Our Process
For a single room, basement or whole house remodel, our process is pretty much the same. It is the same method we use when planning a custom-built home.
Initial Meeting
First we will come to your home to view the existing layout and discuss your intentions. We will cover any existing problems with the structure and offer suggestions of the best ways to proceed. With our years of experience and professional staff, we generally find reasonable solutions to your issues.
We are happy to offer samples of completed projects as well as a list of references and homeowners we have worked for. These materials are left with you for further study and discussion within your family unit.
With this information in hand, we can offer a very rough estimate of the cost and time necessary to give you what you want.
Design Meeting
As you come to a decision, we will schedule a meeting to discuss the design phase. We will ask for a design retainer at that time. Depending on the project, we will assign an architectural technologist or an industrial designer. This individual will take measurements and ask a number of additional questions. You should plan on this taking several hours since it will involve significant detail.
Design Presentation
In about two weeks after the design meeting, we will give you our draft of the new design. Since we only work on a custom basis, you are able to make as many changes as you think necessary.
Next, our design team will return to your home and review the revisions you want. After the design is modified, we will present it to you again. We will continue this process until you are thoroughly satisfied with the overall project and design.
Pricing Meeting
After the design is finalized, we will contact each discipline to provide their estimate of cost of goods, equipment and labor. We have found that by handling this early, we avoid 98% of overruns and other errors.
Our preliminary report will itemize each trade and the specifics of their contributions. The plans will be finalized and then representatives of each specialty will come to your home to take their own measurements and discuss aspects of their portion of the project.
Experience has shown that this provides a firm basis for the project and allows the homeowners to see how our team functions.
Presentation Meeting
In about three to four weeks after the pricing meeting, we will send you a Project Scope Estimate. This will be extremely detailed and show you each quote from each trade and how they all integrate into a finished product and ultimate price.
This meeting generally becomes quite lengthy. We do not expect an immediate decision but will leave the material for you to review and decide when you are ready to proceed.
Contract
When you have made the decision to work with HighBridge, we will have a contract drawn up that will include a final estimate. You will have several days for a final review and make any decisions about optional issues or designs. At this point communication is handled by email to facilitate the process.
Once we have a final decision has been made, we wills schedule a physical meeting where all the documents are signed and you turn over a deposit cheque. At that point we schedule a start date, set a duration, and establish a completion date.
Materials
Many of our clients have selected materials and finishes prior to the pricing meeting. That gives us a better idea of the actual cost and availability of the materials. If not all the decisions have been made, we create allowance amounts.
Our design team is available to consult with you. Some individuals prefer to make all the selections themselves, and that is perfectly acceptable. We do encourage the use of a designer to be sure everything is coordinated the way you want it and can streamline the process.
In order to keep on track, we provide a “decision calendar”. This gives dates by which certain selections must be made. If those deadlines are not met, it can greatly impact the completion date of the project. We have found good communication to be the key to this element.
Start
We then proceed to secure the appropriate local permits. Depending on the type and backlog with the governmental entities involved, we estimate the remodel to begin within four weeks after contract signing.
We encourage our clients to move out of your home during the renovation. There can be a great deal of noise and mess and general disturbance of daily activities. If it is not possible for you to find alternate lodging, we will do our best to keep the chaos to a minimum.
Our project manager makes daily visits to the site to coordinate activities and oversee the project. Our workers and supervisors will be at your home only during the hours you have specified. We have measures to keep the dust away from your living area.
Changes
You have probably heard horror stories of changes that end up costing the homeowner thousands of dollars. We don’t believe in that type of behaviour. We price our projects with good quality, mid-grade selections. If you decide on an upgrade, or there are things that crop up, there will be some changes. In that event, we will need to charge for the additional materials and/or labor, but will not add any type of administration fee.
We use an online management software that is available for your viewing. It is a simple process and any approved changes are immediately reflected in the accounting. If the impact is greater than expected, we will ask about this in advance.
Completion
During the construction phase sometimes a project gets done ahead of schedule while another one may seem to lag. This is pretty normal. Our project manager communicates with the contractors on a regular (and irregular) basis to be sure your project remains on track.
About two weeks before the project ends, we will do all the little things that differentiate us. We will have everything tidy and clean, including the furnace and windows! When the big day arrives, you just move your furniture where you want it.
Service and Warranty
It is our policy to provide a two-year warranty on all workmanship and materials. On the day we introduce you to your new space we conduct a walk-through. At that time we will discuss any small issues that have occurred and make sure they are resolved to your satisfaction. Then we schedule additional reviews at the one and two year anniversaries.
Our service doesn’t stop there. If you feel you can benefit from our service in the future, we are happy to help with any issue. We are able to help with repairs or adjustments as they occur.
Design Builds Menu
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