I am jumping into the world of a home construction renovation project.
Any suggestions on the best app for tracking progress, payments, etc?
I debated whether to put it into Omnifocus but that would mean introducing tasks that aren’t directly related to me where I am the one doing them, unless I use a perspective of “Waiting On”
I thought about Craft from the perspective of a new note for each item completed.
Not really sure, how to tackle this one, right now using a notebook to track thoughts
I feel like @MacSparky has a workflow for this LOL
A genuine project management tool, like OmniPlan. It’ll track everything, including costs, and allow you to predict possible choke points. Major upside is excellent tracking of dependencies. Major downside is the work needed to understand how to use it.
Notion - you could easily build something to track activities and costs and fit it to your need. No automatic dependency tracking, and needs an active internet connection.
You could try a simpler timeline tracker like Aeon Timeline and a spreadsheet for the costs
You would think I do. But in the case of Endor Studios, I hired a guy I’ve known 25 years. We made all the decisions up front, set a flat fee, and wrote a progress schedule on a piece of paper. Every time I gave him a check, he signed off. When were done, he was fully paid. It was VERY simple, which is how he operates. If I’d have made him do a spreadsheet, he’d probably have raised the price on me.
There are a couple of professional apps out there for this, but I would also suggest OmniPlan. As far as I know, it has also a Budget Function.
BUT, do you have a Contractor for this?
If yes, ask him if he uses an app for that. Often those professional Apps are coming with a “Client-Function” where you get access to some of the data, and be kept in the loop.
I believe that a Home Construction project is that, a project, and not a bunch of tasks with dependencies. You would be better off with a project management app because you need to have an eye on budget, the schedule and different workstreams dependencies. Ideally the prime contractor should be managing this.
If you are using a contractor, I’m with Ulli. Talk to him about what they use. If they use an app, you may be able to get access, which they will prefer to keep everything all in the same system. Of course, some contractors are still old school and if that’s the case with yours don’t push anything on him.
However, if you are the general contractor, then I agree with everyone else. Use a project management app.
I had a 30-year career as a project manager and while I used MS Project and later (on Mac) Omniplan & Merlin, I saw many others doing a fine job with spreadsheets.
Having just gone through a kitchen renovation that just completed anything you do to track it will probably be more than your general contractor is doing.
I’ve got nearly 10 years of experience as one and almost every company I’ve worked has had us just use Excel to save on licensing.
