Sunny Brook Builders has a policy of not “giving free” estimates for specific projects.  We will readily provide, for free, reprints of “Cost Vs Value Reports” from the Remodeler’s magazine and typical cost per square foot pricing.  However, our 25 years of experience has taught us that spending too little time estimating a project often yields a price that is too low for the builder or too high for the actual value of the work.  In other words, the free estimate is more than likely not fair to either the client or the builder.  Often if the guess is too high, the two parties may never get a chance to work together because the client rejects the bid.  If the guess is too low, the builder either comes back to the customer and asks for more money because there was a mistake or the builder feels pressure to cut corners to at least keep from losing money on the job.  None of these outcomes is satisfactory for either party.  If the process were changed, these poor outcomes may be avoided.

                How do you choose whom you will trust with the planning and work on probably the largest investment of your life?  A typical process is to have a parade of builders look at your project and give you a price with little justification for the total. Then armed with those numbers, you choose a builder based on the lowest or middle price, while not knowing how you will communicate, the chemistry between you, and the integrity each brings to the relationship.  Then, finding out after making a commitment, whether your selection was a good one or not.

                The process that we recommend is that you interview potential builders without discussing your specific project. Then check out their references, see if the quality of their work meets your standards, and determine their integrity based on the business and customer testimony of their past performance.  From this process, you will have a limited group that you feel comfortable entrusting your home to.

                Now its time to talk about your project. How much will it cost?  When will it be finished?  How long will it take? How will the builder be sensitive to your family life?  Is the builder properly insured?  What steps will they take to contain dust, odors and noise?  What steps can be taken to contain costs?

                When it comes to determining how much the project will cost, we have found that using a software program to generate a detailed budget projection is the only sure way to determine the project cost.  We have attached a sample budget projection to show the level of detail you will receive from us for projects $15,000 or more in value.  For smaller projects, we will supply a detailed scope of work, any assumptions and allowances, and a budget projection summary.  We like this spreadsheet format, because it puts everything on the table.  It clearly shows where the cost comes from and allows you to become an active participant in controlling those costs.  But most importantly, it starts to build the trust that is critical to a successful project where both parties come away feeling good about the final result.

                Doing a proper detailed budget projection takes time and is a cost to the construction firm.  If this cost were not billed directly, it would become part of the business overhead, then customers that we work with are paying for estimating work that we did for someone else.  This does not seem fair to us.  Therefore when we provide a project specific budget projection, we expect to be compensated for this service. To be fair to you, this fee is 100% applied toward the project if we are awarded the work described in that budget projection.

                We urge you to give serious consideration to this selection process.  We urge you to contact our customer and business references which are attached and discover our business practice, the quality of our work, and our integrity.  And if we pass this test, we would be happy to perform the budget projection for your project.  We charge $50/hr for this service; again it is applied against your total project cost if we perform the work.  From the onset, you can help keep this cost down by specifying the project in as much detail as possible.  This makes our initial work easier and more efficient.

                Thank you for taking the time to read this statement of our business philosophy.

                We look forward to establishing a mutually beneficial relationship with you.