We completely understand that undertaking a remodel can seem like a daunting task. We have simplified our process to make your life easier. Our process comprises:
Initial Consultation - Rough Estimate/Detailed Estimate - Sign the Contract - Begin Construction/Weekly Update - Final Check.
We are happy to meet with you in person at no cost. During our first meeting, we can discuss project scope, goals, expectations, and timeline. Our business model is slightly different from other contractors. Our markup is simple. We markup all our subcontractors 18%. Many elements of the project stay in house. Our carpenter labor is billed at $60/hr. Unlike other contractors in the marketplace, we try to estimate our jobs accurate from the beginning. We don't give the customer an initial low project price to then significantly increase the estimate during the construction project.
Prior to initial consultation, it is extremely useful if you have all questions ready for us. We pride ourselves on being a very transparent company. We will give you our honest opinion about your project during our initial consultation.
After meeting with us, we are happy to give you a ball park estimate of your project. Given how time consuming it is to provide a detailed estimate and given how the construction landscape has changed during Covid-19, we no longer provide free detailed estimates. If your goal is to have a detailed estimate, we are happy to craft one for your project. For a project under $100K a typical estimate costs about $450. We work on a cost + system. Our detailed estimate is not a bid. It is a pretty realistic number of what to expect assuming the project has no unexpected surprises. Please observe that with Covid-19 the price of building materials has increased between 45% and 189% depending on what supply we are talking about. As such, we estimate based on actual price when we craft the estimate.
If you choose to move forward with us, we will sign a contract and take a 20 % deposit.
Once we agree on a starting date, we will begin the project. In order to optimize delivery, we will give specific updates once per week. Any change in project scope will have a written change order. We will not address any surprises without talking with you first. If any surprises arise, you will be provided with an array of possible solutions and outcomes. We pride ourselves in keeping the customer informed at all times. We are efficient and extremely conscious of not wasting materials.
You will be billed every two weeks for all of our labor, the cost of subcontractors (such as electricians and plumbers), all construction materials up to date, building permits, equipment rental, and any other job related costs which will include the contracting markup. Our markup includes a one-year warranty for every project. The markup also includes project management costs, insurance & marketing. Project management costs include project accounting, subcontractor management and customer communication.
An important aspect of planning your project is hiring the right consultant. The right consultant will help you formulate the right questions to ask. Most of our clients come with a very unique combination of lifestyle and budget. Many of them come from out of State with the dream of making our Colorado mountains their home. Mountain living requires experience. It requires understanding what type of home design works and why. This understanding can be facilitated by someone who actually has experience both living in the mountains and building in them. Unfortunately, not all architects who are based out of Boulder, Colorado understand what it means to live in high altitude places. If they do, they will most likely make designs that are very expensive to execute on. At the end of the day, most architectural firms in Boulder are used to working with millionaires. They can't fathom simple affordable designs that actually work quite well. Our company understands what it means to design affordably for high altitude environments. We have lived above 8,250 ft of elevation for over 15 years. In the last 14 years, we have worked in more than 75 mountain homes. When it comes to planning & designing a remodel in the mountains, we understand deeply what works and what doesn't. We understand the why behind a proper system design. We also know how to enhance the cost effectiveness of a project. Consulting with us will literally save you thousands of dollars in the long run.
Time and time again we learn that many of our customers should have called us prior to hiring an architect. In Colorado, hiring an architect is a very expensive endeavor. In our experience, many times architectural designs don't work for the piece of land that you acquired, the type of budget that you have in mind or quite simply the lifestyle that you desire.
We have put together two short case studies for you to think carefully before executing on your project.
John and Mary wanted to remodel a high altitude historic structure they had purchased years ago. The cabin is located at 8,250 ft of elevation. Prior to asking the correct questions, they hired a Boulder based architectural firm. They paid $25,000 for a set of drawings and went home ready to hire a builder. We were asked to execute on the drawings based on a budget that the client had in mind. Upon meeting the first time, we told our client that the architectural plans they had paid for made very little sense for what they hand in mind. They refused to consider the option of altering the drawings. Fifty hours of consulting later, all of our concerns and honest opinion did not manage to change their very fixed view. At the end of the day, the architect had to be right. Based on the shape of the land, the extent of excavation needed, the positioning of the sun in the winter time and the overall set of steps required to execute on the drawings they had already paid for, we came up with an approximate remodeling cost of $370/sq foot. They wanted to execute the plans at a total cost of $250 sq/ft. That is what their architect had estimated for the project. Thankfully, we lost the job. We were told that we "really did not know cost accounting" and that "we couldn't execute on complexity". Basically, our expertise was questioned.
The clients hired a Boulder based General Contracting firm that promised them a flawless execution given their desired budget. Two and a half years later, the project was reduced to what we had suggested the clients on day one. Their remodel area was cut in half. The project was so complex that the idea had to be modified many times. A project that should have lasted 16 months lasted over 24 months. The drawings ended up being useless as predicted. The only element that did not change was cost. Their project ended up costing them $500/sqft. Excavation cost alone was over 35% of their budget. Excavation ended up being executed in the winter, the nightmare that most contractors try to avoid. Had they consulted with us on day one, they would have saved $25,000 on useless architectural drawings, $130/sq ft on execution and over eighth months of headache.
Peter and Caroline wanted our company to build all the systems needed for winter living in a Yurt. Prior to contacting us, they had already purchased a high end 35 ft in diameter $25,000 Yurt with bells and whistles as they say. Upon initial consultation, we noticed that they had failed to ask all the pertinent questions leading to answer the most important question of them all: Can we make this project happen on the budget that we have? They had not asked themselves a single question regarding permit process, site plan review, septic capabilities, access to electricity, insulation options for high altitude living and the list goes on and on. They had thought that buying the yurt was the main project cost. It turns out that a septic system alone for the type of project they had in mind costs about $25,000.
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