Will I get a fixed price for a remodel?
Yes for the work we can see, and the honest answer is that some of a remodel cannot be seen until the walls are open. A good estimate prices the known scope firmly, names the unknowns as allowances with a figure attached, and tells you what happens if one of them turns out worse than expected.
What can be priced firmly
Demolition, framing, drywall, flooring, trim, doors, paint and the labour to install fixtures are all measurable from drawings or a site visit. Square footage does not change once the tape has been on it.
If a contractor cannot give you a firm number for those, they have not measured the job.
What has to be an allowance
Selections you have not made yet. Tile, cabinets, countertops, fixtures and appliances all vary enormously in price, and no estimate can carry a real number before you have chosen. Those go in as allowances, which is a stated budget for that item that gets trued up against what you actually buy.
An allowance should have a figure and a basis. A cabinet allowance with no note about what grade of cabinet it assumes is a placeholder rather than a price.
What genuinely cannot be known
What is inside a wall in a house built decades ago. Older properties in this area regularly turn up knob and tube wiring, galvanised supply lines, undersized joists, plaster over lath, and framing that was cut through for a duct run in 1975 and never repaired.
A bathroom in a rowhouse can look identical to a bathroom in a newer build and cost meaningfully more once the floor is up, because the drain has to be re-routed and the joists cannot take the notch. Nobody can price that from the outside.
How that is handled honestly
The scope names the conditions being assumed. If the assumption turns out wrong, that becomes a change order with its own price, agreed before the work happens rather than appearing on the final invoice.
A contractor who gives you one number for everything with no allowances and no assumptions listed is either going to come back for more money later or has padded the number to cover themselves. Both cost you.
Ask these before you sign anything
Which items are allowances and what grade of material each assumes. What happens if something is found behind the wall. Who pulls the permits. What the payment schedule is tied to, milestones rather than dates. What the warranty covers and for how long.
Our estimates spell out the scope, the price, the payment schedule and the warranty before you sign. If a contractor will not put those in writing, that answers a different question.
The Work Behind This Answer
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