Six stages, and what you're doing during each one.

Design and build under one roof means there is no handoff. The person who drew it is answerable for what it costs to build, which removes the single most expensive conversation in this industry: the one where the architect says the builder is wrong and the builder says the drawings were never buildable, and you pay for both opinions.

Living through it

The questions people ask us last, and worry about first.

None of these are about design. All of them decide whether you enjoy the year you spend doing this.

How long am I without a kitchen?

Nine to eleven weeks on a typical kitchen — from the morning demolition starts to the day the range is connected. Not the whole project. The design and permit stages happen while you’re still cooking normally, which is most of the calendar and none of the pain.

We set up a temporary kitchen before we take the real one out: fridge, microwave, kettle and the sink you’ll actually use, somewhere sensible. It takes half a day and it’s in the general conditions line, not an extra.

Who is going to be in my house?

The same small group, most days: the project lead and two carpenters, plus whichever trade is scheduled. We use the same electricians, plumbers and tilers on every job, so you meet a rotation of people we know rather than whoever was available.

You get the names before they arrive. Everyone carries their own liability cover and workers’ compensation, and we hold current certificates for all of them.

Does the dust get into everything?

Some of it always does, and anyone who promises otherwise hasn’t done demolition. What we can do is contain most of it: a sealed dust wall with a zippered door, floor protection along every route we walk, and negative air pressure in the work area so what does get loose gets pulled outside rather than pushed down the hall.

Plaster demolition in a pre-war house is the worst day of the job for dust. We tell you which day that is, and most people go out.

What stops you disappearing for two weeks?

Money, mostly. Draws are tied to completed stages rather than to dates, so a week where nothing happens is a week we don’t get paid for. That’s a better guarantee than a promise.

Beyond that: a written update every Friday with photographs and the week’s spend, and a named project lead whose phone you have. If a Friday update doesn’t arrive, something is wrong and you should call us about it.

Can we stay in the house?

For a kitchen or a single bathroom, almost always — and most people do. For a whole-home renovation, staying in adds roughly 15 to 25% in time and about 8% in cost, because everything gets phased around you.

We’ll price both and tell you honestly which we’d choose. Sometimes the rent is cheaper than the phasing.

What about the dog?

Tell us on day one. Gates go where you want them, the crew knows the name, and nobody props the back door open on a nice afternoon.

One thing to check on any bid

North Carolina requires a general contractor license at $40,000 and above.

Almost every project on this site is over that threshold. Before a building department will issue a permit for work at or above it, whoever pulls the permit has to show they are licensed — which is why unlicensed work so often arrives with a suggestion that you pull the permit yourself, or that you do not need one.

You can check any Charlotte contractor in about a minute on the North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors’ public search. Do it for everyone you are considering, including us.