FIXED PRICE VS. COST-PLUS
Know your number before we build.
Most remodels and custom homes are priced one of two ways: cost-plus or a fixed price. We use a fixed price on every project. Here's the difference, and how it has played out on our last 100 projects.
the short version
Estimator Ryan Beaber walks one of our trusted electrical trade partners through a project on site. We don’t guess at cost: trade partners price the scope you signed.
WHY IT MATTERS
“I’m worried about budget surprises once construction starts.”
It’s one of the first things people tell us. Often it comes from a friend’s project, or their own, where the price kept climbing after they signed a construction agreement. A fixed price stops the meter before construction starts.
WE BELIEVE
Budget surprises are the single biggest reason a home project goes sour.
So we own every part we can control, and we tell you early about the parts we can’t.
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HOW THE TWO COMPARE
Pricing is our job. So the risk is ours.
We’ve priced remodels and custom homes since 1997. With cost-plus, if the estimate was low or the work takes longer, you pay the difference. With a fixed price, we do. That’s what you hire a professional for, and it’s what lets you enjoy the process instead of watching the meter.
Fixed price · Forward
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You know your total before construction starts
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If our estimate was low, we cover it
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If the work takes longer, we cover it
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Our fee is built into one price
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You decide with the price in front of you
Cost-plus
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You learn your total when the project ends
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If the estimate was low, you pay the actual cost
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If the work takes longer, you pay for the extra time
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The builder’s fee is often a percentage of cost, so it grows when costs grow
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You decide with an estimate, and a guess
Cost-plus isn’t dishonest. It works like a taxi meter. It’s fair, but you learn the fare at the end.
OUR LAST 100 PROJECTS · 2023–2026
100 projects. 0% over on anything we priced.
Here’s every dollar that changed after signing, and why.
OUR OWN MISSES
0%
added for our own pricing misses or mistakes
HOMEOWNER ADDITIONS
4%
added by extra work homeowners chose to add
HIDDEN CONDITIONS
0.3%
added by conditions hidden behind walls, under floors, or underground
Across all 100 projects, final costs landed 4.3% above the signed prices. Nearly all of that was extra work homeowners chose to add, usually because they liked the design enough to want more of it.
How we count: our last 100 projects completed 2023–2026 across Fixture & Finish Remodeling, interior remodels and additions, and custom homes. Measured against the fixed price in each signed construction agreement, combined across all 100. Every change is tagged by cause. Hidden conditions count only when the cost went above the allowance. Verified by our Controller and updated quarterly.
THE RISK YOU STILL CARRY
What’s on us, and what’s on you.
Saying it out loud builds more trust than pretending the list is empty. Here is exactly where the line sits.
ON US
Anything we priced
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Our estimating. If we priced it wrong, we cover it.
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Labor, and how long our crew takes.
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Trade partner prices for the scope you signed.
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Our mistakes. “This is wrong. We’re fixing it. There’s no cost to you.”
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Materials we buy, store, and install.
ON YOU
Your choices, and what the house is hiding
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Adding to the work. New ideas or upgraded selections after the price is set.
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Changing your mind. We price each change, and you approve it in writing before work starts.
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Hidden conditions. Before we start, we walk you through what could be hiding in a home like yours and set an allowance for it. If something turns up, you see options and a price before we go on.
STRAIGHT ANSWERS
Questions people ask about a fixed price.
It can come in lower, or higher. You don’t find out which until the end. With a fixed price, you know before you start.
At the end of Design and price, after Trade Day. Before that, you work from a budget range that gets tighter as the design firms up.
Not honestly. Two kitchens the same size can differ by a lot. After we walk your home, we’ll give you a real range for your project.
You can. We price the change and you approve it in writing before anyone starts the work.
An amount set aside in your price for things you’ll choose later, like tile or light fixtures. Pick inside it and your price doesn’t change.
We stop, show you what we found, and give you options and a price before we go on. We walk you through what could be hiding before we start, and your price includes an allowance for it, so it’s rarely a total surprise.
