New Year's resolutions made easier

The economy being slow, it’s no surprise that we’ve seen fewer large-scale home remodeling permits than in past years. Yet homeowners are taking steps improve their existing homes, and much of the action is concentrated on smaller projects-- kitchens, baths, basements-- which demand periodic upgrades just to keep the house functional and current. 

As we enter a New Year, it becomes apparent to home improvement procrastinators that the cause of their dithering is not just money-- but also a lack of available time. Just researching options can take several weekends of trudging up and down aisles inspecting vanity cabinets and floor tiling. Even a simple repair may take several trips. And re-doing the bathroom or the kitchen can gobble up months.

So Happy New Year, homeowners, from David Foster, principal of northern Virginia’s nationally-recognized Foster Remodeling Solutions, Inc and the IT wizard who recently launched DIYestimator.com. The newly launched web site allows you to select products and estimate costs for a wide range of home remodeling projects entirely online. This armchair home improvement solution can save you hours, maybe months. And the process is so simple it could radically change the way a lot homeowner’s maintain their premises.

How does it work? 

Just log on to www.DIYestimator.com, select the room you want to upgrade, enter the square footage and the depicted spatial configuration, then choose your preferred products and accessories from among hundreds of possibilities. 

The program provides clear visuals and line-item costs for each option. You decide styling, colors, textures, and the number of each desired product. Mix and match to taste. Go ahead, knock yourself out. 

As choices narrow, the program calculates a running cost estimate, which you can always revise as you evaluate family priorities. Once finished, you submit the package and instantly receive a detailed work order that provides the exact cost (including labor) and time entailed in executing your vision. A Foster representative generally follows by phone within 24 hours to review details and make arrangements to begin. 

Perhaps best of all, the agreement is inclusive of all permits, site preparation, plumbing and electrical upgrades, painting and clean-up.

“We intended for it to be easy to use,” says David Foster, who began working on the concept over five years ago, but notes that online speeds hadn’t caught up to his requirements until relatively recently. “We’re offering a lot of choices, and setting a service standard for new delivery process…so we didn’t launch officially until we had evaluated the program with all types of computers and internet configurations.”

To further the concept-testing, Foster sponsored a focus group/launch party at his company’s showroom. Guests included homeowners the remodeler has serviced off and on for the past 25 years. Over 35 local residents participated.

“Our service culture is critical to what we’re about as a company, “ Foster observes. “I really value past client assessments of our performance, and our ideas.”

Homeowner Mike Green, for instance, had hired Foster to execute a kitchen remodel two years ago, and recently decided to look at an earlier model of DIY estimator for a planned bathroom upgrade. Green was initially skeptical of an approach that does not offer immediate human feedback, but soon warmed to the new process, which he found intuitive, thorough and easy to manage. 

“You’re working at your own pace,” Green notes. “Everything is well organized with lots options, so you can decide what you really want,” adding: “ the bathroom I created looks great…like something in a home and garden magazine.” 

Foster developed the DIY estimator solution to extend his company’s full service matrix. He introduced a showroom about ten years ago that allows homeowner’s to consider their choices via fully assembled displays. He also maintains a well-regarded design and architectural staff. The DIY, however, reaches out to a different user need.

“The DIY is not aimed at a particular project size or scope,” Foster says. “We’ve provided professional design skills for pretty small spaces when the owner wants that degree of differentiation. But we recognize that some people want to explore alternative priorities and budgets.”


Clients who previously hired Foster to create a large-scale addition may now be looking for simple way to upgrade some part of the house, the remodeler contends:

“They know the quality of our work, so our goals is to help them; to provide the option that best suits the current need.”

Foster acknowledges that the widespread availability high-speed internet has been essential to making this new form of “push button” remodeling feasible since the service is fundamentally about convenience in getting information and thinking through choices.

“Once the owner has worked out their chosen package, we assign a lead carpenter to manage the assignment, “Foster observes. “It’s the same skills and controls we offer in all of our work.”

But not to overlook what the holidays are about: Foster is offering a 10% discount on any DIY projects that are ordered before January 31. To take advantage of this, simply type the words NEW YEAR into the coupon code box prior to submitting your order.

John Byrd has covered residential architecture and construction for over 30 years. His work has appeared in House Beautiful, Architectural Digest, Southern Living and other nationally distributed periodicals. He can be reached at www.byrdmatx@comcast.net