How We Do It

The design phase is sometimes called preconstruction is the key to a great experience during the other project phases. Our design process is pretty involved, here are the key elements:


Initial meeting where we may or may not talk about the details of your project. The purpose of this meeting is for the potential partners to meet, so we often meet at a coffee shop instead of your home or our office. Large construction projects require a team; we are looking for partners with whom we can establish a working relationship based in trust. If you don’t believe we are trustworthy, then we are not the company for you. It is way better to discover this at the beginning than at the end.


First home meeting is where we begin to create the scope of work. What problem are you trying to solve with this project? Can we correct what you have or do we need to add something new? We will work together to write a scope of work from which Stately Design can create a conceptual budget range for the project.


There are three places the conceptual budget can fall: below what you wanted to invest; right in line with your anticipated investment or above your investment level. Great news if the budget is at or below what you want to invest! But what happens if the budget exceeds what you thought? Well, we are left with two options: reduce the scope of work to match your budget or you can increase your budget to get the project you want. We can work with either option.

We develop projects and price them. We don’t bid on projects, we don’t give free estimates.

Project development for a large renovation is very time consuming. Together we spend a lot of effort to figure out if Stately Design and Renovation is the right contractor for you and to make sure you are the right client for Stately Design and Renovation. If we both reach the conclusion we want to partner on your project the next step is to sign a Preconstruction Services Agreement. The preconstruction services agreement includes a design deposit for us to begin developing your project to the point we can accurately calculate the project cost. We will spend money getting architectural plans, engineering, cabinet designs and spend many hours working to help you make all your selections. When all selections are made and the designs are approved, we will develop a fixed project cost. You will receive a project book just like the one we will use throughout the job.

Project Cost is a single number you will receive from Stately Design & Renovation that will not change unless you decide to change it. We are not the contractor that provides an initial low bid to get the work and then makes all their money on change orders. The only change orders you will ever see from us are the ones you initiate. When we present a project cost, we are agreeing to complete the proposed scope of work for the cost at the bottom of the page. You will not here from us, “Well we didn’t know about ______ (list excuse for change order here), so that will be extra.” If it is on the scope of work, it is included in the project cost. Period.

After we make any required adjustments to the final scope of work and project cost, a construction contract will be presented for your approval and then we will begin the construction process. We will have a job start meeting with the project manager. This meeting will familiarize the project manager with your project. He will ask you many questions to make sure he understands your vision and the scope of work. Permit applications will submitted and materials will be ordered. Demolition is the first step of the construction. Actually, it is the second step, first we have to cover and protect the surfaces that are being left in place – think lots of plastic and blue tape! The project manager will be running the construction with our support in the office. The office team makes sure materials are ordered and delivered when needed. The project manager will meet each trade partner at the beginning of their work to explain the project; he will manager their work and approve it before signing their invoice for payment. When the job is about two weeks from completion, you and the project manager will walk the job together. He will make a list of what needs to be finished and what needs to be corrected. Our goal is to complete the punch list before you move back into the space.

A word about quality control. QC is the responsibility of everyone on the project: the Stately Design & Renovation team and you. We have a detailed payment process tied to a trade partner completing their work and fixing mistakes as we go instead of waiting until the end of the project. Even with all that we do, we miss imperfections that are important to you. Just let us know, in nearly all cases we will be happy to make the fix. But what about when there is a disagreement over quality issues? Most of the time we will happily take care of the problem you discovered. If we just can’t agree, we use the Residential Construction Performance Guidelines by the National Association of Homebuilders to determine if it must be fixed. In the 14 years of our existence, we have not had to refer to the document; we have always been able to work out a solution that works for the partnership.

Move-back-in day has arrived. The jobsite has been cleaned up, the inspections have been completed and those noisy, dusty contractors are not coming to your home any more. You can relax and enjoy your creation! As you begin to use the space, open all the drawers, turn on all the appliances and test everything out, you may find some issues that still need to be addressed. We ask you to keep a list and we will schedule the workers in about 30 days to fix everything at one time instead of each trade coming on different days.