Questions we are asked before the contract

It depends on what changes. Replacing cabinets, counters and flooring in the same footprint usually does not require one. Moving or removing a wall, altering framing, relocating plumbing, adding circuits or fixtures, changing windows, or adding square footage generally does. We identify which category your project falls into during the consultation, and if a permit is required we prepare and submit the plan set to the City of Vacaville Building Division or to whichever department has jurisdiction over your parcel.

Review time belongs to the building department, not to us, and it varies with their workload and the complexity of the submittal. A straightforward kitchen alteration is a shorter review than a second-storey addition that needs structural calculations. We give you the department's current stated turnaround at submittal rather than a number we invented, we respond to plan-check comments promptly, and we copy you on the correspondence so you can see where it sits.

For a single bathroom or a kitchen, most households stay. For a whole-home renovation it depends on how the work phases and whether a functioning bathroom and a place to cook can be kept available. We plan this explicitly rather than leaving you to discover it: the scope of work names which rooms are out of service in which weeks, and where a temporary kitchen setup makes sense we say so before the contract is signed.

Zippered containment at every opening into the work area, adhesive film or hardboard over floors and stair treads, furniture moved or wrapped, and negative air pressure in the work zone where the scope justifies it so air moves out of the house rather than into the hallway. The area is swept at the end of each working day. Containment is a line item in the scope, not a courtesy we might get to.

Work in that area stops and we call you the same day. We show you what is there, explain what it means for the scope, and price the change in writing before anything proceeds. Older houses in this area regularly hide undersized framing, previous alterations done without a permit, galvanised supply lines or wiring that no longer meets code. The written scope carries an allowance for what we can reasonably anticipate, and anything beyond it becomes a change order you approve first.

In writing, before the work happens, every time. A change order names what is changing, why, what it adds or subtracts in cost, and what it does to the schedule. You sign it. There is no category of change we absorb quietly and none we bill you for after the fact — a change you did not approve on paper is not a change we perform.

Payments are tied to identifiable stages of completed work, defined in the contract before it is signed, with the amounts and the triggering milestones written out. California law limits what a residential contractor may collect as a down payment, and we work within it. We do not ask for the balance of a job up front and we do not ask for a payment for work that has not been performed.

We produce the drawings needed to build and to permit the work: existing conditions, proposed layout, elevations, and the details a plan checker asks for. Where a project needs a licensed structural engineer's calculations, or an architect for the scale of what you are doing, we say so plainly and coordinate with them. If you already have a designer or architect, we build from their set and coordinate with them directly.

A lead carpenter runs the site and is your point of contact for anything happening that day. Specialty trades — plumbing, electrical, HVAC, tile, cabinet installation, flooring — come in on scheduled windows and are coordinated by that lead rather than by you. You get one name and one number, not a rotating cast to chase.

Final cleaning is in the scope. Construction debris is removed as it accumulates rather than piling in the driveway, surfaces are cleaned, filters are changed where the HVAC system ran during dusty work, and the containment comes down last. We then walk the space with you and write the punch list, which includes anything cosmetic you notice at that point.

You receive written documentation at closeout covering the workmanship warranty period and the separate manufacturer warranties on the fixtures, appliances, cabinetry and materials installed, along with the registration information for each. The specific terms are stated in your contract rather than advertised here, because they belong in the document you sign. {{FILL_BEFORE_LAUNCH}} — confirm the workmanship warranty period stated in your standard contract before publishing.

Vacaville, Fairfield, Suisun City, Dixon, Davis, Napa, and across Solano County, California, including unincorporated parcels where the county rather than a city reviews the permit. Vacaville is our base, so scheduling there is the most flexible. If you are near the edge of that range, call and ask — the answer depends on the size of the project more than on the mileage.

The honest answer depends on the season, on how far along your selections are, and on whether the work needs a permit. Design and selections take weeks; permit review takes weeks more. The projects that start soonest are the ones where decisions are already made. Call and describe the project and we will tell you what the current calendar actually allows rather than what you would like to hear.

Enough to be accurate: access to the rooms involved, a sense of what you want changed, and any drawings, prior permits or HOA requirements you already have. We measure, photograph and check what is behind the finishes where we can. Rough numbers given over the phone without seeing a house are guesses, and guesses are how projects go wrong, so we come out first.