Spend Five Thousand Now or Fifty Thousand Later
Most people who take on a major home remodel do the same thing: they call three contractors, walk them through the house, wave their hands at a few walls, and ask for a quote.
Stefan Carlson has a question for anyone about to do that [1]:
“If you could spend five grand and it would save you 50 grand, would you do it?”
On paper, of course you would. But when a builder tells a homeowner that designing and pricing their project properly takes five to ten thousand dollars in architectural and pre-construction work, a lot of people freeze up. They want the number first, for free, before they commit to anything.
Would You Spend $5K Up Front to Save $50K on a Remodel?
The Cheap Bid Is Usually a Hope
Here is what actually happens when a builder gives you a free number without plans:
“It’s cheap insurance on a construction project to have that plan in place in the beginning, to actually bid out a plan set rather than just guess. Confirmation bias always happens. You’re trying to do it as cheap as possible as you create this number. That is a fictitious thing.”
Nobody wants to lose the job in the living room. So the contractor guesses low.
They don’t do it maliciously. They just assume the easiest scenario. They assume your 200-amp panel has space. They assume the duct trunk isn’t running right through the ceiling you want to raise. They assume the floor is level and the foundation under that bearing point is solid.
Then demo starts. Suddenly the electrician is telling you the panel has to be upgraded. The HVAC contractor says the ductwork has to be rerouted into a soffit you didn’t want. The framer discovers a load-bearing post sitting on a subfloor with zero footings underneath it.
Every one of those becomes an expensive change order. Across the country, projects bid without construction drawings routinely overrun by 25 to 30 percent [2]. On a $200,000 project, that is $50,000 to $60,000 in unexpected costs while your house is torn open and your family is living out of plastic totes.
Catching Problems on Paper
That is why we do not give hard bids without a plan set.
On a major project, we charge an upfront design fee. That money pays for the CAD drawings, the structural engineering review, and the hours it takes for our trade partners to walk the physical house and bid the drawings.
When our plumber gives us a number, he isn’t guessing from his truck. He is looking at the drawing, looking at the basement stack, and pricing the actual pipe run. When the cabinet shop quotes the kitchen, they are pricing the exact dimensions, not a rough guess of linear feet.
Problems always come up, and our process lets us catch more of them on paper. Moving a wall or relocating a vent pipe takes ten minutes on an iPad. Doing it after the framing crew has already nailed it off costs thousands.
Three Things to Demand Before You Sign
Before you hand anyone a deposit for a whole-home remodel in Lincoln, make sure you have these three documents in your hands:
- A complete CAD drawing set: You should see every wall, fixture, cabinet run, and opening. If you can’t see it on paper, nobody knows what they are building.
- A written change order agreement: Not a verbal promise that “we’ll treat you fair.” You need the exact markup percentage, how surprises are documented, and how approvals work before any extra work starts.
- A dedicated project management process: You should have complete visibility into your schedule, daily job-site logs, and clear notice of who is scheduled to be in your home next Tuesday. If a builder’s project management system is just a flip phone and a memory, you’re going to end up playing general contractor yourself.
As Stefan says on camera [3]:
“If your builder can’t produce all three of those things, get out.”
Three Documents You Need Before a Remodel or Build
A free bid that is fifty thousand dollars low isn’t saving you money. You’re just paying the difference later, under stress, with your drywall sitting in a dumpster.
Take a look at our whole-home remodeling approach to see how pre-construction planning works. If you are also comparing kitchen proposals, read our guide on why you should stop asking what a kitchen costs per square foot. Get the plan right, and the build takes care of itself.
Questions We Get
Is an upfront design fee just a way for builders to charge more? No, it’s how you protect your budget. Paying five to ten thousand dollars for detailed architectural drawings and trade walk-throughs prevents the typical 25 to 30 percent budget overrun that happens when contractors bid blind. It is the cheapest insurance you can buy on a major project.
Can I get three competitive bids without drawings? You can, but you will not be comparing the same project. Each contractor will make their own guesses about what is behind the walls, what materials to use, and how to route mechanicals. The lowest bid is almost always the one that made the most optimistic assumptions.
What should be included in a written change order policy? It should clearly state the contractor’s markup on unexpected work, require your written sign-off before any extra work begins, and specify when payments for change orders are due.
What kind of project management system should my builder have? Your builder should have a structured, transparent process that tracks schedules, site updates, trade coordination, and client approvals in one place, so you never have to chase anyone down for an update on your own home.
Sources and References
[1] Stefan Carlson: Would You Spend $5K Up Front to Save $50K on a Remodel?
[2] U.S. Houzz & Home Overview: Renovation Budget Overruns and Pre-Construction Planning
[3] Stefan Carlson: Three Documents You Need Before a Remodel or Build