How pricing works
How pricing works
We print no figures, because a remodel's cost depends on the house. These are the six questions people ask, answered in plain words.
What decides the price
Five things move the cost of nearly every project here.
The size and the age of the house
How much the plan changes, and whether structure moves
The finishes you choose
Access to the site, and the protected trees on it
Permits and engineering
What the planning fee covers
The survey, the drawings, the selections, the schedule and the budget. It is set out in the planning agreement before it starts, with whether it is credited if you build with us.
Materials and who buys them
We choose and buy most materials. Where you want to choose, an allowance holds a figure until you do. If a choice runs over, the difference is a change you approve.
If the job changes
A change is written, priced and signed by you before the work moves. It raises the maximum by the amount on the page, and by nothing else.
How and when you pay
A deposit when the build agreement is signed, then payments tied to finished work. Each payment comes with a lien waiver for the work it pays for.
When you get the number
The maximum price comes in the binder, before you sign the build agreement. It is the figure the contract carries.
The maximum price
How the maximum price is built
A guaranteed maximum price is a ceiling, and the ceiling has a structure.
What goes in it
- The cost of the work, by trade, as estimated from your drawings
- Allowances for the finishes you haven't yet chosen
- A contingency, held for what the walls and the soil may hold
- Our fee, written as its own line
What happens to it
You pay the real cost of the work, plus the fee, up to the maximum. If allowances or contingency go unspent, they come back to you. If the real cost of the work as drawn runs past the maximum, we pay the difference.
What can raise it
A change you ask for. A condition that no one could see and that exceeds the contingency, and only after you have agreed to it in writing. Nothing else.
The fine print
The signed build agreement governs. It states how the fee is set, how allowances are reconciled and how changes are written. Read it with the binder, and ask us about anything that is unclear.
Want to see how it would work for your house?
The binder is where the number comes from. Start with a conversation.