There are numerous stories of unscrupulous individuals taking advantage of unsuspecting people in the construction industry.  Fortunately, there are some ways to discern which ones are scammers and which are legitimate.  When interviewing contractors, pay attention to the following red flags. TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE:  If you receive a quote that is significantly lower…

When undertaking a remodeling project or new home build, choosing your builder is one of the most important decisions you will make.  A well thought out plan and specifications are critical, but without a good builder you can work with, the best plans can go awry quickly.  Here are three important qualities to look for…

Let’s be honest.  Perfection is unattainable.  Homes are built by people.  People are not perfect.  If you are expecting perfection, you will be disappointed every time.  This doesn’t mean that you can’t or shouldn’t expect excellence though. Excellence means taking imperfect people and materials and executing a process to a very high level. Excellence is…

There are many thoughts on how many bids one should get for a project.  One prevailing method is to procure three to five bids, toss out the highest and the lowest and go with the middle.  There are a few problems with that method.  One being that the lowest bid may not have a problem…

Before designing a new home, it is our recommendation to have the lot you want to build on first.  That way the home can be designed to best fit the lot, with the best views, and you don’t risk having to redesign it due to the limitations of the lot.  That being said, please don’t…

When selecting a contractor to work with, it’s important to first talk with past clients to obtain feedback on their experience.  Before agreeing to work with a contractor, it’s important to know what they did well and what their weaknesses are. It is important to remember while listening to feedback, that no contractor can be…

While not always feasible, we recommend making all your selections before signing a construction contract.  Paint colors, cabinets, plumbing fixtures, hardware, tile, light fixtures, etc., ALL the selections.  When selections aren’t available when ready to sign a construction contract, we will include placeholder allowances for those items in the contract, but this is not ideal….

Often, the budget discussion can be a difficult one to have with clients.  Even when clients are seemingly forthcoming about their budget, we sometimes later learn that they weren’t completely honest about their budget during initial conversations.  I understand the logic, many people think if they say they have less to spend that will help…

While it is true that some designers prefer to design only with their own personal preference of style, most designers, ours included, are more interested in designing in your style.  We genuinely want to deliver a product that you find pleasing, but everyone’s tastes are different.  The more that you can communicate and share, the…

We’ve tackled this subject matter previously, but it’s an important topic that warrants another look.  I was pleasantly surprised when a client told us that one of our competitors told her it was $x/sf to build a custom home.  This didn’t make sense to our client as they had no plans to look at, much…