Renovations and extensions for people who intend to stay.

Quiet, tidy, and predictable. You get a written update with progress photos every week covering what's done, what's next and any decision we need from you, plus an on-site meeting on the same day each week so you can ask questions standing in front of the work.

You deal with Joel throughout, from first site visit to final defect. My mobile is on the contract. If something has gone wrong you'll hear it from me at that week's meeting, or the same day if it can't wait.

The test we use is whether we'd accept it in our own homes. If something isn't right we pull it out and do it again, and it doesn't appear on your invoice, because a finish that was rushed will announce itself every day you live with it.

The best answer isn't ours though. Watch Deb, Linda, or Don and Janine above; they're talking about homes they've now lived in for anywhere from a few months to five years.

The same trades on almost every job. That's deliberate: we know the standard they hold, they know what we'll knock back, and nobody has to be taught how we work halfway through your build. It's also why a callback in year three is a phone call rather than a problem.

Nobody can answer that properly without seeing your house and your plans. What we can do is give you an honest range at the first meeting, based on what we've built recently, and tell you on the day if your budget and your ambitions don't line up. As a rough guide: single-room renovations $50k to $150k, whole-home renovations $150k to $450k, extensions $250k to $700k, new builds $600k and up. Anything under $50,000 isn't work we take on.

Usually because the two documents aren't describing the same job. Put them side by side and check three things: what's excluded, what's sitting in a provisional allowance, and whether site costs and preliminaries are actually in there. A quote with a lump sum for "finishes" isn't a fixed price.

Beyond that, our price includes trades we've used for years rather than whoever was cheapest that month, and time built into the program to do things properly. If a competitor's quote genuinely covers everything ours does for meaningfully less, take it, and we'll tell you so.

The contract price only changes through a written, signed variation. Three legitimate triggers: you change something, the design or engineering changes, or we uncover a condition nobody could have known about behind a wall or under a floor. In every case you get the cost and the time impact in writing before any work is done, and nothing proceeds until you've signed. If we got something wrong, we cover it.

You'll get a construction program with your contract showing each stage and trade, so the answer is specific to your job rather than a guess. Council approvals and client selections are the two things that most often move a date, and we'll tell you which decisions are on the critical path so you can get ahead of them.

Often yes, for extensions and single-room renovations where the rest of the home stays intact. We can stage the works and seal off the construction zone. For whole-home renovations it's usually not practical or safe, and we'll say so plainly. Either way we work it through at the consultation, because the answer changes the program and the cost.

Good, bring them. We'll review the drawings for buildability and cost and flag anything likely to be expensive or difficult on site, ideally before the design is locked in. We work alongside architects and draftspeople regularly and have no interest in taking over the design.

Also fine. We'll introduce you to a draftsperson or architect we've worked with, and stay involved through the design so it gets priced as it's drawn. That's the single most effective way to avoid the common disaster of a beautiful design you can't afford to build.

No. The first meeting at your home, and the written cost indication that follows it, cost you nothing and carry no obligation. Detailed feasibility and design work later in the process is fee-based, and we'll quote that upfront before you commit to anything.

You call me. During the defects liability period we come back and fix it. That's what the period is for. Structural work is covered by the statutory warranty of 6 years and 6 months, and Domestic Building Insurance sits behind that. Beyond the formal periods, the trades who worked on your house are still working with us, which turns a year-four callback into a phone call rather than a fight.

Melbourne's western and north-western suburbs, the Macedon Ranges and Hume. If you're outside that, ask anyway. For the right project we'll travel, but we'll be upfront if the distance makes supervision harder than it should be.