We’re insured. We hold an OSHA 10 safety certification and have nine years of professional work in the trades, including three years of formal apprenticeship under a master electrician. We don’t carry a general contractor’s license — most projects we take on don’t require one. For projects that do, or for specialty work like rough plumbing and hardwood flooring, we bring in licensed specialists we trust and run the project ourselves.

Yes. We can send you a few real estate agents and past clients you can talk to directly. Just ask when we’re scoping the project together.

Boulder, Longmont, Lyons, Estes Park, and most of Boulder County. If your project is in the area and you’re not sure we cover your spot, just ask. We’ve also made unique arrangements for mountain homes outside our usual area when the project’s a fit.

Yes. The first call is always free, and most projects get a written estimate before any work starts. For bigger or more complex projects, we’ll usually do a walkthrough first so the estimate is real, not a guess.

Depends on the project and our current schedule. Smaller jobs we can usually fit in within a week or two. Larger projects book out further. We’ll tell you straight what our timeline looks like as soon as we have a sense of the scope.

Most renovations we take on run between $15,000 and $50,000, with timelines from one to six months. The specific number depends on the scope, the materials, and how many trades the project pulls in. A bathroom on the smaller end can come in under $15,000. A whole-house remodel can run higher. We’ll give you a written estimate after we understand what you’re trying to do.

We have a two-hour minimum on any repair call. Beyond that, smaller repairs are billed at $130 an hour. Most people don’t have trouble finding two hours of small stuff worth doing while we’re there.

Three reasons usually. First is what each contractor is including — some quote just labor and not materials, some leave out small line items that show up later. Second is who’s doing the work — a contractor charging less might be using less experienced labor or cutting steps you can’t see. Third is honesty about timeline — a contractor who quotes a too-fast schedule often invoices more at the end when reality catches up. If two estimates are far apart, ask each one what’s actually in their number.

Our goal is yes. The estimate is the estimate. If something changes — you add work, we find something unexpected behind a wall, a material isn’t available — we write up a change order with the new scope and cost before doing any extra work. Nothing gets added to your bill without you signing off first.

No. The first conversation and walkthrough are part of figuring out whether we’re a fit. We don’t charge for those.

For larger projects, we typically take a deposit up front and bill on a schedule that fits the project — sometimes weekly, sometimes tied to milestones like flooring being finished. For smaller repairs and punch-list days, we invoice at the end. Everything is in writing before we start, so the payment structure is never a surprise.

Rough version: a repair fixes something that broke or stopped working. A small build adds something new (a deck, a built-in, a finished basement) without touching the rest of the house much. A renovation rearranges what’s already there and usually involves multiple trades in the same room. Most repairs are a day or two. Most small builds are a few days to two weeks. Most renovations run one to six months.

For repairs and small builds, not much. For renovations, the most useful thing is a clear sense of what you want the space to do for you. The specific decisions — tile, paint, fixtures, finishes — we can work through together. The clients who enjoy renovations most are the ones willing to make some decisions along the way rather than locking everything down upfront.

That’s fine for most projects. We don’t draw architectural plans, but we work with photos, sketches, Pinterest references, or just a conversation. For projects that genuinely need professional plans (additions, structural changes), we can point you to a designer or architect.

A real change order means the scope changed — you asked for something different, or we found something unexpected behind a wall. Honest change orders show up in writing with their own scope and price, before any extra work happens. Sketchy change orders are the ones a contractor mumbles about and adds to the final invoice without telling you. We do the first kind, not the second.

We tell you. We stop, explain what we found, show you the options, and you decide what you want to do. You won’t get a surprise invoice from us. The most common version of this is water damage, which is almost always more involved than people expect — we’ll talk you through what we’re seeing.

Yes. Most days you’ll get an update on what got done and what’s next. We’re available by text. If something comes up that needs a decision from you, we’ll surface it early rather than waiting until it’s blocking us.

More than you think. For every decision you can name (paint color, tile choice, fixture style), there are usually four or five smaller ones underneath it. Where the tile meets the floor. How the floor transitions between rooms. Whether the new trim fits the existing doors. We’ll walk you through the cascades, but renovations are decision-heavy — going in expecting that helps.

That at some point in a real project, something is going to go sideways. Budgets stretch. Timelines push. A compromise gets made. That’s true of every project anyone has ever done. The question isn’t whether it’ll happen — it’s whether you and your contractor can sit across from each other when it does and figure it out together.

A few signs. Honest contractors put things in writing without being asked. They explain why something costs what it costs without getting defensive. They tell you what they don’t know. They don’t promise quality, speed, and cheap all at once — you can have any two of those three, not all three. And they communicate during the project, not just at the start and end.

Because we’re better at some things than others. We do carpentry, electrical, tile, trim, drywall up to a point, and finish work. We bring in specialists for rough plumbing, hardwood flooring, and bigger drywall jobs — those people do their specialties better and faster than we would. We’d rather be honest about what we do best and what we hire out for.

Yes. Pre-sale prep, post-sale punch lists, and inspection-driven items. Often we work both sides of the same deal: the seller hires us, then the buyer asks for our name. We have a dedicated page for real estate partnerships.

Most of them. We don’t take on brutal timelines where the math just doesn’t work, but reasonable real estate timelines are part of how we work. Sellers usually have the tighter window; buyer punch lists have closing windows to hit. We’ll tell you up front whether your timeline is doable.

That’s most of the job, honestly. A bad contractor in a client’s home creates a problem for the agent who referred them. We take that seriously. We’re on time, we communicate clearly, we don’t track mud, and we don’t argue with clients. Your reputation rides with ours when we walk in.