Ethan Clark

Running a home renovation project with AI. Didn't expect this to be so useful.

We're renovating our kitchen. Not a small job — full gut, move some walls, new everything. We have a budget, a builder, and about 600 things that can go wrong. I've been using Claude as a project management thinking partner throughout. The first useful thing: before we signed contracts, I pasted our quotes and asked Claude what questions I should be asking the builder and what's missing from the scope of works. It flagged three things our builder hadn't mentioned — waterproofing under the sink, the junction to the existing drainage, and who was responsible for rubbish removal. All three ended up needing to be clarified. During the build: I ask it to help me understand what I'm being told. "The builder says there's a structural issue with the wall I wanted to remove — he's explained it but I don't fully understand. Here's what he said: [paste]. Can you help me understand this and what questions I should ask?" We're halfway through and under budget. The prep we did before starting was exceptional. AI helped with that.