about their bathrooms. They hired a single company to supply flooring material and installers. Their hardwood floors went in first and they were thrilled with the outcome. 

But when the tiler took weeks to complete one bathroom with inconsistent and crooked grout lines - not only are you disappointed in the finish, but also the time it took to get there.

Another was about windows. They just had them delivered and installed. Black. Triple pane. Gorgeous. Expensive.

But something wasn’t right.. 

They had approx. 4 bedroom windows with muntin bars (or grilles if you prefer). Each bar didn’t fully extend to the frame, leaving a very visible gap at each connection point.

She spoke to her contractor who hummed and hawed, saying it wasn’t a big deal. So she reached out to me, sending pictures along to review, to find out if she was overreacting.

I assured her she was not. It was a large expense for a poorly finished product. 

This is what I told them both to do…

I told them to contact the company for the tile and the manufacturer for the windows. Tell them about the poor fabrication or install, and politely demand they fix them. 

For the tile, this decision wasn’t easy for them because at this point in time they were nearing the end and they just wanted to be done. I completely get it. But I asked them “a year from now, will you regret not saying anything?”. They knew it had to be done.

Both bathrooms were demolished and redone. And for good reason. The new tiler, and the company that did the initial hiring, both agreed that it was the worst they have ever seen. The company ate the cost of the demolition and hired a better tiler the 2nd time around.

For the windows, they contacted the manufacturer and explained their disappointment of the 5 muntin bars. The window company replaced the windows and covered the cost of the labor involved to remove and reinstall.

Now everyone is happy - great customer service and clients are thrilled with the results. All they needed to make this happen was someone in their corner for support. 

So next time you’re thinking that a standard level of product or finishing isn’t where it should be, ask yourself “a year from now, will you have regretted not saying anything?”. And if you need the extra push of courage to say anything, reach out to us and we’ll help you through it.

Chelsey Morphy

Home Consultant & Designer