Why we bill hourly (and why it saves you money)
Fixed-bid contracts hide padding for the unknowns. Here's how honest hourly billing with a do-not-exceed estimate actually protects homeowners.
Most contractors quote a fixed price. That number looks clean on paper, but every fixed bid has a hidden layer of padding baked in — a cushion for the surprises that always show up behind old plaster, under a subfloor, or inside a wall cavity.
## What you're actually paying for When we quote hourly with a do-not-exceed range, you only pay for the time we actually spend on your project. If demo goes faster than expected, you keep the savings. If we hit a surprise, we talk about it before the meter keeps running.
## The do-not-exceed range Every estimate we send has a low, median, and high number. The high number is a ceiling — we don't cross it without your written approval. That's the honest version of a "fixed" price.
## What this looks like day-to-day - Time is logged live on-site, with GPS-verified start and stop times - Receipts are attached to your job the day materials are purchased - You get a running daily log you can check any time - The final invoice matches the log to the minute
If you've ever gotten a change order that doubled your project cost, this is the alternative.