What to Expect at Your Free Consultation

The free consultation is the first real conversation about your project. A vague idea starts to become a plan: a cramped kitchen, an outdated primary bath, a garage that could be an ADU.

Here's how the visit goes. We work across San Francisco, the Peninsula, and the South Bay, and the format is the same every time.

How long it takes

Plan to set aside about an hour. Smaller scopes like a single bathroom or a laundry refresh usually wrap up faster. Full-home renovations, ADUs, and additions with structural work run longer because there's more to walk and more to discuss.

We walk the whole space and talk through everything while we're there, so we don't have to come back three times.

What we'll cover

The visit usually moves through four phases:

• A walk-through of the space you want to change. We look at structure, plumbing runs, electrical, access, and anything that affects scope
• A conversation about what's not working today and what you want it to do
• A rough budget and timeline range so you can check it against what you expected
• Next steps: what a design agreement looks like, how permits factor in, what happens before construction

Questions we'll ask you

Some of these sound simple, but they drive big scope decisions. Thinking about them in advance makes the visit more productive:

• What problem are you trying to solve? Storage, light, traffic flow, or look?
• How long do you plan to stay in this home?
• Do you have a target budget range, or are you still figuring that out?
• What's your realistic start window? Permit timelines vary by city. San Francisco, Burlingame, San Mateo, and Palo Alto all move at different speeds
• Have you pulled together inspiration photos or material ideas?
• Is anyone else part of the decision, like a spouse, partner, or parent?

There are no wrong answers. Some people have no idea what the project should cost. Others have thought about it for three years and have a Pinterest board a mile long. We've worked with both.

What to have ready (but don't stress)

You don't need anything formal. A few things make the conversation more concrete:

• A rough budget range, even if it's wide
• Any inspiration photos you've saved from Pinterest, Instagram, or magazines
• Original floor plans if you have them. Most people don't, and that's fine
• A list of must-haves and nice-to-haves
• Any quotes you've already gotten so we can compare directly

If you have none of that, we'll still have a useful conversation. We ask questions and take notes as we walk.

What you'll leave with

At the end of the visit you'll have a much clearer picture of three things:

• A realistic budget tier for the scope you're considering
• A realistic timeline, from design kickoff through permits to the day you move out of the kitchen
• Straight input on whether your scope matches your budget. Sometimes it does. Often it doesn't, and it's better to know in week one than month three

You won't get a written proposal at this stage. Proposals come after the design phase, when there's a scope on paper to price. The consultation gives you enough information to decide whether to move forward with design.

What doesn't happen

You won't be asked to sign anything. You won't get a same-day discount or hear that the price goes up if you don't decide tonight. Our projects take months. Go home, think it through, and come back when you're ready.

Next step

If you're thinking about a project across San Francisco, the Peninsula, or the South Bay, the consultation is free. Even if we're not the right fit because the scope is too small, the timing is off, or the budget doesn't match, you'll leave with better information than you came with. Request a visit when you're ready to talk through what you're picturing.