Pricing
How a two-phase project is priced
No figures on this page, because the house sets them. A written price comes at the end of phase one, built from your drawings.
What decides the price
In design-build the price follows the house and the choices in it, not a square-foot rate. Cost guides disagree widely, because a kitchen can be a cabinet swap or a gutted room, so we don't print an average.
Whether walls, plumbing or the roofline move
The age of the house and what is behind the walls
Materials and finish level, room by room
Site access, slope and season
Permits, design review and engineering
What the design fee covers
The design retainer pays for phase one: measuring, layout options, the drawing set, selections, design review and the written build price. It is its own agreement. The amount is set by the size and complexity of the project, written in the retainer agreement and credited toward the build if you hire us.
The amount and what you receive are written before drawing begins
Billed as the drawings progress
What the estimate includes, and what it doesn't
The written build price is itemized by part of the house, with the allowances we have set and what we have left out.
Included: framing, trades, finishes, permits for work we contract, protection and cleanup
Not included: furniture, appliances you buy yourself, items you haven't chosen (an allowance stands in) and surveys or engineering stamps unless listed
How and when you pay
Payments follow the written build agreement and Oregon law: a deposit at signing, then payments tied to stages of the work. You see the schedule before you sign.
Nothing is due ahead of the work it pays for
The final payment follows the walk-through list
If the job changes
A change to the work is priced in writing, with its effect on the schedule, before it is built. You approve each one.
Changes are signed before work starts
Hidden conditions are reported the day they are found
Materials and who buys them
You choose materials in phase one, and we order them. Items not yet chosen carry an allowance in the price, and the difference is adjusted in writing once you decide.
Lead times are written into the schedule
Allowances are listed by item
We don't arrange financing. If you plan to borrow, ask your lender about renovation loans during phase one; we will give them the written price.
Why no average
Why we don't print a price per square foot
The same floor area can be a kitchen with the walls in place or a kitchen with the roof off. A number printed before the drawing exists would be about a different house than yours.
The retainer is how we avoid that. It buys the drawings and the price together, so the first number you see is about your house, and you can change the house until the number suits you.
Ask what phase one would cost for your house.
We give you the retainer's scope and amount in writing after the first conversation, before you sign anything.