Before we talk scope or schedule, it helps to know your street or neighbourhood, the rough work you have in mind, and a general timeframe. This page walks through what to gather, how to send a short brief, and what we do with it once it lands.
Most people reach out before they have anything drawn up. That is fine. What helps is a short, honest picture of the property and what you are hoping to change, so the first reply can be useful rather than generic.
Step one
Gather the basics
Write down the street or neighbourhood, the rough scope, and a general timeframe. A kitchen remodel, a bathroom renovation, a garage conversion and a small addition all move at different speeds, so naming the type of work early saves a round of questions.
Step two
Send a short brief
A few paragraphs is enough. Street, scope, timeframe, and anything you already know about the house such as age, previous work, or a known structural quirk. Photos of the current space help, but they are not required to start.
Step three
We read the property context
Before replying, the brief is checked against the site: lot slope, existing footprint, roof tie-ins, and whether the work stays inside the current structure. This is where a garage conversion often turns out to be simpler than an addition, and where a sloped lot changes the foundation plan.
Step four
Permit timelines get noted
Structural changes, additions and utility upgrades each carry their own review path. A bearing wall replacement inside a bungalow can run through the city in a few weeks, while anything touching the footprint or zoning takes longer. Knowing this early keeps the schedule realistic.
Step five
The archive helps shape the brief
Before-and-after photography, floor plan sketches and material notes from past work are there to be read, not sold. If a finish or a layout in the archive matches what you have in mind, say so. It shortens the distance between a vague idea and a workable scope.
Nothing here starts with a sales call. It starts with a short brief and a walk through the property, then moves in steps you can follow and plan around.
Street or neighbourhood, a rough scope such as a kitchen remodel, bathroom renovation, garage conversion or small addition, and a general timeframe. Three lines is enough to start.
Before any meeting, we look at the lot, the age of the house and what the surrounding streets have done. Older homes in the valley often carry surprises behind the plaster, and it helps to know that early.
We walk the space together. Sloped lots, bearing walls, drainage, access for materials and where the trades will park all get noted. This is where a scope usually gets sharper or smaller.
We map what needs a permit and roughly how long the city will take. Kitchen and bathroom work inside the existing footprint usually moves faster than additions or structural changes.
Floor plan sketches, finish selections and the reasoning behind them. You can compare options against the archive of before-and-after photography and material notes before anything is ordered.
Trades are scheduled in order, with the sequence written down so you know what happens each week. At the end we walk the work together and note anything that needs a return visit.
If you want to see how these steps played out on real properties, the approach page walks through the reasoning, and capabilities covers the trades and scope we take on.