Our process
Seven stages, and the pricing rules behind them
The same sequence runs on a three week bathroom and a fourteen month gut. What changes is how long each stage takes, not what happens in it.
- Stages
- 7
- Site visit
- Free
- Ballpark range
- 3 business days
Seven stages, and you always know which one you are in
Every project runs the same way, whether it is a three week bathroom or a fourteen month gut. Here is the whole thing.
Stage 01
Phone call
15 minutes, no visit yet
We ask what you want to change, roughly what you hope to spend and when you would like to start. If your project is not a fit for us, this is where we say so and point you somewhere better.
Stage 02
Site visit
About an hour, free
Marcus or a project manager walks the space with you, measures, photographs, checks the panel and the plumbing, and talks through what is realistic. You get a written ballpark range within three business days.
Stage 03
Design and selections
Paid agreement, credited back
Measured plans, two or three layout options, elevations and a 3D walkthrough. Priya runs selections sessions with real allowances and booked showroom appointments until every material is chosen and priced.
Stage 04
Fixed-price proposal
Line-item scope, no vague lumps
A scope document that names every item, an allowance sheet with real products, a dated schedule and the payment milestones. You sign a number, not an estimate.
Stage 05
Permits and pre-construction
The part nobody photographs
We submit drawings, answer plan review comments, order long-lead materials and hold the pre-construction meeting on site where we set the containment, the dumpster and the crew access.
Stage 06
Construction
Weekly meetings, daily photos
Demolition, rough-in, inspection, close-up, finishes. One project manager, a standing weekly on-site meeting, a shared photo log updated every day and a broom-clean site every evening.
Stage 07
Punch list and follow-up
Be picky, that is the point
We walk the finished space with a bright light and write down everything. Final payment comes after the list is cleared, not before. Then we check in at 30 days, six months and a year.
The part nobody explains properly
How our pricing actually works
Read this before you compare us to anyone else. Two bids with the same bottom line can be very different contracts.
Fixed price, not time and materials
You sign a line-item scope with a single number. It changes only when you change the scope or when we hit a genuine hidden condition, and both require a written change order you approve first.
Allowances name real products
Every allowance on your sheet points at a specific product at a specific price. A low allowance is the most common way a contract price quietly becomes a bigger one.
Payments follow completed work
A deposit at signing, then progress payments tied to milestones you can see: rough-in inspection passed, drywall complete, cabinets installed. The final payment is due after the punch list, not before.
Design fees credit back
Pre-construction design is a paid agreement because it produces real drawings and real prices. That fee is credited against the construction contract when you sign it.
Contingency is yours, not ours
We recommend you hold 10 to 15 percent on pre-1960 homes and 5 to 10 percent on newer ones. Most clients never spend it. It is your money and it stays that way.
Change orders are written, always
We stop, photograph, price and email. Nothing proceeds on a handshake, which protects you far more than it protects us.
While the work is happening
What communication looks like on a live job
- A standing weekly meeting on site. Thirty minutes with your project manager, at the same time each week, for the whole project.
- A shared photo log updated daily. Every wall photographed before it closes, so you know where the wires and pipes run forever.
- A three week look-ahead every Monday. Which trades are coming, what needs deciding, and what might slip.
- One mobile number. Your project manager's, not a general office line and not a subcontractor's.
- A broom-clean site every evening. Containment checked each morning by the superintendent before work starts.
For a kitchen, bathroom, basement or a single addition, yes, and most clients do. For a full gut, we recommend moving out because containment slows the crew and adds weeks. We set up dust containment, protect the path in, and clean the site at the end of every working day either way.
Typically 7:30am to 4:00pm, Monday to Friday. We do not start earlier than the local noise ordinance allows, and we do not work weekends unless the schedule slipped for a reason that was ours.
Your project manager. One person, whose mobile number you have, who runs a standing weekly meeting on site and updates the shared photo log daily. You are never chasing a subcontractor for an answer.
We stop, photograph it, price it and send you a written change order. Nothing proceeds until you approve it. About one project in three on a pre-1960 home turns up something hidden, most often old wiring, a past leak or framing that was modified by someone who should not have.
Our carpenters, painters, tile setters and site staff are W-2 employees. Electrical, plumbing, HVAC, concrete and abatement are licensed trade partners we have worked with for years, and they carry their own insurance which we verify annually.
Free estimate
Start at stage one
A fifteen minute phone call. We will tell you whether your project is a fit for us before either of us spends an afternoon on it.
742 projects since 2009 · 3 year workmanship warranty · Licensed, bonded and lead-safe certified (sample figures)