‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ – younger generations have heard about the three magic Rs all the way back in pre-school. But what tends to be an abstract concept for children can become a real business advantage in commercial construction. If you are strategic about reusing the right items, you can save significantly on your commercial construction project.
Whether you’re building a restaurant, casino, or any other type of commercial venue, costs will likely play into your planning process. But who said that you had to get everything brand new in the project? Once you know what to look for, reusing the right items will decrease your commercial construction costs. Below are just a few examples of what that might look like for your project.
1) The Plumbing
Let’s begin with a big one. As you can probably imagine, plumbing costs will be a major factor in your overall construction business. But why build it all new? Depending on your plans for an existing space, you might not have to.
For example, you may decide that the bathroom in your location actually make sense where they are, and don’t need to be moved. As long as the pipes are still in good shape, you can update the bathrooms without having to move any plumbing.
2) The Electrical Wiring
Similarly, unless you build a completely new space, the existing location will likely have an existing electrical wiring system. If it still works, why change it out? Instead, work with certified electricians to build on to it and potentially expand it for your needs.
3) The Furniture
If you’re moving from a different location, should you throw out both the furniture in your old location and potential leftovers in the new space? Not necessary. You may be looking to improve and update your look, so some of them won’t work with your new design vision. But others, such as back office desks, file cabinets, and bookshelves, can still be very usable. Saving one of them may not make a big difference in your budget. Saving a good portion of them, however, will.
4) Light Fixtures
Particularly commercial-grade light can quickly become expensive. Even if light fixtures become outdated, consider refinishing them – perhaps even adjusting the color – rather than buying new ones. Like furniture, this will be a change that saves little in a singular instance, but can quickly add up.
5) Raw Materials
Especially for interior finishes, don’t be afraid to reuse existing materials. Flooring may just need to re refinished rather than reinstalled. The same goes for walls, as old wall paper may hide existing, beautiful walls. Before going all out in buying new materials, assess what the existing space offers.
Partnering with Professionals
Of course, when reusing any of the above or other items, it’s crucial to make sure that the existing materials and systems are in good shape. You do not want to build commercially, potentially spending millions on the project, only to find out that the plumbing or electrical system is in immediate need of replacement.
That’s where the ‘strategic’ part of the above comes into play. Before even beginning construction, and early in the planning process, work with your construction partner to find out whether any items and systems in the existing location are in good shape. Only after that inspection should you make a decision of whether to reuse it, or whether it makes more financial long-term sense to rebuild.
That step requires a construction partner who you can thoroughly trust. Working with a company that’s only looking out for its bottom line can mean getting suggestions of new construction, even when you can strategically reuse existing items. To learn more about vetting potential partners to ensure that trust can exist, and more information about reusing the right items in your construction site, contact us.
