Why Renovations Feel So Hard

Proper Planning Changes Everything

Renovating a home should feel exciting. A fresh kitchen, a reimagined bathroom, a layout that finally makes sense, these are meaningful upgrades that improve daily life. Yet somewhere between the inspiration photos and the final reveal, both homeowners and general contractors often find themselves stressed, overwhelmed, or fighting fires.

Why?

Because most renovations start with missing or inaccurate information.

It’s the core problem behind almost every frustration in the construction process and it’s exactly what Levy Design Group exists to solve.

The Human Side of Renovation

For clients, the day their home is torn apart isn’t just “demo day”, it’s the day their comfort, privacy, and routine disappear.

They’re living with:

• Rooms they can’t use

• Dust they can’t escape

• Strangers in their home

• A schedule they can’t control

• Decisions they must make quickly

• Fear that something will go wrong

  
  

And beneath it all is one question:

“Is this going to turn out the way I hoped?” Clients crave certainty, reassurance, and clarity but they rarely start with enough information to provide that confidence.

Why General Contractors Feel the Pressure

GCs experience a different type of stress: The stress that comes from being responsible for the outcome even when the starting point is flawed.

Common GC frustrations include:

• Poor planning before construction even starts

• Missing or inaccurate measurements

• Drawings that don’t match reality

• Miscommunications between trades

• Clients changing their minds because they couldn’t visualize the design

• Delays, rework, and blown budgets

  
  

GCs aren’t trying to “fix” problems, they’re trying to prevent them. But without accurate as-builts and shared visuals, they simply can’t.

Where Renovations Go Wrong (and How to Fix That Before It Happens)

Here’s the truth most homeowners don’t realize:

The worst renovation problems happen because nobody truly knows what the existing space is before construction.

That’s why Levy Design Group starts every project with two essential services:

1. A 3D Scan which gives a visualization of the Entire Space

A full digital capture that becomes a walkable, sharable, “always-accurate” model.

2. As-Built Floor Plans

Scaled plans derived directly from the scan, not from guesswork or tape measures.

These two tools eliminate the guesswork that causes frustration for both sides.

How This Solves Real Pain Points

Here are the problems everyone feels… and how our process prevents them.

1: “Nothing Is Going as Planned.”

Client Experience: Anxiety, second-guessing, fear of mistakes.

GC Experience: Delays, rework, extra site visits, cost overruns.

How We Fix It: With a precise 3D scan and as-built plans, the team starts with exactly what exists, not assumptions. Designers, sales reps, installers, subs, and clients all see the same thing.

Example: A kitchen cabinet order gets placed confidently because the wall is actually 143 ⅞”, not “close to 144.”That tiny difference prevents a $6,000 reorder and days of lost time.

2: “I didn’t realize it would look like that.”

Client Experience: Surprise, regret, frustration.

GC Experience: Conflict, unpaid change orders, damaged trust

How We Fix It: The 3D model lets clients visualize layouts, flow, and decisions before they commit.

Example: A homeowner thinks they want to remove a wall… until they “walk” the scanned model and realize the hallway suddenly becomes awkward.A $10,000 mistake avoided with a 10-minute walkthrough.

3: “Why are there delays?”

Client Experience: Stress, impatience, feeling “out of control”.

GC Experience: Blame, timeline pressure, scrambling trades

How We Fix It: Accurate as-builts prevent misorders, redesigns, and mistakes that cause delays.

Example: Tile installers show up and instantly understand the layout because the GC shared the model. No surprises, no last-minute phone calls, no wasted trips.

4: “We weren’t on the same page.”

Client Experience: Feeling unheard.

GC Experience: Miscommunication across the team.

How We Fix It: Everyone works from a single source of truth. Clients understand the design. Trades understand the measurements. The GC doesn’t have to translate the same information 10 different ways.

The Emotional Benefit:

When clients have something real to look at, not just ideas, they feel:

• More in control

• More confident

• Less anxious

• More trusting

• More patient

• More excited

And when GCs have reliable information, they feel:

• More organized

• Less exposed to risk

• More profitable

• Less overwhelmed

• More respected

• More in command of the project

Everyone wins.

Renovations Don’t Have to Be Stressful

Most renovation pain is not emotional, it’s informational.

When the beginning of the project is accurate, the entire project becomes smoother, clearer, and calmer for everyone involved.

Levy Design Group isn’t here to add a step. We’re here to remove the problems that make every other step harder.