Three video calls with me, so your renovation works on a bad day.
A renovation is a long list of decisions. Some of them are cheap this month and cost thousands to change later. Nobody on the job is paid to tell you which ones. That's what I do, with you.
- You walk me through your house on camera. I ask about your day and what's hard.
- Together we work out what to change, and in what order.
- I write it down on one page you hand to your contractor.
- I come back after a contractor has quoted you, for the questions you have then.
I ask about the room first. The grab bar comes last.
Most people start by shopping for products. A grab bar, a shower seat, a walk-in tub. The product is the last decision, not the first. Before that, I need to know how you use the room. On the call, you show me the room on camera and we go through three things together.
How you get into the room.
Which way the door opens. What it bumps into. Whether you can get through it with a walker, a cane, or a laundry basket.
How you move around inside it.
Whether there is room to turn. Whether you can reach the sink or the counter. Where you put things down when both hands are full.
Whether you can see what you are doing.
Where the light is. Where the switch is. Whether you can reach the switch when you walk in.
Then we pick the products, together. They will fit your house, and they will not look like they came from a hospital. If a choice means giving up one for the other, I will say so, and you decide.
Three calls, spread out on purpose, so the last one comes after you have a quote.
The questions you have before a drawing exists are different from the questions you have once a contractor has given you a price. So the calls are spread across your project instead of used up in one week.
Call one. I ask, you answer.
I ask about your house, your daily routine, what is hard on a bad day, who lives there, and what has already been decided. You don't need to prepare anything. If you have photos or a floor plan, send them first. If not, we work from the conversation.
If you'd rather not do it live, fill in the worksheet, send photos, and I'll reply with a recording. Same price.
Call two. I tell you what to change.
I tell you what to change, in what order, and which decisions are cheap now and expensive later. If you have drawings, I mark them up on this call. Within a week, I send you the written page with all of it, so you don't have to remember anything.
Call three. After a contractor has quoted you.
Once you have a price in hand, new questions come up. Somebody said something that didn't sound right, or a quote is missing something. This call is for those. It doesn't expire. I'll send one reminder at ninety days and then leave it to you.
How booking works:
- You pay first.
- A confirmation email arrives with one booking link.
- You use that link to book call one, and later calls two and three.
- Calls are Tuesday to Thursday mornings, Chicago time. Two a day.
Your renovation decisions, made with someone who knows which ones matter.
The consultation is collaborative. We work through your specific situation together, in real time. You can walk me through your space on camera, show me the rooms and the spots giving you trouble, ask questions, test ideas and get one-on-one guidance as the decisions take shape.
These are the kinds of situations people arrive with:
A stair, a tub or a doorway has stopped being neutral.
You are deciding whether to change the room or the whole floor plan.
A parent is moving in.
The spare room or second unit is about to be renovated around them.
A surgery date is on the calendar.
Somebody told you to prepare the house without saying what that actually means.
You are renovating anyway.
You want the decisions that are cheap to make now and expensive to change later made on purpose.
None of these requires you to be in Chicago. Consultations happen by video, your written recommendations arrive by email, and the dimensions and specifications are the same ones I would give you standing in the room.
You don't need to have decided anything. Tell me which rooms are hard.
People often think they need to arrive with a plan, a product list, or a diagnosis. You don't. Here's what helps, and what you can skip.
Helpful, if you have it.
- Photos of the rooms that are hard to use. Take them from the doorway.
- Any drawing or floor plan, even a rough sketch.
- A quote from a contractor, if you already have one.
- One or two sentences on what part of the day is hardest.
- Who will make the decisions, if it isn't you.
Reply to your confirmation email with any of this, any time before call one.
You can skip all of this.
- A diagnosis. I ask what's hard, not what you have.
- A list of products you've been looking at.
- A decision about whether to remodel the bathroom.
- Measurements. If I need one, I'll tell you what to measure and how.
- A tidy house in the photos. I'm looking at the doorway, not the counter.
If you have nothing from the left column either, that's fine. We start from the conversation.
If the house belongs to a parent, they need to be on the call with us. It's their house and they're the one who has to live in it. You can set it up and bring it to them.
Send me the drawings. I mark them up in call two.
If an architect or contractor has already drawn plans for you, here's what changes:
- Tell me when you book, and reply to the confirmation email with the drawings.
- Call one stays the same. I still need to know about your day before I can read your plan.
- In call two, I go through your drawing with you and mark what to change. Doors that open the wrong way. Walls that need wood behind them. Hallways that are too narrow.
- You get the marked-up drawing back with the written page.
- There's nothing extra to buy.
