Structural condition
Older Birmingham and Bloomfield homes often need mechanical, electrical, or structural work hidden until walls open. Mid-century framing sometimes requires reinforcement.
What Projects
Cost.
Investment + Ranges
Transparent pricing for every service.
Investment ranges for every service — because pricing transparency is how trust starts. Custom homes from $700,000; whole-home remodels and additions from $200,000. Every project scoped and priced during paid preconstruction, so you know the fixed price before construction begins.
Transparent. Honest. No surprises.
Services + Ranges
Investment ranges by service type.
Four services, four investment floors. Ranges below reflect 2026 Oakland County conditions. A 3,000 sf custom home typically lands $750K–$1.2M; whole-home remodels $500K–$800K; complex or premium custom builds reach $500+/sf. The mid-range column is where projects most commonly land, not a ceiling.
Service
Floor
Per-sf range
Typical mid-range
Custom homes
$700K
$250–$400+/sf
$750K–$1.2M (3,000 sf)
Whole-home remodels
$200K
$275–$300/sf starting
$500K–$800K
Additions
$200K
$275–$300/sf starting
$300K–$600K
Commercial TI
Quoted by scope
$50–$250+/sf
Varies by use
Note: Custom home ranges exclude land acquisition, demolition, or extraordinary site work (grading, retaining walls, private road construction). Commercial TI ranges exclude tenant furniture, fixtures, and equipment.
Price + Certainty
Why the price-certainty advantage.
Traditional construction designs blind to cost. Architect produces drawings without real-time labor or material input; project goes to bid; numbers land 20–40% over budget; redesign and rebidding follow. The owner pays for drawings twice and the schedule slips.
Design-build validates every design decision against current Oakland County material and labor rates while the design is still yours to change. Scope, budget, and schedule move together. That's why change orders average 3–7% vs. 10–20% on traditional design-bid-build. Fixed price you can plan around, schedule that holds.
Preconstruction + Phase
The paid preconstruction phase.
Preconstruction runs 4–8 weeks — commercial 4–6, residential 6–8. Covers architecture (in-house or architect-collaboration), engineering, permit packages, finish selections, subcontractor scope, and a fixed-price construction bid. Fees 3–8% of estimated construction value, rolling toward construction when you commit to build.
You're not obligated to proceed. If the project doesn't make sense once fully scoped and priced, you leave with completed plans and hard-cost data — not a $40,000 architect bill and drawings no contractor will stand behind. That's the trade: a paid preconstruction phase for a price you can trust.
Variation + Drivers
What drives cost variation within each range.
Every project is different, but the same factors consistently push investment above baseline ranges.
Finish level
Tier 1 standard premium to Tier 3 high-end (or $500+/sf estate-level) in custom homes. Cabinetry, stone, and fixtures carry the biggest swings in remodels too.
Lot and site conditions
Tight access, steep grades, limited staging, and expansive walls add labor time and coordination effort. Teardown sites add demolition and utility coordination.
Municipal design review
Historic districts and design-review jurisdictions add time and fees. Variance applications, multi-department reviews, and landmark boards each extend the permit path.
Special engineering
Second-story loads, long-span beams, cantilevered spaces, and structural reinforcements require engineering beyond a baseline package.
Timeline compression
Accelerated schedules require overtime, overlapping trades, and expedited material procurement, all of which increase cost.
Common + Questions
Frequently asked.
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Why don't most builders publish prices?
Scoping a project accurately is hard, and publishing ranges forces discipline. Fewer than 10% of design-build firms in our market publish even ballpark investment ranges. We publish ours because pricing transparency is how trust starts — first-call conversations are better when nobody pretends not to know what things cost.
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When is my price locked?
At the end of preconstruction. You receive a fixed-price construction agreement with defined scope, completed plans, finalized selections, and competitively bid trade partner pricing. Price doesn't change unless scope does. That's different from traditional construction, where the bid price is an opening number subject to change-order pressure once walls open.
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What's included in the preconstruction fee?
Field verification, architectural drawings, engineering coordination, finish selections, permit-ready packages, subcontractor scope, and a fixed-price construction bid. You leave with a buildable, priced set — not a napkin sketch. Not obligated to proceed. Fees typically 3–8% of estimated construction value.
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What if the project goes over budget?
Change orders on our design-build projects average 3–7% vs. 10–20% on traditional design-bid-build. That's the value of preconstruction: we catch surprises before construction, not during. If a change is required mid-project (homeowner-requested or genuine unforeseen condition), it's documented, priced, and approved before work continues.
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Can I get a ballpark without preconstruction?
Yes. After a discovery conversation and site walk, we share planning-level investment ranges based on comparable recent projects. Not a fixed price — a number you can use to decide whether to proceed into preconstruction. A fixed price requires defined scope, verified site conditions, and real trade pricing, all of which preconstruction produces.
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Does preconstruction cost roll toward construction?
Yes. Preconstruction fees are paid at milestones during the 4–8 week phase and credit toward the construction contract when you commit to build. If you decide not to proceed, you keep the completed drawings and cost data.
Last updated: April 2026
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