The Construction Coordinators, LLC was officially started in 2007. We are a small family owned remodeling contractor located in Lonsdale, MN. We specialize in designing and remodeling residential spaces including kitchens, baths, basements, additions, porches/decks and more in the Twin Cities South Metro Communities. As a small company our customers get a very personal experience. Whether you want to build a screen porch or add on a Master Suite, you will work directly with the owner, Mike, from start to finish.
We provide our customers with complete construction design, management and onsite services. With the help of our on staff interior designer, you will be confident that you are getting the professional design and appearance you want. Unlike many larger remodeling companies, we actually put on our tool belts and come to work at your project. This makes us unique to today’s contractors because we don’t simply hire subcontractors to do all the work, we perform many of the necessary tasks in house ourselves.
At TCC we pride ourselves in making every project we do personal. It has never been our goal to be the biggest remodeling contractor in the Twin Cities, but it is our goal to be the best! We know our niche market is the “average homeowner.” We are very good at giving you a realistic budget and getting the most “bang for your buck.” Regardless of the project, we will look for ways to save you money without compromising the quality and integrity our customers expect. Let us help you make your home remodeling dreams a reality!
Owner – Mike Jirik
As the son of a professional carpenter, I was able to learn the construction trades at a very young age. At the age of 13, when most kids were hanging out with friends, I started working in the summers with my father. This proved to be an invaluable experience. The knowledge I gained and the life lessons I learned on the value of hard work will never be lost on me. It helped me grow both professionally and personally. My wife Maggie and I have three children and live in Lonsdale. As the president of our local youth baseball/softball organization and coach of my kids’ baseball, basketball and football teams the lessons I learned from my parents and value of hard work is something I bring to all my families endeavors and to all the projects my company does. My goal is to make every homeowner feel like they are important. I want all my homeowners to feel like we are working on their “Home” and not just “another house.”
Why TCC?
At TCC we understand that remodeling can be stressful, invasive and expensive. Our goal is to minimize this as much as possible by providing our customers with a professional interior designer, a clear and concise schedule, honest, fair pricing & unmatched communication. We utilize a unique “Open Book” system in which our homeowners experience transparency in pricing that is unheard of in our industry. Our goal is to always be open and honest and we do that by not hiding any charges, adding any extra fees and even passing along our contractor discounts to our customers. As a customer of TCC, we clearly tell you upfront what we are getting paid, then you pay what we pay for everything else. This type of transparency provides our homeowners with unparalleled flexibility and real time budget updates tracked via our online communication and scheduling platform. We take being trustworthy very personal, we feel open and honest communication is key to working through a successful project!
Check out below what we feel are important things to know before hiring a contractor. We have answered those same questions, so you can see how we are different.
What You Need To Know Before Choosing Your Contractor
What does your management fee include?
- This typically will include your preconstruction and general project management. A common way general contractors hide additional profit is by adding in a job supervision fee. This often times is a percentage based fee. However, this only includes onsite supervision. So ask a potential contractor…
Do you charge for job supervision?
- Verify if you are being charged for onsite supervision or if that is included with management.
Is there a fee for design?
- Many contractors add a fee for construction design. Most times this refers to general design.
Look for Low or Unrealistic “Allowances”
- Allowances are a part of building, but low allowances can give you a false sense of what the true price will be. These are adjustable based on your selections, so it is common to put in a low allowance. You aren’t charged for the change order, but you likely will select something that exceeds the allowance. Unrealistic allowances can really add up. Always verify the accuracy at which an allowance is calculated.
How do you charge for change orders?
- Change orders can cost you big! Most contractors charge a flat fee for a change order. This fee is added on top of the actual cost of the change. Or they charge that same percentage-based fee to the actual cost, typically there is a minimum fee.
How do you handle extras, overages & unforeseen?
- This is the single most misleading number on your estimate. Every contractor is going to add in a percentage for miscellaneous extras, this number is typically 5% – 15%. This is a necessary evil on every project, but don’t get tricked into paying this without knowing what it is. This fee only covers the contractor for his mistakes, or if they are short of something. This doesn’t cover you for any changes, upgrades, or out of the ordinary unforeseen. For example, if you want to upgrade your bath fixtures from chrome to oil rubbed bronze, you pay the upgrade and the change order fee. At the end you will have the additional charge for the change, but the extras number will remain the same. Another example, let’s say you are putting an addition on your house. You are digging the basement and find that your existing house has an inadequate foundation that will cost $10,000 to fix. The added cost goes to the owner, and doesn’t come out of the extras, overages & unforeseen. This is the most common way to hide additional profit.
How Would TCC Answer You?
What does your management fee include?
- Unlike most general contractors, our management fee includes everything! We will be there to help you from start to finish. Our fee includes a free cost estimate, all preconstruction, during & post construction services, on site job supervision, warranty work & everything in between. Our fee is upfront and clearly stated from the start! Drafting fees are not included in most cases.
Do you charge for job supervision?
- No charge! This is included as part of our management fee.
Is there a fee for design?
- Yes & No. In most cases we do all our design and drafting in house. On most of our small to mid-size remodels we include drafting with the management. On the larger more detailed remodels the drafting is a separate line item. In addition to the construction design, we offer an interior designer to our clients at no charge as a part of our management fee. The designers we use are independent and will be included free of charge up until a certain amount depending upon the project. You can always ask what we have allotted for interior design, and then if that allowance is exceeded, the additional charges will be billed accordingly. On virtually all our projects the full amount is included.
Look for Low or Unrealistic “Allowances”
- Allowances are a necessary part of building. These are adjustable based on your selections. However, we take a different approach to our allowances. We take the time to discuss the options with our potential customers so we can give them a clear, accurate & honest allowance. We want our customers to have a realistic view of what their costs will be, not the lowest it could possibly be.
How do you charge for change orders?
- We DO NOT have a change order fee, above our normal percentage charged. If you decide to change something, we feel that is your right. You will only be charged the actual amount the subcontractor charges us, plus the percentage you would have been charged from the start.
How do you handle extras, overages & unforeseen?
- We handle this differently than virtually every other contractor in the market. We utilize an allowance for this based on a percentage of the project. However, rather than this number being a fixed figure, we ZERO it out at the start of the project, which effectively puts you under budget on day 1. Now any change, upgrade or unforeseen we have will be drawn from this allowance first. This may be an upgrade in the countertops, or it may be for something unforeseen (like an inadequate foundation,) either way that is not an extra in the total budget until that allowance is used up. In many cases only a portion of this is actually used. Thus, the owner comes in under budget, which is always our goal. Don’t be fooled by the final estimated price, because hidden costs and tricky tactics are everywhere!