The Design/Build Process
You have an alternative to the confusing process of hiring one company to design and plan a project and seeking another company to interpret those plans and construct it.
Where do you start, what do you do? Try working with an experienced Design / Build team that will take your job from start to finish.
What we do at our first free meeting
We listen to your desires, visually examine the possibilities, think through and sketch out possibilities, and based on our experience, define budget ranges. We will present an extensive portfolio of similar types of projects to help you visualize the possibilities. We’ll show you examples of CAD plans and perspectives that we will create for your project. We can supply you with over three decades of completed project referrals from our very satisfied clients.
Design/Build Steps
1st Step – Feasibility
If you like our ideas and can work within our budget range, we need to do a feasibility study to define costs and design details. This could cost anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars depending on project scope. You will then be able to see color perspectives of what your space or addition could look like. We also then put some fairly accurate budget numbers to these concepts based on a list of specifications with allowances.
Having done a client questionnaire regarding your preferences and desires, at this point in time you also need to begin to make appliance, fixture, and material choices that will help us to create a design that covers your needs.
2nd Step – Initial Presentation and Revision Stage
We meet to see if we are still on the right track. Specifications and construction plans, elevations and perspectives are presented that bring your project to life. If revisions are needed, we will continue the initial design phase and get you even more involved in making material decisions that affect the overall budget.
While you are at our showroom, we will try to educate you with materials, samples, books and information sources that we have available. At this point, we are both in agreement as to the targeted budget range.
3rd Step – Construction Drawings and Final Specifications and Costs
This design stage begins once you have committed to going forward with the construction. This stage of the design cost is included in the overall construction cost. The plans now become much more detailed and our time spent on your project is extensive. A tentative start date still cannot be made until all the major client decisions have been made.
4th Step – Contract to Build
Most of your decisions have been finalized; zoning permit issues have been taken care of and construction can begin. A more accurate schedule for your project is now available.We hold a pre-construction walk thru with the project manager and lead carpenter so they can prepare for what they need to do. You are given a communication book with all the information about your project. The contract is signed and includes a payment schedule.
During the project we continually are in contact with you, work to resolve any unforeseeable surprises and to finalize any outstanding material or design issues. However, changes, requests, and decisions at this point should go through the lead carpenter first.
Change orders may happen due to site circumstances, the client changing their mind or adding on work while we are in the house. Near the end we put together a joint punch list of items needing completion. Once these items are completed, a Project Manager meets with you and does a final walk-thru and has you sign off that the job is complete.
