How a project runs, start to finish
Six phases. Two of them are where money changes hands, and both are marked, because those are the moments every competitor buries.
The money question is on The Right Fit — this page is about how the engagement runs, whichever room it is in.
Discovery
We come to your house, walk the space, listen to what is not working, and talk honestly about range and timing before anybody draws anything. It is free, it happens at your house, and it ends in writing.
- What we do
- Walk the house, ask what is not working, and put a scope and a realistic investment band on paper.
- What you do
- Show us the house and say what you actually want, including the parts you think are unreasonable.
- What you get
- A written summary of scope and a realistic investment band
Design Agreement
PaymentFirst payment — the design fee
We put the design phase under a signed agreement with a defined fee, a defined scope of drawings, and a defined number of revisions. You own the drawings. This is the first time money changes hands and we would rather you saw it coming long before you got here.
- What we do
- Define the design fee, the scope of drawings, and how many revisions are included — then put all three in one document.
- What you do
- Sign, and pay the design fee.
- What you get
- Signed design agreement
Design & Selections
Measured drawings, layout options, structural review, and then selections — tile, cabinetry, fixtures, finishes — with our Selections Coordinator, inside the design phase rather than after it. That single sequencing decision is the reason our projects finish closer to their original schedule than they otherwise would.
- What we do
- Measure, draw, review the structure, and run every selection to a calendar you get on day one.
- What you do
- Make decisions with us, in a showroom or at our table, on a schedule we hand you at the start.
- What you get
- Construction drawings and a complete selections schedule
Fixed-Price Proposal
PaymentConstruction contract — the payment schedule starts here
We price the drawings we produced, with the trades who will do the work, and hand you one number with the scope attached. It is a fixed price with an itemized scope, not an estimate — and it is the first number we will ever ask you to sign.
- What we do
- Price the drawings with the trades who will build them, and attach the itemized scope, the payment schedule, and the dates.
- What you do
- Read it, ask everything, and either sign it or don't — no pressure and no expiry games.
- What you get
- A fixed-price construction agreement with itemized scope, payment schedule, and start and completion dates
Construction
One production manager and one project manager. Weekly written updates. A schedule you can see. Change orders in writing, priced, and signed before the work happens — never after.
- What we do
- Run the field, the trades, and the inspections, and write you a real update every week.
- What you do
- Live in your house, mostly. Come to the weekly walk if you want to.
- What you get
- The work
Warranty Walk
We walk the finished project with you, close the punch list, hand over manuals and the warranty document, and come back at eleven months to look again before the first year closes. Uninvited.
- What we do
- Close the punch list, hand over the written warranty and the manuals, and return at eleven months.
- What you do
- Tell us what is not right. All of it.
- What you get
- Warranty certificate and the eleven-month return visit
What is in the contract you sign at phase 4
The Fixed-Price Proposal becomes the construction agreement. It states the scope in itemized detail, the payment schedule and the dates, and every change to it is priced and signed by both of us before the work happens — never after.
The five-year workmanship warranty
Covered
- Framing, drywall, and structural work we performed
- Tile setting and the waterproofing assemblies behind it
- Cabinetry and millwork installation
- Trim, and paint adhesion on surfaces we prepared
- The installation of the fixtures, appliances and systems we put in
Not covered
- The manufactured products themselves — appliances, fixtures, windows, flooring products and cabinetry finishes carry their own written manufacturer warranties
- Normal settlement cracking and the seasonal movement of wood
- Damage from misuse or deferred maintenance
- Water intrusion originating outside our scope of work
- Work performed by others after us
- Term
- five years, from the date of substantial completion
- Transfer
- Transferable once to a subsequent owner within the term.
- Full text
- The full written warranty is part of your contract, is handed to you at the warranty walk, and we will email a copy any time you ask. Scope, exclusions and source.
Questions about the process
What is a Design Agreement and what does it commit me to?
A signed agreement covering the design phase only: a defined fee, a defined scope of drawings, and a defined number of revisions. It commits you to the design work and to nothing else — you are not signing a construction contract, and you own the drawings whatever you decide afterwards.
What happens if the Fixed-Price Proposal comes back higher than the Discovery range?
We reconcile the design and the investment during design rather than after it, which is the whole reason the two phases are in that order. If the number still lands higher than the band, we show you what moves it and you decide. You are not obliged to sign anything at phase four.
What is the payment schedule and when does money move?
Twice, and we name both moments rather than burying them. The design fee is paid at the Design Agreement in phase two. Construction payments follow a schedule written into the fixed-price agreement in phase four and are tied to progress — we do not ask for the balance up front.
What is the eleven-month visit?
We come back eleven months after substantial completion, uninvited, to look at the work again before your first year closes. Anything that has moved, settled or failed gets caught while the warranty is unambiguous rather than at month fourteen.
Tell us about your house.
A Discovery visit is free, it happens at your house, and it ends with a written summary of scope and a realistic investment band.
