Full Home Renovation in Richmond
Everything at once, sequenced so the trades are not waiting on each other.
Whole-home renovations, scoped and sequenced before anything is demolished.
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What to check, and what to ask
General guidance for homeowners, not specific to your house — worth knowing before you sign with anyone, including us.
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Decide what is structural before you decide what is beautiful
Removing a wall, moving a staircase or opening up a main floor may require an engineer and a permit. Those answers change the drawings, the schedule and the price, so they belong at the front of the process rather than partway through it.
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Ask how the work is sequenced and who is on site when
A whole-home project is a sequence of trades that have to arrive in order. The useful question is not how long it takes but what phase follows what, and what a delay in one trade does to the ones behind it.
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Settle whether you are living in it
Living in the house through the work changes dust control, working hours, which rooms are usable and how the schedule is built. It is a decision that belongs in the scope document, because it costs something either way.
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The systems you never see are the ones to ask about first
Wiring, plumbing supply lines, insulation and the panel are far cheaper to address while walls are open than after they are closed. In an older home, ask specifically what is being replaced and what is being kept.
Before you take any quote
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1. Build the scope document before you invite anyone to price it
Room by room, what is being done and what is being left. Send the same document to everyone. This is the single highest-value hour a homeowner spends on a renovation, because every comparison after it is real and every comparison without it is not.
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2. Insist on a line-item estimate, not a single number
A real estimate names the scope of work, the inclusions and exclusions, the allowances, the payment schedule and how changes are handled. A one-page number leaves all five undefined, and every one of them is somewhere a whole-home project can go wrong at scale.
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3. Compare allowances line by line before you compare totals
Across a whole house, allowances for flooring, tile, fixtures, cabinets and lighting add up to a large share of the job. The lower total is frequently the smaller allowance, and the gap arrives later, one selection at a time, when you have no leverage left.
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4. Tie payments to completed stages and put change orders in writing
Over a long project the calendar and the progress drift apart, and a date-based schedule can leave you paid ahead of the work. Money should follow stages that are finished and, where applicable, inspected. Every extra gets a written, priced change order before it starts.
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5. Verify coverage and permits, and know that unpaid subtrades can reach your title
Ask for the municipal business licence, a liability insurance certificate and a WorkSafeBC clearance letter, and confirm which parts of the work need permits — structural changes, and gas and electrical work, generally do. British Columbia also has builders lien legislation: an unpaid subcontractor or supplier can register a claim against your property even if you have paid the contractor. Ask how subtrades and suppliers are paid, and ask for it in writing.