How a KHB Project Runs: First Call to Punch List

Every KHB project — a $100,000 bathroom or a $2.5 million whole-home remodel — moves through the same six phases: discovery, design, selections, fixed pricing and permits, construction, and closeout. The order is the point. Every decision that costs money gets made on paper, during design, while it is still cheap to change. By the time a wall comes down, the price of your project is not a guess.

Here is what happens in each phase, why it happens in that order, and what you should expect from us at every step.

Why do remodels go wrong before construction starts?

Remodels rarely fail during construction. They fail before it — in decisions that never got made and numbers that never got real — and construction is simply where the bill arrives. Across the 400-plus remodels the KHB team has completed, that pattern has held on every project.

Our most detailed feedback comes from clients who remodeled before with someone else. They know what the usual version looks like — the vague allowance, the schedule that exists only in the contractor's head, the change order that lands in month three for something that should have been settled in month one. The process below exists because we have watched every one of those failures from the repair end. It costs us speed at the front. It has been worth it on every project we have run.

Phase 1 — Discovery

The first conversation, usually at your house. We walk the space with you, talk about what is not working, what you want the house to do, and what the honest budget picture looks like. KHB projects run from $100K to $2.5M. If the realistic range for what you are describing surprises you, that is normal — most people researching their first major remodel are working from numbers that are years out of date. Hearing the real range in the first meeting, instead of discovering it in month four, is a feature of how we work, not a sales tactic.

Discovery is mutual diligence. You are deciding whether we are the right builder; we are deciding whether the project is right for us. Sometimes the honest answer is no, and we will say so and tell you why. There is no bid at this stage and no pressure to sign anything. We have written a separate note on exactly what happens in a discovery meeting if you want the full structure.

Phase 2 — Design

If we both want to move forward, we sign a design agreement. Design is a paid phase with real deliverables: measured existing-condition drawings, floor plans, elevations, and — where the project touches structure — engineering. This is the phase most contractors compress or skip, and it is the single biggest reason our projects behave differently from the ones you hear horror stories about.

Design is where the scope gets specific. Not "remodel the kitchen" but which walls move, where the range lands, how the lighting is laid out, what the ceiling does. Every question a framer or electrician would otherwise ask mid-project gets answered on paper first, where changing the answer costs a revision instead of a demolition.

The projects people tell horror stories about were designed during construction. The fix is not to design faster. The fix is to design first.

Phase 3 — Selections

Tile, stone, cabinetry, plumbing fixtures, lighting, hardware, paint, appliances. Hundreds of decisions, made in a sequence that matches what the trades will need first. Each selection carries its real price, visible at the moment you choose it. If the tile you love is over the budget line, you see that in the showroom — we price it, show you the alternative, and you decide. The number does not float quietly along and surface as a change order after the tile is on the wall.

This is slower than signing a contract full of allowances. It is also the difference between a fixed price and a placeholder. You can see how finished selections read in a completed project — the Valley Mission kitchen is a good example: every selection carried a number, so when the scope grew mid-project, the price grew with it in daylight instead of on a surprise change order.

Phase 4 — Fixed pricing, then permits

When design and selections are complete, the price is fixed on paper. Not an estimate with an asterisk — a contract price built from a designed scope and selected materials. Costs are locked in design, before construction makes them permanent. That sentence is the whole philosophy of the company.

With the scope frozen, permits go in. We prepare and submit the drawings, respond to plan-check comments, and manage the jurisdiction — whether that is Modesto, Turlock, Ripon, Oakdale, or one of the East Bay cities we serve. Timelines vary by city and by scope; a straightforward remodel moves faster than an addition. We tell you what to expect for your jurisdiction, and pre-construction runs in parallel: subcontractors get scheduled and long-lead items — cabinetry, stone, windows, appliances — get ordered so they are not the thing the whole job waits on.

Phase 5 — Construction, with dedicated project management

Demo, framing, mechanical rough-ins, inspections, drywall, finishes. Your project has a dedicated project manager from demo through closeout — the same person, for the duration, whose job is the schedule, the trades, the inspections, and you. You are never left wondering who to call or whether the person answering knows your project.

Because the decisions were made in design, construction is execution rather than improvisation. Crews are not standing around waiting for a tile decision. The electrician is not guessing where the pendants go. That is what all the front-end discipline buys: a build phase that mostly just proceeds.

Change orders. Real houses hold surprises — framing that does not match what the previous remodeler left behind, plumbing that is not where the era of the house says it should be. When that happens, you get the finding, the options, and the price in writing before any additional work is done. The entire process exists to eliminate surprise change orders: the designed-first, selected-first, priced-first sequence removes every cause of them that a builder can control, and puts the rest in front of you before it becomes a bill.

Phase 6 — Punch list and closeout

Near the end, we walk the project with you and build the punch list together — every item written down, every item resolved before we call the project done. Closeout includes the paperwork that matters later: warranty terms, appliance manuals, paint colors and sheens, and the documentation of what is inside your walls. Then we stand behind the work. If something needs attention after we leave, you call the office and a person who knows your project answers.

How long does a KHB remodel take?

For a substantial kitchen, the design-through-permit stretch commonly runs several months before demo, with construction running a few months after that. A whole-home remodel or custom home runs considerably longer — measured in seasons, not weeks. We give you a real schedule before construction starts, and if it moves, you hear about it the week we know, not the week it becomes obvious.

People are often surprised that design and pre-construction take as long as they do. Projects like the Sunrise whole-home remodel or the Lakeview foothills remodel earned their timelines on the front end, and that front-loaded calendar is a trade we make deliberately. A project that spends an extra two months in design and zero extra months in construction is cheaper, calmer, and better built than the reverse.

What do we ask of you?

The process works when it works in both directions. We ask you to make selections on schedule, sign off on milestones promptly, and raise concerns the moment they appear instead of letting them compound. In return you get a builder who tells you real numbers early, puts every commitment in writing, and runs your project the same way we have run the last several hundred.

If this rhythm sounds like what you have been looking for — especially if you have remodeled before and know what the alternative feels like — the next step is a conversation. You can read the full sequence on our design-build process page, see how it applies to kitchen remodels and whole-home remodels, look through completed projects, or reach the office at (209) 528-0255. We are based in Modesto, and we build throughout the Central Valley and the East Bay. CSLB #1070537.