First Meeting

During our first meeting we take the time to get to know you, our client. As we listen to your project description, we work to gain a thorough understanding of your goals and ideas. We will work through your current design, or help you develop a representation of your dreams. We'll discuss the highlights and hindrances of your current home, and how we can improve upon that design to meet your needs, uses, and lifestyle. After gaining a true understanding of your needs, we will begin to develop a style; modern, contemporary, classic, traditional or something in between. From there we will establish a budget, including financing and return on your investment. This will help refine the project in order to get the most out of your remodel dollars.

Finally, we want to discuss the most important criteria you have in finding a contractor. Are you looking for experience and references? Have you experienced other contractors lacking in communication, follow-through or transparency? Is scheduling critical to you? We tend to exceed expectations in all of these categories and look forward to finding a way to meet your exacting standards.

Feasibility Study

After our first meeting, we take the information we gathered and turn that into a ballpark figure to help you determine if your project and budget goals are compatible. We apply our company historical data, consultations with our specialty contractors, and current material costs to the proposed scope of work to arrive at a general cost of construction. These are rough numbers to help you determine what design elements you can include within a targeted budget. This simple, but crucial step can help to dictate the course and climate of the remodel. We always recommend that our customers take advantage of this complimentary service.

The Design Team

Once you have determined that your project is feasible and you would like to buy our services, it is time to assemble the design team. At this time we will draw up a design contract that will preside over this phase of the project. Not every job requires an architect. Sometimes, on smaller jobs, all that is needed is an interior designer or an experienced contractor and drafting/expediting service. However, the ideal design team includes a coalition of professionals including the architect, engineers & specialty consultants, the contractor, and most importantly, the homeowner. The best investment you can make at this stage is to invest in a good plan from the right professionals. This will provide the assurance that changes can be made on paper rather than in the field which will, in turn, avoid the high cost and time delays associated with designing 'on the fly'.

Plan Set & Permitting

Upon completion of a finalized design, the local jurisdiction is consulted for approval and permitting. Permitting costs are based on the actual design and will be determined during the plan review. Small design changes may need to be made at this point, resulting in alterations to the original plans. The processing time for a building permit is largely dependent on the city you are building in, as well as the number of other builders requesting permits at the same time. The optimal time to begin planning your project is outside of the busy spring season.