FAQs & Resources

Are you working with an architect, engineer, or interior designer already? If you are, that is a great first step to ensuring a successful project. If you are not, we would be happy to refer you to one. We cannot stress enough the importance of a good design.

For List Services projects, we do offer basic drawing layouts for permitting purposes.

Transparency in our billing is a crucial part of building trust. For this reason, most of our projects are billed on a Time + Materials basis. For Time + Materials, this means that your project will be billed hourly per our preset T&M Rates Sheet (PDF). Subcontractors and expenses will be billed at our cost plus a flat markup. Any builder discount we receive is passed along to you. We will provide a weekly invoice of all hours worked and expenses incurred.

Yes, both our Custom Building and List Services divisions handle the entire permitting process for you and are very experienced in doing this. We carry Unrestricted Construction Supervisors’ licenses and are familiar with building departments and inspectors in many areas. We also take care of hiring all specialty subcontractors. All of our subcontractors have been properly vetted by us and selected based on the project. We ensure that all of our subcontractors are fully insured before they step foot in your house!

We understand that you’re excited about the new space and want to start right away. We are also excited to start the work, but it is our job to ensure that the project runs smoothly once we break ground. We will first provide you with a comprehensive and detailed estimate of costs. From this preliminary proposal, you can see the job breakdown and make sure everything is in line with your expectations. Often, additional meetings are needed with our suppliers and/or subcontractors to review options and finalize the contract. Assuming everything looks good, you can then sign the contract. Once we have the down payment and signed contract, we can apply for your building permit and begin to schedule Fresh Start personnel, subcontractors, and order materials. A general rule of thumb for a project start date is 2-3 months from when we receive the signed contract and deposit. It is important that we are fully organized and ready to start your project before we break ground!

If you do not currently own the property, a fee of $400 – $500 will be charged for the estimate.

List Services is the small projects division of Fresh Start Contracting. They are best suited for projects that are isolated to specific areas in the home or when working within the home’s existing footprint, such as kitchen or bath renovation, basement finishing, replacing doors/windows, structural repairs, or subcontractor-specific tasks.

For example, converting a sunroom into an office space, is List Services. Building an addition to create a new office space, would fall under Custom Building

If a Custom Building estimate appointment is received and vetted to be a better fit for the List Services Division, we will reach out to get you scheduled with the better suited team for your project. Custom Building and List Services operate on a different availability calendar. While List Services is able to tackle projects sooner, their estimating availability varies.

The CCP is our annual maintenance subscription. CCP clients get (2) one-day seasonal maintenance visits which include carpentry and maintenance tasks outlined by the client in the “Client Priority List”. We aim to provide preventative maintenance before a manageable issue gets out of hand. We are happy to line up any subcontractor work during your CCP day as well, this work is billed in addition to your annual plan. You will be provided with a “What Was Done” list by the next business day, which will include any new issues we discover.

This plan is for clients that appreciate the peace of mind knowing their home is well cared for, without having to worry about the work themselves. It would benefit those who are busy and would like knowing that help is only one message away.