Things We Tell Clients Every Week
by April Bettinger | Nip Tuck Remodeling
I hear this question often enough that I want to answer it honestly — not defensively, but the way I’d answer it sitting across from you in your kitchen. Before I answer it, though, I want to reframe it. The word “bid” is doing a lot of work in that question, and it’s worth examining before we go any further.
What We Do Instead of Bid
When a homeowner asks what a project will cost before we’ve done any design work, I will provide an answer as best I can. I have that conversation because a good remodeling professional should be able to tell the homeowner what any type of project typically costs, based on real projects with real families in real homes on the Eastside. That conversation sets honest expectations and helps both parties decide whether to move forward together.
What I won’t do is put that conversation on paper and call it a bid.
A bid implies formality. It implies that a number has been researched and documented, and that the firm submitting the bid stands behind the number. In reality, a number produced after one or two hours with a homeowner — no product selections, no defined scope, no plan — is an educated guess, whether it’s delivered verbally or handed over in a folder. The difference is that I will tell you that the proposed number is a range based on comparable projects, and that the real number only exists after we’ve done the work of pre-construction together. Some firms hand you the same guess dressed up with confidence and call it a price.
Early in my career, I worked with a family called the Davidsons, whose experience shaped my perspective to this day. A failed steam shower had flooded through their home, and by the time I arrived, the main floor had been taken down to the studs. What started as a loss had become an opportunity, a chance to address everything they’d wanted to change for years.
We spent a couple of hours walking through the space together, talking through possibilities. At that stage, there were no drawings, no specifications, no defined scope. So, I did what I still do today. I gave them a range based on the level of change they were considering, and I told them clearly that there were too many variables to give them a fixed number.
The next day, another remodeling professional visited their home. He spent a similar amount of time walking the space. Then he went back to his office and returned with a firm number, with the assurance that the final investment would come in within a certain range of that number. The Davidsons called me and asked if I would do the same. I told them no.
I could not give them a number I knew wasn’t grounded in a real plan. A number without a plan behind it isn’t a budget; it’s a guess, however confidently delivered. They chose to move forward with us. By the time construction started, the number in front of them reflected the work of thorough pre-construction — not an optimistic estimate from a two-hour walkthrough. The project was completed within the budget they were made aware of and had planned for.
Our approach is the same today. When we give a client a number, it is the result of a full pre-construction process: a detailed scope of work, complete product specifications, trade partner involvement, and planning that accounts for what’s known and what might be discovered. That is not a bid. It’s a commitment backed by a plan.
The “Joe” Factor
The first thing I ask when a client mentions a significantly lower number is what type of firm gave them the bid?
There’s a meaningful difference between a design-build firm like Nip Tuck Remodeling — with professional project managers, an in-house design team, and licensed trade partners who specialize in their craft — and a sole general contractor who operates alone. I call him “Joe.” Your neighbor used “Joe.” “Joe” did the work himself, has no employees, carries minimal overhead, and may be performing plumbing or electrical work without the proper licensing to do so. “Joe” can deliver a lower number.
A 20% gap between a firm like ours and someone operating a sole proprietorship is not surprising. It reflects a genuine difference in service level, accountability, and the depth of expertise on your project.
What's In Our Number That May Not Be in Theirs
When the gap is 30 or 40%, the more likely explanation isn’t overhead; it’s scope. What’s actually included in the number you’re comparing to ours?
In our world, the painting scope is included. Knobs and pulls are included. Under-cabinet lighting is included. All the things we know clients want in the finished kitchen — the bells and whistles that feel like decisions to be made later — are assumed from the beginning and built into the cost. Some firms bid the construction and tell you to find your own painter. Some leave hardware as an allowance that bears no relationship to what you’ll actually choose. Those line items show up eventually. They just don’t show up in the original number.
Product specification is another driver. We think in terms of good, better, and best. Our projects start in the better category because that’s where our clients live. Some competitors start from the good category. Some are pricing whatever they can source from a home improvement warehouse. When you’re looking at a 40% gap, you’re often looking at a different baseline of what the project actually is, built from different materials, with different finishes, and different expectations about what finished looks like.
My Honest Advice Based on the Size of the Gap
A 10% difference deserves genuine consideration. At that range, you may well be comparing firms of similar caliber. My advice is to do your research. Look at completed projects. Read reviews carefully. Talk to past clients. Then make your decision based on three things: reputation, trust, and your instinct about who you want to spend the next six to twelve months working alongside. A remodel is a relationship. Choose accordingly and choose carefully.
A 20-40% difference almost always means the scopes aren’t the same. Before concluding that one firm is simply more expensive, ask each one to walk you through exactly what their number includes — the painting, the hardware, the lighting, all the details. The gap may close significantly when everything is on the table. If the gap is past 40%, I’d be asking serious questions.
A Story from Redmond
A homeowner came to me not long ago with architect-drawn plans and a permit in the final comments. He wanted a number immediately. It was May and he wanted to start in July. Several things about this project stood out from the moment we sat down.
He had no product selections. He had visions — beautiful, modern, and expensive — but none of the specific decisions made that would actually drive accurate pricing. He spoke in terms of maybes. The existing home was dated and the proposed addition was 1,500 square feet; in my assessment, the two halves of the house were not going to relate to each other well without a serious commitment to continuity — a conversation he wasn’t ready to have.
When I asked about other numbers he’d received, he mentioned he already had three bids — two of them around $450,000 for the entire project. My honest assessment was that the real investment was closer to double that. More importantly, the project at this stage of planning, with this level of undefined scope, wasn’t the right fit for either of us. I told him that directly — that moving forward together wouldn’t serve him well, and that he deserved a candid answer more than he deserved another number added to his pile.
After that conversation concluded, he asked me something I wasn’t expecting. Now that we had established that we weren’t moving forward together, he wanted to know how he should evaluate the three firms he already had considered? I had just finished a book on exactly this subject, and I told him what I had since written about at length. My biggest piece of advice for him was this: Hire based on relationship.
When someone puts a significantly lower number on a project and tells you they can start within a month, something isn’t being accounted for. It may be scope. It may be product quality. It may be optimism about what the walls are hiding. But when something goes wrong — and on a project of that size and complexity, something will — what will get you through is not the contract. It’s the relationship you’ve built with the person holding the hammer. It’s the trust between that person and their trade partners. It’s the goodwill put in place before the problem occurs.
That’s what you’re buying when you choose carefully. Not just a remodel but a partner who is invested in the outcome as much as you are — and who has the relationships, the experience, and the accountability to make it right when it matters.
The Question Worth Asking
Before comparing bids, ask yourself: Are the numbers representative of the same project? Are they the same scope, same products, same service model, and same level of accountability when something unexpected happens?
If the answer is yes and the gap is still considerable, ask questions until you understand why.
If the answer is no — if you’re comparing a design-build firm with a full team to a sole proprietor with virtually no overhead— the gap isn’t a mystery. It’s a precise reflection of what you’re getting.
Want to understand how we build our numbers and what the pre-construction process actually looks like? Read our complete guide to kitchen remodel investments in Bellevue or reach out and let’s have the conversation in person.
