How Levco’s Process Works.
What normally happens
When you call we will listen carefully to learn what you are interested in having done. We will ask a series of inquisitive focused questions to get the ball rolling and help us to determine if a site visit is appropriate.
If it sounds good, we will offer to book a convenient discovery session with you. There is no better way to grasp your ideas than to be relaxed in the space together. Ideally, everyone with a stake in the outcome of the project will be able to attend. Plan our onsite visit to last about an hour.
We will prepare you by sending some helpful information by email to set the stage for success.
The first visit is at your home
- I’ll listen to what is frustrating you with your current situation.
- Discover what you have been imagining as a solution.
- See what opportunities exist with the existing conditions
- Photo document what I see.
- Hear what you are prepared to invest.
- Listen to your biggest fears about remodeling.
- Determine together if we are a good fit to fulfill your wants and needs.
Learn about your plans for the future helps me design realistic solutions. (No stress or worries, we are perfectly comfortable in your home as it is. Ghastly before pictures are preferred).
- If we discover that we are not a good fit (which is OK) we’ll part as friends.
- If we are a good fit, then I will summarize what we talked about and offer you a Pre-Construction Agreement.
Design Timeline
Your investment triggers a series of steps. Behind the scenes, we will be gathered all the information learned along the way and organize it. We study all aspects and calculate the time investment, the materials that will be required, and in most cases consult with the specialty trade partners we will be working with. Estimating accurately takes concentration and uninterrupted preparation time. We firmly believe this step is a science not an art. In all it will take time to accomplish, we will create a custom timeline so you can participate in the process.
Photographic 360 Imagery
This is what we affectionately call the Meet And Measure. We come to your home with my special camera, my Estimator, and my Production Manager to look things over, ask lots of questions and photograph your home. From this fact-gathering meeting, we can produce a measured drawing of your home swiftly and share the imagery we took. This is the basis of our CAD drawings of as-built and the proposed drawings we will create together in the next step.
CAD Drawings
We use a state-of-the-art drafting program to draw existing conditions first then collaborate to draw the proposed. This can happen in person or remotely via Zoom or some other appropriate platform. This can take a few tries, we share design ideas amongst our team, and often to my excitement improve on what was the best design idea.
DOW (Description of work)
Once the drawings are approved the next step is to describe what is happening in every room we are affecting and on every wall, ceiling, and floor in each room. This is when we do the detail work still striving to figure out exactly what you want the project to look like and what components will be included.
Estimating
Now that everything has stopped moving around and selections of Finish Materials are well underway, we take time to be focused and estimate the actual cost of the project that we have drawn and described in quite some detail. Often times we need to meet Sub-Trade partners at your home and we send your plans and specifications all over town. Getting the right price is part science and part art. Once we have had a chance to review every aspect of your project then and only then will we provide you with a remodeling Agreement.
Remodeling Agreement
Your remodeling agreement package will include:
- Solutions options for solving the issues you shared.
- Assurances that we will do our best to avoid your biggest fears.
- A fixed price, lump sum contract amount for the project.
- A preliminary construction schedule.
- A payment plan
Assuming everything looks good, we will start ordering time sensitive items, draw the construction drawings provide engineering for structural changes, and initiate the local city permitting process.