We provide the following services for Homeowners:
COMPUTER GENERATED PLANS
We can provide Conceptual, Preliminary, and Final Construction Plans. See the Drafting tab for current details.
SCOPE OF WORK
Create a
Detailed Scope of Work based on your plans & selections, to be shared with your General Contractor, or multiply contractors (and their Trade Partners) who will provide cost estimates for your project.
Often, clients & contractors assume that if everyone has a copy of the plans & a verbal description of the the project & the clients wishes, that everyone one will be bidding the same thing, and the price will be the only difference. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Without a clear scope of work, some contractors (and Trade Partners) may bid cheap fixture "allowances" & millwork that does not match your wishes or your house. Some contractors may purposely leave out fixture cost & some of the
work needed in order to be the low bidder, and then after your house is
torn apart, tell you what was not in their bid, or that your selections
will incur an additional cost.
Some Trade Partners do not see all the work involved and miss items, which makes their bid appear low.
Other contractors may be more diligent in seeing work that needs to be done, and assume you want to match the details of the existing house. Their bid might be higher but more accurate.
Having a detailed scope of work makes sure that everyone is bidding Apples-to-Apples. If their bid failed to have enough money in it, then it's the contractors problem, because you have a clear scope of work that they are agreeing to build for the sum presented. The scope of work should be a part of your contract with the General Contractor, for his protection and yours.
PRE-BID PROJECTS
We can Pre-Bid Projects with local Trade
Partners costs and with General Contractors mark-ups to provide a
realistic cost you can expect when the project is sent out for
bids.
COST vs. PRICE TO BUILD
Unfortunately, too often Architects tell their clients what it will "Cost" to have their project built, but not a realistic "Price" to have a General Contractor build the project.
Architects get paid for drawing the plans. They don't care whether you build the project or not, because they get paid either way. If the actual "price" to build the project is twice what you expected, then it's "back to the drawing board" and they get paid some more to re-draw the plans.
SELECTING A GENERAL CONTRACTOR
We can help you find a dependable, trustworthy, General Contractor. As is indicated above, the lowest price is rarely the reason for selecting a contractor.
All contractors have the same material cost, if they are bidding the same Scope of Work. Overhead and sub-contractors can very, but generally speaking if there is a big difference in price
BEWARE! You might get nickeled and dimed after the project starts or the
workmanship may be lacking.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE YOUR OWN GENERAL CONTRACTOR?
If you would like to be your own General Contractor we can help you with that, but be prepared for a lot of work.
LARGE REMODELING PROJECTS
If you are considering a large remodel project we would encourage you to use a well established General Contractor. There is a lot of work, and expertise, in coordinating materials & sub-contractors so that a project can be done in a timely and professional manor. In addition, most General Contractors have developed long relations with sub-contractors who are honest, reliable, reasonably priced, and have proven craftsmanship abilities.