The best time to book is before the drawings are final. Once plans go to the city for a permit, every change costs a revision fee. Once a contractor has quoted them, every change is a change order. Before that, a change is a conversation with your architect.
If your drawings are already final, book anyway. Some things are still cheap to change. I'll tell you which ones.
I give advice. Other people are licensed to build it.
This is a planning service. I tell you what to ask for and in what order. Architects, engineers and contractors do the drawing and the building. Here's the line, so there are no surprises.
What you get.
- A list of what to change, in the order it needs deciding.
- The measurements to ask for, and where each one comes from.
- The questions to ask your architect, your contractor, and the city, sorted by who answers each one.
- Your drawings marked up, if you have them.
- The written page you hand to whoever is doing the work.
What I don't do.
- Draw plans, or stamp them. That's an architect or an engineer.
- Answer questions about structure, exits, or fire. Those are life safety. I'll tell you who to ask.
- Visit your house. Everything is done on video, from your photos and drawings.
- Manage your contractor or run the project.
- Assess your body. If a therapist has written what you need, send it to me and I work out what it means for the house.
- A fourth call. Three is the set. If you need more, it's a second consultation at the same price.
If what you need is on the right, tell me before you pay and I'll point you to the right person.
I have the training, and I live with the problem.
Briana J Watson, Certified Environmental Access Consultant (CEAC). Chicago.
I'm a Certified Environmental Access Consultant. The training is about looking at a house and working out what it lets a person do, and what it stops them doing. When your written page uses a measurement from a published standard, it names the standard. When it gives my own practice, it says so. When a question belongs to an architect, an engineer or the city, the page tells you to ask them instead of answering it.
The rest is experience. I live with chronic illness, with good days and bad days in the same week. I'm planning the renovation of my own Chicago two-flat around my worst days. Before any of this, I spent twenty years persuading people who could say no. The consultation hands you the same skill, pointed at a contractor.
One price, and it's the same for everyone.
Most renovations in this category cost tens of thousands of dollars. One change order, for one thing nobody thought of, can cost more than this consultation.
The consultation
- Call one, 60 minutes. On video, or by worksheet and photos with a recorded reply.
- Call two, 40 minutes. What to change and in what order. Drawings marked up if you have them.
- The written page, within a week of call two.
- Call three, 20 minutes, after a contractor has quoted you. Whenever you're ready.
Calls are Tuesday to Thursday mornings, Chicago time. Two a day, six a week. The rest of the week is for writing.
Refund: if you're not satisfied after call two and the written page, email me within a week and I'll refund the full price. The course is sold separately and isn't included.
Questions people ask before they book.
Why pay for this when there are free checklists online?
A checklist tells you what a generic house should have. It doesn't know your house, your budget, or which walls hold the building up. It doesn't know what your body can do this year or in ten years. A checklist is a list of rules. I give you a list of priorities for your house.
Do you only work with people who are sick or injured?
No. Some of the best work I do is for people who are renovating with nothing wrong yet. A kitchen gets gutted once. If you decide now to put wood behind the shower wall, leave space under the counter, and make the bathroom door wide, it costs almost nothing and nobody sees it. Decide later and it costs a second renovation.
Isn't this what my contractor or architect is for?
Your contractor builds what's on the drawing. Your architect draws the building. Nobody on a normal job is paid to ask whether the drawing works for the person who has to live in it. Once the drywall is up, it's too late to ask. That's the question I ask, before the wall closes.
My parent is the one who needs this. Can I hire you for them?
Yes, you can set it up and pay for it. Your parent needs to be on the calls with us. It's their house and they have to live in it. A house planned around someone who wasn't in the room turns out worse.
Can I hire you for the whole project?
No, and you don't need to. The expensive mistakes come from about four decisions, and they all get made before the walls close. Three calls and a written page cover those. After that you need an architect and a contractor, and you already have them.
Will you draw the plans for my construction crew?
No. I don't draw construction plans, stamp them, or plan exits. Those need an architect or an engineer with a licence in your state. What I give you is a list of what to change, what to ask for, and the questions to put to the people you're already paying.
Do I have to be in Chicago?
No. Everything is done on video, from your photos and drawings. I don't visit houses, including in Chicago. The calls run on Chicago time.
What's on the written page?
A list of what to change, in the order each decision needs to be made. The measurements to ask for. The questions to ask each person on the job. And what to say when a contractor tells you something can't be done. It's the page you hand to your contractor so the right things are on the drawing before he prices it.
Your house should still look like yours on your worst day.
Three calls with me and one written page. Together we work out which decisions to make now, which can wait, and which will cost you later. It isn't a commitment to anything else.