What we build · Whole-House Renovation
Renovation — Where the Unknowns Live
Renovating an existing house is harder to price than building a new one, because a meaningful part of the scope is behind finishes nobody has opened.
Bring the drawings at whatever stage they are. An honest range and the decisions that move it, before anyone quotes.
Licensed
General contractor, licensed in the state of Florida
Self-perform
Dewatering, SOE and deep foundations in house
Leadership
Delivered Fifth Avenue and Central Park West interiors
Open book
Where the contract is cost-plus, the books open
You are pricing a building you cannot see
Original plumbing, aluminum or undersized wiring, undocumented past renovations, structural changes made without permits, asbestos in older finishes, and rot behind a bathroom wall — every one is common and none is visible at estimate. A renovation price without an explicit allowance for concealed conditions is a number that will change.
What we open before pricing
- Selective demolition at estimate stage where the owner will allow it.
- Permit history, which reveals what was done without one.
- Electrical service capacity, frequently the hidden ceiling on modern systems.
- Plumbing material and age — cast iron and polybutylene both have a clock.
- Structural changes from previous work, especially removed walls.
How we handle it
- 01Pull the permit history before pricing anything.
- 02Selective demolition where possible, so the estimate has evidence behind it.
- 03A stated concealed-conditions allowance, not a hopeful fixed price.
- 04Sequence to keep the house weathertight and secure throughout.
- 05Bring systems to current code where the work triggers it.
- 06Punch, turnover, warranty walk.
The permit history is one of the cheapest and most revealing documents available, and almost nobody pulls it. A house with a 1998 addition and no permit for it is telling you something important about what you will find in that wall.
Said plainly
Where we stop
If a house needs everything — roof, systems, structure, envelope — there is a point where renovation costs more than a rebuild and delivers less. We will run that comparison honestly even though the renovation is the bigger contract for us.
FAQ
Common questions
- Why can you not give me a fixed price?
- Because part of the scope is behind finishes. We can fix most of it and carry an explicit allowance for the rest, which is honest rather than evasive.
- Should I renovate or rebuild?
- If it needs roof, systems, structure and envelope, rebuild is often cheaper and better. We will run the comparison.
- Can we live in it during the work?
- On a whole-house renovation, rarely. On a phased one, sometimes. We will be honest about which.
- What about asbestos?
- Testing before demolition on older houses is routine and required. It is a cost and a schedule item, not a disaster.
The decisions
Fixed Price or Cost-Plus
The contract type decides who carries the risk of the unknown, and both answers are legitimate. What is not legitimate is a fixed price on drawings that cannot support one.
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Choosing a Builder
Three builders will show you three beautiful portfolios and three numbers that differ by a lot. The portfolio tells you what they photograph, not what they are like to build with.
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Allowances & Selections
An allowance is a placeholder for a decision you have not made. A contract full of them is a contract whose final number has not been decided.
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The Program
Every owner is told a number at the start and most projects take longer. The gap is usually permitting, long-lead items and decisions — rarely the building itself.
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Change Orders
Change orders are normal. Designs evolve, owners change their minds, and buildings reveal things. What is not normal is finding out about them at the end.
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More what we build
Custom Homes
A custom home is the only project where every decision is still open, which is exactly why it is the easiest one to lose control of financially.
Read more →
Waterfront Construction
On a waterfront lot the building is often the straightforward part. The water table, the seawall, the flood elevation and the permitting are what decide the program and a large share of the cost.
Read more →
Historic Restoration
In a historic district the approval process governs the design, and it operates on a timescale that has nothing to do with construction.
Read more →
Next step
Find out what is actually wrong with it.
An inspection, photographs of what we found, and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, that is the answer you will get.