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Your free consultation: what to expect, what to have ready
About 60 minutes. One person from the crew that will build the job — not a salesman. You walk out with a written, itemized price, a project plan and, for remodels, a design plan built around your budget. Here's how to get the most out of the hour, and the questions to ask us — or anyone else you're talking to.
Same-day & next-day appointments · no deposit · no obligation
Licensed & insured · 2,000+ NJ projects · 7 years · a real person answers 24/7
Before we arrive
The room, the problem, the thing you hate about it. Send them to the same number you booked with. We'll show up already knowing the layout, and often with an idea or two.
Must-haves at the top, nice-to-haves under them. The double vanity, a bench in the shower, the wall you'd love to lose, the outlet that's in a dumb spot. A messy list beats a perfect memory.
Not the number you're hoping we'll say — the range you'd actually be comfortable paying. We're not going to spend it for you. We're going to tell you what it buys, what it doesn't, and where we'd put the money first. A real range gets you a real plan. 'I don't know' gets you a plan for a different house.
We'll need to see under the sink, behind the access panel, in the basement below the room, and at the electrical panel. Move the cleaning supplies and the holiday bins so we can inspect instead of guess.
If two of you decide, two of you should be there. It saves a second visit and a game of telephone.
The walk-through
We start where you start: what's wrong, what you want, and what anyone else has quoted you. Then we go to work.
If we find something bad — a rotten subfloor, a drain stack that's about to go, a fuse box that shouldn't still be in service — you hear it now, with a photo, and it goes in the price. Not in week two as a surprise.
- Measure everything — walls, windows, doors, ceiling height, the drop from the floor to the drain
- Inspect like builders: the access panel, the drain stack, the shutoffs, the subfloor around the tub, the electrical panel, the attic or the roof if it's a roof job
- Check the things that change a price: cast iron, galvanized pipe, a fuse box, a load-bearing wall, a slab, a vent that goes nowhere
- Talk through the layout with you — what can move, what can't, and what costs more to move than it's worth
- Photograph the problem spots so you can see what we saw
The written price
Before we leave, you get an itemized price — on paper or in your inbox, your pick. Not a range. Not an estimate. One number for a described scope, with the lines under it: demo, permits, plumbing, electrical, framing, tile or roofing by tier, fixtures, glass, paint, haul-away, cleanup. A start date and a finish date. The payment milestones. The change-order rule in plain words. Our NJ HIC number and the guarantees.
That number is protected by the Price-Lock Guarantee: it can't change without your signature on a written change order. The certificate of insurance comes with it — you shouldn't have to ask twice.
The design plan
For kitchens, bathrooms, basements and additions, the consultation includes a design plan built around your budget, at no cost. That means a layout — where the fixtures, cabinets or walls go — and a finish plan: the tiers of tile, counters, fixtures and lighting that fit your number, with the one or two places we'd spend a little more because they're the parts you touch every day. It's built by the people who'll build the room, so it doesn't include anything that can't actually be built.
You keep it. Take it to someone else if you want. Shelve it for a year and it'll still make sense when you pull it back out.
Questions to ask any contractor — including us
Ask these of everyone who walks through your door. A real contractor answers each one in about a minute and doesn't mind being asked.
Anyone paid to work on a New Jersey home has to be registered with the state. The number belongs on the quote, the contract and the truck. Ours is on every quote and contract, and you can look it up on the state Division of Consumer Affairs site before we've left the driveway.
General liability and workers' comp. If a worker gets hurt on your property and the contractor isn't covered, it can land on your homeowner's policy. You get ours before you sign — just ask.
The most important question on the list. If the answer is 'our guys' with no names, or 'we use great subs,' you'll be meeting strangers for a month. Ours: one dedicated licensed crew, the same foreman every day, and you'll have his name before day one.
An estimate is a guess. A fixed price is a promise. Ask for the lines under the number, then ask what a hidden problem does to it. Ours: photos and priced options first, and nothing changes without your signature.
The contractor should. Being asked to pull your own is a red flag — it usually means they can't. We pull them and meet the inspector.
A big deposit up front is how people lose money. Ours: no deposit, milestones tied to work you can see, and you hold the final payment until the item-by-item walkthrough.
The no-pressure promise
We don't do the 'this price is only good today' routine. We don't call three times the next morning. We hand you the paper, answer your questions, and leave. The price and the plan are the same whether you call back that afternoon or after the holidays. And if you decide to go with someone else, we'd still rather you go in with a real number in your hand than an estimate that grows.
What you keep if you never hire us
No deposit. No obligation. If we're not a fit, keep the plan.
- The written, itemized price — a real benchmark for any other quote
- The project plan and expected timeline
- The design plan, built around your budget
- Photos of what we found behind the panel and under the tub
- An honest read on what's urgent, what can wait, and what isn't worth doing
- Any written competitor quote matched scope-for-scope, line by line, if you want the comparison
Straight answers
How long does it take?
About 60 minutes for a bathroom or a repair. A kitchen, a basement or an addition can run longer, because there's more to measure. Either way, you get the written price before we leave.
Should I get other quotes first?
Get them whenever you like — before or after. If you have one in hand, bring it and we'll match the scope line by line, so you're comparing the same job. Just make sure every quote you collect is a written, itemized price and not an estimate; a missing line is a future invoice.
Do I need to know what tile or fixtures I want?
No. Bring photos of anything you like if you have them. If not, the design plan gives you tiers to shop in, and the price is built on a real allowance, not a placeholder that no tile you'd actually pick could meet. You choose the exact tile later, before the order goes in, and the price only moves if you change tiers — with your signature.
What if I just have a repair, not a remodel?
Then it's quicker. We look, we tell you what's wrong, we give you the flat price in writing, and if you say yes we usually fix it on the same visit. Same-day and next-day for repairs — call before noon and we're often there today.
Sixty minutes. A real number. No pressure.
Book your free consultation — same-day and next-day appointments, evenings and Saturdays included.
Or call Alex direct: (201) 676-3099
Burst pipe. No heat. Roof leaking. We answer at 2 AM.
A real person picks up every hour of every day. We tell you what to shut off first, then send the nearest crew.